At the Edge of the Earth

Below the snowline is a treeless zone of alpine pastures that have for generations been used for the summer grazing of goats and cattle. Agriculture is confined to the valleys and foothills, with fruit growing and viticulture on some sunny slopes. Further down the mountin normal plants still cannot grow only plants that are adapted to the cold are able to grow. Forests of the pine trees grow higher up the mountain where it is colder. Forest of broad-leaved trees and a wide range of other vegetation grow at the base of the mountain. Typically in mountain ranges it is high on the mountaintop. It is so cold that plants cannot grow here. There is only snow and bare rock. Summit regions above 3000 m (about 9800 ft) are glaciated. Peaks and crests, however, rise above the ice, displaying jagged shapes (tooth like horns, needles, and knife-edged ridges). About 2 % of the total area of the Alps is covered in ice. The longest valley glacier, the aletsch Glacier in the Bernese Alps, is 18 km (11ml) long. My great grandfather used to be a farmer but nowadays people in this area are no longer relaying on agriculture. Now people tend to work in the tourist industry and farmland has been give up to build ski slopes and lodges. Older people feel that the area has lost its natural beauty but most of their income comes from the tourist industry. Oak, hornbeam, and pie trees dominate the warm foothill zones, and sheltered valleys opening onto the Upper Italian Lakes abound with subtropical vegetation. A region of beech forests encompasses the cooler zone and grades at higher elevations into the fir and spruce belt. Mountain maple, spruce, and larch extend to the timberline. Living in mountainous regions can bring problems with individual isolated areas separated by mountains and rivers. In past times communications would have been a problem but since 1981 tunnels have been built linking areas. Higher areas in Fold Mountains like the Alps are not available to live because of the jagged ice and it is to cold. Traditionally the economy has relayed on farming and forestry. Alpine pastures have been used for grazing goats and cattle below the snow line. Life has however changed in the Alps tourism has brought with it both benefits and problems. 50 million people visit the Alps every year. The attraction is mainly winter ski-ing. To cater for all these people forests have to be mown down to make room for the ski slopes and lodges for people o stay in. Effects of tourism include erosion and acid rain from the many vehicles. Areas of this nature are prone to avalanches. Benefits and problems can also be seen with the tunnels. There have been numerous accidents in the tunnels. Recently two trucks collided and exploded in the St. Gothard tunnel as a result a hundred people are missing. Long alpine tunnels are crucial in modern living but accidents have left officials questioning them. A distinctive Alpine pastoral economy that evolved through the centuries has been modified since the 19th century by industry based on indigenous raw materials, such as the industries in the Mur and Murz valleys of the southern Austria that used iron ore from deposits near Eisenerz. Hydroelectric power development at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, often involving many different watersheds, led to the establishment in the lower valleys of electricity-dependent industries, manufacturing such products as aluminium, chemicals, and specialty steels. Tourism, which began in the 19th century in a modest way, has become, since the end of World War II, a mass phenomenon. Thus, the Alps have become a summer and winter playground for millions of European urban dwellers and annually attract tourists from around the world. Because of this enormous human impact on a fragile and ecological environment, the Alps are the most threatened mountain system in the world. The first of the great tunnels through the Alps, the Mount Cenis tunnel between France and Italy, was built between 1857 and 1870 and opened in 1871. The St Gotthard line, with its spiral tunnel approaches at Goschenen, was built between 1872 and 1882. The Arlberg tunnel in the southwest Austria, connecting Vorarlberg with the Tyrol, dates from 1884, and the Simplon rail tunnel, the longest in the world, was built between 1898 and 1906. Construction of a new St Gotthard rail link began in 1990 with a 20-year completion schedule. Swift road travel between Italy and Germany became possible during World War II, when the totalitarian regimes of these countries linked their new motorway networks over the Fern and Brenner passes. The road tunnel under Mont Blanc was opened in 1965. Many truck roads now cross the Alps, such as the main motorway route from Switzerland to Italy, which runs from Zurich past the Walensee and the town of Chur. Causes: * Heavy snowfall compressing and adding weight to the earlier falls, especially on windward slopes. * Steep slopes of over 25 degrees where stability is reduced and friction is more easily overcome. * A sudden increase in temperature, especially on the south-facing slopes and, in the Alps, under fohn wind conditions. * Heavy rain falling upon snow (more likely in Scotland than in the Alps) * Deforestation, partly for new ski runs, which reduces slope stability. * Vibrations triggered by off-piste skiers, any nearby traffic and more dangerously, earth movements. * Very long, cold, dry winters followed by heavy snowfalls in spring. Under theses conditions, earlier falls of snow will turn into ice over which later falls will slide (some local people perceive this to pose the greatest avalanche risk). Consequences: Avalanches can block roads and railways, cut off power supplies and telecommunications and, under extreme conditions, destroy buildings and cause loss of life. Between 1980 and 1991 there were, in Alpine Europe alone 1210-recorded deaths.

America Essay

It has been taught in American schools that the war fought in order to stop slavery and that the American South did the right thing by seceding from the Union because of its support in slavery. Subsequently, the Civil war was a result of the Founding Fathers’ failure to address the institution of slavery in a republic that proclaimed in its Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal. Nonetheless, the necessity of the war has been questioned because the four-war to abolish slavery ravaged the country and destroyed nearly half of the American people. Among the countries that practiced slavery, only America and Haiti freed their slaves by war. The rest were freed peacefully. Hence, it can be concluded that the South could have gained its independence without the war. The rising alone of keeping and posting guards on the constantly escaping slaves would have resulted in the gradual decline for the demand of slaves. The absence of a fugitive slave laws in other states that would force the return of the slaves to their owners has added to the decreasing value of the slaves. As such the institution would have been unsustainable regardless of the moral and humanitarian perspectives. On the other hand, the American North would still have achieved its goals without resorting to war. Apparently, the North slaughtered a large number of American young men in the battles against the South. Nonetheless, it is evident that the South posed no military threat to the North. Its aim of preserving the Union was considered as not a compelling reason to continue the war. The North wanted to keep the Union intact solely on the basis of economy and fiscal matter. Since the principal source of tax revenue for the federal government before the Civil war was a tariff on imports, they needed to keep these tariffs in which the federal government accounted its federal budget. The North did not need to take the bait by Lincoln who dispatched southerners to forestall the supplies for Fort Sumter. Hence, its attack on the South could have been prevented had not depended on the Union being intact and the economic advantages it provided them.

