Book review of Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin Essay

Book review of Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin - Essay Example The book highlights the darkest moments in the history of US, where social justice to blacks was bare minimum. The author in the best manner elucidates the obstacles and the hardships that a black man undergoes. He not only highlights the cursed life of blacks but, also involves himself in a quest to discover his own identity. The racial oppression led to problems for the black people in US, in finding food and shelter, even the rest rooms through out the country which the black people were allowed to use as there was a great scarcity. There was discrimination in day to day affairs like travelling by bus, getting a cheque cashed and sitting on bus stand or park benches. Their residential areas were filthy, stinking and dark like ghettos. The social justice was conspicuous from the behavior of each race in another's company. A white used to receive respect and courtesy from the whites only, whereas they were always formidable from the behavior of blacks, always suspicious of their actions; whereas, blacks were looked upon with animosity and hostility. The blacks were generous with each other. Where Griffin mentions all the bad sides, he also mentions examples of P.D East and construction worker from Alabama - the whites and the blacks like Sterling Williams (who helped him in his transformation, made him learn the etiquettes, the style and the mannerism of the blacks) and the mill worker who proved that human kindness and generosity cannot be overshadowed by the evils of racism. The book addresses the sociological issues and concerns related to racism and sexism. The book points out how African Americans were a stereotyped because almost majority of the Americans had no knowledge of their culture. Black men were subordinated because white believed that blacks were sexually perverse. The book provides a very sentimental and heart rendering approach to the sufferings of the black people in American South. It touches the heart directly because the events are unfolded by a white man himself, who experienced the troubles of the blacks by under covering himself as a black man. It was a quest for the author to see how blacks struggled. The author left his family and friends and lived under cover for whole six weeks, travelling from Texas to Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia. The author tells how he started off with his transition from a white to black; the most interesting part, because this is his quest for search of an identity. He starts to make friends with black people and one of his very first mates was a shoe shining man, Sterling Williams; living amongst black, the author starts to realize what these men in Atlanta have been through to come so far. He ends the book on a worrying note that the time will come when blacks will come haunting the American white racists, for all the cruel and the deadly treatment they have done to blacks. John Howard Griffin's social experiment of converting into a black man, proved to be a success; it was a contribution of his efforts as a white man to bring to front the relentless efforts of blacks to be recognized how badly they have been treated. His guise for putting himself into shoes

Measuring Customer Satisfaction in the Hotel Industry Essay

Measuring Customer Satisfaction in the Hotel Industry - Essay Example This savaging effect of global economic crisis has proven to be a real challenge to the UK hotel industry. With a decline in demand due to decrease in the number of travellers, UK hotels are pushed to intensify their marketing strategies to tap the available market. One factor then that hotel owners should look at is how to drive the demand up basing on the quality of their products and services. A careful investigation of this aspect of hotel business is of paramount interest both to the government and to the private sectors as well. It is also essential information to the UK Hotel customers, both local and foreign. It is an interest to the government so that they will have information as to where to help in improving the customer relations of UK Hotels. While for the private sectors, this study will give valuable information as to how customer satisfaction can be improves, both in the hotel and in the non-hotel industry. This study specifically touches on the aspect of customer satisfaction from the UK Hotel Industry, particularly to know if hotels are aware of the level of their customers' satisfaction and to know what particular methods they use to ascertain this. It also aims to look whether customer satisfaction varies with the type of hotels as to local or international, and as to big, medium or small hotel Specifically, we wish to answer the following questions: a) Is customer satisfaction important in the UK hotel industry b) How important is customer satisfaction to UK hotels c) What is the level of implementation of customer related process within the hotel industry d) What is the level of awareness of the UK Hotels to TQM e) What methods of ensuring total quality are employed within the hotel f) What is the difference between local and international hotels in terms of customer satisfaction Small, medium and big THEORETICAL BASIS Business Dictionary defines customer satisfaction as "Degree of satisfaction provided by the goods or services of a firm as measured by the number of repeat customers" (BusinessDictionary.com). BNET Business Dictionary defines it as "the degree to which customer expectations of a product or service are met or exceeded" (CBS Interactive Inc.). The increase in competition is forcing more businesses to give much attention to satisfying the customers (Authenticity Consulting, LLC). Customer satisfaction in the UK was found to be a key weapon for competitive differentiation and customer retention (Horsnell 1998). Because of this, guest satisfaction is found to be a common practice as managers found out that excellent customer service is essential for their organization's health (Horsnell 1998). Customer satisfaction is the paramount criterion used to determine the quality that is actually given to customers through products/services and other accompanying services (Vavra 1997). More and more studies have revealed the importance of customer satisfaction. It is of great importance to business firms as it fuels repeat purchases and word-of-mouth recemmendation (H.W Berkman 1986). "Satisfaction reinforces positive attitudes toward the brand, leading to greater likelihood that the

