Friday, December 27, 2019

Examining Views Of Philosophy The Allegory Of The Cave,...

EXAMINING VIEWS OF PHILOSOPHY A FELLOW STUDENT UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE Abstract This essay examines three brief works that introduce core concepts of philosophy. Comparisons are drawn between Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave, The Apology of Socrates and Voltaire’s The Story of the good Brahmin. Warnings about adopting a philosophically focused approach to life are extracted, as are the incentives. A central pursuit of truth above all is established to be my own prime goal, which ties closely to these two philosophers own. Philosophy has no concrete definition, and no set bounds. The realms and reasons for study vary, as do the outcomes and methods, but the underlying goals is the same throughout all disciplines; to discover truth and knowledge. Philosophy is a very personal thing, however there are common themes to be found in most appraisals of it. Both Socrates and Voltaire offer a set of warnings and incentives in this weeks readings, but their focus varies. In the allegory of the cave, Socrates describes the journey from ignorance to enlightenment. His trials dialogue, captured in Plato’s â€Å"The Apology of Socrates†, establish his valuation of philosophy contrasted against freedom, security, and ultimately life as well. Voltaire’s â€Å"The Story of the Good Brahmin† examines the turmoil that is nearly guaranteed for those who navigate life by philosophies road map, and the paradox that it leads all roads lead back to the journeys origin. Although all

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Compairison of Young Goodman Brown and No Country For...

The story Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts a man whose inner desire is to experience the evil forbidden forest, as well as retaining his image as a, â€Å"good and honest Christian.† This internal conflict is also portrayed in the movie No Country for Old Men, which was directed and written by the Coen brothers. In the movie the main character, Llewellyn Moss, is confronted with the moral dilemma of either keeping the drug money he found or calling the police. Although he morally makes the wrong decision, he still tries to maintain his values and character. Essentially the central conflict of Young Goodman Brown is faithfulness versus forbidden, and the central conflict in No Country for Old Men is honesty versus corruption.†¦show more content†¦The good willed sheriff (Ed Tom Bell) was always doing his best to prevent Moss from getting himself killed, and also wanted to put a stop to the increasing drug related violence in the country. The point of disequilibrium in the movie occurs when Moss discovers the bust drug deal and the money. Moss and Bell were both honest and decent hearted characters (for the most part), and they both were very reminiscent of Goodman Brown. All three characters share same characteristic of honesty, and determination that they will beat conflict confronting them. Hawthrone’s story climax is when Goodman Brown first discovers his wife’s hair ribbon in the forest, and then finally sees her in the evil sermon. The resolution is that when Goodman Brown returns to the Salem again he becomes estranged with this wife and social circle, and becomes very paranoid. The climax is No Country for Old Men is when Moss faces off with the hitman and escapes to a motel where other members of the gang eventually murder him. In the end Moss is killed and the sheriff retires when he sees he can’t stop the violence. Corruption essentially beats out honesty at the end of the movie. Both stories share the same resolutions as well because nothing is really resolved for the better in the sense that evil prevails at the end of both stories. Some of the values that differed in each story were

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Tooth Developmental Disorder Cleft Palate †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Tooth Developmental Disorder Cleft Palate? Answer: Introducation Craniofacial interruptions occur between 4th-10th weeks of embryological growth. During these stages, the mouth and nose of the fetus develop between 5th-12th weeks. The palatine ledges in fetus join at the middle and form the back of palate. If this joining gets interrupted, a gap appears and results in the formation of a cleft in the palate. Cleft palate is the second common birth anomaly worldwide. It has a prevalence of 7.75-10.63% per 10,000 births in the U.S (Mahabir et al., 2014). The completed palate is formed by the fusion of primary and secondary palates that are separated by incisive foramen, forms a complete cleft palate. The primary palate, formed by fusion of medial nasal prominences contains hard palate, located anterior to the incisive foramen and maxillary alveolar arch, which has 4 incisors. Secondary palate formation soon follows. The bilateral maxillary process gives out shelf like outgrowths during the 6th week. They vertically grow down on either sides of the tongue. The tongue moves inferiorly and migration of the palatal shelves occur above them, to a horizontal position. Uvular fusion and palatal fusion occur in anterior-posterior direction. When these medial and maxillary nasal prominences fail to fuse unilaterally or bilaterally, unilateral and bilateral cleft lips are formed with or without primary palate (Allori et al., 2017). When the palatal shelves fail to fuse, secondary palate clefts are formed. Palatal clefts are also produced by a reduction in the space of oral cavities. This impedes the displacement of tongue in downward direction. They lead to facial deformity, speech disorders, hearing impairment, feeding problems and psychological issues. Genetic predisposition may lead to this malformation (Farronato et. al., 2014). Evidence has been found that correlate formation of cleft palate to teratogen exposure in early pregnancy. Some of the drugs that can increase the risk of this congenital abnormality are ondansetron, benzodiazepine, dilantine, barbiturates and valproic acid. Retrospective studies show that maternal exposure to smoking, retinoic acid and alcohol during the first trimester of pregnancy increases the likelihood of the fetus to have oral clefts (Molina-Solana et al., 2013). These teratogens delay the closure time during palate formation and lead to this malformation. Treatment procedures are generally done within 12 months. Wider clefts are operated after the palatal shelves grow inwards and come closer. Surgeons close the cleft in the nasal lining, oral lining and the muscles. Palate repair is performed to improve speech, restore function of Eustachian tube, close oronasal fistula and minimize maxillary growth alterations. Incisions are made on either sides of the cleft and tissues are moved towards the midline or centre of the roof of the mouth. The palate gets rebuilt and the muscles are joined together. This leads to an increase in the length of the palate (Peterson-Falzone et al., 2016). This restores the feeding pattern and speech skills in the child. Speech therapies are also practiced in some children. Pharyngoplasty is carried out in those who report persistent speech problems. Fine refinements in the palate are often done by a maxillofacial surgeon in teenagers. Thus, cleft palate treatment involves plastic surgeons, speech therapisits, ENT surgeons and orthodontists. References Allori, A. C., Mulliken, J. B., Meara, J. G., Shusterman, S., Marcus, J. R. (2017). Classification of cleft lip/palate: then and now.The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal,54(2), 175-188. Farronato, G., Cannalire, P., Martinelli, G., Tubertini, I., Giannini, L., Galbiati, G., Maspero, C. (2014). Cleft lip and/or palate.Minerva stomatologica,63(4), 111-126. Mahabir, R. C., Tanaka, S. A., Jupiter, D. C., Menezes, J. M. (2014). Reply: updating the epidemiology of isolated cleft palate.Plastic and reconstructive surgery,133(1), 68e-69e. Molina-Solana, R., Yez-Vico, R. M., Iglesias-Linares, A., Mendoza-Mendoza, A., Solano-Reina, E. (2013). Current concepts on the effect of environmental factors on cleft lip and palate.International journal of oral and maxillofacial surgery,42(2), 177-184. Peterson-Falzone, S. J., Trost-Cardamone, J., Karnell, M. P., Hardin-Jones, M. A. (2016).The Clinician's Guide to Treating Cleft Palate Speech-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Prevention and Control of Pollution free essay sample