Types of Fallacies

FALLACIES OF RELEVANCE 1. Appeal to Force If you suppose that terrorizing your opponent is giving him a reason for believing that you are correct, then you are using a scare tactic and reasoning fallaciously. Example: David: My father owns the department store that gives your newspaper fifteen percent of all its advertising revenue, so I’m sure you won’t want to publish any story of my arrest for spray painting the college. Newspaper editor: Yes, David, I see your point. The story really isn’t newsworthy.David has given the editor a financial reason not to publish, but he has not given a relevant reason why the story is not newsworthy. David’s tactics are scaring the editor, but it’s the editor who commits the scare tactic fallacy, not David. David has merely used a scare tactic. This fallacy’s name emphasizes the cause of the fallacy rather than the error itself. 2. Appeal to Pity You commit the fallacy of appeal to emotions when someoneâ₠¬â„¢s appeal to you to accept their claim is accepted merely because the appeal arouses your feelings of anger, fear, grief, love, outrage, pity, pride, sexuality, sympathy, relief, and so forth.Example of appeal to relief from grief: [The speaker knows he is talking to an aggrieved person whose house is worth much more than $100,000. ] You had a great job and didn’t deserve to lose it. I wish I could help somehow. I do have one idea. Now your family needs financial security even more. You need cash. I can help you. Here is a check for $100,000. Just sign this standard sales agreement, and we can skip the realtors and all the headaches they would create at this critical time in your life.There is nothing wrong with using emotions when you argue, but it’s a mistake to use emotions as the key premises or as tools to downplay relevant information. Regarding the fallacy of  appeal to pity, it is proper to pity people who have had misfortunes, but if as the person’ s history instructor you accept Max’s claim that he earned an A on the history quiz because he broke his wrist while playing in your college’s last basketball game, then you’ve committed the fallacy of  appeal to pity. *Appeal to Snobbery 3. Ad HominemYou commit this fallacy if you make an irrelevant attack on the arguer and suggest that this attack undermines the argument itself. It is a form of the  Genetic Fallacy. Example: What she says about Johannes Kepler’s astronomy of the 1600? s must be just so much garbage. Do you realize she’s only fourteen years old? This attack may undermine the arguer’s credibility as a scientific authority, but it does not undermine her reasoning. That reasoning should stand or fall on the scientific evidence, not on the arguer’s age or anything else about her personally.If the fallacious reasoner points out irrelevant circumstances that the reasoner is in, the fallacy is a circumstantial ad homine m. Tu Quoque  and  Two Wrongs Make a Right  are other types of the ad hominem fallacy. The major difficulty with labeling a piece of reasoning as an ad hominem fallacy is deciding whether the personal attack is relevant. For example, attacks on a person for their actually immoral sexual conduct are irrelevant to the quality of their mathematical reasoning, but they are relevant to arguments promoting the person for a leadership position in the church.Unfortunately, many attacks are not so easy to classify, such as an attack pointing out that the candidate for church leadership, while in the tenth grade, intentionally tripped a fellow student and broke his collar bone. *Ad Hominem Circumstantial Guilt by association is a version of the  ad hominem  fallacy in which a person is said to be guilty of error because of the group he or she associates with. The fallacy occurs when we unfairly try to change the issue to be about the speaker’s circumstances rather than about the speaker’s actual argument. Also called â€Å"Ad Hominem, Circumstantial. Example: Secretary of State Dean Acheson is too soft on communism, as you can see by his inviting so many fuzzy-headed liberals to his White House cocktail parties. Has any evidence been presented here that Acheson’s actions are inappropriate in regards to communism? This sort of reasoning is an example of McCarthyism, the technique of smearing liberal Democrats that was so effectively used by the late Senator Joe McCarthy in the early 1950s. In fact, Acheson was strongly anti-communist and the architect of President Truman’s firm policy of containing Soviet power. 4. Appeal to the PeopleIf you suggest too strongly that someone’s claim or argument is correct simply because it’s what most everyone believes, then you’ve committed the fallacy of appeal to the people. Similarly, if you suggest too strongly that someone’s claim or argument is mistaken simply beca use it’s not what most everyone believes, then you’ve also committed the fallacy. Agreement with popular opinion is not necessarily a reliable sign of truth, and deviation from popular opinion is not necessarily a reliable sign of error, but if you assume it is and do so with enthusiasm, then you’re guilty of committing this fallacy.It is essentially the same as the fallacies of ad numerum, appeal to the gallery, appeal to the masses, argument from popularity, argumentum ad populum, common practice, mob appeal, past practice, peer pressure, traditional wisdom. The â€Å"too strongly† mentioned above is important in the description of the fallacy because what most everyone believes is, for that reason, somewhat likely to be true, all things considered. However, the fallacy occurs when this degree of support is overestimated. Example: You should turn to channel 6. It’s the most watched channel this year.This is fallacious because of its implicitly ac cepting the questionable premise that the most watched channel this year is, for that reason alone, the best channel for you. If you stress the idea of appealing to a  new  idea of the gallery, masses, mob, peers, people, and so forth, then it is a bandwagon fallacy. *Bandwagon If you suggest that someone’s claim is correct simply because it’s what most everyone is coming to believe, then you’re committing the bandwagon fallacy. Get up here with us on the wagon where the band is playing, and go where we go, and don’t think too much about the reasons.The Latin term for this fallacy of appeal to novelty is Argumentum ad Novitatem. Example: [Advertisement] More and more people are buying sports utility vehicles. Isn’t it time you bought one, too? [You commit the fallacy if you buy the vehicle solely because of this advertisement. ] Like its close cousin, the fallacy of appeal to the people, the bandwagon fallacy needs to be carefully distinguished from properly defending a claim by pointing out that many people have studied the claim and have come to a reasoned conclusion that it is correct.What most everyone believes is likely to be true, all things considered, and if one defends a claim on those grounds, this is not a fallacious inference. What is fallacious is to be swept up by the excitement of a new idea or new fad and to unquestionably give it too high a degree of your belief solely on the grounds of its new popularity, perhaps thinking simply that ‘new is better. ’ The key ingredient that is missing from a bandwagon fallacy is knowledge that an item is popular because of its high quality. Appeal to Past People (â€Å"You too†) 5. Accident We often arrive at a generalization but don’t or can’t list all the exceptions. When we reason with the generalization as if it has no exceptions, we commit the fallacy of accident. This fallacy is sometimes called the â€Å"fallacy of sweeping gene ralization. † Example: People should keep their promises, right? I loaned Dwayne my knife, and he said he’d return it. Now he is refusing to give it back, but I need it right now to slash up my neighbors who disrespected me.People should keep their promises, but there are exceptions to this generaliztion as in this case of the psychopath who wants Dwayne to keep his promise to return the knife. 6. Straw Man You commit the straw man fallacy whenever you attribute an easily refuted position to your opponent, one that the opponent wouldn’t endorse, and then proceed to attack the easily refuted position (the straw man) believing you have undermined the opponent’s actual position. If the misrepresentation is on purpose, then the straw man fallacy is caused by lying.Example (a debate before the city council): Opponent: Because of the killing and suffering of Indians that followed Columbus’s discovery of America, the City of Berkeley should declare that Co lumbus Day will no longer be observed in our city. Speaker: This is ridiculous, fellow members of the city council. It’s not true that everybody who ever came to America from another country somehow oppressed the Indians. I say we should continue to observe Columbus Day, and vote down this resolution that will make the City of Berkeley the laughing stock of the nation.The speaker has twisted what his opponent said; the opponent never said, nor even indirectly suggested, that everybody who ever came to America from another country somehow oppressed the Indians. The critical thinker will respond to the fallacy by saying, â€Å"Let’s get back to the original issue of whether we have a good reason to discontinue observing Columbus Day. † 7. Missing the Point The conclusion that is drawn is irrelevant to the premises; it misses the point. Example: In court, Thompson testifies that the defendant is a honorable person, who wouldn’t harm a flea.The defense attorn ey commits the fallacy by rising to say that Thompson’s testimony shows once again that his client was not near the murder scene. The testimony of Thompson may be relevant to a request for leniency, but it is irrelevant to any claim about the defendant not being near the murder scene. 8. Red Herring A red herring is a smelly fish that would distract even a bloodhound. It is also a digression that leads the reasoner off the track of considering only relevant information. Example: Will the new tax in Senate Bill 47 unfairly hurt business?One of the provisions of the bill is that the tax is higher for large employers (fifty or more employees) as opposed to small employers (six to forty-nine employees). To decide on the fairness of the bill, we must first determine whether employees who work for large employers have better working conditions than employees who work for small employers. Bringing up the issue of working conditions is the red herring. FALLACIES OF PRESUMPTION 9. Beg ging the Question A form of  circular reasoning  in which a conclusion is derived from premises that presuppose the conclusion.Normally, the point of good reasoning is to start out at one place and end up somewhere new, namely having reached the goal of increasing the degree of reasonable belief in the conclusion. The point is to make progress, but in cases of begging the question there is no progress. Example: â€Å"Women have rights,† said the Bullfighters Association president. â€Å"But women shouldn’t fight bulls because a bullfighter is and should be a man. † The president is saying basically that women shouldn’t fight bulls because women shouldn’t fight bulls. This reasoning isn’t making any progress.Insofar as the conclusion of a deductively valid argument is â€Å"contained† in the premises from which it is deduced, this containing might seem to be a case of presupposing, and thus any deductively valid argument might seem to be begging the question. It is still an open question among logicians as to why some deductively valid arguments are considered to be begging the question and others are not. Some logicians suggest that, in informal reasoning with a deductively valid argument, if the conclusion is psychologically new insofar as the premises are concerned, then the argument isn’t an example of the fallacy.Other logicians suggest that we need to look instead to surrounding circumstances, not to the psychology of the reasoner, in order to assess the quality of the argument. For example, we need to look to the reasons that the reasoner used to accept the premises. Was the premise justified on the basis of accepting the conclusion? A third group of logicians say that, in deciding whether the fallacy is committed, we need more. We must determine whether any premise that is key to deducing the conclusion is adopted rather blindly or instead is a reasonable assumption made by someone accepting th eir burden of proof.The premise would here be termed reasonable if the arguer could defend it independently of accepting the conclusion that is at issue. 