Analyses eu-ecowas historical relation

Analyses eu-ecowas historical relation 1.1 INTRODUCTION EU-ECOWAS relations did not commence until 1975 due to the fact that ECOWAS only came into existence on May 28th 1975 with the signing of Treaty of Lagos by its member states (ECOWAS, 2010). However, prior to ECOWAS formation in 1975, some of its member states, particularly the Francophone countries such as Benin, Cote dIvoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo had been foundation members of Associated African states and Madagascar (EAMA). This group of countries had been actively involved in the ‘regime of association as enshrined in the Treaty of Rome (1957) which arranged a relationship between the former French and Belgian colonies with the EC (ACP, 2010). The early relationship with these ex-colonies became a key aspect of the process of European integration and also established the basis and rationale for subsequent arrangements (Reisen, 2007; Holland, 2002). The Commonwealth countries within the ECOWAS grouping such as Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone did not participate in EC cooperation programme until the UK accession to the EC in 1973. With regards to ex-colonies activities in EC cooperation programme prior to 1973, it had been a case of domination of development agenda by France (Holland, 2002). So, the inclusion of the ECOWAS Commonwealth countries was necessitated because the UK was keen to put its special trading preferences for bananas and sugar under the EC umbrella and to extend its assistance to some former colonies beyond bilateral support (European Commission, 2010a). Since ECOWAS establishment in 1975, EU-ECOWAS relations have been framed by the trade policy understandings as well as other development cooperation arrangements as contained in the partnership agreements that the EU has entered into with developing countries in Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACPs) countries (World Bank, 2007; Oyejide and Njinken, 2002). The ACPs currently comprises 79 countries (48 African, 16 Caribbean and 15 Pacific). The EUs relations with the ACPs are today governed by the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou, Benin in June 2000 which came into force in 2003 (ACP-EEC, 2005). However, it has since been revised and the revised Agreement entered into force in July 2008. In a sense, both ECOWAS and ACPs are closely linked but the paper focuses on EU-ECOWAS relations with a view to unravelling its specificity in historical perspectives. 1.2 BACKGROUND OF ECOWAS ECOWAS is a regional group of fifteen West African countries, founded on May 28, 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos. ECOWAS is one of the pillars of the African Economic Community and its mission is to promote economic cooperation and integration. The overall objective of ECOWAS is to promote co-operation and integration in order to create an economic and monetary union for encouraging economic growth and development in West Africa (ECOWAS, 2010a). The grouping contains a very wide diversity of economies in terms of size, development and resources (EBID, 2005). There were 16 nations in the group until very recently when Mauritania voluntarily withdrew its membership from ECOWAS. The countries include the 7 UEMOA countries of Benin, Burkina-Faso, Chad, Cote dIvoire, Mali, Niger, and Senegal. Other non-UEMOA member countries are Cape-Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The UEMOA is the French acronym of West African Economic and Monetary Union. It is an organization of eight states of West Africa established in 1994 to promote economic integration among countries that share a common currency, the CFA franc. In terms of achievements, UEMOA member countries are working toward greater regional integration with unified external tariffs than ECOWAS. It is both a customs and monetary union and has initiated regional structural and sectoral policies which ECOWAS is adopting. Within ECOWAS also, there is a West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) which comprises a group of five countries (mainly English speaking) that plan to introduce a common currency, the Eco by the year 2015. The WAMZ was formed in 2000 to try and establish a strong stable currency to rival the CFA franc. Though, the desired goal is for the CFA franc and Eco to merge, with a view to giving all of West Africa countries a single stable currency (ECOWAS, 2010b). 1.3 OVERVIEW OF EU-ECOWAS RELATIONS ECOWAS shares a resemblance with the EU in its objective and modes of cooperation for regional integration among member states. Though, their history of establishment differs. Unlike the ECOWAS model, in which all countries came together at once (except Cape Verde which joined in 1976) to form an economic arrangement, only six countries initiated the current EU arrangement, while other European countries joined at different points through its enlargement and accession strategy (Alaba, 2006). It has often been argued that integration in the West African sub-region has largely been informed by the integration processes in Western Europe, primarily because of EUs ‘commitment to regional integration (Smith, 2008; Ogbeidi, 2010). A point of departure between the two groupings however, lies in their performances over the years. While their performances could be a reflection of the level of development of the member states that constitutes the membership of the sub-regional unions, the most important single factor is their level of commitment towards achieving their goals. Unlike the EU arrangement, commitment to various protocol meant to facilitate the achievement of the vision of ECOWAS has been very low and implementation targets have never been met. For example trade liberalisation within the ECOWAS region has been generally low and ineffective (UNCTAD, 2009). The same compliance failure applies to an ECOWAS protocol on free movements of persons, the right of residence and establishment which was agreed as far as back 1979 (World Bank, 2007). 1.4 TRADE AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF ECOWAS WITH EU For virtually all ECOWAS countries, the EU is the main trading partner (Eurostat, 2008). This high dependence of the countries on the EU market is largely due to their historical links and the nature of their trade patterns which has often made them trade dependent (Fontagne, 2008; Greenidge, 1998). The economic structure of the West African sub-region is largely dominated by agriculture which is closely followed by mining. Agriculture contributed about 25.17%, to sub-regional GDP as at 2006, up from 24.19% in 1995, while mining accounted for 22.13% slightly higher than 21.45 in 1995. Trade contributed about 14.64% of the Groups GDP, down from 15.39% in 1995 (Ecostat, 2010). Most of the ECOWAS countries tend to be highly specialised in a few key products such as petroleum and a few unprocessed agricultural commodities such as coffee and cotton. ECOWAS is the largest trading partner of all the EUs sub regional groupings/cooperation. It accounts for about 40% of total trade with the EU by regions (Eurostat, 2008). Out of the fifteen ECOWAS countries, thirteen of these countries are ranked as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) while three are non-LDC (HDR, 2009). The non-LDC countries in the region are Nigeria, Ghana and Cote dIvoire. These 3 non-LDC countries and Senegal to some extent account for the bulk of trade relations with the EU. In 2008 EUs rankings of African countries in terms of value of goods traded, Nigeria and Cote dIvoire ranked the 4th and 10th for all EU imports while Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana were ranked 5th, 9th and 10th respectively for all EUs exports (Eurostat, 2009). West Africas main exports are oil from Nigeria (50% of West African exports) and agricultural tropical products (cocoa, bananas, pineapples, wood) mostly from Cà ´te dIvoire and Ghana (European Commission, 2009) while Senegal is noted for groundnut (Bergtold et al, 2005). For nearly all the countries the leading import items are heavy equipments, chemical and chemical products and textiles, rubber and metal products. 1.5 EU-ECOWAS EPA NEGOTIATIONS As mentioned earlier, EU-ECOWAS relations are governed by the agreements between EU and ACP group of States. In order to achieve their objectives, the relations between the two bodies have historically been framed by a series of conventions. For EU-ECOWAS relations, the most operative conventions are Lomà © Conventions (1975-2000) and Cotonou Agreement (2000-2020). The Lomà © Conventions (1975-2000) consist of four regimes of conventions from Lomà © I which was first signed in February 1975 in Lomà ©, Togo to Lomà © IV which ended in 2000. The Lomà © Conventions are a trade and aid agreement between the European Community (EC) and the ACP group of states. The first Lomà © Convention was designed to provide a new framework of cooperation between the then European Community (EC) and developing ACP countries. The Lome Conventions most important attribute is its non-reciprocity, which allows ACP exports duty free access to the European market while enabling the ACP states to maintain tariff barriers against European goods. It introduced the STABEX and SYSMIN system which were designed to compensate ACP countries for the shortfall in agricultural export earnings and mining industry activities respectively due to fluctuation in the prices or supply of commodities (ACP-EEC, 1995; 1975). The Lomà © Convention was a commitment to an equal partnership between Europe and ACPs (Holland, 2002). A critical review of the trade agreement/convention however, shows a perpetuation of unequal power relations between both parties. For example, the reciprocity clause has always been geared towards meeting export interests of European firms (Orbie, 2008) and the negotiation for the Lomà © convention itself was a reflection of Third World commodity power, which the EU was keen to preserve through its privileged access to these commodities via its ex-colonial links (Gibb, 2000). Nevertheless, Lomà © conventions have been considered as the hallmark of the EUs policy with the Third world and the most institutionalised of all EUs group-to-group dialogues. It marked a distinctive progression from a regime of association to what could be called a forum of partnership and cooperation (Hurt, 2003; Holland, 2002). It has also been argued by Crawford (2007) that Lomà © Convention is the most significant agreement for Sub-Saharan Africa. The Cotonou Agreement (2000-2020) is the most recent agreement in the history of ACP-EU Development Cooperation. It is based on four main principles: partnership, participation, dialogue and mutual obligations, and differentiation as well as regionalization (ACP-EEC, 2000). One of the radical changes and fundamental elements of the Cotonou Agreement concerns trade cooperation between EU-ACP states. This is not surprising given the fact that EU has exclusive trade competencies and trade policy instrument has been a key strategy of its external policy (Lightfoot, 2010; Orbie, 2008; Bretherton and Vogler, 1999). The most striking feature of the new trade cooperation is the fact that the non-reciprocal trade preferences have been replaced with a new scheme of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The EPAs are schemes aimed at creating a Free Trade Area (FTA) between the EU and ACP countries (ACP-EEC, 2000). The EPAs are a response to continuing criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by the EU are incompatible with WTO rules. Apart from the issue of WTO compatibility, it was also argued that generous trade preferences were not enough for economic take off (European Commission, 1995). It was therefore seen as having achieved limited success in terms of promoting accelerated development in ACP countries. So, what does the EPA signify for EU-ECOWAS relations? The negotiations on an EPA between ECOWAS and the EU were launched in Brussels in 2002 (ECA, 2007). However, the negotiations have so far been inconclusive due to some concerns that the EPAs will lead to large trade imbalances in West African economies, as well as substitution of local and regional production by European imports (Perez and Karingi, 2007). The decline in import duties due to the preferential tariff elimination has also been a major concern for West African countries (Busse and Grobmann, 2004). In particular, the reciprocity condition implicit in the agreement, implied that at some time before 2020, the ECOWAS countries must have to open up their economies to imports from the EU countries. This may invariably lead to trade diversion, trade creation, loss of trade revenues and deindustrialisation (World Bank, 2007; Adenikinju and Alaba, 2005). In a study on the impacts of the EU-ECOWAS EPAs, Lang (2006) found that Ghana and especially Guinea-Bissau could lose up to 20% of their Government budget revenues in case of a full liberalisation of EU imports. Although tariff revenue falls were considered highest in Nigeria in absolute dollar terms, those two countries will be the most affected. In a similar study on the impacts of the EU-ACP EPAs in six ACP regions, Fontagne et al (2008:6-7), ACP exports to the EU are forecast to be 10 percent higher with the EPAs than under the GSP/EBA option. On average ACP countries are forecast to lose 70 percent of tariff revenues on EU imports in the long run. The most affected region is ECOWAS. The implication of a loss of tariff income would translate into public budget constraints and could therefore pose great developmental challenges for ECOWAS countries. Nevertheless, both Cote dIvoire and Ghana agreed and endorsed interim EPAs with the EU in December 2007 (European Commission, 2009). These agreements were principally put in place because full regional EPAs could not be agreed upon. Of these three largest trading partners with the EU, Nigeria opted out of an interim EPA. For now, the country can only benefit from the regular EU Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). This is far less advantageous than the nonreciprocal Lomà © preferences because the GSP covers fewer products and has stricter rules of origin (Hurt, 2003). Though the Nigerian Government has twice applied to be placed on the GSP+ status, the EU has rejected the applications purely for political reasons (Nwoke, 2009). The rest of the West African region is largely made up of Least Developed Countries (European Commission, 2009). They have an option not to negotiate since they have duty free access to the EU under the ‘Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme (Orbie, 2008; Bilal, 2007). The EBA is the differentiation component of Cotonuo Agreement made in the treatment of least developed countries (LDCs) and non-LDCs. For these thirteen countries, the EPA may not carry additional benefits over the EBA except for the technical and financial support that the former may carry (Adenikinju and Alaba, 2005). So, their level of commitment to signing full EPA is marginal. It needs pointing out that the small gains which might result from the EBA initiative are expected to fade away as a consequence of the EU negotiations on EPAs (Kohnert, 2008). Besides, the contentious nature of EBA scheme due to its unilateral introduction makes it less attractive (Bilal, 2002). As Flint (2008:60) argues the EU has highlig hted further problems facing policymakers by the split into separate blocs of LDC and non-LDC. This is very illustrative of EU-ECOWAS relations. From the foregoing, it is discernible that in effect, the EPA will play a significant role in terminating the ECOWAS group as the main development partner of the EU. Prior to the EPA negotiations, ECOWAS countries have not had great success at significantly enlarging trade amongst member states. Intraregional trade as a proportion of total trade remains much lower in African regional integration (UNCTAD, 2009). And, with the new EPAs strategy that seeks for unilateral negotiation in practice, trade improvement amongst member states is further undermined (Borrmann et al, 2005). Concisely, the EPA is detrimental to the cause of regional integration. For EU-ECOWAS, the two principles of reciprocity and deeper regional integration are likely to pull in different directions (Lang, 2006). 1.6 AID FOR TRADE AND DEMOCRACY PROMOTION IN EU-ECOWAS RELATIONS The Aid for Trade initiative emerged within the Doha Round out of the need to help all countries to benefit from trade i.e. to maximise the gains from trade. Yet, demand for, and capacity to absorb, aid for trade still exceeds available resources (World Bank, 2005). The EU Aid for Trade strategy adopted in October 2007 confirms the European commitment to provide EUR2 billion per year in Trade Related Assistance by 2010 and to increase spending for the wider Aid for Trade agenda (ECDPM, 2009). A review of Aid for Trade however shows that donors have achieved their pledges simply by applying the modified WTO-OECD monitoring rules, without initiating any new projects (Brà ¼ntrup and Voionmaa, 2010). So, for ECOWAS countries whose capacity building and supply-side constraints have been a major factor in the lack of competitiveness and the relatively poor trade and growth performance (AU, 2006), Aid for Trade can only be meaningful if it is translated into genuine fresh aid for utilisati on. Also, the issue of democracy promotion in EU-ECOWAS relations is more of rhetoric than accomplishment. Crawford (2005) argument that the EUs interests in Africa focus less on democracy promotion and more on the perceived burdens and security threats to Europe arising from political instability and conflict seems more instructive and matter of fact. 1.7 CONCLUSION The EPA negotiations to establish a Free Trade Zone between EU and ECOWAS in line with Cotonuo agreement for a period of 12 years have significant implications on the economies of ECOWAS countries. Given the structure and trade patterns of ECOWAS countries in which manufactures account for about 75% of the EUs export to ECOWAS, full liberalisation of their economies will result in loss of revenue, deindustrialisation and will make the countries to be more vulnerable in the global economy. It is less to be seen if the IEPAs/EPAs negotiations would engender trade that will result in development and poverty reduction for the West Africa sub region. The trade cooperation upon which EPAs is founded symbolises regional integration in principles but its strategy of interim EPAs among individual countries of the region and EBA for least developed countries encourages unilateralism in practice. BIBLIOGRAPHY ACP, 2010, The ACP Group, The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States http://www.acpsec.org/en/about_us.htm accessed on 07/03/2010 ACP-EEC, 1975 Lome 1 Convention, ACP-EEC Convention 1975 ACP-EEC, 2000 The Cotonou Agreement: Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of states of the one part, and the European Community and its member states, of the other part, signed in Cotonou, Benin on 23 June 2000 ACP-EEC, 2005, Agreement amending the partnership agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of states, of the one part, and the European Community and its member states, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 ACP/CE/2005/en 1 Adenikinju, A. and Alaba, O. (2005) EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements: Implication for Trade and Development in West Africa Trade Policy Research and Training Programme (TPRTP) University of Ibadan Ibadan, Nigeria Draft Paper for Presentation at the Silver Jubilee Meeting of WIDER-UNU, Helsinki, Finland, June 2005. African Union, (2006) AU COMMISSIONS PROPOSAL ON THE WTO AID FOR TRADE INITIATIVE African Union Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA Alaba, O. (2006) EU-ECOWAS EPA: Regional Integration, Trade Facilitation and Development in West Africa Trade Policy Research and Training Programme (TPRTP) University of Ibadan Ibadan, Nigeria A Draft Paper for presentation at the GTAP conference, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May, 2006. Bergtold, J. et al (2005) Lomà © to Cotonou Conventions: Trade Policy Alternatives for the Senegalese Groundnut Sector Journal of Agricultural Economics. Volume 33, number 3. 2005. pp. 315 Bilal, S. 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Rhetorical Strategies Used by President George W. Bush Essay -- Rhetor