The enhanced pace of developmental activities and rapid urbanization have resulted in stress on natural resources and quality of life. The trend of increasing pollution in various environmental media is evident from the deteriorating air and water quality, higher noise levels, increasing vehicular emission etc. Realising the urgent need for arresting the trend, Ministry adopted policy for Abatement of Pollution which provides for several mechanisms in the form of regulations, legislation, agreements, fiscal incentives and other measures to prevent and abate pollution. Further, realizing that conventional pollution control approach by treatment at the end of the pipe is not delivering the desired benefits in terms of resource conservation, the thrust has been shifted to pollution prevention and control through promotion of clean and low waste technology, re-use and recycling, natural resource accounting, Environmental Audit and Institutional and Human Resource Development. To give effect to various measures and policies on ground, multi-pronged approach is adopted which includes stringent regulations, Development of Environmental Standards, Control of Vehicular Pollution, preparation of Zoning Atlas for Spatial Environmental Planning including Industrial Estates etc. We will write a custom essay sample on Prevention and Control of Pollution or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Major activities carried out under several programmes/schemes during the year are as follows : Industrial Pollution Abatement through preventive strategies This scheme is an amalgamation of the three on-going schemes viz. Environmental Audit, Adoption of Clean Technologies in Small Scale Industries and Environmental Statistics and Mapping, which have been continuing since eighth Five Year Plan. Due to encouraging results and benefits to various small scale units, these schemes are being continued during the 10th Five Year Plan also: Environmental Statement (As a part of Environmental Audit) Environmental audit is a management tool and provides a structure and comprehensive mechanism for ensuring that the activities and products of an enterprise do no cause unacceptable effects on the environment. Submission of an Environmental Statement by polluting units seeking consent either under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 or the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 or both and the Authorization under the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 has been made mandatory through a Gazette Notification of April, 1993 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The Environmental Statement enables the units to undertake a comprehensive look at their industrial operations and facilities, understanding of material flows and focus on areas where waste reduction and consequently saving in-put cost if possible. The primary benefit of environmental audit is that it ensures cost effective compliance of laws, standards, regulations, company policies etc. During the year, action has been initiated to evolve model environmental statements in various sectors for facilitating comparison in use of raw material, water conservation, energy consumption etc. A project has been sponsored to Central Pollution Control Board for evolving model environmental statement in the eight sectors viz. Sugar, Thermal Power Projects, Cement, Paper and Pulp, Pesticides, Bulk Drugs, Tanneries and Textiles Activities. Waste Minimisation/Cleaner Production Waste minimization is one of the strategies adopted for minimizing the industrial pollution. The objective of the scheme is to assist the small and medium scale industry in adoption of cleaner production practices. A project has been sponsored to National Productivity Council on â€Å"Waste Minimisation in Small Scale Industries† for establishment and running of waste minimization circles in clusters of small scale industries, capacity building in areas of cleaner production, establishment of demonstration units in selected industrial sectors etc. So far 115 waste minimization circles have been established through out the country and a large number of Organizations and Institutions have been trained in waste minimization activities. The project was executed till November, 2002 under the World Bank project on Industrial Pollution Prevention (IPP) as Phase-I and Phase-II is now being continued with Ministry’s internal funds. Implementation of this project has helped in identification of more than 200 options for resource and energy conservation in various small scale industries. Environmental Statistics and Mapping For sound Environmental Management, reliable information base and the mapping of areas needing special attention for pollution prevention and control are a pre-requisite. As a step in the direction, projects and pilot studies have been initiated through various research institutions and organizations. Under this program, following studies have been initiated and are in various stages of completion : GIS based Hydrological Modelling for Water Quality and Quantity in Cauvery River Basin by IIT, Delhi. Geochemical baseline Mapping for Environmental Management by National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad. Development and Promotion of Cleaner Technologies Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Life Cycle Assessment is a decision cum management tool which provides information on the environmental effects of various products and processes so as to arrive at necessary corrective measures to make the entire process efficient with optimal utilization of resources and minimal wastes generation. LCA studies have been initiated in various sectors namely; Steel, Pulp and Paper and Thermal Power. The study in the Steel Sector was completed earlier and the report is under preparation. The study relating to the Thermal Power Sector has been completed during the year while the study in the Pulp and Paper Sector is progressing as per schedule. Industrial Ecology Opportunities in Ankleshwar and Nandesari Industrial Estates, Gujarat A study was undertaken to develop and implement Industrial Ecology Opportunities in Ankleshwar and Nandesari Industrial Estates of Gujarat. The study has examined technologies used by industries in this region and suggested possible approach to achieve eco-efficiency within the industrial estates to reuse and recycle wastes and effluents generated from different industrial units. The recommendations of the study have been discussed in a workshop with all stakeholders including State Government Agencies for their implementation and an Action Plan is being drawnup by them. Development of Market Based Instruments for Regional Environmental Management in the Kawas-Hazira Region in Gujarat The ongoing project on Development of Market Based Instruments for Kawas-Hazira Region of Gujarat has been completed. The study report has observed that the taxes and incentives based on efficiency improvements align the pollution control agencies better with the polluters than the Command and Control (CAC) regime. Such an instrument also facilitates prescribing incentives for achieving the triple bottom line, viz economic-efficiency, environment-responsibility, and social-relevance entitling the Corporate to Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and other cleaner-production benefits. The recommendations of the study have been discussed in a workshop with all concerned. Field Demonstration and Development of Bamboo Based Composites/Panels The ongoing project on field demonstration and development of bamboo based composites/panels was continued during the year. Under this project, commercial production of horizontal and vertical laminates have been made using Bambusa bamboo Species. Construction of demonstration houses will be taken up during the current year. Recycling of Marble Slurry in Udaipur, Rajasthan A two years duration project has been sponsored for the manufacture of bricks and tiles from marble slurry in Udaipur, Rajasthan with the aim of utilizing wastes arising out of marble cutting and processing for the purpose of improving the local environment. Bio-remediation of Railadevi Lake in Thane, Maharashtra A project relating to cleaning of Railadevi Lake in Thane District in Maharashtra using bio-remediation technique has been sponsored to Thane Municipal Corporation.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Albee American Dream Essay Example

Albee American Dream Essay Albee is considered by many to be one of the most influential playwrights of the seventeenth century. Albee wrote his plays around the typical themes associated with the American drama. They were not just plays about family life; instead, they frequently focused on family dysfunctions and the underlying motives of family structure. In his works, Albee portrays many of the concepts of the absurdism movement that had begun in Europe after World War II. This movement was a reaction to the many injustices brought along with the war itself.One of the major motifs present is the idea that the playwright possessed little or no concern for traditional play structure and form. A second prominent trait of the absurdism movement is the lack of effective communication between the play’s major characters. Albee’s play, â€Å"The American Dream,† is an accurate depiction of the popular trends associated with the movement’s establishment in America. As Albee quotes, â₠¬Å"The play is an examination of the American Scene, an attack on the substitution of artificial for real values in out society, a condemnation of complacency, cruelty, emasculation and vacuity. The first conclusion that Albee makes in reference to â€Å"The American Dream† is that it is a portrayal of how artificial values have replaced real values in the American society. This theme is apparent in the study of how the family replaces Grandma with the Young Man. To Albee, Grandma represents the way life used to be, a time when real values and self-worth mattered. Grandma is an overall depiction of how American’s have not learned from their past. Instead, they â€Å"talk past it† and ignore its existence.Albee teaches that the past holds the truth to our future when he gives Grandma the ability to reveal the truth for Mrs. Baker’s visit, and the knowledge that the Young Man is the identical twin of the family’s first son. The family’s ignora nce of Grandma is obvious in analyzing her comment to Mrs. Baker; â€Å"Oh my; that feels good. It’s been so long since anybody had implored me. Do it again. Implore me some more. † Mommy and Daddy have become accustomed to ignoring the old ways and looking for a new set of values. Throughout the course of the play, Mommy and Daddy are looking for satisfaction.Daddy says to Mommy, â€Å"That’s the way things are today; you just can’t get satisfaction; you just try. † They are not happy with the way things are, representing the real values, and are trying to find satisfaction, or an artificial set of values. Mommy constantly threatens Grandma with being sent away to a nursing home, however, she explains to Mrs. Baker, â€Å"There’s no such thing as the van man. There is no van man. We†¦we made him up. † However, when Grandma leaves, Mommy is deeply upset until she is surprised with the presence of the Young Man.The sole purpose fo r the parents keeping Grandma around is found in the fact that she represented the old set of values. They could not send her away until she had been replaced, replaced with a new, artificial set of values. Albee’s ideas toward the new set of values is present when the Young Man replies to Grandma, â€Å"I have no talents at all, except what you see†¦my person; my body, my face. In every other way I am incomplete, and I must therefore†¦compensate. † This new set of standards revolves around the artificial qualities of looks, money, and power.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Using If-Then-Else and Switch in Conditional Statements

Using If-Then-Else and Switch in Conditional Statements Conditional statements in a computer program support decisions based on a certain condition. If the condition is met, or true, a certain piece of code is executed. For example, you want to convert user-entered text to lowercase. Execute the code only if the user entered capitalized text. If not, you dont want to execute the code because it will lead to a runtime error. There are two main conditional statements used in Java:  the if-then and  if-then-else statements, and the switch statement. The If-Then and If-Then-Else Statements The most basic flow control statement in Java is if-then: if [something] is true, do [something]. This statement is a good choice for simple decisions. The basic structure of an if statement starts with the word if, followed by the statement to test, followed by curly braces that wrap the action to take if the statement is true. It looks like this: if (  statement  ) {// do something here....} This statement can also be extended to do something else if the condition is false: if (  statement  ) { // do something here...}else {// do something else...} For example, if you are determining whether someone is old enough to drive, you might have a statement that says if your age is 16 or older, you can drive; else, you cannot drive. int age 17;if age 16 {System.out.println(You can drive.);}else  {System.out.println(You are not old enough to drive.) There is no limit to the number of else statements you can add.   Conditional Operators In the example above, we used a single operator. These are the standard operators you can use: equal to: less than: more than: greater than or equal to: less than or equal to: In addition to these, there are four more operators used with conditional statements: and: not:!  or: ||is equal to:    For example, the driving age is considered to be from age 16 to age 85, in which case the AND operator can be used. else if ( age 16   age 85 ) This will return true only if both conditions are met. The operators NOT, OR, and IS EQUAL TO can be used in a similar way. The Switch Statement The switch statement provides an effective way to deal with a section of code that could branch in multiple directions based on a single variable. It does not support the conditional operators the if-then statement does, nor can it handle multiple variables. It is, however, a preferable choice when the condition will be met by a single variable because it can improve performance and is easier to maintain.   Heres an example: switch ( single_variable ) {case value://code_here;break;case value://code_here;break;default://set a default;} Note that you start with the switch, provide a single variable and then set out your choices using the term case. The keyword break completes each case of the switch statement. The default value is optional, but good practice. For example, this switch prints the lyric of the song  Twelve Days of Christmas  given a provided day. int day 5; String lyric ;  // empty string to hold the lyric switch (day) {case 1: lyric A partridge in a pear tree.;break;case 2:lyric 2 turtle doves;break;case 3:lyric 3 French hens;break;case 4:lyric 4 calling birds;break;case 5:lyric 5 gold rings;break;case 6:lyric 6 geese-a-laying;break;case 7:lyric 7 swans-a-swimming;break;case 8:lyric 8 maids-a-milking;break;case 9:lyric 9 ladies dancing;break;case 10:lyric 10 Lords-a-leaping;break;case 11:lyric 11 pipers piping;break;case 12:lyric 12 drummers drumming;break;default:lyric There are only 12 days.;break;}System.out.println(lyric); In this example, the value to test is an integer. Java SE 7 and later support a string object in the expression. For example:String day second;String lyric ;  // empty string to hold the lyric switch (day) {case first:lyric A partridge in a pear tree.;break;case second:lyric 2 turtle doves;break;case third:lyric 3 French hens;break;// etc.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Importance of Psychology in Nursing Dissertation - 1