10. Complex Question You commit this fallacy when you frame a question so that some controversial presupposition is made by the wording of the question. Example: [Reporter's question] Mr. President: Are you going to continue your policy of wasting taxpayer’s money on missile defense? The question unfairly presumes the controversial claim that the policy really is a waste of money. The fallacy of complex question is a form of begging the question. 11. False DichotomyA reasoner who unfairly presents too few choices and then implies that a choice must be made among this short menu of choices commits the false dilemma fallacy, as does the person who accepts this faulty reasoning. Example: I want to go to Scotland from London. I overheard McTaggart say there are two roads to Scotland from London: the high road and the low road. I expect the high road would be too risky because it’s through the hills and that means dangerous curves. But it’s raining now, so both roads are probably slippery. I don’t like either choice, but I guess I should take the low road and be safer.This would be fine reasoning is you were limited to only two roads, but you’ve falsely gotten yourself into a dilemma with such reasoning. There are many other ways to get to Scotland. Don’t limit yourself to these two choices. You can take other roads, or go by boat or train or airplane. The fallacy is called the â€Å"False Dichotomy Fallacy† when the unfair menu contains only two choices. Think of the unpleasant choice between the two as being a charging bull. By demanding other choices beyond those on the unfairly limited menu, you thereby â€Å"go between the horns† of the dilemma, and are not gored. 12. Suppressed EvidenceIntentionally failing to use information suspected of being relevant and significant is committing the fallacy of suppressed evidence. This fallacy usually occurs when the information counts against one’s own conclusion. Perhaps the arguer is not mentioning that experts have recently objected to one of his premises. The fallacy is a kind of fallacy of  Selective Attention. Example: Buying the Cray Mac 11 computer for our company was the right thing to do. It meets our company’s needs; it runs the programs we want it to run; it will be delivered quickly; and it costs much less than what we had budgeted.This appears to be a good argument, but you’d change your assessment of the argument if you learned the speaker has intentionally suppressed the relevant evidence that the company’s Cray Mac 11 was purchased from his brother-in-law at a 30 percent higher price than it could have been purchased elsewhere, and if you learned that a recent unbiased analysis of ten comparable computers placed the Cray Mac 11 near the bottom of the list. FALLACIES OF WEAK INDUCTION 13. Appeal to Ignorance The fallacy of appeal to ignorance comes in two forms: (1) Not knowing that a certain statement is true is taken to be a proof that it is false. 2) Not knowing that a statement is false is taken to be a proof that it is true. The fallacy occurs in cases where absence of evidence is not good enough evidence of absence. The fallacy uses an unjustified attempt to shift the burden of proof. The fallacy is also called â€Å"Argument from Ignorance. † Example: Nobody has ever proved to me there’s a God, so I know there is no God. This kind of reasoning is generally fallacious. It would be proper reasoning only if the proof attempts were quite thorough, and it were the case that if God did exist, then there would be a discoverable proof of this.Another common example of the fallacy involves ignorance of a future event: People have been complaining about the danger of Xs ever since they were invented, but thereâ₠¬â„¢s never been any big problem with them, so there’s nothing to worry about. 14. Appeal to Unqualified Authority You appeal to authority if you back up your reasoning by saying that it is supported by what some authority says on the subject. Most reasoning of this kind is not fallacious, and much of our knowledge properly comes from listening to authorities.However, appealing to authority as a reason to believe something  is  fallacious whenever the authority appealed to is not really an authority in this particular subject, when the authority cannot be trusted to tell the truth, when authorities disagree on this subject (except for the occasional lone wolf), when the reasoner misquotes the authority, and so forth. Although spotting a fallacious appeal to authority often requires some background knowledge about the subject or the authority, in brief it can be said that it is fallacious to accept the words of a supposed authority when we should be suspicious of the autho rity’s words.Example: The moon is covered with dust because the president of our neighborhood association said so. This is a fallacious appeal to authority because, although the president is an authority on many neighborhood matters, you are given no reason to believe the president is an authority on the composition of the moon. It would be better to appeal to some astronomer or geologist. A TV commercial that gives you a testimonial from a famous film star who wears a Wilson watch and that suggests you, too, should wear that brand of watch is committing a fallacious appeal to authority.The film star is an authority on how to act, not on which watch is best for you. 15. Hasty Generalization A hasty generalization is a fallacy of  jumping to conclusions  in which the conclusion is a generalization. See also  Biased Statistics. Example: I’ve met two people in Nicaragua so far, and they were both nice to me. So, all people I will meet in Nicaragua will be nice to me . In any hasty generalization the key error is to overestimate the strength of an argument that is based on too small a sample for the implied confidence level or error margin.In this argument about Nicaragua, using the word â€Å"all† in the conclusion implies zero error margin. With zero error margin you’d need to sample every single person in Nicaragua, not just two people. 16. False Cause Improperly concluding that one thing is a cause of another. The Fallacy of Non Causa Pro Causa is another name for this fallacy. Its four principal kinds are the  Post Hoc Fallacy, the Fallacy of  Cum Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc,  the  Regression  Fallacy, and the Fallacy of  Reversing Causation. Example: My psychic adviser says to expect bad things when Mars is aligned with Jupiter. Tomorrow Mars will be aligned with Jupiter.So, if a dog were to bite me tomorrow, it would be because of the alignment of Mars with Jupiter. 17. Slippery Slope Suppose someone claims that a firs t step (in a chain of causes and effects, or a chain of reasoning) will probably lead to a second step that in turn will probably lead to another step and so on until a final step ends in trouble. If the likelihood of the trouble occurring is exaggerated, the slippery slope fallacy is committed. Example: Mom: Those look like bags under your eyes. Are you getting enough sleep? Jeff: I had a test and stayed up late studying. Mom: You didn’t take any drugs, did you?Jeff: Just caffeine in my coffee, like I always do. Mom: Jeff! You know what happens when people take drugs! Pretty soon the caffeine won’t be strong enough. Then you will take something stronger, maybe someone’s diet pill. Then, something even stronger. Eventually, you will be doing cocaine. Then you will be a crack addict! So, don’t drink that coffee. The form of a slippery slope fallacy looks like this: A leads to B. B leads to C. C leads to D. †¦ Z leads to HELL. We don’t want to g o to HELL. So, don’t take that first step A. 18. Weak Analogy The problem is that the items in the analogy are too dissimilar.When reasoning by analogy, the fallacy occurs when the analogy is irrelevant or very weak or when there is a more relevant disanalogy. See also  Faulty Comparison. Example: The book  Investing for Dummies  really helped me understand my finances better. The bookChess for Dummies  was written by the same author, was published by the same press, and costs about the same amount. So, this chess book would probably help me understand my finances, too. FALLACIES OF AMBIGUITY 19. Accent The accent fallacy is a fallacy of ambiguity due to the different ways a word is emphasized or accented.Example: A member of Congress is asked by a reporter if she is in favor of the President’s new missile defense system, and she responds, â€Å"I’m in favor of a missile defense system that effectively defends America. † With an emphasis on the wo rd â€Å"favor,† her response is likely to  favor  the President’s missile defense system. With an emphasis, instead, on the words â€Å"effectively defends,† her remark is likely to be  againstthe President’s missile defense system. And by using neither emphasis, she can later claim that her response was on either side of the issue.Aristotle’s version of the fallacy of accent allowed only a shift in which syllable is accented within a word. 20. Amphiboly This is an error due to taking a grammatically ambiguous phrase in two different ways during the reasoning. Example: In a cartoon, two elephants are driving their car down the road in India. They say, â€Å"We’d better not get out here,† as they pass a sign saying: ELEPHANTS PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR Upon one interpretation of the grammar, the pronoun â€Å"YOUR† refers to the elephants in the car, but on another it refers to those humans who are driving cars in the vicini ty.Unlike  equivocation, which is due to multiple meanings of a phrase, amphiboly is due to syntactic ambiguity, ambiguity caused by multiple ways of understanding the grammar of the phrase. 21. Equivocation Equivocation is the illegitimate switching of the meaning of a term during the reasoning. Example: Brad is a nobody, but since nobody is perfect, Brad must be perfect, too. The term â€Å"nobody† changes its meaning without warning in the passage. So does the term â€Å"political jokes† in this joke: I don’t approve of political jokes. I’ve seen too many of them get elected. FALLACIES OF GRAMMATICAL ANALOGY 22.Composition The composition fallacy occurs when someone mistakenly assumes that a characteristic of some or all the individuals in a group is also a characteristic of the group itself, the group â€Å"composed† of those members. It is the converse of the  division  fallacy. Example: Each human cell is very lightweight, so a human be ing composed of cells is also very lightweight. 23. Division Merely because a group as a whole has a characteristic, it often doesn’t follow that individuals in the group have that characteristic. If you suppose that it does follow, when it doesn’t, you commit the fallacy of division.It is the converse of the  composition  fallacy. Example: Joshua’s soccer team is the best in the division because it had an undefeated season and shared the division title, so Joshua, who is their goalie, must be the best goalie in the division. 24. Figure of Speech or Parallel-word Construction A fallacy characterized by ambiguities due to the fact that different words in Greek (and in Latin) may have different cases or genders even though the case endings or gender endings are the same. Since this is not widespread in other languages or since it coincides with other fallacies (e. g. quivocation, see above) writers tend to interpret it very broadly. Examples: â€Å"Activists have been labeled as idealists, sadists, anarchists, communists, and just about any name that can come to mind ending in  -ist, like  samok-ist, saba-ist, bad-ist,  and of course, who could forgetdevil-ist? † (The writer has the unsaid argument that any name ending in  -ist  is viewed as â€Å"trouble-makers† by our society. ) An introductory book on philosophy has an appendix entitle â€Å"List of Isms† the proceeds to list the schools of thought in philosophy. (Not all words that end in  -ism  is a school of thought: take for example,  syllogism. )