Rhetorical Strategies Used by President George Bush After the September 11 Terrorist Attacks On September 11, 2001, the Islamist terrorist group known as al-Qaeda launched a series of terrorist attacks on the United States of America, specifically in the New York City and Washington D.C areas. Nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four planes with the intention of using them as suicide attacks that would crash those planes into designated buildings, or targets. Two of the four passenger jets were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, both of which collapsed entirely within two hours of being hit. The third plane was crashed into the Pentagon, and the west side of the building, which is the Headquarters of the US Department of Defense, partially collapsed. The fourth hijacked plane was intended for the US Capitol Building in Washington D.C, but instead crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers of the plane interfered with the hijackers. The attack on September 11th was devastatingly fatal—almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, including all of the al-Qaeda hijackers and every passenger aboard the four planes. On the evening of September 11, 2001, in the wake of these attacks, President George W. Bush issued an address to the nation. In his speech, Bush addresses the citizens of the United States, which is his target audience. However, due to the nature of the attacks, people from all over the world viewed Bush’s address from their televisions, and people from both the United States and the rest of the world were able to access the speech later on the Internet. Bush’s main purpose in his address is to issue a formal presidential response to the terrorist attack, but more i... ...s audience’s emotions of fear and sadness, but also of patriotism through charged language and by compelling his viewers to identify with the victims, in order to galvanize a sense of anger and commitment to justice, which he is able to achieve this charged language through use of metaphor and periphrasis. By presenting his argument as one of policy and supporting this claim through the formal topics of definition and concomitant, Bush is able to ultimately use his address to argue that America should be defended, because defending America means defending the doctrine of freedom itself. Works Cited Bush, George W. "A Great People Has Been Moved to Defend a Great Nation." Oval Office. Washington D.C. 11 Sept. 2001. American Rhetoric. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2013. gwbush911addresstothenation.htm>.

Criminal Justice Budget Essay

Harris County, in Houston Texas, contains a pretty large population, and a large majority of that population classified as home owners. Harris county’s geographic size is considerably large, with a population estimate exceeding 3,935,855 peoples in 2007 (US Census Bureau, 2009). Furthermore, the percentage of Caucasians is around 73. 6%, with the Black population consisting of 18. 9%, Native Americans exceeding . 6%, Asian persons around 5. 5% and lastly the Hispanic population being around 38. 6% (US Census Bureau, 2009). The land area per 200 square miles is 1,728. Harris County’s current federal spending budget for the year of 2007 is around 21, 152, 659. When determining a budget for Harris County, one important aspect to consider is the county’s retail sales, which is around 39,358,036, displaying the current of industry and economic growth. The federal government spent over 19 billion dollars in 2003 on the war on drugs, at a rate of about 600 dollars per second (www. drugsense. org). The total amount of money spent on the war on drugs at the federal level is about 4,258,600,939, while at the state level 6,536,936,825, totaling over 10,800,600,300 dollars (www. drugsense. com). The failed war on drugs has not stopped drug usage, on the contrary, it has made criminal cartels rich by illegalizing drugs, thus giving them a product to sell, and increased not only the availability and potency of drugs, but, also their rate of usage across the country. For example, after the US has spent over 500 billion dollars to fight drugs, cocaine is now as cheap as it was when kingpin Escobar died and more heavily used, furthermore, methamphetamine, which was barley even a problem in the years following 1993, is now used by over 1. 5 million Americans and is proven to be more addictive than crack (Wells, 2007). The war on drugs has put over 500,000 people behind bars for drug crimes with no discernable effect on the drug trafficking industry, if anything; it has grown (Wells, 2007). When preparing a budget for Harris County, the most important thing that could be done is ending the failed war on drugs, which would save tax payers an estimated 12 billion dollars or more a year. Furthermore, instead of focusing a majority of the states federal budget on building more prisons begin building more universities, and residential communities. I find it interesting to note that the annual cost to tax payers in California to keep and maintain their prisons is around 10 billion per year, if this spending trend continues; California will be spending more on prisons than on universities (Abramsky, 2007). In ending the war on drugs, with the billions that would be saved, tax cuts, business incentives, and an overall increase in the standard of living for the community. Furthermore, instead of building prisons, states could build real, industry that produces’ real goods. References Wells, Ben (2007) How America Lost the War on Drugs Rolling Stone retrieved on March 16, 2009 from http://www. rollingstone. com/news/story/17438347/how_america_lost_the_war_on_drugs Abramsky, Sasha (2007) Prison Crisis: Will California Spend more on jails than Universities? Rights and Liberties retrieved on March 16, 2009 from http://www. alternet. org/rights/65868/? page=entire US Census Bureau (2009) State and County quick facts The US Census Bureau on March 16, 2009 from http://quickfacts. census. gov/qfd/states/48/48201. html Unknown Author (2009) Drug War Clock Drug Sense retrieved on March 16, 2009 from http://www. drugsense. org/wodclock. htm

Sociey (Athens & US) essays

Democracy/Sociey (Athens & US) essays In this paper, I will discuss a few aspects of ancient Athenian democracy and society, as well as modern American democracy and society. First, I will outline the key points of Athenian and American democracy, then compare and contrast them. Then Ill do the same for Athenian and American Society, concluding with a comparison between the two societies. The political system of ancient Athens was a democracy. It involved all of its citizens and not merely their representatives by giving them daily access to civic affairs and political power. Both decision-making and decision enforcing were the duty of every citizen, and not just of those elected by them or of their leaders. The citizens of Athens were directly involved not only in government matters but also in matters of justice, as there was no separation of powers in ancient Athens. Although not all persons living in Athens had these political rights, no other democracy in human history provided such a level of participation. This political system, quite innovative for its times, shaped a society of a distinct character, of great sensibility and of unusual cultural achievements. Government functions were assigned to two bodies: The Assembly, which focused on policy decision-making, and the Council, which concentrated on policy implementation and administrative matters. The functi on of an executive head did not exist in ancient Athens, for no one citizen ever held so much power. Closest perhaps was the political practice, which conferred on Perikles a personal impact similar to that of a head of government. This did not derive however from his title of general, but rather from the ability to get continuously re-elected, and to influence his fellow citizens on matters of policy and courses of action pertaining to city affairs. The council (or boule) was the closest body in the Athenian democratic system to that of a contemporary government. The council consisted of 500 citizens,...

Compare and Contrast the Tudor and Stuart Dynasties essays

Compare and Contrast the Tudor and Stuart Dynasties essays Throughout history, dynasties, or a series of rulers who belong to the same family, have come and gone. No two are exactly alike. They all have similarities and differences when compared to each other. The Stuart and Tudor dynasties are no exception to the rule. Each had different views on how to rule. An example of a ruling style would be divine right. When a king or queen is said to rule by divine right, it means they believe god chose them to rule. While Elizabeth, the last and the greatest Tudor monarch, ruled somewhat by divine right, she did not rule by divine right to the extent of James I of the Stuart dynasty who felt that it was beneath his dignity to bargain with parliament over money. Instead, Elizabeth used her intelligence to get her way or for her countries financial benefit. For example, she used the hopes of a marriage to Phillip II of Spain to win diplomatic advantages with many European countries. Ruling by divine right was common of the Stuart dynasty but only Elizabeth of the Tudor family ruled in that manner. Henry VII tried desperately to have a son. He wanted to have a male heir in order to help assure that the Tudor family would continue to control the throne and prevent any fighting over who would succeed him. Six wives later, he had one son, but he died at age 15. Having male heirs was something the Tudor family was not to good at. Henrys daughters, Mary and Elizabeth both died childless. Charles I took over the throne from his father, James I, and then had two sons of his own to continue the Stuart dynasty. The dynasties are similar in that both mostly ruled England. In addition to ruling England, James I ruled Scotland also. His heir to the throne, Charles I not only ruled England and Scotland, but also ruled Ireland. While the Tudor dynasty did not have many problems with parliament, the Stuart dynasty did not cooperate well with parliament at all. James I had many quarrel...