Importance of Psychology in Nursing - Dissertation Example With its over-arching knowledge and general applicability to various discourses, psychology has been successful in having an impact on the profession of nursing as well. The profession of nursing entails, â€Å"the use of clinical judgment in the provision of care to enable people to improve, maintain, or recover health, to cope with health problems and to achieve the best possible quality of life whatever their disease or disability until death† (Glasper & Richardson, pp. 95, 2006). As obvious from this definition, nursing is inevitably related to psychology and its inferences since it does not only deal with humans (patients) but also has a critical impact on how nurses deal with different patients, as well as on the element of care and strategies that focus on the stimulation of quicker recovery. Thus, in all aspects, psychology and nursing are highly interrelated with one affecting the performance of the other. However, there is more to it than just the element of care and its psychological underlying themes. What is particularly interesting, especially in the light of modern advancements in career planning and professional motivations is the issue of gender in nursing. Recently, what was considered to be only women’s profession, first of prostitutes and nuns and later on, by the virtue of Florence Nightingale, of decent educated and cultures young women, is now profession of young men. In specific, there has been a significant rise in number of male nurses in the past decade globally. Interesting to note; however, are the differences and similarities between these trends and behaviors of caring and treating the patients by male and female nurses individually (Miers, 2000). In this regard, this paper will attempt to discover these differences and trends and identify response patterns particular to each of them.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Statistic project Statistics Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Statistic - Statistics Project Example 25 %). Italian restaurants are at the second place (28.75 %). 10 % of classmates prefer to eat at the Chinese restaurant. Indian restaurants are the least popular among the classmates because only 5 % of them prefer it. 76.25 % of persons in the class prefer regular drinks, and 16.25 % of respondents prefer soft diet drinks. 2.5 % of classmates does not give preference to any of the drinks. 5 % of respondents did not answer this question. 81. 25 % of respondents will not go out of state during spring holydays. The rest (18.75 %) prefer to go out of state during Thanksgiving. To describe the interval data the descriptive statistics and histograms were used (Anderson, Sweeney, and Williams 98-150). The results of data processing about age, miles from home and other interval data are the following. The minimal age in the class is 19 years. The maximal age is 51 years. The average age is 26.78 years. However, the histogram shows that the most of classmates are at the age 21-23 years. The second biggest age group is 25-27 years. The age of the classmates is not normally distributed. It is positively skewed because the biggest group of respondents has the age below the average age. The minimal distance from home to class one way is 1 mile. The maximal value of this variable is 50 miles. The average distance from home to the class is 19.78 miles. According to the histogram, this variable is not normally distributed. There are two big groups of persons: classmates that live about 13 miles from the class and classmates that live about 19 miles from the class. The histogram for this variable is also positively skewed. The minimal value for total credit hours being taken is 3 hours. The maximal value is 18 hours. The average number of hours is 10.475 hours. The most frequently occurred value (mode) is 12 hours. The median for this variable is also 12 hours. Median and mean values does not match, as well as mean and mode. It is the sign that the

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Differences between primary and secondary research Paper

Differences between primary and secondary - Research Paper Example â€Å"These original documents (i.e., they are not about another document or account) are often diaries, letters, memoirs, journals, speeches, manuscripts, interviews and other such unpublished works† (University of California Santa Cruz, 2011). The primary source is original and encapsulates a lot of creativity. The information is factual rather than interpretive. Primary references report the scientific discoveries in detail. In scientific studies, they not only narrate the conclusions, but also sufficiently discuss the clinical trials as well as the experiments that make part of the research. The discussion is completely factual. Secondary research upon humanities encapsulates analysis and interpretation of the primary sources. The event discussed happens in the past and only a second-hand account of the same is generated. Creative works are interpreted in the secondary research. In the secondary research, research outcomes and scientific discoveries are analyzed and interp reted. Primary sources consume more time in retrieving than the secondary sources. This is because of the fact that to retrieve information from the primary sources, the researcher needs to approach the respondent. The first and the foremost obstacle in way of retrieving information from a primary source is that the researcher needs to take an appointment from the respondent. ... It is for the researcher to decide whether the interview has to be structured, semi-structured or non-structured. Once everything is ready, the researcher still might encounter inconvenience collecting the data as the respondent might not feel comfortable discussing certain issues that are of prime interest to the researcher. Therefore, most researchers refer to the primary data only when there is insufficient information in the secondary sources (Duval, 2005). Nevertheless, because of the researcher’s use of â€Å"telephone surveys, computerized data analysis, and use of cell phones and pagers† (Benfield and Szlemko, 2006, p. 2), primary data is not as difficult to collect in the present age as it used to be in the past. On the other hand, secondary sources are very easy to retrieve the information from. All the researcher needs is access to the required material. â€Å"Marketing researchers use secondary information because it can be obtained at a fraction of the cos t, time, and inconvenience of primary data collection† (McDaniel and Gates, 1998, p. 75). Examples of the primary sources about humanities are letters, diaries and journals. Data is retrieved from magazines and newspapers. Photographs, government records, one-to-one interviews with the concerned parties and paintings are all included in the primary resources. Sources conventionally used for the scientific research include but are not limited to the published results of experiments, conferences and clinical trials. Examples of the secondary sources include histories, biographies, books, newspaper articles and scientific journals (Thomas, 2010). Nielsen

Friday, November 15, 2019

Kellogg company is a strong market leader

Kellogg company is a strong market leader Kellogg Company is a strong market leader in the production of cereal and convenience foods. With 2009 reported earnings of $1.3 billion. The company maintains a leading position in the production of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and veggie foods. The Companys brands include Kelloggs, Keebler, Pop tarts, Eggo,Cheez-it,Nutri-Grain,Rice Krispies,BearNaked,Morningstar Farms,Famous Amos,Special K,All-Brain,Frosted Mini-Wheats,Club and kasha. Kellogg products are manufactured in 18 countries and marketed in more than 180 countries around the world. Its global headquarters are in Battle Creek,Michigan,USA. Kellogg trades under the ticker symbol NYSE.K This marketing plan is aimed at extending Special K product line, one of the many Kellogg Company brands. Special K Brand under Kelloggs parent company cereal has recorded huge amount of sales since lunch, hence the extension, to maintain the product at a Growth cycle. The Analysis of this report was presented in a SOSTAC framework developed by PR Smith, which detailed why, how, when and where, the product line was to be extended with the view to expand market share and compete favorably in the UK convenience food industry. 2.0 Situational Analysis: Market Summary The value of the UK cereals market is around  £1.1 billion per year. Kellogg has a 42% market share of the value of the UKs breakfast cereal market. Reported earnings for full year 2009 were $1.2 billion, or $3.16 per diluted share, an increase of 6 percent from full-year 2008 of $1.1 billion. The company has developed a range of products for the segments within this market, targeted at all age groups over three years old. As a market leader, it maintains a distinct premium position within the market. This means that it has confidence of its consumers and a large market share. Special K, under the shape management market segment, was introduced in UK, October 1999, it is marketed primarily as a diet aid that can be eaten to help one lose weight and stay fit. It frequently has give-away offers for various health and fitness products and contains dieting information on the back of the box. In the UK, Special K currently comes in ten varieties: Special K Special K Red Berries Special K Purple Berries Special K Peaches Apricots Special K Bliss Creamy Berry Crunch Special K Bliss Strawberry Chocolate Special K Oats Honey Special K Yoghurt Special K Sustain Special K Medley Special K has been a successful Product brand of Kellogg. Applying the product life cycle, it is possible visualize the different stages of the Special K brand. The product life cycle demonstrates the change of product sales over time. Customer Analysis: Special K cereal and bars is for everyone and is being consumed by customers aged 3 and above. The increasing varied customers demands lead to the successful line extensions of the brand. Further to this, are the need for shape management products and the need for these products to address the weight and healthy living issue in UK. Being that Kelloggs company enjoys brand loyalty and economics of scale, Special K No Added Sugar will be added to buying options of existing brand and prospective customers, as a healthy product positioned to satisfy this Shape Managementemerging market segment. It is strategically targeted at the weight conscious consumers. This includes the Obese, overweight, diabetic, athletes and generally for everyone as an aid to keep fit. Competitor Analysis: Kelloggs is the market leader and enjoys a strong position. However, Special K has as its major competitors-ALpen, a product brand of Weetamix Company and Weight Watchers, on the shape management and healthy living cereal and bars market. Applying the porters five forces model, it is possible to analyze Special Ks competitive position EXISTING RIVALRY: Alpen No Added Sugar cereal a product of Weetamix Company Weight Waters no sugar cereal Nestle Whole grain-low fat General Mills Green Giant-no added sugar. New product development Marketing prowess THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS: All existing cereal manufacturers or companies Start up costs Cost advantages Access to distribution channels THREAT OF SUBSTITUES: Low switching costs Available substitutes Product differentiation Industry profits SUPPLIERS: Supplier monopoly High switching costs Unique product Importance of supplier to buyer Forward integration threat CUSTOMERS: Price sensitivity Advanced knowledge and independence of choice Drives demand Own profit potential Associated savings Backward integration threat Marketing Environment: Applying a PESTLE analysis, main points are the socio-cultural, environmental and technological factors. Socio-Cultural Factors: Consumer Orientation/perception: There exists the perception that cereal products and meals are for kids and younger children. This perception has been historically erupted by a social culture that associates babies with cereals. Life Style: The rushed and busy lifestyle of consumers in the Uk, would impact on the consumption of Special K no added sugar cereal. People, especially the students and working class, hardly eat at home, but settle for On-the-go junks foods, coffee and fatty drinks. Shifts to behavior Population demographics Environmental Factors: The need for Environmentally Sustainable business processes from start to finish, which to some extent has cost implication to organizations Green Issues. Technological Environmental Factors: Emergence of new communication channels to reach customers Improved production processes Automation Internal Market Environment Audit: STRENTHS Strong brand/Awareness Market Leader Economics of scale Brand presence and acceptability Premium product Capital Customer loyalty Derived learning curve effect -competitive advantage Product differentiation Quality processes and procedures WEAKNESS Sales driven by promo and pricing OPPORTUNITY Emergent shape management product customer needs. Special K brand, achieved awareness as an advantage Opportunity to re-enforce the growth life cycle of the Special K brand New customers/markets THREATS Competitors Price war with competitors New innovative products 3.0 Objectives: SMART Simple Extending and expanding of Kellogg Special K product line, with the introduction of Special K No Added Sugar Cereal in UK. Measurable To increase market share by 10%, compete favorably in the fast moving cereal and convenient food industry, and ultimately add value to customers and stakeholders. Currently the demand for no sugar added products are on the increase and competition have already launched into this concept. To lunch Special K into the UK market, which is currently Europes largest Kellogg consuming country. Achievable- (Mission) To Lunch Special K No added Sugar cereal in July 2010, in a projected one year period. Realistic The Extending of the Special K line is a realizable goal, owing to the fact that the Product Brand has been very successful since introduction and following the up surge trendy consumption of healthy low calorie, low fat and No sugar food items. This extension is also an innovative plan, in line with Kelloggs corporate company vision and mission of sustainable growth. Targeted Customers: Consumers aged 5 and above. These include individuals-families, Students, Professionals. Especially, dieticians, diabetic, Obese, athletes and young mothers. The Special K No Added Sugar line is a response to emerging customer demand. 3.1 Vision and mission Kellogg Companys Vision and Mission statements define their focus upon sustainable growth, our broadened definition of social responsibility and the true strength of our company our people and our brands. Vision_Mission_Full 4.0 Strategy: The first strategy in line with the product extension is to create customer awareness to this product offer and then develop more customer base. Market Penetration strategy: To penetrate the existing market and gain greater market share, increased brand awareness and boost the Special K product life cycle. Market Development Strategy: To develop the shape management market segment, using the product extension to attract new customer base. E.g customers who do not, consume sugar. Product Development strategy: By the improved recipe,flavor,taste. (No sugar flavor or taste) STP: Segmentation: shape management segments Consumers who want healthy, low fat, sugar free cereals. The value proposition here is the healthy meal offer. Targeting: we are targeting all healthy meal seeking consumers, but with special focus to shape management segments. Positioning: Healthy and Good Healthy and tasty 5.0. TACTICS: The marketing mix exists as a set of controllable tactical tools used to implement the strategy. The 7 Ps marketing mix catalyses the implementation of our strategy. Product: Our extension of Special K range and the addition of the No Sugar flavor is a tactical strategy in line with our mission to capture more markets segments and consolidate our consumer networks. New package will be introduced. Place: We will continue with existing value supply and distribution networks to make this product available to our cherished customers. Special offers will be given the stores that record large distribution. This will further motivate our value channels to get Special k no added Sugar at the market place. Supermarkets, retail stores, convenience stores and Online. Price: Market penetration pricing will be deployed to gain rapid market share, this is because there exists an extensive competition in the market. And the cereal market place is a sensitive one. Promotion: These promotional methods will be adopted to communicate effectively to the consumers- Advertising,sales promotions,direct marketing,ditital marketing and personal selling People: The knowledge marketing team, the IT and Software team, RD team are all involved in co-creating this product. Every member of the organization is a part of this mission in different perspective. They have been updated with product knowledge to impact the customers. ACTIONS PLAN: TASKS Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY STEP 1: PRE LAUNCH  £22,000 Research  £40,000 Research Team Select Advert Agency  £30,000 Marketing Dept Brief Web Designer  £30,000 IT Dept Set Up Database  £50,000 Software Dev. STEP 2: LAUNCH TV Advertising  £300,000 Marketing Dept Billboards  £100,000 Marketing Dept Magazine Inserts  £50,000 Marketing Dept PR/Sales Promotion  £200,000 Marketing Dept Digital Marketing  £250,000 Marketing Dept Step 2 Control: Balance Score Card. The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic planning and management system, used to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improve internal and external communications and monitor organizational performance against strategic goals. 7.1 KPIs-Key Performance Indicators: Quality control Financial results Marker research Managing information system Sales analysis Service levels Market share analysis Financial results CRM-New customers acquired, retained Product awareness Competitor performance Benchmarking Profitability ROI Performance appraisal of employees Financial Analysis: Contingency Planning:  £50,000 set aside as financial reserve. Productive capacity reserve Safety measures in place should there be any disaster at promotion sites Etc Critical Reflective Writing: Learning Outcome: The truth is, I never had an idea of the enormous tasks or amount of work involved in marketing planning, from start to finish. Haven worked in banking operations for 4 years; I never saw marketing departmental roles as a challenging one. I will usually think they pretend to be busy when they are actually not, while the operations staffs are the only value adding workforce. The module marketing planning and its matrix, of which I am excited to be able to produce a marketing plan, have not only opened my eyes and mind to wider conceptual, theoretical and practical aspects of marketing. I now appreciate the essence of the existence of different roles and departments in an organization, marketing planning and why it is essential in business-to effectively identify customer needs, create products/market offerings accordingly, in order to maximize revenue, profit, ROI and minimize costs. Marketing planning I now understand, is a multi faceted, cross-functional activity that touches every aspect of the organizational life. I have gained an understanding of how the marketing- mix interact, to facilitate a rational business decision and reduce the complexity of business operations which ultimately adds a dimension of realism to a companys hopes for the future. I will go back into work, with an understanding of the real significance of a strategic planning. I will evidence learning, and make valued revolutionary impacts as a manager and maybe A marketing Manager It will never be business as usual.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Marketing Research on Red Bull Energy Drink in Vietnam Market Essay