Whistle Blowing.Internal And External Whistle Blowing Essay

Whistle Blowing.Internal And External Whistle Blowing - Essay Example (Miceli and Near). Thus the process of whistle blowing has both the short term as well as long term implications for almost all the stakeholders in the organization therefore if the process is taken positively and corrective measures are taken properly, it may increase the trust of society in modern day organizations. However, despite its potential benefits, whistle blowing is not an easy task as whistle blowers may face tough consequences as well as rebuttal not only from their colleagues but from their organizations also. Managers often perceive that whistle blowing is good as long as it remains within the internal channels of the organization. The moment it goes public, it becomes something which has a very negative consequence for the managers. As such the factors involved behind the whistle blowing is not only complex but the action of whistle blowing itself require a lot of courage to defy the corporate loyalty. This paper will discuss the issue of whistle blowing by discussing its different complexities as well as discussing some of the ethical considerations. Whistle blowing Whistle blowing is defined as " the disclosure by organization members (former or current) of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to persons, or organizations that may be able to affect action" (Miceli and Near) Whistle blowing is considered as an act of exposing the organizational wrong doings to the general public as well as their superiors. Whistle blowers are often considered as those unsung heroes who serve the "society's last line of defense against organizational misconduct" (Miceli and Near) however, on the other hand, whistle blowers are often considered as organizational traitors who expose the organizations for their own benefits. Whatever the interpretation may be given to whistle blowing, it is an established fact that it requires lot of courage and defiance on the part of whistle blowers to come forward and expose their own organizations for the wrong doing they are committing. There is a very thin line which distinguishes the corporate loyalty from whistle blowing as whistle blowers often find themselves at cross roads of when to leave behind the corporate loyalty in order to expose the wrong doings. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the internal as well as external whistle blowing as employees may find it difficult to decide and interpret the situations which may prompt them to whistle blowing. (Lewis). As long as there are independent internal reporting mechanisms present within the organization, employees may stick to grievances only rather than whistle blowing. This is basically done in order to avoid the negative impact on their employment relations with their employers. However, when internal mechanisms fail to correct the grievances, employees may undertake to go public to disclose what may be perceived as the organizational wrong doing. It is important to note that employee's own values and self regulated moral ethics may play a critical role in deciding the timing of the whistle blowing. The available research indicates two sets of values which may force employees to go against the corporate loyalty. One set of values is based on the perception that whistle blowers are heroes who attempt to rectify the organizational wrong doings and as such consider it as their duty, often out of corporate loyalty, to consider taking steps to correct such a situation. The second set of values identifies whistleblowers as idealists who due to their inability to cope with the gap between their expectations and organizational realities. The values and expectations of

The Success of Business Enterprise Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Success of Business Enterprise - Term Paper Example This business is deemed that there are sites of work namely; in Birmingham and in Worthing as its factory sites and factory manufacturing contact lenses in Surrey. In this kind of set-up, we are aware that there are three branches in this business and with this we will now have the idea that the operation is subdivided into three sites and with this, it is a fact though these factories do perform almost the same kind of operation and produce the same kind of products the geographical separation of these factories and outlets can make a difference. Â   Â   Â   Â   Â  In this scenario, the three establishments should perform the same and should have uniformities with regards to the operation. This could be possible in recording the files, statistics and medical record of the patients in order to ensure the uniformity of operations in these places. We will now assume that these three are branches and should render the same services in their proximity. Â   Â   Â   Â   In order to ensure the uniformity of the operations of the said establishments under the business name Custom Eyes rendering the same services in different areas, the entries and the documentation of the patients and costumes should have the same entries and therefore should contain general information about patients and clients. In this case, the information that these branches should obtain must include names, addresses, medical records and similar information needed to assess the patient/client. Â   Â   Â   Â   Â  In doing this, we might be able to ensure that the record keeping of these branches are the same and the optometrists that are attending to the costumes would have the same performance as the information that they deal with would be the same. Of course, functional requirements should also be present in this kind of business. For example, the competencies of the optometrists should be looked into in order to ensure the capability and the quality of services rendered. Also, the functional requirement of the equipment should also be present in this kind of business.

Social Web Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Social Web - Research Paper Example Besides pros there are several cons of maintaining these connections as well. This is a very grave issue as these side effects are negatively shaping the human society and leading it into a dangerous future. The current report mentions what negative effects these advancements are having on the individuals of the society and thus on the society as a whole. Some future trends of the so called social web are also highlighted along with addressing some measures that should be looked up by governing authorities. This is essential for a safer and prosperous future. INTRODUCTION Social Web is the new terminology with which the visual social connections of each digital device are connected to each other via the internet. The platforms that support the evolution and maintenance of the social connections are various and limitless. Examples of platforms supporting social web profiles are Facebook, Twitter, Orkut LinkdIn etc. The globalization of today’s world sees it as such that virtual ly every human being is connected to the web in one way or the other. People connected to the internet have the privilege of accessing all other sorts of information on it. Via the Internet anyone connected to it can stay up-to-date with the very latest information, can telecommute, check stock prices, compare prices and shop online, communicate with others in chat rooms or on bulletin boards, take different online learning courses, learn how to cook food, train tickets and even earn an accredited degree.... BACKGROUND/HISTORY The roots of communications and information technology can roughly be dated back to the advent of ‘telephone’ by Graham Bell in the year 1875 (Saari, 2006). It is the tenure from the analog telephone to the most well equipped cell phones today that modified the lifestyles of their users’ en-route. Thus behavioral changes on the fronts of societies were also exhibited. American computer scientist Alan Kay said, "Technology is all that stuff that wasn't around when (you) were born   because the stuff that was around when you were born   was just part of the landscape. Like the pencil." Also, McLuhan (1960) said, "The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village"   Once, invented the technological changes went on at a very rapid rate, quick decisions were made regarding the changes in each decade. Presently, decisions need to be formulated that would cater to the long lasting consequences of the very adv anced changes on the society. The social and economic impacts of these technologies are the most important changes that should never be overlooked. As said by mathematician Konsbruck Lee Robert, (n.d.) â€Å"Today, innovations in information technology are having wide-ranging effects across numerous domains of society, and policy makers are acting on issues involving economic productivity, intellectual property rights, privacy protection, and affordability of and access to information. Choices made now will have long- lasting consequences, and attention must be paid to their social and economic impacts.† The social impacts of Information and technology advancements have turned the present human society upside down from what it used

Council of Trent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Council of Trent - Essay Example This paper looks at four themes of the Council of Trent. The themes are, Reformation, Interpretation of Scripture, Condemnation of Corruption in the Church, and Faith and Works. Reformation The reformations that were executed by the Council of Trent were meant to ensure order and efficiency in the Catholic Church and also to curb rampant corruption in the church. The following are the reforms that were made by the Council of Trent. First, the council decreed that bishops must live within their diocese. The bishops also were prohibited from buying or selling religious offices. This measure was meant to curb the common practice of appropriating church properties by the rogue bishops. It was also decreed that each bishop had to establish a seminary within his diocese. This was meant to ensure that there were training facilities, within each diocese, for the candidates for priesthood. The council also decreed that candidate for priesthood had to be firmly grounded in Theology, the candid ates also were required to lead a virtuous life (The Council of Trent (1545-1563): Roman Catholic Church, Web.). ... By this decree the council fathers in the Council of Trent meant that it is the Magisterium only, the official teaching office of the church, has the authority to interpret the Holy Scriptures. The members of the Catholic Church are supposed to abide by the church interpretations of the Scriptures, and not any other interpretation. This directive was meant to cushion the catholic believers from the erroneous and heretical interpretations of the Holy Scriptures. This decree on the interpretation of the scripture reinforced the position of the Magisterium as the official teaching office of the church. Condemnation of Corruption The fathers in the Council of Trent condemned the selling and buying of religious offices. This corrupt practice was known as Simony. And to curb this crime, the fathers put in place a clear declaration against buying and selling of religious offices (The Council of Trent: Bull of Indiction, Web). The council fathers also condemned the abuse of indulgences by th e clergy, and to curb this vice, the fathers reaffirmed the efficacy of the indulgences and put in place cautionary measures to ensure that indulgences are not misused for selfish gains by the clergy. Faith and Works The fathers of the Council of Trent taught that both faith and works/action were instrumental for justification. The fathers decreed that justification depended on the sacrament of baptism, co-operation with infused grace, and good works. The fathers of the council supported their view with St. James teaching that faith without good works is dead, Jms. 1: 26.This position of the fathers of the Council of Trent was diametrically opposed to