How to Submit a Pell Grant Application

How to Submit a Pell Grant Application SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you're applying for the Pell Grant, it's important to know where the application is and how to submit it. Here's a secret: there's actually no dedicated or special application for the Pell Grant - instead, students are automatically considered for this federal aid program when they submit their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. But the FAFSA can be complicated for a lot of students since it requires info about your family and financial situation.Follow the steps in this guide in order tosubmit your FAFSA to apply for a Pell Grant! Here, we'll cover: Things to keep in mind before you get started Checking your Pell Grant deadlines The information you'll need to complete the FAFSA Submission methods Completing the Pell Grant application What to do after you submit the FAFSA Common submission questions What You Should Know Before You Get Started To be considered for ANY type of federal student aid, including the Pell Grant, you have to submit a FAFSA - there's no way around it. The good news is that many states, colleges, and universities also use information generated by the FAFSA to award other types of aid. This is good news for you! By applying for the Pell Grant, you'resubmittingan application that could also help you get other types of financial aid. More good news: it's completely free to submit the FAFSA(like it states in the name). Even if you're not sure whether you'd qualify for financial aid, you have nothing to lose by submitting the application except a few hours of your time. That could definitely be worth extra help paying for college. Finally, you should know that the FAFSA needs to be submitted annually. If you're awarded a Pell Grant one year, for example,you won't automatically receive the grant every year. Step 1: Check Your Deadlines You don't want to leave things forthe last minute. How late can you submit your application? The only Pell Grant deadline you need to worry about is the federal aid application deadline. If you hope to look into state aid as well, you also need tobe aware of your state's aid application deadline. The deadline to submit your FAFSA for federal funding for the 2015-2016 school year is June 30, 2016. You may be able to get federal aid even if you submit your application at the end of your school year. States have different application deadlines for submitting the FAFSA.You can check the deadline for your state here. When should you start the application process? Generally, the earlier you can submit your application, the better. First-time college students usuallysubmit their FAFSAs after they've been accepted to schools; these schools use information generated from the FAFSA to put together financial aid packages. You can technically submit your FAFSA as early as January 1 for the year you're entering college. Schools won't use this information, however, until after you've been admitted. If you're a current college student, you can better take advantage of this earlier timeline. It's easy to put off completing the FAFSA until you have to meet a federal or state deadline - don't do this. Some federal funding sources run out early in the application process, so it's best to apply earlier in order to maximize access to funding. Bottom line:If you're a first-time college student, plan on submitting your FAFSA immediately after you get your acceptance letters. If you're a current college student, take advantage of an earlier timeline, and apply in the spring for the following academic year. Step 2: Gather All the Information You'll Need Here's a comprehensive list of everything you need to get started with the FAFSA application: Social Security Number Alien Registration Number (if you're not a US citizen) Most recent federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of income Bank statements and investment records (if you have them) Records of untaxed income (if applicable) An FSA ID, if you plan on submitting online (we'll get to submission methods in a minute). You can get a FSA ID here. You'll also need all of the above information from your parents, even if they won't be helping you pay for school. Your parents' financial information is also taken into account when determining how much aid you may be eligible for.Here's some more specific information about getting what you need (everything listed above) from your parents: If your parents are married, gather information for both of them If your parent is widowed or single, you just need information from that one parent If your widowed parent is currently remarried, you need information from that parent + his or her spouse If your parents are divorced or separated, you need information from your custodial parent (the parent you lived with the most in the past year). If your parents have joint custody and you've spent equal time withthem during the past year, you need information from the parent who's supported you the most financially. Dependency overrides There are some special circumstances which may warrant what's called a dependecy override, where your parents' financial information is not taken into account when you apply for federal aid. Common dependency override situations include being married, having kids, homelessness, military service, being in the foster care system, or legal emancipation. If you think you could qualify for a dependency override, you should also gather any important documentation around your special circumstances (for example, any paperwork that would support your claims). Just answer the questions about these circumstances honestly when you fill out your FAFSA. The application will process as incomplete, and you'll need to follow up with the financial aid office of the school you're seeking an aid package from. Step 3: Choose Your Submission Method Choose the path that works best for you. There are two main methods to submit your FAFSA and apply for a Pell Grant. Here, I'll discuss the pros and cons of both methods. Electronic submission The electronic version of the FAFSA is easier and faster than the paper version.The FAFSA website guides you through the application process, and can even notify you about certain errors in real time. You'll receive the results from your submission - a document that tells you about your eligbility for different types of financial aid - in about 3 days. This document is called a Student Aid Report, or SAR. If you plan on submitting your FAFSA online, apply for a FSA ID for you and your parents first! You need a FSA to sign the electronic FAFSA - it can take up to three days to receive your FSA ID, so build this into your timeline. You can access the elctronic version of the FAFSA here. Paper Submission Paper FAFSAs are a bit more cumbersome than the electronic version, and take longer to file (it can be weeks before you get your SAR). Applicants also make more mistakes on the paper FAFSA, and mistakes delay the processing of your application. You should avoid paper submission if you are at all tight on time. You can get a paper copy of the FAFSA at high school guidance offices, college financial aid offices, and at many libraries. You can also download and print a copy of the application yourself here. Step 4: Set Up a Time to Complete Your Application If you've already collected all the necessary paperwork and chosen a submission method, completing the actual application shouldn't betoo difficult. You've already done most of the legwork! As I mentioned above, you need a lot of information from your parents in order to successfully complete the FAFSA. If possible, set up a time when you can go through the application together with your parents - this can help streamline the process if you have questions for them. Schedule 1-2 hours if you are submitting the application electronically. Give yourself some extra time (2-3 hours) if you are submitting a paper application. Side note: You don't need an accountant or financial aid consultant in order to fill out the FAFSA, but if you do have access to these resources, they should be able to assist you with any questions. Step 5: After You Submit The good news: if you submitted a complete FAFSA, you'll be automatically considered for a Pell Grant - no further work required! You should receive an email within 3-5 days of submission including directions to access your SAR (if you submitted electronically - if not, the process will take longer). The colleges you listed on your FAFSA will have access to your SAR shortly after you do. If your application was complete, your SAR will include something called an EFC, or Expected Family Contribution. The EFC is a number used by schools to put together financial aid packages, which can include grants, loans, and scholarships. If you are offered the Pell Grant, it will be included in schools' financial aid packages. If you ever need to check the status of your application, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information center at 1-800-433-3243. You can also log in to the FAFSA website with your FSA ID. Common Questions on the Pell Grant Application This process can be confusing - hopefully all your questions are answered here! I submitted a FAFSA last year. Do I have to do it again for this upcoming school year? Answer: Yes! You need to apply for aid every year. See Step #1 above for a guide on submission timelines. My brother/sister already submitted a FAFSA this year. Do I need to do one too? Answer: Yes - even though it might seem redundant (you're submitting the same family information, right?) each person applying for aid needs to submit their own FAFSA. I want to submit my FAFSA before my family's tax returns are ready. Can I do that? Answer: You can! You'll just need to make estimates about this information as best you can (your parents should be able to help with this). You'll have to update your application if necessary. I want to make changes to my FAFSA after I submitted it. How do I do that? Answer: You'll have to wait until after you've received your SAR before you can make changes. You can use your FSA ID to make corrections on the FAFSA website, and should receive a new SAR shortly thereafter. You can also make changes to the paper SAR if you originally submitted via snail mail - just follow instructions on the SAR, send it back in, and wait for a new SAR to be generated. What's Next? Are you still working on your college applications? Learn more about how to get into your top choice schools, or how to get into the Ivy League. Already heard back about admissions decisions? Check out how to get scholarships based on your standardized test scoresor college academic performance. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Nature - Essay Example On the contrary, natural food products are not defined by any criteria or federal laws. Moreover, they are not defined by federal or legal supervision. Consequently, food products that are labelled as natural are composed of less chemical additives and preservatives compared to other processed foods. To this end, examples of natural food products include eggs, nuts, fruits, dairy products, vegetables, beans, apples, green tea among many more. Green tea is classified as a natural food product because it undergoes minimal processing stages. Furthermore, it contains the most natural antioxidant polyphenols. The most evident polyphenols are epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) (The George Mateljan Foundation). Moreover, as a natural food product, it is consistent with an array of ingredients that can consequently be traced back to nature. Evidently, green tea is a herbal extract from green tea leaves also known by the scientific name as Camellia Sinensis. The Camellia Simensis tree contains distinct flower and herbal infusions known as tisanes. The tree can grow naturally in the wild and reach heights of up to 30 feet. However, on tree plantations it is maintained as a shrub with heights of about 3 feet through constant pruning. Evidently, the green tea leaves achieve more flavour in the event that they are grown at higher altitudes. The green tea plants produce rich foliage, a berry and, a flower similar to camellia. In terms of harvest, only the youngest and smallest tea leaves are picked for tea. Moreover, when engaging in discussion pertaining to the green tea ingredients, it is more in recognition to the nutritional value. Consequently, the ingredients of green tea mainly refer to the natural nutrients present within it. Evidently, polyphenols or catechins are nutritional ingredients in green tea (The George Mateljan Foundation). Polyphenols are vital antioxidant ingredients. Moreover, they are naturally occurring ingredients found within the green tea leaves. Mo reover, polyphenols are equally present in vegetables and fruits that grow naturally. The polyphenols are credited with protecting the body from free radical damage. In particular, the polyphenols present in green tea is known as quercetin that is also present in citrus fruits. To this end, the quercetin polyphenols is known to relieve people from asthma and allergies. Green tea also contains other ingredients such as caffeine, theophylline, flavonols or tannin,copper, essential oils, nickel, vitamin C, carotene, vitamins B1, A, B12, P and K, iron, calcium, magnesium, saponins, strontium, zinc, theobromine, wax and fat. Interestingly enough, the quantitative contents of the ingredients depend on cultivation area of the leaves. To this end, the contents are influenced by the climatic region and altitude of the cultivation area. Furthermore, the quantitative contents are equally influenced by the growth stage of the green tea leaves. . In terms of processing, the harvested tea leaves are briefly steamed. Thus making them soft, pliable, and protected them from color change or fermentation. The steaming process is soon followed by rolling the leaves out and spreading them out for drying with a pan fried in a wok or hot air. This process continues until the leaves are crisp and greenish-yellow tea colour is produced. The resulting flavour is very

Labor Economics European Union labor migration Essay

Labor Economics European Union labor migration - Essay Example That is, it sets very comprehensive goals for itself, covering economic, political, social and regional and international security policy frameworks, in addition to future plans for the expansion of the Union. As a means of understanding the European Union's path and its goals, a brief overview of the evolution process of the Union will be helpful. This overview will provide the basis for a discursive analysis of the phenomenon of labor migration within the framework of the European Union. Labor migration, as the analysis shall highlight, has proven, despite some benefits, to be highly problematic especially since the Barcelona Declaration expanded the parameters of the stated to include migrant labor from within the larger EU neighborhood. In other words, labor migration within the EU is not confined to labor flows between member countries but has been expanded, and further complicated by the inward flow of labor from without the EU. Most people would date the roots of the European Union to the 1940s, yet W.T.M. Molle, traces the roots of European integrationist dreams much further back. Specifically, during the Napoleonic era, marked by the emergence of a modern economic system, as compared to the feudal one that had come before it, certain economic policies were established in order to ease trade between the nations of the European continent.1 From that moment onwards, one finds several policies that attempt to encourage trade within the continent and overcome specific obstacles to trade. When one looks at this fact, one can conclude that from the earliest history, the European countries were guided by the understanding that regional trade and economic links were important for the economies of the different countries and for the purpose of development. The current structure of the European Union, however, does not have its roots in the policies discussed above; those policies only indicate the historical understanding of the importance of regional economic cooperation. Instead, the roots of the current structure are to be found in three distinct treaties. These, as mentioned by Molle, are the "ECSC, the EEC and the EAECP.2 These three treaties are the foundations of the European Union that has emerged nowadays, despite the fact of their having been limited in terms of countries that had been involved and the treaties themselves. For instance, the ECSC was a steel trading treaty that involved only six European nations. This can not be compared in scope to the current structure of the Union but, the fact of the matter is that the success of the Union and the reason why it has emerged today as a model for deep integration is that it proceeded in a step by step manner, dealing with limited areas of economic cooperation and limited numb ers of countries so that they could stabilize each step and move safely to a new level of expanding integration.3 Even though the European Union sought to stabilize and fortify each step in the unification process before progression to the next step, problems inevitably arose. Among the more challenging of these problems directly pertains to the removal of restrictions on capital flow, included in which is labor. The comparatively unchecked labor movement between the variant member countries, on the one hand, and from the larger neighborhood, on