1 – Objective: Nowadays, energy drink’s becoming an important part in food market holding great number of consumer in the world as well as in Vietnam. Thinking about high energy drink branches, many customers think about a popular name: Red bull. How successful this branch is, the way they develop their mark and how was they cared in Vietnam’s market. Everything related with Red bull will explained in this research. 2 – Targets: In this research, Customers, market share and Advertising are focused most. Through 3 Literature reviews, more information about Customers, Market share and Advertising will discoed. 3 – Stakeholder: Supplier: Absolutely compliance all regulations in the contract between producer and supplier about timely and the quality raw materials as well as payments. The common purpose is getting benefit. The supplier can get benefit from selling raw materials while Red Bull Vietnam get from selling finished products Distribute Channels: Producer can not go every where to sell their products. They need to the helps from distribute channels include representatives, wholesalers and retailer. These distribute channels can be discount from producer depend on their agreement. Union: is an organization which can protect the benefits of staffs and workers in company. Red Bull also try to care for the life of staffs and workers, invest money to improve the skills of workers, make them feel free when working, bring the best effectiveness for production Government: A legal company is that is not only unlawful, but also full implementation of obligations with the government. It is taxation. This is a condition for government to consider the legitimacy of that company Beside that, there are some organizations such as Vinatas_ The Standard and protect consumers Vietnam which will representing for consumers and protect for the benefits of consumers when their benefits were violated. 4 – Background (PEST) POLITICAL-In the beverage market of Vietnam, Red Bull is the non-alcoholic drinks ehich was first introduced , namely Energy Drinks- A phase â€Å" Energy Drinks† is not really credible. It is easy to be banned in domestic market if happening the scandals that relevant to the quality or safety such as: containing cocaine or other drugs†¦| ECONOMICS-Red Bull is a special drinks and it serve for a niche market. – Their target customers is sportsmen or people who must hard an d need to to pushed up-Product life cycles quickly, easy to turnover| SOCIAL-At the beginning, no many people wanted to try it because the psychology suspect. but now people are changing and tend to open more new experiences- People take care more about healthy, only using products which have been confirmed by Health organizations- Red Bull has appeared in Vietnam market for a long time and has built a strong image in customer’s mind| TECHNOLOGY- Technique requires high technology, line modern machinery, closed line, ensure hygiene and safety-The main types of packaging are cans and glass bottle. Can is made from recyclable aluminum which is very friendly with environment.moreover, glass bottle aldo can be recycled, therefore not be harmful for our environments ( Red Bull_ The macro environment, 2009)| Although still having a little bit difficulties about political, Red bull is a strong brand that has been a long time n customer’s mind, with many advantages of technology and economic, Red Bull has a potential opportunity to develop more and more in Vietnam beverage market. | PEST Analysis 5 – Literature Review: 5. 1 – Literature review 1 (Customers) Red Bull’s one of the biggest energy drink branches all over the world – no one can negate that. It seems not to stop at that point but keep developing wider and deeper. Red bull grasps in his hand which kinds of customer want to recover their energy faster and aim them as the target customer of branch. They are in the age from 18 to 35, who need more and more energy for work, study with serious stress and enjoy their life in nightclubs. Especially, universities are the good place to consume product every night and day because many students feel very hard to concentrate on their study without Red bull. So that this branch’s trying to create their promotional strategies target straight to university and students. (Red Bull IMC Plan, 2008) In Vietnam, Red bull’s still a popular name in different appearance: red tin, blue words imported from Thailand or made in Binh Duong-Vietnam . However, recent years, its market share in energy drink market is decreasing lower than other branches such as Sting from Pepsico or Number1 from Coca-cola, even unmarketable. Many audiences have doubts about its quality, wonder if it’s not good for health with nicotine or don’t like its taste. Red bull seems to have more good strategies to please Vietnamese customers. (Red Bull ban t? i VN co ? nh hu? ng d? n s? c kh? e? , 2009) 5. 2 – Literature review 2 (Market share). Red Bull is the product of Energy Drinks which are dominate in the market now. It has been in more than 100 countries all over the world. Production of annual sales is about 1 billion cans, the revenue of Red Bull has increased from 920 million USD in 2001 to 2 billion USD in 2004 ( Red Bull- Anh hung tu con so khong, 2007) In Vietnam, Red Bull Energy Dinks are becoming more and more popular. In any restaurant or bar, this beverage always be the first choice of custormers. The market share of Soft Drinks in Vietnam has been increased, average is 2% per year between 2001-2006 ( Soft Drinks in Vietnam to 2011, 2007). The leading company in this filed is Red Bull company, the second is Pepsico with Sting ( Soft Drinks in Vietnam to 2011, 2007). The market share of Red Bull has decreased slightly in recent year, when some brands such as Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Wonderfarm†¦have been successful in building the image in Vietnam market, however, Red Bull still dominant in the market in Vietnam, about 30% of market share, productivity of Red Bull increased to 7 million safes per year (tuoitre. com. vn, 2009). Nowadays, Red Bull get 70% of global market share (Soft Drinks in Vietnam to 2011, 2007). It is because of strong brand name and large of number people enthralled this attractive beverage. 5. 3 – Literature review 3 (Advertising) Red Bull is a famous brand of energy drink in Europe and all over the world. It was found out by Dietrich Mateschitz in 1982, in a trip of him to Hong Kong. Nowadays, Red Bull almost has no competitor in energy drink market, thanks to the brilliant marketing and advertisings strategies of Dietrich. Before Red Bull has come out of any market, Mateschitz always make a statement in public as he not only sold drinks, but also sold a cheerful, comfortable feeling for consumers (SGGP, 2009). According to Hong Nhung (2008), Mateschitz has used sports as a tool to build the image of Red Bull brand, as he bought racing and football teams and renamed it following Red Bull. Of course, the traditional advertising, TV and radio have been used widely, to expand the brand of Red Bull. On the other hand, organize big shows was also one great way to advertise of Mateschitz, as the Red Bull Music Academy, a show of over 50 DJ was showed twice a week in Berlin the first time in 1998 (Vietnambranding, 2008). 6 – Reference list [1]. Red Bull_ The macro environment 2009, drawert. com, viewed 30 July 2009 http://www.drawert. com/red_bull_4. php. [2] Red Bull IMC Plan 2008, megaessays. com, viewed 30 July 2009 http://www. megaessays. com/viewpaper/14478. html [3] Red Bull ban t? i VN co ? nh hu? ng d? n s? c kh? e? 2009, thegioitrithuc. vn, viewed 30 July 2009 http://thegioitrithuc. vn/content/view/23874/169/ [4] Red Bull- Anh hung tu con so khong, 2007, socbay. com, viewed 29 July 2009 http://www. socbay. com/news/detail/red-bull-anh-hung-tu-con-so-khong/600896582/50397184/0. html [5] Kho? ng tr? ng th? tru? ng n? i d? a – K? 3: Nh? ng cach lam thanh cong, 2009, tuoitre. com. vn, viewed 29 July 2009. http://www. tuoitre. com. vn/Tianyon/Index. aspx? ArticleID=302421&ChannelID=11 [6] Soft Drinks in Vietnam to 2011, 2007, researchandmarket. com, viewed 29 July 2009 http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/586703 [7]SGGP, 2009, â€Å"Red Bull – thuong hieu manh ve nuoc tang luc†, Xa lo, viewed 24th July, 2009, http://tintuc. xalo. vn/20-2043108925/red_bull_thuong_hieu_manh_ve_nuoc_uong_tang_luc. html. [8]Hong Nhung, 2008, „Dietrich Mateschitz – Nguoi lam nen Red Bullâ€Å", VietnamleaderI, viewed 25th july, 2009, http://www. vietnamleader. com/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&am.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