Electronic Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Electronic Media - Essay Example The changes in newspaper industry for example is staggering as many newspaper companies nowadays have their own websites too, allowing the new generation of internet user to access the news anytime in their computers. As we have observed during the last few years, the readership of printed papers has declined considerably. More than 1 billion users of the internet all over the world, access the news through the net and the number is expected to rise in the years to come as young people prefer the convenience of Internet-based technologies in order to obtain news, information, and entertainment (Watkinson 67). Societies whose technology is well developed have now entered the digital age and industries are searching for new opportunities to take this chance to develop business. Although there are threats to this utilization of technology in the media to advance business, the melding together of various media - also referred to as 'convergence' causes furor among many technology users as it holds a lot of promise. The amalgamation of different medium, which 1incorporates personalized services could be overwhelming for many but is very exciting as well. The utilization of high-powered and high technology innovation in computers, switch to digital platforms and the construction of high-speed computer networks brought about novel ideas and methods of doing common and ordinary activities. Hindrances to achieving these, like time and space have been eradicated and media users can read, listen, watch anything or interact with someone anytime. The amalgamation of all mediums into one eliminated the problems of putting all technologies in the media together (Thorburn 122). The conglomeration of media corporations in the 1990's for example has brought convergence in ownership and resulted to, in the consumers' point of view, more exciting delivery systems of our favorite medium. Online newspapers now provide streaming video, TV has chat that is extremely interactive and even radio has camera's or telephone systems (Quinn 43). The advent of the very exciting 3G telephony has likewise brought new feeling of excitement and fascination as companies in the field of mass media could include videogames, news, entertainment and online communication. This is now referred to as 2'convergence media.' 3G (or 3-G) is the short terminology to refer to 'third-generation technology' which utilizes the technology of the mobile phone. The 3G technology has the capability to transfer both voice data and non-voice data such as access to information, email messaging system, instant messaging, internet browsing access, entertainment such as streaming audio and video, streaming movies, and real time TV access (Livingston 12). As of now, there are approximately 60 3G networks in 25 countries all over the globe and spans three continents: Asia, Europe, and North America.NTT DoCoMo - the biggest telecommunications company in Japan - in the early 21st century-one of the giant telecommunication companies in Japan-became the first an d leading company to initiate a commercial 3G system. Meanwhile, the introduction of 3G services in Europe started in the year 2003 (Serajul 25) . Currently, debates if the web and television will converge more in the future which will allow only one form of technology instead of the two forms and people in the future will not be able to distinguish the difference between the two. But in order for

Case assignment Rising Cost of Prescription Drugs and its affect on Essay

Case assignment Rising Cost of Prescription Drugs and its affect on MEDICARE - Essay Example In order for pharmaceutical companies to lower prices they must take a totally different view to how profits are made and how future research and development can occur. Currently they take the approach that they have a twenty year patent in which to research, develop, market, and profit from a new drug. After this time generic manufacturers can legally sell their products and compete for customers. The companies that develop these drugs need to cover their costs and continue developing new drugs. Their profit schemes have worked so far, but times have changed. Big name pharmaceutical companies may be forced to change their pricing policies for one simple reason—competition of generics from developing nations, such as India and China, that deliver effective, cheap drugs. Reverse engineering of name brands and marketing of these generic drugs is projected to make these new players majorly influential in the drug market in years to come. According to Johnson (2009) â€Å"†¦ inclusion of noninfectious diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease, into this little- or no-profit scenario could undermine innovation for chronic diseases,† (Drug Industry’s Doomsday Scenario section, para. 3). The ugly truth is that the expensive process of researching and developing new drugs may force giant pharmaceutical companies to either delay research and development or take the risky avenue of trying to sell cheaper drugs for long term profits, neither appeals to them. With patents on existing drugs running out, generic bra nds are well positioned to seize as much market share as possible. It is only a matter of time before these emerging giants can acquire a profit majority and then break into the research and development arena as well. Demand for a product usually raises prices, and the market for medications is no different. According to Walsh (1999) â€Å"†¦the pricing of newly

Critique of Artificial Intelligence Essay Example for Free

Critique of Artificial Intelligence Essay Journalist John Markoff wrote the article â€Å"Computer Wins On ‘Jeopardy!’: Trivial, It’s Not†. He discusses how the super computer â€Å"Watson† defeated the all time champion of â€Å"Jeopardy!† Ken Jennings. The author, throughout the article, agrees that the supercomputer â€Å"Watson† was a fair match against Ken Jennings. I disagree with Markoff for multiple reasons. This was in no way a fair match because the computer had a remarkable ability to answer questions at super speeds. Also, the computer has access to all available questions and the ability to answer them. This was in no way a fair battle between the computer and Ken Jennings. The author’s main idea of this article is mainly to say how the supercomputer was a fair match between the two. The computer has ways to answer questions that humans have no way of doing. The computer can answer questions within seconds and even milliseconds when the question is asked. It has a super speed ability to answer these questions, which gives no time for the competitor to even have a chance to answer the questions given. So, when the competitor has no time to even have an attempt to answer the question, there is no way to win. â€Å"Watson† is so smart that almost every question that is asked, he answers correctly. Since I don’t agree with Markoff’s statement about â€Å"Watson†, I don’t think his argument is valid. The reason I don’t believe his argument and points are valid is that a computer that has remarkable and inhuman-like abilities is obviously going to win in a competition of speed and knowledge. Ken Jennings had no chance against this computer. So, if a human has no chance against a machine, how can anyone call this a fair fight? Now, Markoff did define his terms clearly and specifically describe his reasons for why he thinks what he thinks, so I do give him credit for that. Still, I disagree with his argument. I disagree with most of Markoff’s view about the competition between the computer and Jennings. His main point of the fair competition is totally undebatable. â€Å"Watson, on the other hand, does not anticipate the light, but has a weighted scheme that allows it, when it is highly confident, to hit  the buzzer in as little as 10 milliseconds, making it hard for humans to beat† (Markoff 212). This statement made by Markoff proves that this was in no way possible for Jennings to beat the super computer. The computer can buzz in at amazing speeds as little as 10 milliseconds, which is way faster than any other human could possibly buzz in. Plus, the computer is programmed with so much information, that it would most likely be able to defeat Jennings, just because of the intelligence of this machine that the creators programmed into it. Overall, I do not believe that this piece published by John Markoff is in anyway valid. Markoff does however succeed in persuading people his ideas and describing his ideas and arguments very specifically. He does a good job with his argument and stating what he thinks. I do not agree with his argument though. My reaction to this piece is actually astonished because I am not sure how anyone could think that a computer competing against a very intelligent human was fair at all. The weakness of this passage is probably how it can be hard for someone to understand how a computer can manage to accomplish all this, but the strengths are good description and expression of the passage. Although he argues very well of his points, I in no way agree with his argument that the battle between â€Å"Watson† and Ken Jennings was fair.