Strategic Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Strategic Management - Case Study Example Inaugurated in 1999, the company’s 16 years of existence has proved remarkably beneficial in the global energy mix, crafting ultra-modern ideas that have contributed to resolving present day energy needs such as supply reliability, fuel cost volatility and overall conserving the earths scarce natural resources and fossil fuels with its exclusive cadmium telluride (CdTe) film technology, successfully achieving the undermost leveled cost of electricity (LCOE) in the entire industry. They also extraordinarily lowered manufacturing costs to the bare minimum i.e. less than a dollar per watt, another record breaker, and a new goal limit set for capital efficiency. (Citation, year) This success, although seen to only further excel, faced new rivalries in 2011, hence leading to the gradual decline of their electric empire in the solar module industry. Specializing in the production of crystal silicon (c-Si), these emergent companies such as Trina, Yingli and Suntech raced to not only reach but overcome these newly set standards, rapidly reducing overall manufacturing costs and increasing output. In 2013, Suntech replaced First Solar acclaiming the number one position of modules worldwide. Several strategic issues had surfaced due to which First Solar led to its downfall. Of the two major reasons, the first is that these new entrants began selling crystalline-silicon solar panels for less than a dollar, creating a price clash. Secondly, the silicon solar panels proved more efficient than the thin-filmed cadmium-telluride solar panels hence consumers preferred the newer products over theirs as they were getting better quality and reliability for the same price. Although a major part of their profits were accumulated from their solar power plants and installation, these low budgeted and better quality Chinese panels forced

Operations management of Tesco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 16

Operations management of Tesco - Essay Example This paper illustrates that in the UK the largest food retailer is Tesco. It has around 2,318 stores across the world in different locations. In the UK itself, it has around 1,878 stores spread widely across in different parts of the country. Tesco also operates in Asia and Europe. The company headquarters is in Hertfordshire, in the UK. The online website of the company that is Tesco.com is completely owned subsidiary providing complete service through the online service. It also has two other different online platforms tesco.net and also tescodirect.com. Tesco gives its customer the option for both online and offline services. Tesco has both the type of customers external and also internal. The company has over 326,000 employees across all the stores of the company in the whole world. Tesco sells about 40,000 food items in its superstores along with apparels and also other items. It has its own products under three labels which are value, finest and normal. The company gets 50% of sales from its own products. The company has many stores with gas stations. It has become one of the major largest petrol retailers in the country. Tesco also has the service for personal finance as in joint venture with Royal Bank of Scotland. The company has over 3.4 million customers by providing various services, products and also financial services. The market share for grocery companies has grown in a huge way over the years. With the start of online retailing the retail market has taken a new look and the online market store has started to gain a lot of popularity in the market. Research done by Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD), in the UK has found that the rate at which Tesco is growing is going to increase in the next few years. The growth of the company will increase at a high pace because of its online platforms that have customers to buy products online.

What were the major characteristics of the urban culture that Essay

What were the major characteristics of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America - Essay Example Earlier, in the ages of slavery and racial isolation, diversity was far away from the limelight of urban cultural life. But the urban cultural scenario in the late nineteenth-century inculcated diversity to its core by showing acceptance without considering one’s culture, ethnicity, race, color and gender. Besides, diversity is the base of the urban culture of America. The African Americans, people from different parts of Asia makes the American society more diverse. The urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America helped the society to be well prepared for further development in following centuries. Another important characteristic of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America was ward politics or importance gained by local politics in national political scenario. As the urban society was more diverse, ward politics helped the diverse population to gain representation in national politics. Besides, restrictions upon voting franchise, like qualification on property and tax were lifted. This helped the people to participate in local, state and national levels without any pressure from the side of major political parties. Popular culture of simply ‘pop culture’ is one of the major characteristics of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America. Popular culture originated in 19th century and developed in 20th century. The urban culture in the 19th century provided enough space for popular culture to express emotion, views, ideas and perspectives of lower class people. Still, popular culture deeply influences urban culture in America. Summing, the unique characteristics of urban culture in late nineteenth-century America added a lot to its development in following centuries. The racial, lingual and cultural diversity in the urban culture was helpful to inculcate innovation to the core of American society. Besides, ward politics in local

Inclusion and Fairness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Inclusion and Fairness - Essay Example der to understand the issues that arise in education, we must first look at what we mean by "Autism Spectrum." This definition is applied to a series of disorders classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as Communication Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. 65). Children with this disabilities have challenges with social development and communication. Many may not be able to interact with peers and have a variety of nonverbal behaviours (p. 66). According to the checklist for ASD, children have: According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the spectrum has different forms ranging from severe autism to Asperger Syndrome. The Autism Spectrum Disorders are usually detected between the ages of one and three, usually by parents. However, about 50% are not diagnosed until at least kindergarten. Most children with ASD have challenges in many areas. Socially they avoid eye contact and dont participate in the day to day human interaction with their parents or other siblings. They generally avoid physical contact. Many children with ASD dont talk in the first few years like other children. Some may start out making baby sounds but stop. Others may not develop language until much later in their development. Some can learn sign language or other ways of gesturing. Order and consistency of routine are very important. Some children may line up their toys in specific ways. If something is moved, the child becomes anxious (NIMH). Because of this, it is important with ASD children to have a strict routine--any deviation from this routine will be distressing for them. These are the many challenges that a child will have inside the classroom as well. According to Barnard, Prior and Potter (2000), inclusion means that all children must be able to have appropriate learning. They did several surveys to see whether this was happening for children in mainstream classrooms. In one of the

What were the major characteristics of the urban culture that Essay

What were the major characteristics of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America - Essay Example Earlier, in the ages of slavery and racial isolation, diversity was far away from the limelight of urban cultural life. But the urban cultural scenario in the late nineteenth-century inculcated diversity to its core by showing acceptance without considering one’s culture, ethnicity, race, color and gender. Besides, diversity is the base of the urban culture of America. The African Americans, people from different parts of Asia makes the American society more diverse. The urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America helped the society to be well prepared for further development in following centuries. Another important characteristic of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America was ward politics or importance gained by local politics in national political scenario. As the urban society was more diverse, ward politics helped the diverse population to gain representation in national politics. Besides, restrictions upon voting franchise, like qualification on property and tax were lifted. This helped the people to participate in local, state and national levels without any pressure from the side of major political parties. Popular culture of simply ‘pop culture’ is one of the major characteristics of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America. Popular culture originated in 19th century and developed in 20th century. The urban culture in the 19th century provided enough space for popular culture to express emotion, views, ideas and perspectives of lower class people. Still, popular culture deeply influences urban culture in America. Summing, the unique characteristics of urban culture in late nineteenth-century America added a lot to its development in following centuries. The racial, lingual and cultural diversity in the urban culture was helpful to inculcate innovation to the core of American society. Besides, ward politics in local

Is Humor Persuasive Essay Example for Free

Is Humor Persuasive Essay Humor can be one of the most effective tools to use with persuasion, as it can provide many benefits with very little cost or drawback. Some of the benefits of using humor to communicate an argument include increased attention span, an overall more enjoyable reading experience, not to mention the comfortable environment comedy will give for the writer to communicate their ideas. Enter humor columnist Dave Barry and his essay, â€Å"Road Warrior,† which introduces the quality of road rage that is said affect the American public today, and he also sheds a humorous light on how easily people are angered. His use of various techniques in his writing makes his approach to the problem of road rage effective, because humor can make something that is tedious become interesting. The techniques he utilizes include the use of metaphors, rhetorical questions (a figure of speech in the form of a question without the expectation of a reply), capitalized words, sarcasm (a sharp, bitter, or cutting remark; or a bitter taunt), and labeling. Barry’s use of humor in his writing contributed greatly to the overall effectiveness of the essay. Through the use of humor, Barry not only contributes to the overall funny tone of the essay, but he sheds a humorous light on a rather tense subject. Road rage is a disease that has been affecting motorists since the time when horsepower compared the power of vehicles to that of the horse. People have been known to express anger towards various situations in many different ways, most commonly being â€Å"flipping the bird. † First, road rage can cause stress while someone travels, which would in turn create health problems. Secondly, road rage can be deadly whether a person is the victim or the offender, as some accidents are known to have been caused by chancy driving due to road rage. Essentially, road rage is an important quality to try to avoid in today’s society for those two very important reasons, and more. The first reason why Barry’s essay was effective is his use of metaphors. Barry uses metaphors throughout the essay to describe the various types of anger he experiences in daily life. For example, in paragraph four, Barry compares the size of Miami driver’s brains to cashews when he is introducing Miami as the Inappropriate Lane Driving Capital of the World,† due to â€Å"being tailgated and occasionally bumped from behind by testosterone driven youth. † Barry will also use a metaphor when he compares the speed that some motorists travel in the â€Å"fast lane† to that of diseased livestock when describing slower travelling Miami drivers who travel in the left hand lane or the â€Å"fast lane. † Another reason why Barry’s essay is effective is his use of rhetorical questions and capitalization of key words. During his description of â€Å"Parking Lot Rage,† he asks â€Å"What the hell are they doing in there? when describing the times that he would look for a parking spot, and wait for somebody to vacate theirs. He goes on to describe instances where â€Å"nobody ever  signals or yields, and people are constantly  cutting us off,† during his description of the problem of youth with aggressive driving habits he also asks â€Å"After a while we start to feel some rage, OK? You got a problem with that, mister news media opinion-maker? † These questions and capitalized words are Barryâ€℠¢s own way of putting emphasis on certain points, which contributes a unique touch to the essay. A third reason why Barry’s essay was effective is Barry’s use of sarcasm in his writing. His use of sarcasm gives a sense of playfulness, which skillfully keeps true to his underlying meaning. For example, in paragraph six, Barry refers to the left hand lane as a public recreational area when he is talking about drivers that will travel slowly in the left lane. Barry is also sarcastic while he is describing the driver training youth receive in Miami, stating â€Å"we are being tailgated and occasionally bumped from behind by testosterone driven youths who got their driver training from watching the space-fighter battle scenes in Star Wars. He is being sarcastic about the fact that youth in Miami get their driver training from watching space-fighter battle scenes in Star Wars. Lastly, another reason why Barry’s essay is effective is his coining of his own terms when labeling the various events that upset him in his daily life. Such as, in paragraph six, Barry labels Miami as the â€Å"Inappropriate Lane Driving Capital Of The World,† while speaking about the slower travelling motorists that stay in the left lane. Barry also comes up with a name for another upsetting occurrence he experiences, which he refers to as â€Å"way too many product choices rage† when describing the difficulty of having so many options to choose from when shopping for grocery items. In conclusion, Barry deftly uses various techniques to get his ideas across, including metaphors, rhetorical questions, capitalized words, sarcasm, labeling, and humor; which not only contributes to the overall funny tone of the essay, but he is able to shed a humorous light on a rather tense subject.