The Who Music Quiz

Short Disclaimer: You may or may not notice that I did not mention everything The Who have released, or all the people in their line-up at all times. Nor did I mention Tommy(the movie) or Quadrophenia (the movie). I wanted to focus on The Who's music in their prime years, rather than their various reunions and films. Band Members: Pete Townshend: Guitar, vocals Roger Daltrey: Vocals, harmonica John Entwistle: Bass, vocals, French horn Keith Moon (until 1978): Drums, vocals Kenney Jones (after 1978): Drums John Bundrick (after 1978): Keyboards Discography: 1964: Singles: I'm the Face 1965: Singles: I Can't Explain, My Generation 1965: The Who Sings My Generation 1966: Singles: Substitute, I'm a Boy, The Kids Are Alright, Happy Jack 1966: A Quick One 1967: Singles: Pictures of Lilly, I Can See For Miles 1967: The Who Sell Out 1968: Singles: I Can't Reach You, Dogs, Magic Bus. 1968: Magic Bus – The Who on Tour 1969: Singles: Pinball Wizard, I'm Free, The Acid Queen 1969: Tommy 1970: Singles: The Seeker, Summertime Blues 1970: Live at Leeds 1971: Singles: Behind Blue Eyes, Lets See Action 1971: Who's Next 1971: Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy 1972: Singles: Join Together, Relay 1973: Singles: 5:15, Love Reign O'Er Me 1973: Quadrophenia 1974: Single: The Rael Me 1974: Odds and Sods 1975: Singles: Squeeze Box, Slip Kid 1975: The Who by the Numbers 1978: Who Are You? 1979: The Kids Are Alright (Soundtrack) 1981: Face Dances 1982: It's Hard 1991: Thirty Years of Maximum R&B (Box Set) 1996: My Generation – The Very Best of the Who 1996: Live at the Isle of Wight 2000: BBC Sessions 2002: Ultimate Collection 2002: Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2004: Then and Now: 1964-2004 Few bands in rock history have had the talent, ability, energy, and impact as The Who did from the mid 60's to the late 70's. Starting as an offshoot of the British Invasion, the Who evolved to become one of the most powerful and one of the greatest rock n' roll bands of all time. Though by definition they weren't a super-group (the members were not already established as premier musicians before The Who took off), they arguably had the talent to be one. Destroying equipment, blowing up bass drums, Townshend's windmill, Daltrey's tough guy attitude and rock vocal power, and Entwistle's â€Å"eye of the hurricane† approach to the stage show and lead bass-playing are all defining parts of The Who that make them a legend in their time and into today. Pete Townshend was the artistic leader of the band, and he constantly moved them in new directions to reach areas no rock bands had been and few have been since. Aside from his artistic creativity, his guitar playing was very good. He is often overlooked because he did not do many solos or much flashy guitar work, but he fit the band perfectly. Not only was Townshend a capable guitarist, but his song writing ability is up there with the best. Townshend also sang background vocals and occasionally lead vocals, making him even more valuable to the band. Roger Daltrey, the singer of the group, started as a great singer with solid range and glimpses of power. His versatility allowed him to progress into a power-rock front man, and his amazing stage presence propelled The Who's live shows throughout their career. But the real focus of The Who is usually on the rhythm section (or in The Who's case, the lead instrumental section). John Entwistle was a pioneer in bass playing, as he was one of first players to show that bass could be the lead instrument in rock music. He immediately made his presence known in The Who with his heavy sound and distorted bass, like the fills in My Generation . Entwistle also added solid backup vocals, which gave The Who more dimensions in their vocal harmonies. And then ,of course, there is Keith Moon. Moon was a defining aspect of The Who, and a key part of why they were so different from almost all other bands. His attacking drum style, blazing speed, and constant fills would become a trademark of The Who, especially in their live show. Although Keith is usually noted for being a crazy man on the drums, he tends to show a significant amount of control on their studio albums. There are more fills than other drummers, but enough restraint so as not to ruin the trac k. Instrumentally, Entwistle and Moon led the band. Townshend was a good guitar player, but he usually found himself pounding out power-chords and solid riffs in the role of a rhythm player while John and Keith took the role as lead players. That is not to say that Pete never played lead or that he could not solo, however. Townshend and Entwistle first met each other in high school, and initially played in a Dixieland band together (John was on trumpet and Pete was on banjo) in 1962. In 1963, Entwistle left to play bass for the newly formed Detours, with singer Roger Daltrey already in place. Soon, Townshend joined them band on guitar. Not long after, there was a drumming void, and Keith Moon was added to the band. They changed their name to The Who in 1964. After struggling for a few months to progress, the band met an interested manager in Pete Meaden. Under his direction, the band became known as the High Numbers and began wearing suits and playing more of an R&B style. Their first single contained I'm the Face/Zoot Suit , but it faired poorly. Meaden was cut, and they reformed as The Who. I Can't Explain was the band's next single, and it did much better. After the band played a TV performance that featured Moon and Townshend destroying their instruments, The Who starting gaining popularity. The band's dynamics in this time period are very interesting. Each member had vastly different personalities, which often led to disputes and arguments, sometimes even violence onstage. Instead of keeping these altercations private, The Who made them well-known. They became notorious for their violent demeanour and aggressive stage act, but instead of having a negative effect on the band, the result was that their popularity continually grew. It is important here to stress the Who's significance to the Mod movement in London at the time. The hundred of mods in the audience became a medium through which The Who could let out their pent-up aggression. In these years, The Who soon became the Mod band, the voice of the rebellious teenagers, soon to represent what rock and roll would become: a defiant escape from the previous generation and a defiant statement against it. As I Can't Explain had jumped to the British Top Ten, the band was now ready to record an album. The Who Sings My Generation was built around the title track, also released as a single. The album showcases the raw style of the band early in their career. There is noticeable influence of R&B, blues, and Motown, added into the Who's style of power rock. Its lasting legacy to music is undoubtedly My Generation . This song displays the defiant attitude of the band and Townshend's infamous, â€Å"hope I die before I get old† line. The rebellious nature of the song even became somewhat of an influence on the future punk movement, which would start to see its true beginnings in just a couple years. Also seen here are instrumental statements of Entwistle and Moon. As mentioned before, Entwistle's fills are remarkable. The end of the song features Moon all over the drums, producing a wall of sound that no other drummer of the time could even hope to emulate. The song would also become a key part of their live show for the upcoming years. The single Substitute was released shortly after that album, and met more British success. The song itself is a solid pop tune with great drumming and good vocals. The Band again prepared for more studio work. The Who's next record would prove to be an interesting one, to say the least. Titled A Quick One (in Britain) or Happy Jack (in America), it would expand on the base of The Who to showcase a wide variety of music. The tracks range from the circus type music of Cobwebs and Strange (which features amazing drumming from Moon, it's somewhat of a mini drum solo) to the ten minute mini-opera of the title track, A Quick One . This is Townshend's first experiment with a lengthy piece that centered on a theme. The plot concerns a woman who cheats on her husband while he is away for a long time. Musically, the song moves through six movements that run together successfully. Also on the album were the strange Happy Jack and even stranger Boris the Spider , both of which are solid and are now well known tracks. The most important parts of this album were the fact that the band was certainly showing signs of evolution (which were necessary to further develop and survive as the 60's died out), and the mini-opera concept Townshend was starting to create. This idea would become more important on the band's next album, and eventually reach a climax on Tommy. Their next record, The Who Sell Out (1967), is debatably a concept album that centers on a mock radio broadcast program. Between nearly every song, there is a short mock radio jingle. The album even includes the band advertising certain products in song form, as the title would suggest. There are some rather obvious examples of this, such as Heinz Baked Beans , and other examples that can actually stand alone as solid songs, like Odorono . There is even some dabbing in psychedelia (after all, it was 1967) like on Armenia, City In the Sky . The Who take full advantage of the studio to produce this record, though the music itself still has a bit of the raw essence of the early Who. These early albums do not tend to present the loud raucous Who that their live show represented; instead, there is a strong sense of melody and control. Moon shows remarkable constraint (for him, at least) on songs like Tattoo . Sunrise, I Can't Reach You, and Our Love Was showed Townshend's softer side as a songwriter. I Can See For Miles was the only the album's top ten hit and the only track that got radio play and it features great singing from Roger and typical Keith Moon drumming. However, the real climax of the album is Rael , and religious conceptual experiment. The Who even develops some of the instrumental themes for Tommy on this song (mostly from songs like Sparks or The Underture ). They were now only a short step away from a full-blown concept album. The Who's live show was growing in popularity, size, volume, etc, as they became a bigger band over the last few years. Destroying their equipment was now a standard part of their nightly show. In fact, The Who destroyed so much equipment and gear, that they were actually in debt for a few years, despite the success of their albums and singles. Ironically, the band had stopped smashing their instruments by the time they had enough funds to actually afford doing it. In 1967, The Who performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in front of 200,000 people. Two years before the legendary Woodstock, a festival of this magnitude was a great tool to help launch the band into their upcoming power rock years. In 1968, The Who continued to release singles, including the ever-popular Magic Bus . To help keep momentum, they also released Magic Bus -The Who on Tour , a collection of some early singles and some album cuts not available previously. Through the rest of 1968, Townshend worked