Tourism management in a coastal tourism destination

Tourism management in a coastal tourism destination This essay considers tourism management in a coastal tourism destination Indians smallest state Goa. Study critically assesses coastal tourism definitions, tourism background, review of current trends, policies, management issues with recommendations and future concerns. According to many coastal tourism definitions, it might be concluded that sun, sand and sea are one of the most significant types of holiday in the world, provides an important commercial sector of the tourism industry, but with some possibility of negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts. As Page and Connel (2006) stated, the meeting of land and sea creates biologically and geologically diverse environments and unique landscapes which may form the basic for tourism. Works of Nowak (2007) and Gormsen (1997), similarly defined coastal tourism and agreed that the coastal zones and its natural environment play a major role in attracting tourists, offering the best opportunities for leisure, physical activities and pleasure for all age and social groups which applies to the beaches of all continents. Coastal tourism definitions also analysed impacts of tourism at the coast from different perspectives including change of socio-economic and settlement patterns, cultural impacts on the local population and its environmental impacts. J. Page (2005), who defined coastal tourism as site for pleasure, and place for spiritual fulfilment also pointed out that inappropriate tourism development in coastal areas can cause erosion, salination of fresh ground water sources, sewage outfall into shallow waters, environmental degradation, pollution, destruction of habitats and ecosystems, loss of coastal and marine resources and impacts on ground water. On other hand, Marsden (1999) considered seaside tourism as tourism of significant economic and social value and the potential for resorts to contribute to rejuvenating neighbouring areas through employment, leisure and business opportunities which should be exploited. All definitions mentioned positive and negative effects on the regional and national economies, local culture, physical infrastructure and environment. It is therefore essential that local governments issue the relevant laws and set up the methods for efficient control of all the activities made by investors, tour operators and other private and official actors at all stages of tourism. If all the participants collaborate efficiently in general understanding of sustainable development, then tourism at coastal resorts may provide most of positive contributions to the future of coastal areas with less negative effects. Goa has been formed in 3rd century BC and after its rich history it was released to India in 1961. Since 1987 it became a proper state with its own official state language, Konkani. Catholicism and certain Mediterranean customs have been brought by Portuguese colonialism in sixteenth century. Because of its background and history it is multi-lingual and multi religion country with most Goans identify much more with Goa than with Indian subcontinent (Saldanha, 2002). Contemporary change in Goa is very much connected to tourism. Goa first came to the attention of the international tourist ‘community during the 1960s and 1970s when the states palm-fringed beaches became a haven for Western hippie travellers. Odzer (1995) observed that few other types of foreign tourists visited the state in large numbers during this period. Indian government began to consider more seriously the possible economic benefits of promoting international tourism and by 1986 had decided to exploit Goa for the purposes of charter tourism. National Tourism Action Plan of 1992 as part of the Indian economys liberalization placed increasing emphasis on the demand-centred model of international tourism, particularly luxury tourism. The Indian Government designated the 1990s as the ‘Decade of Tourism, and tourism currently dominates the discourse of development within the state of Goa (Routledge, 2001). From 24 charter flights during the 1985-86 season, number increa sed to 758 flights in 2007-2008 season to Daboli, Goas international airport (Department of Tourism, 2009). Tourism in Goa today is one of the major economic activities with multiplier effect which percolates to the local community. Because of its natural scenic beauty, 105km long coast, straight beaches, very hot weather, picturesque villages, its culture, temples, monuments, Goa has a positive tourism profile. The most comprehensive beach resort in India, Goas coastline provides endless sun drenched crescents of sand. Vagator, Anjuna, Baga, Calangute and Candolim beaches stretch out in an unbroken palm fringed line offering facilities for parasailing, yachting, windsurfing, and deep sea diving. There are 29 beaches in Goa, many churches from 16th centuries, temples more than 500 year old, religious centres, science spots, wild lives and other attractions for tourists (Know India, 2009). Goa mostly attracts domestic tourists but also some foreign markets, mainly Britain. In 2008 according to Department of Tourism (2009), Goa was visited by 80% of domestic tourists, by a total number of 2,371,539 tourists; over 388.000 were foreigners from which 41% were British, 8% Russians, 6% Germany followed by tourists from Finland, France, Switzerland, Sweden, USA, Australia and others. International charter tourists accounted for almost 50% of whole international arrivals. And where does Goas tourism rank within whole India? Tourism Statistics (Ministry of Tourism, 2008) shows that Goa is one of the most popular coastal destinations in the country. From total international tourist arrivals in India 5.37 million in 2008, was more than 7% to Goas beaches, even when Goas state population accounts for only less then 0.14% of population of whole country. Average duration of stay for foreigners is 9 days and for domestic tourists 5 days. The growth of charter and luxury tourism in Goa has progressively more concerned investments from transnational corporations. As Menezes and Lobo (1991) noted, most of Goas major hotels have some financial or marketing connections with foreign capital. For example Lufthansa (Germany), Club Mediteranee ´ (France), Intasun (UK), and Hyatt Regency and Ramada (both USA) are all involved in international charter flights holiday tie-ups with Goan hotels. Goa shows significant tourism accommodation availability, however, from the tourist statistics (Department of Tourism, 2009) almost 70% of all rooms do not qualify for even a 1 star rating and are in very poor quality. There are more than 2500 guest houses with number of beds over 4200 to serve tourists, while there are only 83 starred hotels but with almost 12000 beds from which 47% bed capacity are 4 or 5 starred hotels. With new investments in 4 and 5 star hotels the tourism industry in Goa has evolved into a curious mix of low-budget tourism and up-market development, a mix that is according to Wilson (1997) marked with tensions and potential conflicts over the appropriation of resources. More than 90% of domestic tourists and 99% of the international Goas tourists stay at the coastal resorts. Thus, beach tourism is the only type that is keenly encouraged by policymakers. There are different markets which have different motivations to visit the state. The first is the domestic tourists market, who comes in search of the culture that is different from the rest of India. The second is the international tourists market, who visits Goa purely for the natural environment, sun and beaches. Within the category of international tourists, there are two sub-categories, which both visit Goa for its beaches but stay away from each other. Backpackers prefer to mix and live with the local communities, whereas the charter tourists tend to stay in the luxury starred hotels. Domestic and international tourists also differ in terms of the areas they frequent. For the domestic tourist, the beaches hold limited appeal, so they remain away from the places frequented by the international t ourists (Sawkar et al, 1998). As a growing activity at global, national and local levels, tourism needs to be managed in a sustainable and balanced manner. J. Page (2005) examined some basic principles for managing such a destination. He believes that planning, organising, leading and controlling are the most important elements. The management of coastal tourism is complex because the tourism industry is not a homogenous sector or segment of the economy. It is made up of various organisations that are directly or indirectly involved in tourism. The public sector should intervene to ensure that business objectives are balanced with local needs and stakeholder interests are in relation with the tourism utilities, such as beaches, attractions, infrastructure and overall environment. The public sector is though responsible for trying to liaise, plan and manage the diverse group of interests that are associated with tourism. According to WTTC (2003) it is within governments power to unlock the industrys potential to c reate jobs and generate prosperity. Within a structure of co-operation federalism, India has three tiers of government. Central government is the first tier, the second is State government and the third is the village level within the state, known as the ‘panchayat system. Administratively the Goa is organised into two districts,North Goa and South Goa, all together Goa has 189 panchayats. The nodal agency for the formulation of national and state government agencies and the private sector development of tourism is the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. It is responsible for coordination and supplementation of activities of various Central government Agencies and State governments, catalysing private investments and for the development and promotion of tourism in India.It is also in charge of public sector undertaking, the India Tourism Development Corporation, Ltd, and autonomous institutions like Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technol ogy, National Institute of Water Sports etc. Functions of the Ministry consist of the development policies, incentives, external assistance, manpower development, investment facilitation, planning, regulation, infrastructure development, human resource development, marketing strategies and many others (Government of India, 2009). Development activities are co-ordinated by the respective Ministries. Two main nodal bodies for decision making in terms of potential or actual impacts of activities in coastal areas and the seas or oceans are the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Department of Ocean Development. At the local level, responsible for coastal tourism are State governments, District Administration, Local Bodies and Councils. At the Goa itself, it is Department of Tourism which is responsible for tourism policy and its role is to ensure planned and controlled development of tourism in Goa. The government endeavours to provide appropriate package through progressive fiscal and taxation policies, develop tourism as a non-invasive instrument of revitalization, conservation and growth, entrust regulatory measures to ensure social, cultural and environmental sustainability and involvement of local community. The Coastal Zone Regulation notification in 1991 invited the governments of Indias coastal states and union territories to prepare Coastal Zone Management Plans for their respective areas (Noronha, 2004). These zones regulate development and construction in the coastal regions. The main objectives of Coastal Zone Management are to encourage sustainable use of environment, identify and resolve conflicts, balance economic and environmental objectives and adopt strategic planning. An important provision under these laws limits the nature and development of land that is located close to the sea. Goa as a coastal state has the responsibility to identify the zones and prepare management plans within which all future coastal development is to take place. Government of India, Ministry of Tourism (2005) published Best Practises adopted by the State governments with good examples of how can supervision manage tourism industry. An example from Goa can be the reduction or abolition of luxury tax helps lowering rates. That means more tourists would be attracted to the destination and this could give competitive advantage to the state, as benefits will go to the customers. In order to help cinema theatres to make them financially viable, the Goa government has reduced the entertainment tax from 60 to 40 percent. A complementary reduction on taxes by the Goa Government on water tariff by 22% is noble scheme to attract tourists as well. Goa set up Tourist Police exclusively for providing safety and security to the tourists in frequent areas. Despite these few examples of good practise there is still large scale to provide more benefits for local people in Goa by tourism industry and government should prepare adequate policies for coastal tour ism to help locals to get involved with tourism. Locals should be at the first place in considering about development of tourism and they should intervene in decision process making of tourism policies. The impacts of coastal tourism in Goa have been the subject of discussion amongst academics, researchers and activist groups. Goas tourism has so far concentrated mainly on the coast. Work of Wilson (1997) considered some impacts of tourism in Goa. The growth of coastal tourism has been fast and uncontrolled. The principles of sustainability and the norms related to the conservation of the environment and ecology were generally ignored. There has been unclear firm policy relating to tourism and the policy initiatives have not been introduced attentive to local concerns. This could lead to major changes in land use, shortages of resources, such as land and water, and damage to coastal aquifers, the sand dune system, and mangrove vegetation. It is clear that there is much to be learned about the impacts of tourism in Goa, and that further planning and development requires information gaps to be filled. According to Noronha (2004) almost all difficulties fall into three major domains of coastal policy problems. Those that relate to resource use conflicts, those that relate to resource depletion and those that relate to pollution or resource degradation. It is evident that Goa is facing all these types of policy complications. William (1998) demonstrated that coastal tourism in Goa has resulted in a spatial concentration of buildings in some coastal areas leading to a heavy demand for resources in these places. Another issue observed by Wilson (1997) is the amount of solid waste which is generated and the need for land to cope with the disposal of this waste. With these matters, policy-making should take sufficient note, to make it a case for systematic addressing. There is no clear and specific coastal focus for its development policies in India. Sawkar et al (1998) observed that the current policies and relaxed enforcement have led to the haphazard and uncontrolled growth of townships. Places like Calangute and Candolim in Bardez and Colva in Salcete have become over commercialized and disorganized in their development pattern. Developments along the coasts of Goa and the future plans for it reveals that these follow the ideas submitted in the Coastal Zone Management plan of Goa rather than its Regional Development plan. These areas have a number of unauthorized constructions, which have paid little heed to local planning rules, infrastructural supports or aesthetics. There are also signs of over investment which is spreading a price war. ‘Lots of international people come and because it is small and beautiful they try to invest money and buy huge tracts of land. Locals feel that our land is being sold, said the chief minister of the Go an (Pirie, 2008). Nowadays there are steps from government to reinterpret existing property legislation to deter foreigners from buying property. There has been little effort made in Goa to adhere to the regional plans of creating other types of tourism than beach tourism. That means tourists are almost exclusively accommodated along 105km stretch of the coastline which can impact coastal environment far more quickly than if tourists are spread upcountry. Governments in India prepare Five Year Plans which play an important role in states model of economic development. These plans provide the overall direction and framework for policies, programmes and schemes for the Ministries and Departments. Eleventh Five Year Plan for years 2007-2012, prepared by Directorate of Planning, Statistics and Evaluation (2007), contains some interesting ideas. Goa is being treasure of heritage and has immense potential for growth of heritage tourism activities. The government has introduced ‘Heritage house scheme towards promoting heritage tourism. For this purpose, financial assistance in the form of loans and grants is proposed to be given to the owners of the heritage houses for their maintenance and restoration. Another example is that the Goa has beautiful forests and eco-tourism plans which are being implemented through the budget of Forest Department. This project envisages development of an eco-tourism circuit consisting of Bondla, Cotigao wild life sanctuaries and Mollem national park. This is illustration of cooperation between different governmental departments on the state level which can bring more effective results in terms of sustainable and planned development. Another example could be promoting of discovery and adventure tourism which can attract different market of tourists whether domestic or international. Currently 80% of all tourists visiting Goa are domestic tourists yet most of promotional budget is spent on trying to attract foreign tourists. Since Goa is well established tourism destination, it should try to redirect budget allocation. If one years advertising budget is used to clean up Goas beaches and provide needed infrastructure in those areas it would earn more goodwill for Goa and attract more tourists than any advertising budget would be able to deliver. There is also need to shift away from charter tourism. It is important to increase tourism revenues by moving Goa up-market. Nowadays, charter tourists pay a very low price for the whole tour in their home countries. So they spend very little in Goa itself. The current focus on beach tourism should be diversified to include other areas, like adventure and eco-tourism, medical tourism, hosting conventions, conferences and so forth. The analysis of the development of tourism destination is one of the main topics of tourism research. Over a long period of time, tourism products go through an evolutionary process. Butler (1980) put forward the concept of the tourism area life cycle TALC. The model depicted resorts moving from the initial stage of being found, through the involvement and development stages to a stagnation stage, beyond which there are number of options possible from decline to rejuvenation. This can be seen in appendix A. Goas visitor numbers were continuously increasing, however last season in 2008 there was a decrease of tourists because of global economic recession, there is estimated increase in tourist number in 2009 season (Navhind Times, 2009). In appendix B is illustrated how Goa can be linked to TALC model with further explanation. It is still developing tourism destination with some future developments announced by government in last Five Years Plan (Directorate of Planning, Statistics a nd Evaluation 2007). Goa could still attract a bigger number and different segments of tourists. For example two marinas have been located one in North and another one in South Goa to be build in near future with facilities for pleasure yachts. There is a plan to build two international-size golf courses, also one in each district of Goa. The government has decided to locate new international airport for transporting cargo and passengers at Mopa, which would be particularly attractive for tourists who will be easily linked to coastal resorts. These developments should give Goa competitive advantage as a coastal tourist destination, but there is need for monitoring and management system which would ensure the effectiveness of coastal and environmental regulations. Goa also needs a systematic study of the environmental impacts of tourism, which could be done through a life cycle analysis, and the valuation of the environment to enable its integration into decision-making. Goa still r equires policies for coastal tourism which recognise the type of interconnections among tourism, local communities and the environment, to ensure that tourism contributes to a sustainable development agenda.