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Introduction The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967 by Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration in Bangkok. ASEANs objectives were to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region. To promote regional peace and stability, active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields. ASEAN was subsequently expanded over the years to include Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia making up the ten member states of ASEAN today. Despite the expansion, the objectives and working principles of ASEAN have remained unchanged throughout the years. The ASEAN way of informal networking had been effective in creating a cohesive, peaceful and economically successful ASEAN bloc. This essay will address the question of ASEANs relevance to stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia in three parts. First, the essay will attempt to examine the power-balancing role of US in Southeast Asia. Secondly, the essay will analyze the conditions under which ASEAN was created to illustrate how ASEANs objectives are aligned with stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia. Lastly, this essay will explore in more depth how ASEAN remains essential to the stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia. The essay shall then conclude why the interpretation of MM Lees words is not accurate in current context and why ASEAN is not merely a supplement to the power-balancing role played by the US. Power-Balancing Role of US in Southeast Asia The strategic presence of US in Southeast Asia has not prevented USs allies and partners in the region from low-intensity conflicts and non-traditional threats. For example, there is still a high incident rate of piracy activities in the Malacca straits, Singapore straits and South China Sea. The strategic presence of the US has also not provided any security to the states in Southeast Asia from the attack by terrorist groups. Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia had all fallen victim to terrorist bombing, not once, but on several occasions. The attacks might even be triggered by the close ties between US and the states in Southeast Asia. The terrorist would have view the states as being pro-US thus became a target for the terrorist groups. The third Indochina War was officially brought to a close with the October 1991 agreements at the Paris Conference (PICC). With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the regional role of the US is no longer being shaped by the American Cold War imperatives in Southeast Asia. Impetuses for the Founding of ASEAN Most Southeast Asian states, less Thailand, attained political independence after centuries of foreign domination and colonization after the end of World War II. As such, nation building was the primary focus of ASEAN during its early years of formation. Furthermore, forming a regional organisation could fill the power vacuum left by the major powers, which used the region for proxy wars and major power rivalry. ASEAN provided a platform for the newly independent states to concentrate in their nation building and economic development. ASEAN was thus formed to create a peaceful and stable environment for nation building and growth among the Southeast Asian states. Despite the wish for peace and stability, the world in the 1960s era was embroiled in the war against communism. Communist threat to existing governments at that time was severe. The region was overwhelmed with communist insurgencies and there were imminent danger of communism spreading across Southeast Asia. Economic growth, a means to prevent the spread of communism was thus another important objective for the formation of ASEAN. Although Southeast Asia faced a common enemy, suspicions and distrust caused by Konfrontasi, the Malaysia-Indonesia Confrontation was prevalent among the member states. With the change in political leadership in Indonesia in 1966 with Suhartos replacement of Sukarno as Indonesias President, this spells the end of Sukarno regime and the end of Konfrontasi. It was also the beginning of Suhartos New Order regime and Good Neighbour policy. In order to achieve peace and stability in the region, it was important to first restore confidence and reassure Southeast Asia of Indonesias peaceful intentions. As a result, ASEAN was formed under the principle of non-interference in each others domestic affairs to create a tolerant environment for members to engage without suspicion and doubts. Given the above conditions, ASEAN was formed with the objectives to promote regional peace and stability, co-operation, economic development, and generating social and cultural progress. Defence arrangement such as SEATO was deliberately avoided to prevent being seen as overly pro-Western and provoking to Vietnam. ASEANs Achievements It has been four decades since ASEAN was founded. The achievements of ASEAN cannot be downplayed, for the fact that ASEAN is the one and only permanent regional association in Asia. Stability of Southeast Asia ASEAN had provided the framework for regional stability. The ASEAN Way of doing things had proven its strength based on how far ASEAN have came since its founding. The specific features of ASEAN Way are: informal process of interaction, informality, quiet diplomacy, dialogue and consultation, self-restraint, flexible consensus, lowest common denominator emphasis, conflict avoidance. They also respect each others National sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-use of force etc. standard Intl Relations principles. Their mode of operations is process-orientated and network-based model of co-operation that avoids bureaucratic arrangements. The Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia (TAC) was signed by the member states of ASEAN in Feb 1976. The purpose of this Treaty is to promote perpetual peace, everlasting amity and co-operation among their peoples which would contribute to their strength, solidarity and closer relationship. This treaty has seen a growing number of countries outside Southeast Asia accepting it. In 2004, four more countries acceded to the treaty, namely, Japan, Pakistan, Republic of Korea and Russia. The ASEAN Social and Cultural Community (ASCC) was form to achieve a socially cohesive and caring ASEAN. It is intended to foster co-operation in addressing a grab bag of social and cultural problems associated with rural poverty, population growth, unemployment, human resources development, education, environment, and health. An example of the level of co-operation the member states have can be seen in the incident of SARs outbreak in Asia. ASEAN has been proactive in seeking to contain infectious diseases, which know no border. During the outbreak, a special ASEAN Leaders Meeting in Bangkok was called in Apr 2003; the ASEAN heads of government mandated a comprehensive regional response to the threat posed by the disease, the spread of which was wreaking havoc on their economies. Although the actual job of fighting the spread of the disease fell to the public health officials of the states, the coordination of measures was carried out at the health minister level of the ASEAN +3. Another example is the Singapore-Malaysia dispute over Pedra Branca islands. Both countries laid claim to the Pedra Branca islands although Singapore had been the custodian of the Horsburg Lighthouse situated on the island throughout the last century. The dispute could not be resolved within ASEAN; however, both Singapore and Malaysia had agreed to bring it to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2007. This dispute came to an end with the ICJ ruling sovereignty of Pedra Branca to Singapore and that of Middle Rocks to Malaysia. ASEAN also manage to resolve the Cambodian crisis during the 1980s thru the ASEAN-Post Ministerial Conference (ASEAN-PMC) which assumed its current form when the US, Canada and Japan joined in 1978. Security of Southeast Asia TheZone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN)declaration was signed in 1971 by the Foreign Ministers of theASEANmember states (Indonesia,Malaysia, thePhilippines,SingaporeandThailand). In the declaration, the parties publicly stated their intent to keepSouth East Asiafree from any form or manner of interference by outside Powers and broaden the areas of co-operation. The ASEAN Regional Forum was formed in 1994 with the objective of promoting peace and security through dialogue and co-operation in the Asia Pacific. It is important that ARF continue to play its role in the political and security dialogue as well as confidence building. TheSoutheast AsianNuclear-Weapon-Free ZoneTreaty(SEANWFZ) of 1995, orBangkok Treaty, is anuclear weapons moratorium treaty between 10 Asian member-states under the auspices of theASEAN. It entered into force on March 28, 1997 and obliges its members not to develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapon. This is crucial to both confidence building in Southeast Asia and to worldwide nuclear disarmament. Vietnam has joined ASEAN in 1995 and the ARF, and the long overdue normalization of relations between the US and Vietnam has finally happened, under the influence of ASEAN. The Vientiane Action Programme (VAP) adopted at the 10th ASEAN Summit contained several measures to guide ASEANs effort in countering terrorism from 2005 2010. These measures form the preparatory steps to the establishment of an ASEAN Extradition Treaty as envisaged by the ASEAN Security Community (ASC) Plan of Action. Prosperity of Southeast Asia One of the main objectives of ASEAN is to improve economic development. ASEAN has since negotiated for Free-Trade Agreements (FTA) with various dialogue partners of ASEAN. The FTAs were established with Australia New Zealand, China, India, Japan and Republic of Korea. Since 2000, European Commission and ASEAN are already discussing trade and investment issues at Ministerial (EC-ASEAN Economic Ministers) and official (Senior Economic Official Meeting) levels. The key challenge is to promote region-to-region economic relations, particularly by addressing non-tariff barriers through regulatory co-operation using the framework of TREATI (the Trans-Regional EU-ASEAN Trade Initiative), and ultimately to lay the foundations for a preferential regional trade agreement in the future. The Trans-Regional EU-ASEAN Trade Initiative (TREATI) is a framework for dialogue and regulatory co-operation developed to enhance EU trade relations with ASEAN. Study for an EU- ASEAN FTA was then initialed in 2005 and making good progress. In 2006, EU-ASEAN trade represented 5% of total world trade. The EU is ASEANs 2nd largest trading partner, accounting for 11.7% of ASEAN trade (2006). Significantly, 13% of ASEAN exports are destined for the EU, which makes it ASEANs 2nd largest export market after the US. ASEAN as an entity represents the EUs 5th largest major trading partner, accounting to 127 billion EUR, just ahead of Norway and equivalent to Japan. ASEANs trade with the EU has been growing steadily over the past five years, with an average annual growth rate of 4%. On average, EU companies have invested 5.1 billion EUR a year for the period 2003 to 2005. EU is thus by far the largest investor in ASEAN countries: 27% of total FDI inflows from 2001 to 2005 come from the EU, compared to 15% for the US. Conclusion ASEAN was formed during the era of inter-state distrust and the uprising of communism. ASEAN was thus established with the objectives of promoting regional peace, stability and economic progress to facilitate nation building among member states. The working principles, the ASEAN Way of non-interference, informal understanding and consensus building based on lowest common denominator have been effectual in attaining the objectives of ASEAN. The introduction of new member states including Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, had fulfill the dream of including all the countries in Southeast Asia into ASEAN. It can be seen that the strategic presence of US in the region can no longer guarantee the security of the states in Southeast Asia, especially in the current era of non-conventional threats piracy and terrorism. As such, the interpretation of Mr Lees words is not accurate in todays context. Over the last four decades, ASEAN have certainly achieved plentiful in all areas of stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia. The ASEAN Way has been successful in promoting regional co-operation and economic development. The nations of Southeast Asia were able to leave their historic rivalries behind them in the name of ASEAN unity. They have also taken the lead to create the ASEAN Regional Forum to engage all their Asia-Pacific neighbours for the first time, to discuss in a structured dialogue on wide-ranging Asian security issues. The Prime Minister of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Mr Bounnhang Vorachith, 29 Nov 2004, said, The role of ASEAN has been increasingly recognised in ensuring peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region, through the ARF, with ASEAN as the primary driving force. In conclusion, ASEAN have proven its commitment and achievements through all the ministerial meetings, Communities and forums that it is still relevance to the stability, security and prosperity of Southeast Asia. The fact that EU and the Asia-Pacific states are willing to co-operate with ASEAN; is a testimonial and recognition of ASEANs achievements. It is not merely an adjunct or supplement to the power-balancing role played by the United States. The role of ASEAN is indeed central to the regions well being.