on what would be considered by many the band's artistic peak. He developed an interesting concept and a complex plot that moved through the life of a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who plays pinball. Tommy , released 1969, is a double-album and a conceptual masterpiece. The album is known for being the first very successful rock-opera (and one of the first in general). Tommy was met with great commercial success, especially in America. The plot, though confusing at times, is generally easy to follow. An interesting aspect of Tommy is in the religious themes it develops. By the end Tommy becomes such a powerful figure for fans seeking salvation (Sally Simpson ). Musically, the album is unquestionably strong. The Who were able to use great vocal harmonies and soft melodies in combination with their naturally loud and upfront style to produce an ideal mix of the two. Moon is excellent without being over-powering, and Townshend's song writing may have peaked here with impressive lyrics throughout the whole album. There are also instrumental movements like Sparks and The Underture , both of which relate to a strong musical theme. Combined with unbelievable songs like Amazing Journey, The Overture, Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, Christmas, I'm Free, We're Not Gonna Take It , and a great album structure, Tommy is an album that by itself would have made The Who's career great. Tommy was the peak of the early Who, and soon the band would undergo changes that would dominate their style in the 70's. Touring to support the album, their live show grew in magnitude. Often they would play the entire album all the way through, each night reproducing the epic plot. 1969 also brought about another event that would have lasting effects on The Who: Woodstock. The legendary music festival was the basis for further evolution in the band's sound. The power of their live show was now all but unmatched, and it thrived off performances of epic songs such as the See me, Feel me climax. Roger Daltrey especially evolved during this time. In these years, he became Tommy to the audience, a sex symbol and a leader of the band on stage. Not to say that he was outshining the other members, however. In 1970, The Who decided to d0cument their astounding show with their release of Live at Leeds . The original LP featured rousing versions of Summertime Blues and Young Man Blues , along with a 15-minute version of My Generation that experiments with the Tommy themes. This album is regarded as one of the best live albums ever released, and it's no wonder why. It is still widely considered one of the best live performances ever recorded. A two-disc Deluxe Edition of the album is now available, which features Tommy performed almost in its entirety. Later that same year, The Who also played at the gigantic Isle of Wight Festival. With over 600,000 fans in attendance, The Who delivered a spectacular set. The material is similar to that of Live at Leeds , with new songs like Water, I Don't Even Know Myself, Spoonful/Twist and Shout , and an abridged version of Tommy . The show is now available on DVD as well as CD. The Who's momentum in 1970 to 1971 was also supplemented by the release of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy , a collection of early singles, as well as the release of The Seeker as a new single. The new song gave audiences a feel for the type of sound that The Who would produce during the upcoming years. After the release of a record that stretched the idea of what was possible by four guys on a stage with just their instruments, The Who decided to use the studio to their full advantage on their next album. Synthesizers drive the album, and there use here was one of the first times a band used them so effectively. However, Pete was having difficulty with the album's concept. Townshend's original idea was a project titled Life house , which supposedly dealt with science fiction and a utopian society, but the idea was becoming increasingly complex and spiralled out of control. In response to the stress build up and complications, Townshend suffered a nervous breakdown. After his recovering, The Who picked up the pieces of Pete's failed work and came up with their 1971 release, Who's Next (this album is said jokingly by many to be the greatest failure in the history of rock music). The new album carried a much heavier sound than their previous studio work, and was very synthesizer-drive n. This is evident right from the start of the album. There are definite beginnings of The Who's â€Å"arena rock† era, which would last basically all of the 70's. Hard rock anthems like Baba O'Riley, Bargain, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again all became very popular and received extensive play on FM radio. It also contains popular fan songs like My Wife and The Song is Over . Who's Next is usually thought of as the band's best album, and is probably their most popular. After more touring with the new material The Who were ready to go back into the studio. Determined to overcome his previous â€Å"failure† and do another Tommy so to speak, Townshend prepared to create another complex concept album. He moved through many possible ideas, each time getting involved in them for a period and then abandoning the concept. Eventually, Townshend settled on looking back at the time he knew best: the Mods. The double-album Quadrophenia was crafted together and released in 1973. The album's concept dealt with a youth, Jimmy, growing up in 60's and struggling to find himself in a mod society. Despite starting with a much stronger story than Tommy originally had, Quadrophenia's plot suffers from being underdeveloped. Townshend tried to incorporate four vastly different personalities into his central character, each of which reflected a member of the band, but this too was left underdeveloped and only weakened Quadrophenia as a thematic album. Ultimately, the record's attempted concept was too complex for the mass Who audience to understand. The album is also very studio heavy, meaning that its complexities (horn sections, various studio effects, overdubs, etc) made it very difficult for the band to replicate it live, unlike most of their earlier material. Despite these negative points about the album, the music overall is very well done. Standout tracks include The Real Me, The Punk and the Godfather, I've Had Enough, 5:15, and Love Reign O'Er Me. The Real Me features some amazing bass playing, even by Entwistle's standards, and Love Reign O'Er Me showcases Daltrey's undeniable power and the emotional climax of the album. Quadrophenia also features what may be Keith Moon's best studio drumming. However, the inability to reproduce the album's sound on a tour would prove costly for the group, and caused them to take a step back. After Quadrophenia , The Who began to drift apart slightly. Townshend and Entwistle were both interested in their own solo projects. Pete began to drink excessively, a habit that would plague him for the next several years. Moon was enjoying his rock star lifestyle of substance abuse and like Townshend, this would cause problems for him in the next few years. Regardless of this, Pete continued working on songs for The Who and for their next album. During their off year in 1974, The Who released Odds and Sods , another singles and album cuts collection spanning The Who's career to that point. The band goes back to the basics on The Who by the Numbers , released 1975. The complex arrangements of the last album were replaced by basically pure rock music. Townshend's lyrics were very emotional and personal. The album and its subsequent tour were both hits, but it did not stand up the level of their past four releases. The record's strongest tracks were Slip Kid and Squeeze Box , with a number of other expressive songs like They Are All in Love and How Many Friends . After the tour, The Who was exhausted and artistically worn-out and agreed to take an extended break. Very little would be heard from the band until they came back together in 1978 to work on their new album. The resulting record would be Who Are You , which was a relatively big success. However, the album is plagued with problems and inconsistencies. Alcoholism and substance abuse were taking their tolls on Townshend and Moon, and although their instrumental ability is still intact, there is the sense that the group is starting to fade. Moon especially during this time was very flakey. It was questionable whether he would turn up for sessions or not. Sometimes he would even forget parts of his drumming and have to relearn things in the studio. The album relied heavily on synthesizers and complex arrangements, and in some cases these are certainly overdone. The title track is the album's biggest accomplishment. The commercial success of the record may have triggered The Who's comeback, but it was not to be. On September 7, 1978, Keith Moon overdosed on a drug that was helping him get away from his alcoholism, and died. Losing a band member like Keith Moon almost immediately implies that the band would not continue. Moon was a defining aspect of The Who for nearly 14 years, and he was certainly not replaceable. Almost no drummers could bring to a band what he brought to The Who. However, the surviving members elected to continue playing. Later they would all agree that The Who in fact did end with Keith Moon's death. Kenney Jones, formerly of the Small Faces, was hired as Moon's replacement. Keyboardist John Bundrick was also added to the group, and they began working on new material and set up for a tour. They gained momentum through the release of The Kids Are Alright, a collection of video footage of the group's entire career. But their momentum and goodwill was crushed when they were informed about the deaths of 11 people after being trampled in a Cincinnati accident. Townshend fell deep into drug use now, and had an almost fatal encounter with heroin in 1981. Daltrey and Entwistle worked on their solo careers, but met limited success. The band reformed to release Face Dances (1981) and It's Hard (1982). Though with some standout material (namely Eminence Front ), the albums pale in comparison to The Who of ten years ago. Their 1982 Tour was supposedly a goodbye to fans, as they were basically packing it in. The remainder of the 80's saw numerous Who collections emerge, and finally in 1991 the band brought together a successful 4-disc box set. The three core members continued their solo careers, and have reunited a few times in the 90's for brief tours and various benefits. When it looked as though the group was gaining steam, John Entwistle died in June of 2002. The Who's lasting legacy to rock music is one of the greatest ever left. They did what no band had done and very few have done. Between the early mod Who, the guitar-smashing mid 60's Who, the concept/thematic album Who, and the unyielding arena-rock Who, few bands have changed as much as they did and covered so much area in music. Their legendary live show is still though off as one of the best rock has ever seen. With the super talented musicians they had, it is no wonder that The Who were able to produce so much good music and influence so many bands and artists of their time, and even now. Their music will indeed live on forever.