mankind is our business :: essays research papers

â€Å"It takes a village to raise a child†, a famous quote with much more truth in it than may be realized. As a person, being part of a family, community, and country in the world is so mandatory for survival, that not making mankind part of our business is not an option. Survival, as human beings, is not plausible without the outside help of others. Each and every day, whether we realize it or not, we are being helped by others, and more than likely, helping others along the way as well. People should be able to help other people without being cynical, without needing their own selfish motivations in order to achieve their goals. It should not take a catastrophe to get people to open their wallets and their hearts to help others in need. The events that occurred on September eleventh are an example of what it takes for people to realize that there are others in need of help. We, as Americans, and people, should have been helping all along, not just after the occurrence of a disaster. The events of September eleventh showed the compassion that we have towards each other. Even members of countries other than the United States sympathized with the occurrences, and many reached out to help much further than was expected. If people stop caring about the future, then there will be no future, it is as simple as that. We must always reach out to mankind, giving in every way we can, helping to make the future strong, as was done for us by people from the past. Parents are a shining example. They work hard so they can send their children to college in hopes that their children will lead a more productive life than their own. Presidents are yet another. Presidents, and other people with authority and power are at work each and every day in many countries because they are trying to make the world a better place for the future.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are unlimited ways to help mankind become better as a whole. Ranging from the small things like donating clothes food and money to donating personal time, which is so precious in this modern day, that it is of the most valued donation available. It does not seem like much, but in the long run, it all adds up and makes a huge impact on the world.

Edward R. Murrow: A Revolution in the News Media Essay -- corporate an

The four years following the battle against Senator McCarthy, Murrow developed an enormous amount of contempt for the industry he helped create. Murrow’s superiors grew to fear some of his proposed topics for See It Now due to the usually high level of controversy surrounding most of his stories. CBS also became dictated by its advertisers in order to generate profit, and Murrow’s presence often scared advertisers from buying commercial slots during his programs. â€Å"The 1950s were characterized by a growing alienation between Murrow, CBS administrators, and sponsors, who both had come to dislike his independence, his critical broadcasts, and his critical analysis of the broadcasting industry,† (Belovari, n/a). The interest of the public often fell victim to corporate interest in the mind of Murrow during his remaining time with CBS. Murrow’s relationship with CBS, specifically head of CBS Bill Paley, deteriorated further during a quiz show scandal in wh ich CBS’s program legitimacy came into question. RTNDA Convention – Corporate Interest vs. Public Interest On October 15, 1958 Murrow would deliver a speech in Chicago at the RNTDA (Radio-Television News Directors Association and Foundation) Convention illustrating his opinion on the past, present, and future of the industry. The cause of Murrow’s developing distaste for CBS and the industry as whole would become vividly apparent as the speech moved forward. Elaborating on his personal observations Murrow would reveal whom he thought now had complete control over the industry. The top management of the networks, with a few notable exceptions, has been trained in advertising, research, sales or show business. But by the nature of the corporate structure, they also make the final an... ...trieved from http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/case-against-lt-milo-radulovich/content?oid=44316 (Boeck) Campbell, W. J. (2010, March 08). Recalling, and doubting, television's 'finest half hour. Retrieved from http://mediamythalert.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/recalling-and-challenging-televisions-finest-half-hour/ (Campbell, 2010) Handman, G. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/murrowmccarthy.html Wershba, J.. Edward r. murrow and the time of his time. Retrieved from http://www.evesmag.com/murrow.htm Murrow, E. (Director) (1958, October 8). RTNDA Speech. RTNDA Convention. Lecture conducted from RTNDA, Chicago. Rose, Howard Lester, "Edward R. Murrow: His Life, Legacy and Ethical Influence" (2010). Theses and Professional Projects from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Paper 2. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/journalismdiss/2