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea and Like Water for Chocolat

Separation between lovers, sisters, or close friends can instill vivid emotions from characters in a novel. Emotions are often evoked through the sense-impressions, thoughts and memories of principal characters. At the same time, departure develops characterization, placing emphasis on a medley of styles and voices employed by writers. Both The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea (hereafter referred to as Sailor) by Yukio Mishima, translated by John Nathan, and Like Water for Chocolate (hereafter referred to as Chocolate) by Laura Esquivel, translated by Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen, reveal a stark contrast between characters’ departures. In Mishima’s novel, departing is an emotionally painful affair between Ryuji and Fusako; whereas through magic realism in Chocolate, departure acts as a release from a tyrannical household, taking readers to a more personalised understanding of characterisation and gender stereotypes central to the narratives. This essa y will compare the importance and consequences of departures in both novels. The dramatic and emotional effect of Ryuji’s parting from Fusako in Sailor insinuates the incompetence and hollowness of women in a post-war Japanese society. Although Fusako accepts that Ryuji’s departure is temporary, she is positively traumatized. Fusako is in desperate need of a masculine figure, as she muses, â€Å"tomorrow, the thick fingers twined in her own would plunge over the horizon† (Mishima, 1965, pg. 73), allowing us to acknowledge the full extent of Fusako’s fear of abandonment. Ryuji’s, â€Å"thick fingers† symbolises his protective and dominant nature, while the hyperbole, â€Å"plunge over the horizon† is suggestive of Ryuji forgetting her over the vastness of the sea. The use of col... ...ama Elena in Chocolate, and departures influence women to display an honourable degree of strength – birthing, reanimating, and recovering – in the novel. The departure of characters in Sailor, however, enables Mishima to explore Japanese in a moral and cultural decline when Emperor Hirohito surrenders. The misery that washes over Fusako after Ryuji’s departure projects her character as an epitome of the artificiality and absurdity of life in post-WW2 Japan. Nevertheless, Fusako’s development as the powerful and oppressive breadwinner of the household establishes recognition of the invincibility of women. In the eyes of this analyst, I can conclude that in times of hardship, female characters are the ones advocating values of their own with utmost control, and to that extent, successfully approach and react to the event of departure with determination and empathy.

Bad Apples Essay -- English Literature Essays

Bad Apples "A Poison Tree" by William Blake is a short poem about life in general. The poem teaches its readers a valuable lesson about anger. Anger has power over ones’ mind and actions. If a person holds in their feelings, especially anger, it can pull that person down emotionally as evident in the poem "A Poison Tree". This poem written by William Blake describes the darker emotions such as anger, hatred and Schadenfreude. The poem refers to "apple bright" in the garden which may lead readers to infer a Biblical reference to the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Man, inflicting death upon his foe, is more cruel than the God of Genesis who banished the sinners from paradise. Paradise is a place that God created for Adam and Eve at the beginning of time. The fruit mentioned in the Bible is that of a forbidden tree whose mortal taste brought death into the world and all our woe. The poem mainly deals with anger. The beginning of the poem begins by depicting a scenario in which a man told his friend he was angry with him, yet they were able to work out their differences and resolve the issue. His anger dissipated shortly afterwards, and the friendship continued to grow like a seedling soon becomes a tree with strong roots. Blake was also angry at his enemy, but Blake could not do the same as he did with his friend. He keeps his anger secret from his enemy. Blake made a mistake by not allowing his anger to escape. His anger grew both day and night. H...

Countries trade products Essay

In the world market, countries trade products they wouldn’t be able to produce on their own. Countries like Cuba specializes in cigar production, Japan in electronics, and Russia in rocket technology. However, even if a country has an absolute advantage in producing all goods, they still will benefit from trade. Many economic factors are involved with trade. Among the major factors are opportunity costs, comparative advantage, specialization and finally trade. Opportunity cost is defined as the value of the best alternative forgone when an item or activity is chosen. In other words, opportunity cost is the cost of choice. For example: the opportunity cost of producing a car is the time that could’ve been used to produce something else, say paper. For a country (country A) that has an absolute advantage ( the ability to produce something using fewer resources than other producers use ) in producing both cars and paper, the opportunity cost of producing say, 1 car is the production of 3 tons of paper. Thus, what product a country chooses to specialize on must be chosen so as to produce as much as possible while suffering as little opportunity cost as possible. Which goods the country should specialize on should be monitored by the law of comparative advantage, which states that: the country with the lowest opportunity cost of producing a particular good should specialize in producing that good. By specializing on a certain good, a country lowers the opportunity cost of that good by forgoing production of other goods. For example: Say country A has an absolute advantage in producing cars as well as paper, and the opportunity cost of producing 1 car is 3 tons of paper. Country B however, produces 1 car at an opportunity cost of 6 tons of paper. If these two countries specialized according to comparative advantage, country A produces 2 cars whilst country B produces 12 tons of paper. Therefore, country B should concentrate on solely producing paper and hand over the job of car production entirely to country A. To gain the maximum benefits of specialization among countries, countries should trade their products with products from other countries. In the example above, the total output of cars and paper has increased as a result  of specialization. But exactly how much should both countries trade to gain the highest possible benefits? By trading 1 car for 4 tons of paper, country A will gain 1 ton of paper while country B gains 2 tons of paper. Hence, both countries gain more paper by trade without increasing their resources. Country A Country B Cars Paper (tons) Cars Paper (tons) Without trade: Production and consumption 1 3 1 6 With Trade: Production 2 0 0 12 Trade Gives 1 Gets 4 Gets 1 Gives 4 Consumption 1 4 1 8 Gains from Trade: Increase in Consumption None +1 ton None +2 tons In conclusion, all the economic factors mentioned combined with trade allows benefits even to a country that has the ability to produce goods while using fewer resources than other countries.