Friday, November 8, 2019

The Early Marriage in Asian Countries Essay

The Early Marriage in Asian Countries Essay Child Marriage in Yemen and Pakistan Sociology Essay Sample Child Marriage in Yemen and Pakistan Sociology Essay Sample Child marriage, as awful as it may seem to the larger part of the world, is a common practice in many Islamic countries. Statistical records show that 51 million of girls between the age of 15 and 19 are married. The real number of early marriages is higher, as girls married under 15 were not taken into account (Khalife, 2011). Moreover, according to the 2006 Demographic Health Survey, â€Å"one in seven girls worldwide would marry before her 15th birthday† (as cited in Khalife, 2011, p. 15). UNICEF states that 10 million girls marry before the age of 18 every year (Raj, McDougal, Silverman, Rusch, 2014) The practice of child marriage is widely spread in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where the economic state of population is low and religion rules everyday life. Child marriage is a rude violation of children’s and women’s rights. It commonly results in sexual abuse, cessation of education, confinement of girls to their husbands’ home s, and absolute dependence upon the husband. Moreover, reproductive health disorders and high rate of maternal deaths are the frequent consequences of early marriage. This paper will consider this social problem of early marriage in two Asian countries, Yemen and Pakistan. These countries have much in common, namely low GNI per capita, low literacy level of the population, and a common religion, Islam. Both in Yemen and in Pakistan, Sharia, Islamic law, regulates everyday life issues of the citizens. However, the countries are geographically remote, with Yemen located in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, and Pakistan in the South Asia. The comparison will discover the degree of pervasiveness of child marriage in both countries, the structural factors that account for this problem, the public opinion, and the steps taken in these countries to stop the abusive practice. Early Marriage Problem Both countries, Yemen and Pakistan, have high rates of child marriage, although the numbers are different. A survey conducted in 2006 jointly by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) and Yemeni government revealed astonishing data: â€Å"14 percent of girls in Yemen are married before reaching age 15, and 52 percent are married before 18† (as cited in Khalife, 2011). In some rural areas, child marriage is practiced even with 8-year-olg girls. The situation with child marriage in Pakistan is not much better than in Yemen. A survey of female population in the city of Lahore discovered that â€Å"61% of women aged ≠¥15 years are married in the city† (Nasrullah et al., 2014). The 2006-2007 data cited by Raj et al. (2014) show that only 50% of all women that were ever married entered marriage at the age of 18 or older. 26% of women got married at 16-17 years, 18% at 14-15, and 5% became wives under 14 years of age (Raj et al., 2014). In 19% of cases, the age gap between the spouses exceeded 10 years (Raj et al., 2014). Problems Evoked by Child Marriage Early marriage robs girls of childhood and adolescence; they are burdened with family duties and childbearing, while they are children themselves. They are often locked at home to ensure that they are virgins before marriage (Ouis, 2009). After marriage, girls still have less freedom. They are confined to the home, which makes them lose contact with their friends and not have any outside activity without their husbands’ permission (Khalife, 2011; Nasrullah et al., 2014). Being too young, girls are mentally not prepared to handling family life and building right relations with their husbands. The experience of marital duties can be very traumatic. Usually, girls enter marriage with little or no knowledge about family planning. They get pregnant soon after marriage and cannot control the time and the number of pregnancies. Moreover, they are not ready physically either. The course of pregnancy is more problematic in adolescent than in adult women, and obstructed labor due to the small size of pelvises causes life-threatening situations during delivery (Khalife, 2011). Survey participants in Pakistan recognized that they had more health problems, such as menstrual cycle disturbances, pains, miscarriage and physical weakness, than their peers married after 20 did (Nasrullah et al., 2014). Girls who give birth at the age of 10-14 have a five times higher maternal mortality level than young women of 20-24 (Khalife, 2011). In Yemen, for women of all ages, for every 100,000 live births, 210 death cases are registered (Khalife, 2011). Most deaths occur in rural areas where the age of marriage is lower and medical assistance is not available. Statistic records show that 64% of maternal deaths happen while delivering babies at home, which is practiced by the larger part of Yemeni women. In addition, early married women run a twice higher risk of miscarriage and four times higher risk of fetus and infant mortality (Khalife, 2011). In child marriage, girls often become victims of domestic violence, verbal and sexual abuse, and marital rape. According to 2002 domestic violence survey in Yemen, â€Å"17.3 percent of respondents had experienced sexual violence, 54 percent suffered physical abuse, and 50 percent verbal threats† (Khalife, 2011). Low social status limits the possibilities to protest or to get protection. Factors Engendering the Problem The analysis of the problem suggests several structural factors that account for the problem, namely poor economy, religious norms, patriarchy, and illiteracy. These factors are strikingly similar in both countries under discussion. Patriarchy In patriarchal societies, women are not considered equal to men; they are limited in rights and usually depend upon their parent, husband, or guardian. In some cases, children and women are viewed and treated as property. In Pakistan, such practices as â€Å"Watta Satta (bartering bride for bride), Pait Likkhi (marrying children before they are born or are still very young), Addo Baddo (marriage among tribes), and Swara / Khoon-Baha / Vani / Sakh (girls given in marriage as a form of dispute resolution)† are considered traditionally acceptable (Nasrullah et al., 2014). Thus, child marriage is often practiced for social purposes: research estimates approximately equal occurrence of child marriage across all society layers (Raj et al., 2014). Patriarchal societies often have honor ideology, as in the case of Pakistan and Yemen. In patriarchal families, the bride’s virginity is a merit; losing it means damaging the family honor. The honor of the family dictates the parents’ duty to confine a young girl to home in order to protect her from the evil influence of the world and to marry the girl out as soon as she reaches puberty. Therefore, early marriage is one of the ways to keep daughters from pre-marital sex and to secure the good name of the family (Khalife, 2011; Ouis, 2009). If girls happen to lose virginity before marriage or commits adultery, some families refer to honor murder. The cases of honor murders are seldom reported to police and usually concealed within a family (Ouis, 2009). Women’s education is believed to be unnecessary because the role of women is to serve her husband. In Yemen, parents often take young girls from school in order to prepare them for the future marriage, and few of them continue education after marriage. Economic factor In the counties with low income, where social and religious norms allow, marriage is also a form of trade. For low-income families, daughters are burden, as they cannot contribute to the family financially. Marriage is a way to reduce the burden as early as possible. On the other hand, daughters are an asset, because a would-be husband should give dowry in the form of money or presents. Dowry is the bride’s possession; however, the law leaves the time of payment to the guardian’s discretion (Khalife, 2011). Usually, the younger the girl is and the older the bridegroom, the bigger the dowry is. Sometimes, marrying a daughter out to a richer man seems a way to provide for the future of the family and the girls. Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East with high unemployment rate. 80% of Yemeni population live in rural areas and can hardly earn their living by working heavily on farms (Khalife, 2011). Child marriage both in Yemen and Pakistan often serves to relieve the financial state of poor families. Religion In Islam, a man may marry up to four women on condition that he is able to provide for them equally, and this right is widely practiced in Yemen. Additionally, Quran regards women as the men’s lower, and grants them few rights. A man, for example, can divorce his wife by pronouncing his repudiation three times (Khalife, 2011). For a woman, there are only a few conditions for divorce, connected with financial support or abandonment. If there are other reasons, a woman can apply for Khul’a or no-fault divorce, but, as it is connected with repayment of dowry and claims for maintenance, not many women can afford them (Khalife, 2011). The case of Reem, where an 11-year-old Yemeni girl married a 21-year-older man, shows that for a child, it is almost impossible to fight out divorce even if marital abuse and rape are proven (Khalife, 2011). Opponents of marriage age in Yemen ground their arguments on Quran and Sharia. Yemeni Sheikh Al-Zindani, one of the founders of Islah, a fundamentalist political party in opposition to the government, and the leader of Faith Institute, criticized the law banning child marriage as â€Å"un-Islamic and a threat to the culture and society of Yemen† (Khalife, 2011). In Pakistan, even the women who themselves suffered from early marriage believe that the parents’ duty stipulated by Quran is to marry their daughters out as soon as possible after they reach puberty. Of the 19 participants of the survey, only four women expressed the wish not to marry their daughters out before they can receive education and reach a better social status (Nasrullah et al., 2014). Illiteracy Yemen has one of the lowest literacy rates. UNESCO survey conducted in 2007 revealed that â€Å"the adult literacy rate for Yemenis aged 15 and over was 59 percent: 77 percent for males and 40 percent for females† (Khalife, 2011). Literacy rate among young people (between 15 and 24) is 80%; however, the gap between males and females is still significant (93% for males and 67% for females). Illiterate parents often do not value education for girls, as there are few possibilities for women’s employment, and women are confined to their families. Sometimes, parents take girls from school to look after the youngsters and to help with household, or to prepare them for marriage. Besides, in many rural areas female teachers for girls are simply unavailable. Most girls in Yemen do not finish secondary education (Khalife, 2011). In Pakistan, only 25% of all girls finish primary education compared with almost a half of all boys (Nasrullah et al., 2014). Illiteracy and lack of skills bring girls in absolute dependence from their husbands. They are unable to provide for their lives in case of divorce, which makes them endure all hardships that come with marriage. Efforts to Reduce or Eliminate the Problem of Child Marriage The majority of countries in Asia and North Africa confess Islam. In some of them courts and legislation are secular, but most abide by Sharia as the main law. In the majority of Muslim countries, legislation sets the minimum age for marriage; in Egypt, for instance, it is 18 for both boys and girls, as well as in Iraq (Khalife, 2011). In Yemen, the minimum marriage age does not exist currently. In Pakistan, although established by legislative documents, the law is not observed in practice, with marriage being interpreted as a family matter. Yemen. In the case of Yemen, it is different. Despite the fact that Yemen is a signatory to many international documents that clearly state the rights of children and women, such as the Convention on the Rights of Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and others, Yemeni legislation fails to grant them legal protection. First, the legislation lacks a clear and unambiguous definition of a child, so it is difficult to protect children by international law. Second, Sharia defines the women as â€Å"sisters of a men† (as cited in Khalife, 2011), with duties and rights assigned by Sharia and law, which shrink those rights and fail to protect them. Since the war of 1994, Sharia has become the official law, refuting many provisions of earlier Constitution as non-Islamic. Before 1999, the minimum marriage age was set at 15; now, there is none. In 2009, parliamentary majority voted for establishing a minimum marriage age at 17. However, a smaller but more powerful opposition stifled the draft by sending it to the Sharia Legislative Committee for revision. A religious fatwa proclaimed by some Muslim clerics in March 2010 declared establishing marriage age un-Islamic and â€Å"contrary to Sharia† (Khalife, 2011). Besides, parliamentarians could not find agreement about the second part of the draft imposing penalties and imprisonment on husbands who marry girls before puberty and guardians who let it happen (Khalife, 2011). The present political situation in Yemen paralyzed all legislative activity in the country, including this law. In 1999, a provision was added to Personal Status Law to protect young girls against premature sex. The amendment forbids sexual intercourse until the wife reaches puberty. However, there are no appropriate enforcement mechanisms to ensure functioning of this regulation. In practice 11-12-year-old Yemeni girls are often married immediately after they reach puberty, and in some cases before (Khalife, 2011). Another provision of 1999 allowed child divorce in case of forcible child marriage, but repealed their right to maintenance (Khalife, 2011). In Yemen, the activity of non-governmental organizations against the practice of child marriage is remarkable. Yemeni NGOs collaborate with international organizations for human, women’s and children’s rights, such as the Human Rights Watch. They conduct surveys and register cases of violation of human rights in Yemen. Due to the NGOs, child marriage became an issue of public concern in Yemen rising acute political discussion and popular opinion against the tradition that mutilates the lives of young girls. In 2011, a Yemeni woman journalist and activist for women’s rights Tawakkol Karman was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with two activists from Liberia (Khalife, 2011). Karman is an active proponent of setting a minimum marriage age. Karman’s activities and awarding attracted attention of the world community to the violation of women’s rights and the problem of child marriage in particular. Pakistan. There are visible efforts to eliminate child marriage in the Pakistani law. The Child Marriage Age restraint of 1929 clearly bans marriage of girls under 16 and boys under 18 (Nasrullah et al., 2014). The child Marriages Restraint Bill of 2009 and the Charter of Child Rights Bill of the same year attempted to raise the minimum marriage age for girls to 18 (Nasrullah et al., 2014). However, in a tribal society like Pakistan, traditional practices prevail even if contrary to the legislation. The traditions of Addo Baddo, Pait Likkhi, Watta Satta, and Swara / Khoon-Baha / Vani / Sakh are applied widely in rural areas and in big city slums (Nasrullah et al., 2014). For the moment, the work of non-governmental organizations fails to embrace all population layers. NGO activists participate in surveys and opinion polls, try to raise awareness of the negative outcomes of child marriage among the population, and attempt to promote sound legislation. Prospects of Elimination of Child Marriage in Yemen and Pakistan In tribal societies, like Yemen and Pakistan, that are ruled by Sharia and live according to honor principles, the improvement of the situation will take a long time. Child marriage is deeply rooted in people’s consciousness and practice; it finds justification with some Islamic clerics and tribal elders who condemn the attempts to protect girls form early marriage as contradictory to Islam and undermining moral principles of the society and their authority. However, it is obvious that under condition of limited literacy of the population, the initiative should be taken by the governments of both countries. What is particularly striking, even among women there is no unanimous opinion about the harm inflicted by child marriage to girls’ health and social status. Pakistani random survey shows that the large majority of the respondents (13 women of 19) who were married between 11 and 17 years are satisfied with their roles, 10 of them find the practice of child marriage appropriate for religious and moral reasons, and 13 would marry out their daughters as children, too (Nasrullah et al., 2014). Most of those women link their reproductive health problems to medical conditions and not to the early sexual life and childbearing. Only 6 of the 19 respondents resolutely condemned the practice of child marriage, and only 4 of them were in favor of education for girls as means to be self-supporting (Nasrullah et al., 2014). At the same time, the data presented by Nadia Khalife (2011) show greater dissatisfaction of Yemeni women with the state of things, and the society shows greater concern . However, parallels with Pakistan and public protests with participation of women against the law banning child marriage in Yemen (Khalife, 2011) suggest the existence of women who are not only content with the practice but also would defend it for religious reasons and honor principles. While people live on the verge of extreme poverty, as it is in Yemen, and have scarce education, employment and medical assistance opportunities, the balance is not likely to break. Political turmoil stifles all legislative activity, and the influence of fundamentalist Islamic confessions and parties impedes the struggle for human rights. Unless the situation stabilizes within the following years, it is difficult to predict significant improvement. Even if new political leaders come to power and pass new laws to set the minimum marriage age and protect children’s and women’s rights, they will have to create enforcement mechanisms that were unavailable in the old system. The situation in Pakistan does not show great signs of improvement as well, with fundamentalist parties being at power. Besides, Pakistani women show lower awareness of the harm inflicted by child marriage and lower readiness to change and to fight for changes than Yemeni women do. Unless the government implements strict responsibility for violation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, traditional practices of child marriage will continue. For both countries, the improvement depends to a great extent upon spreading awareness among the population about the consequences of child marriage, â€Å"promoting civil, sexual and reproductive health rights for women, and provision of economic opportunities for girls and their families such as microfinance schemes† (Nasrullah et al., 2014). It is a vast field for NGOs and governmental organizations. International human rights organizations should also play their parts to raise worldwide awareness of the problem and advise the governments. The results of research of child marriage in Pakistan and Yemen show how common this problem is across the Asian continent. It also reveals that the constituent factors that account for the problem are the same independent of the country. These factors are religious obscurantism, patriarchal culture with honor ideology and historically rooted tradition, poor economic situation, lack of appropriate legislative and enforcement base, and illiteracy of the population. Each factor taken separately does not account for the problem of child marriage in the modern world, but their combination makes it extremely difficult to eliminate or at least alleviate the situation. The problem of child marriage in Yemen, Pakistan and other countries where it exists can be solved only through joint efforts of the local governments, local and international NGOs, and wide involvement of the local and world communities.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Good-paying Jobs

Good-paying Jobs Good-paying Jobs Good-paying Jobs By Maeve Maddox A reader questions the expression â€Å"good-paying jobs†: I’ve just come across ‘good-paying jobs’ in a report I’m editing by a highly regarded organization. (It has also been used by some politicians lately.) I was wondering if you could address the use of this phrase instead of what I would expect – â€Å"well-paying jobs.† I believe it’s not correct. The OED tells us that good is â€Å"the most general and most frequently used adjective of commendation in English, and one of the most common non-possessive adjectives in all periods from Old English to the present day.† Consider only a few of the uses of good: good food (wholesome) good books (well-written with worthwhile content0 good money (not counterfeit) good soil (fertile) good English (grammatically correct, well enunciated, and pronounced according to current national conventions) A good question is thought-provoking, a good friend is loyal and dependable. Captain Ahab hopes for a good wind and Yenta looks for a good match for a client. Someone, if not Chief Crazy Horse, may have said â€Å"It’s a good day to die,† and some scriptwriter came up with an episode of Desperate Housewives called â€Å"What’s the Good of Being Good?† The OED entry for good identifies the word as adjective, noun, adverb, and interjection. The good page of the online edition I use scrolls seemingly into infinity. My Compact Edition of the OED shows fifteen columns for plain good and another fifteen columns for words that have good as the root. We speak of good-tasting food (food that tastes good), good-looking people (people who look good), and good-meaning do-gooders (people who mean well). Note: American speakers are more likely to say â€Å"a well-meaning person,† but the OED includes â€Å"good-meaning.† Why shouldn’t we speak of â€Å"good-paying jobs† to mean â€Å"jobs that pay well†? The OED includes good-paying in its list of hyphenated â€Å"good words† for special uses, although the earliest citation (1834) doesn’t use the hyphen: Sandy, this has surely been a good paying job; for, when you were in the Calton, your little ones could not come out for dirt and rags. A Google search indicates that the two phrases are in about equal use. The Ngram Viewer shows both forms, with â€Å"good paying† higher on the graph than â€Å"well paying.† â€Å"This job pays good† is undeniably nonstandard usage. On the other hand, the following usage in an obituary written by Steven Greenhouse and published in The New York Times does not ignite my grammar nerve: From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Herman headed the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s Working for America Institute, which promoted labor-management partnerships to create profitable businesses and good-paying jobs. I think that speakers who prefer â€Å"well-paying jobs† to â€Å"good-paying jobs† should use it, but unless house style demands one or the other, a writer’s choice should probably stand. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Avoid Beginning a Sentence with â€Å"With†15 Words for Household Rooms, and Their SynonymsTestimony vs. Testimonial