Biofilm-Mediated Enhanced Crude Oil Degradation by

International Research Journal of Environment Sciences________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414 Vol. 2(2), 48-52, February (2013) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. Isolation, Characterization and Identification of Diesel Engine Oil Degrading Bacteria from Garage Soil and Comparison of their Bioremediation Potential Teli Nikhil1, Verma Deepa2, Gavankar Rohan1 and Bhalerao Satish3 1 Department of Biotechnology, Viva College, Virar (W), Maharashtra, INDIA 2 Department of Botany, Viva College, Virar (w), Maharashtra, INDIA 3 Department of Botany, Wilson College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA Available online at: www. sca. in Received 30th November 2012, revised 12th January 2013, accepted 25th January 2013 Abstract The rate of biodegradation of diesel engine oil by microorganisms isolated from garage soil (petroleum contaminated soil) was studied. Modified diesel engine oil medium was used and two most abundant microorganisms were isolated from garage soil – Micrococcus sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were found to be hydrocarbon degraders and these two bacteria’s were selected for the degradation test. The degradation of diesel engine oil was monitored at a five day interval up to twenty five day period, using gravimetric method.After 25 days of incubation period, Pseudomonas sp. degraded 67. 57 % of the oil and Micrococcus sp. with 52. 95 %. But the mixture of Micrococcus sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were found to have great potential to degrade diesel engine oil i. e. 89. 98 % after 25 days. The rate of degradation of diesel engine oil by Micrococcus sp. was found to be 7. 48 x 10-4gm/hr and that of Pseudomonas sp. was 9. 55 x 10-4gm/hr while the mixture of both bacterial isolates showed highest rate of degradation of diesel engine oil i. e. 1. 27 x 10-3gm/hr.Keywords: Bioremediation, Diesel engine oil, oil spills, hydrocarbon degraders, Micrococcus sp. , Pseudomonas sp. Introduction As we dig deeper into the modern industrial age of technologies, several aspects of human life change. People benefit largely from life development and many live in prosperity, but prosperity has a price. This price is paid by our environment that suffers daily from all kinds of pollutants and destruction. People now have to find ways to cure this destruction. Oil contamination is one of the most dangerous pollution factors known today.It can cause a threat to the environment. It is very feared by environmentalists and it's very hard to control if it gets out of hand. Oil spills have been a major issue across decades. One of the famous oil spills which are also ongoing is in Taylor Energy Well in Gulf of Mexico, U. S. A caused due to Hurricane; Sept 16, 2004 till present date and almost 0. 03- 0. 05 tones oil/per day is estimated to leak. Another recent oil spill was in Mumbai (India) and caused due to the leakage in Mumbai-Uran pipeline dated January 21, 2011 and about 55 tons of oil was leaked in Arabian Sea.Various such accidents occur throughout the years and it causes damage to our surrounding. Diesel engine oil, which is one of the major products of crude oil, constitutes a major source of pollution in our environment. With the combined dependence on diesel engine oil by some vehicles and generators, greater quantities are being transported over long distances. Therefore diesel engine oil can enter into the environment through wrecks of oil tankers carrying diesel oil, cleaning of diesel tanks by merchants, war ships carrying diesel oil and motor mechanics1. Diesel oil spills on agricultural land generally reduce plant growth.Suggested reasons for the reduced plant growth in diesel oil contaminated soils range from direct toxic effect on plants2 and reduced germination to unsatisfactory soil condition due to insufficient aeration of the soil because of the displacement of air from the space between the soil particles by diesel engine oil3. Among several clean–up techniques available to remove petroleum hydrocarbons fr om the soil and groundwater, bioremediation processes are gaining ground due to their simplicity, higher efficiency and cost–effectiveness when compared to other technologies4.This study was therefore designed to monitor the rate of biodegradation of diesel engine oil (hydrocarbon) by microorganisms isolated from garage soil (petroleum contaminated soil), by using gravimetric method. Material and Methods Preparation of modified diesel oil medium: The modified diesel oil medium comprised of 0. 7 gm K2HPO4, 0. 1 gm (NH4)2SO4, 0. 3 gm KH2PO4, 0. 3 gm MgSO4 7H2O, 2. 2 gm agar – agar5. The mineral components of the medium were dissolved in 100 ml of distilled water and mixed with 2 ml of Gulf diesel engine oil. The medium was autoclaved at 121oC for 15 min. International Science Congress Association 8 International Research Journal of Environment Sciences______________________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414 Vol. 2(2), 48-52, February (2013) Int. Res. J. Envir onment Sci. Enrichment of microorganisms: Microorganisms capable of degrading diesel engine oil were enriched in sterile modified diesel engine oil medium by inoculating soil (which was collected from Maharashtra garage, 65 years old garage at Sewri) in to the medium in 250 ml conical flask. 0. 5 gm of this garage soil was inoculated in to the 100 ml of sterile modified diesel oil broth and allowed to incubate at 37oC for 1 week.Isolation of microorganisms: After 1 week of incubation period, 1 drop of enriched culture was spread on to the sterile modified diesel oil agar plate. The plate was incubated at 37oC for 48 hr. After 48 hr incubation; two different bacterial colonies were selected from incubated plate. Each bacterial colony type was sub cultured repeatedly onto sterile nutrient agar plates to obtain a pure culture. Pure cultures of bacterial isolates were identified on the basis of their colonial morphology, cellular morphology and biochemical characteristics according to t he taxonomic scheme of Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology6.Determination of microbial colony numbers for degradation studies: 5 ml of sterile Nutrient broth was aseptically inoculated with a loopful of pure culture of Colony 1(C1) in first test tube and Colony 2 (C2) in second test tube and incubated both the tubes at 37oC for 24 hr. After incubation, the numbers of organisms present in one ml of nutrient broth were determined by spread plate method. The numbers of organisms were adjusted in both the tubes in such a way that both the isolates contain approximately equal numbers of microorganism in one ml of sample by using sterile Nutrient broth as a diluent7.Soil sample collection and preparation: Top surface soil sample was collected from the premises of the Shahid Bhagatsingh Ground, Kalachowki; in sterilized plastic containers. Soil sample meant for degradation studies was sterilized using autoclave at 121oC for 15 min, after which it was allowed to cool to roo m temperature for further treatments. Description and treatment of samples: Test: i. 12 samples of 15 gm sterilized soil mixed with 1 ml (0. 848 gm) of Sterile Gulf diesel engine oil + 0. 2 ml culture of C1, ii. 12 samples of 15 gm sterilized soil mixed with 1 ml (0. 48 gm) of Sterile Gulf diesel engine oil + 0. 2 ml culture of C 2, iii. 12 samples of 15 gm sterilized soil mixed with 1 ml (0. 848 gm) of Sterile Gulf diesel engine oil + 0. 1 ml culture of C1+ 0. 1 ml culture of C 2 Control: 12 samples of 15 gm sterilized soil mixed with 1 ml (0. 848 gm) of Sterile Gulf diesel engine oil + 0. 2 ml of sterile distilled water. Diesel oil degradation studies: The ability of C1, C2 and mixture of both the bacterial isolates to degrade diesel oil was monitored on the first day (day zero) of the study and subsequently at 5-day interval for 25 days.Carbon tetrachloride was employed as an extractant. On each day, two samples per single treatment were analyzed for the quantity of residual dies el oil7. Each of the 15gm soil treatment samples was mixed with 40 ml of carbon tetrachloride, placed in a separating conical flask, shaken vigorously for 3 min and allowed to settle for 5 min. The liquid phase was separated by allowing the supernatant (diesel oil – carbon tetrachloride) to pass gradually through a funnel fitted with filter paper (Whatman No 1). Anhydrous sodium sulphate spread on the filter paper was employed to remove any moisture in the mixture.The liquid phase was collected in a 50-ml pre-weighed beaker. The beaker containing the extract was placed in an oven and the extractant allowed to evaporate at 50oC. The beaker with the residual diesel oil was allowed to cool to room temperature and weighed to determine the quantity of residual diesel oil by difference8. Results and Discussion In this study, the soil samples were gathered from the garage (oil contaminated site) because the capability of native bacterial population to mineralize crude oil hydrocarbo ns in oil contaminated sites was confirmed before by many scientists9.The rate of biodegradation of Diesel engine oil by hydrocarbonoclastic organisms isolated from garage soil were assessed. Table – 1 and table – 2 shows that, using cultural characteristics and biochemical characteristics, two bacterial isolates; Micrococcus sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were identified by compairing it with the Bergey's manual of determinative bacteriology. The number of CFU/ml of both the bacterial isolates was adjusted to 7. 88 x 107 CFU/ml for degradation studies. The biodegraders which were Micrococcus sp. , Pseudomonas sp. and Mixture of both the culture showed different abilities in the breakdown and utilization of the diesel engine oil. Character Colony 1 Colony 2 Size 1-2 mm 2-3 mm Table-1 Colony characteristics of bacterial isolates on Nutrient agar plate Shape Elevation Colour Consistency Circular Irregular Convex Flat Yellowish Fluorescent green Butyrous Mucoidal Opacity Opaque Translucent International Science Congress Association 49 International Research Journal of Environment Sciences______________________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414 Vol. 2(2), 48-52, February (2013) Int.Res. J. Environment Sci. Table-2 Biochemical characteristics of bacterial isolates C1 Positive Cocci Clusters No spore Non motile Positive Negative Negative Negative Positive No Fermentation No Fermentation No Fermentation No Fermentation Acidic, No gas, No H2S Negative Negative Negative Positive Micrococcus sp. Character Gram stain Morphology Arrangement Endospore Motility Catalase Oxidase Citrate Indole Gelatin Glucose fermentation Lactose fermentation Sucrose fermentation Mannitol fermentation Tripple sugar iron Methyl red Voges proskauer Nitrate reduction Urea OrganismC2 Negative Rods Solitary No spore Sluggishly Motile Positive Positive Positive Negative Positive No Fermentation No Fermentation No Fermentation No Fermentation Alkaline, No gas, No H2S Negative Neg ative Negative Negative Pseudomonas sp. Table-3 Weight of diesel engine oil extracted (on various days) from 15 gm soil samples polluted with 1 ml (0. 848 gm) of Sterilized diesel oil and 0. 2 ml of culture Day Sample I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV Weight of diesel oil extracted (gm) 0. 848 gm 0. 848 gm 0. 848 gm 0. 848 gm 0. 807 gm 0. 801 gm 0. 30 gm 0. 848 gm 0. 787 gm 0. 639 gm 0. 639 gm 0. 848 gm 0. 663 gm 0. 348 gm 0. 483 gm 0. 848 gm 0. 545 gm 0. 290 gm 0. 271 gm 0. 848 gm 0. 399 gm 0. 275 gm 0. 085 gm 0. 848 gm Weight of diesel oil degraded (gm) 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 041 0. 047 0. 018 0. 000 0. 061 0. 209 0. 209 0. 000 0. 185 0. 500 0. 365 0. 000 0. 303 0. 558 0. 577 0. 000 0. 449 0. 573 0. 763 0. 000 Rate of degradation (gm/hr) 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 3. 42 x 10-4 3. 92 x 10-4 1. 50 x 10-4 0. 00 2. 54 x 10-4 8. 71 x 10-4 8. 71 x 10-4 0. 00 5. 14 x 10-4 1. 39 x 10-3 1. 01 x 10-3 0. 00 6. 31 x 10-4 1. 6 x 10-3 1. 20 x 10-3 0. 0 0 7. 48 x 10-4 9. 55 x 10-4 1. 27 x 10-3 0. 00 0 5 10 15 20 25 *values are means of twice determinations. Key: i. Sterilized soil + Sterilized diesel oil + Micrococcus sp. ii. Sterilized soil + Sterilized diesel oil + Pseudomonas sp. iii. Sterilized soil + Sterilized diesel oil + Micrococcus sp. + Pseudomonas sp. IV. Sterilized soil + Sterilized diesel oil International Science Congress Association 50 International Research Journal of Environment Sciences______________________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414 Vol. 2(2), 48-52, February (2013) Int. Res. J.Environment Sci. Diesel engine oil degradation study by Micrococcus sp: It was seen that the rate of diesel oil degradation by Micrococcus sp. was slow as compared to the rate of degradation of diesel oil by Pseudomonas sp. and mixture of Micrococcus sp. and pseudomonas sp. But the diesel oil degradation potential of Micrococcus sp. was continuously increasing as the time of contact between oil and organism increased. D iesel engine oil degradation study by Pseudomonas sp: It can be seen that the efficiency of Pseudomonas sp. to degrade diesel engine oil is faster than that of Micrococcus sp.As the incubation period increases the rate of degradation of diesel engine oil also increases. But it was seen that till 15th day, the rate of degradation was much faster. This was probably due to the exponential phase of the cell growth but after that the rate of degradation was slightly decreased. It was possibly because of cells of the Pseudomonas sp. were near to its stationary phase of cell growth. Diesel engine oil degradation study by mixture of Micrococcus sp. and Pseudomonas sp: The weight of diesel oil extracted from soil containing diesel engine oil and mixture of both bacterial isolates i. . Micrococcus sp. + Pseudomonas sp. showed continuous weight loss till the 25th day of incubation period. After 5th day of incubation period it was seen that there was a drastic increase in the rate of diesel oil degradation till the 25th day of incubation period which was quite higher than that of the single culture of Micrococcus sp. as well as that of the Pseudomonas sp. In this case it was found that around 90% of the diesel engine oil was degraded after 25th day and rate of degradation of diesel oil was found to be continuously increasing i. e. 1. 50 x 10-4gm/hr after 5th day to 1. 7 x 10-3gm/hr after 25th day. Conclusion When Micrococcus sp. is used in combination with Pseudomonas sp. it showed a great potential to diesel oil degradation. This was probably due to the different enzyme system from two different bacterial isolates that acts on hydrocarbon at a time which proved to be an excellent option to degrade that hydrocarbon if both the bacterial enzyme system posses considerable efficiency to act upon it and to degrade it10. This was followed by single culture of Pseudomonas sp and then Micrococcus sp. The oil degradation by Pseudomonas sp. as not surprising not only because it wa s isolated from garage soil which was already contaminated by oil and grease but also because it is known to possess a more competent and active hydrocarbon degrading enzyme system than Micrococcus sp. It is known to be fast growing and is capable of degrading a wide variety of organic compounds11. In the case of Micrococcus sp. which is also known to posses the considerable efficiency to use it as an oil degrader, but it requires more time compared to that of the Pseudomonas sp. Figure–1 Comparison of % Diesel engine oil degradationInternational Science Congress Association 51 International Research Journal of Environment Sciences______________________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414 Vol. 2(2), 48-52, February (2013) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. Figure–2 Comparison: Rate of Diesel engine oil degradation (gm/hr) By using biological processes, as in the case of bioremediation, usually lowers the costs as compared to chemical treatment processes for variou s contaminated sites. It is also less disturbing to the environment. However, because it is a natural process, it requires time.The above experiment shows that bioremediation can be used effectively to treat oil contaminated soil. The remarkable rate of diesel oil degradation by bacterial isolates shown by this method allows for the safe and convenient use of this microorganism in the oil contaminated area. Moreover the results obtained from the comparison between the diesel oil degrading ability of Pseudomonas sp. , Micrococcus sp. and mixture of both helps them to use in different bioremediation processes based upon their efficiencies. And the advantages of employing mixed cultures as opposed to pure cultures in bioremediation have been demonstrated. . 3. Baker J. 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