Led Zeppelins Houses of the Holy :: Led Zeppelin Rock N Roll Bands Essays

Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy Led Zeppelin is arguably one of the best rock n’ roll bands of all time. They were collectively some of the best musicians ever to play rock n’ roll music, and were also great lyricists. Robert Plant (the lead vocalist) was quoted as saying that for some of the songs that he wrote, he felt that someone pushed the pen for him. Whether some mysterious force was moving his hand or not, one things for sure, Led Zeppelin wrote some timeless masterpieces of music. They were formed from the ashes of British blues-rockers the Yardbirds. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelins official founder) started off as the bassist for the Yardbirds, but eventually moved on to play electric guitar for the band. In 1968 the Yardbirds broke up leaving Jimmy Page the rights to the band. Jimmy went out looking to start a new group and found charismatic vocalist Robert Plant, Roberts close friend and explosive drummer John Bonham, and already famous bass guitar player John Paul Jones. The group hit it off and did a few shows in England before renaming the band Led Zeppelin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Somewhat a mysterious band, Led Zeppelin rarely did interviews and did not talk much to the press. For these reasons much of the press did not like them. However, their fans loved them. Led Zeppelin established a strong fan base by means of intense touring from the start of the group’s formation. With this intense touring came a lot of temptation. Led Zeppelin indulged in heavy drug and alcohol abuse as well as a lot of sex with groupies, especially American groupies. Their regimen of intense partying would eventually cause the band problems and inevitably lead to the bands undoing with the death of drummer John Bonham. I feel that Led Zeppelin could have been much more. To many Led Zeppelin fans that might sound crazy, but I truly feel that they had much more to offer the world than they ever got to give. The reason I say this is because they really didn’t have a long career and within a 5 or 6 years of forming the band they started having misfortun e and tragedy such as the death of Robert Plants son, Roberts car accident (which interfered with his touring and ability to perform for a few years), John Bonham’s excessive alcohol use, and Jimmy Pages’ heroin addiction that obviously interfered with their touring and songwriting.

Disadvantages of Using Social Networks

The use of social network sites has increased exponentially and is a global phenomenon. Online social network sites provide several benefits. For example, people can interact with others, as if they were close friends. In addition, social network sites help people connect with others who have the same interests; people can share news, photographs, and videos with other online members. According to a Nielsen Online report, by the end of 2008, 66. 8 percent of Internet users around the world had visited social network sites that year, whereas, only 65. 1 percent had gone online to access email. Gale) Social networks provide the opportunity for an advanced level of communication and functionality. However, social networks also have serious disadvantages, such as violation of confidentiality and privacy, unforeseen consequences, and potential threat to personal safety. Today, communication on the Internet has become increasingly popular. Millions of people around the world use websites, such as Myspace, Facebook, and LinkedIn. People now have benefits of these websites, including significantly advanced communication and functionality which have never been seen or imagined before.For instance, one advantage is that today’s doctors are communicating with their patients by using social media. Before social media became a vital form of communication, doctors and patients only could connect to each other by using telephone, otherwise, patients had to visit the doctor’s office which takes time and money as well. â€Å"About 20 percent of patients already use social media to glean healthcare information, according to an April survey by the National Research Corporation, a healthcare research firm based in Lincoln, Neb†. Haupt) However, there are also some weak points of communicating through using social media between patients and physicians. Sometimes, the information that gets passed along is not always accurate because anyone can post. Moreover, si nce some doctors answer medical questions through social media, privacy becomes a concern. If patients provide details about a diagnosis or treatment, the doctor might accidentally reveal patients’ identity. To maintain confidentiality, personal questions should still be handled through doctor's office visits or phone calls.Most people who use social media are not aware of the potential violation of their privacy and unforeseen consequences. Websites may give people a false impression of being anonymous. In fact, many people post embarrassing and unethical content in text, photos, and videos. Because the Internet is a text-centered telecommunication, people may lose their ethics and responsibility. In actuality, serious consequences have occurred to people whose online behavior has been made public. â€Å"Students have been expelled from high schools and colleges.Students have been denied acceptances to intern programs, admission to independent high schools, colleges, and jo bs. Students, and their parents, have been sued for insult and defamation of character†. (Fodeman, Monroe) These instances occurred all because of the content people have posted in their social network accounts. Furthermore, according to Dr. Nora Barnes, Director for the Center of Marketing Research at UMASS Darmouth, more than 20% of colleges and universities search social networks for their admission candidates. Fodeman, Monroe) Finally, people’s privacy may be violated by police, and other government agencies that have access to Facebook pages. In addition, Facebook itself sells their members’ information to third party marketers willing to pay the fees. As a result, people should seriously be conscious of their privacy concerns and perceive that other people are trolling their accounts. Finally, safety has also become an issue for social network members. Safety concerns include ads, fake websites, identity theft and stalkers. Online social networks generate r evenues through advertising.Companies collect information from online social network sites. Based on this data, companies advertise and create a profile page, inviting members to join or become fans. Companies may use these pages to promote events, such as concerts, free product giveaways, special sales, and other activities. In fact, there are frequent scams targeting people in their social networks, especially Facebook and My Space. Over the last few years, more than 14,000 users were damaged by fake MySpace pages into visiting music web sites to purchase music for $2-3 per album.Instead of getting music, the site charged $300-600 to their credit cards. (Fodeman, Monroe) Other major safety concerns include cybercriminals, and stalking. People can easily gain access to sensitive information from online social networks, making users in danger to identity theft and other crimes. â€Å"Computer security firm Sophos reported in February 2010 that there had been an â€Å"alarming† increase in spammers and hackers using online social network sites to find potential victims†. Gale) The amount of receiving spam and sending viruses, worms, or other malicious software is increasing. Besides, stalkers can use networks to keep track of their victims' activities. Therefore, online users should be cautious when they communicate with strangers online. In fact, it is very easy for people to pretend to be someone who they are not. It is not mandatory for people to reveal their true identity online. As a result, users must be careful about meeting new online friends in person and should never arrange a meeting unless it is in a public place and others know about it.In conclusion, social networks provide an advanced level of communication and functionality. On one hand, by communication online, doctors and patients may save time and money. On the other hand, there are serious disadvantages to using social networks. These disadvantages include a potential violation of privacy and confidentiality. There may be unforeseen consequences to posting text, photos and videos online. For example, students may be expelled from school. Companies collect data from social networks to advertise online.Individual users may not be able to distinguish fake websites. Also, the potential harm of identity theft is serious. Furthermore, stalkers and impostors find it easy to create false identities online. Therefore, personal safety is a major concern for online users. There are several other implications for harmful consequences of social networks. One such example that may be explored is global safety. For instance, Wikileaks posed a danger to political international relations.

How to Write a Bad Essay Essay

It is very easy to find any sort of information in the books or internet sites, which can be helpful for those students, who want to write a good essay. Our professors explain us how to organize our work on the essays, how to do a good research or how to create a clear thesis statement. From our friends or classmates we can get a good piece of advice on how to plan, reference and format our writing correctly. However, it is really very difficult to find some useful information for those students, who intend to write a really bad essay. There are no good books or articles, which can help or at least give some ideas for such students. That is why those students, who want to make their essays really bad and unusable, have to spend a lot of efforts and be very creative. In order to write a bad essay, the first and very important steps are to avoid looking for any relevant information and not to do any sort of academic research. It is recommended also not to visit any lectures and not to use any notes of the classmates on the subject. Second, for producing a bad essay it is absolutely essential to spend as less time as possible for your writing. It is good to start working on the essay right before the deadline: this will help you to avoid the temptation to go to a library, consult your professor or look for some reputable scholar sources. The third step is not to do any planning of the writing, especially not to write any outline or summary. The next step of producing a terrible essay is to avoid coming up with any idea or point of the writing. It is also important to keep away from answering the questions of the essay clearly and concisely. Instead, you can write down everything which is unrelated or is currently in your mind. The further step for those students, who want to write a terrible essay, is to be sure that it has no certain clear thesis statement or proper structure, as well as no such components as an introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. The next essential step is not to be concerned about any plagiarism and stealing someone else’s ideas or thoughts for your essay. Usual â€Å"copy-paste† from an internet source, from a magazine or a book, incorporated into your writing without any citing or referencing, is one of the greatest ways to produce a bad essay. More to the point, it is essential to remember that a bad essay never has anything like a reference page or works cited page. At last, the next stage is to ignore any rules and standards of formatting and place your text randomly on the pages. Furthermore, for making your essay as worse as possible, it is crucial not to spend time for revising or re-reading your writing and ignore all possible rules of English grammar, errors, typos, run-on sentences and other imperfections. It is effective to use wrong words and numerous repetitions in the essay. As a final stage, it is very important not to allow any of your friends or classmates to help you and check out your essay for clarity and content. Finally, the very last idea is to print out your essay on dirty or used paper and be sure that it is late for submission. The majority of people are convinced that it is very easy to write a bad essay, because no special skills or talents are required. Nevertheless, taking into account everything mentioned above, it must be clear for every student that producing a bad writing is, actually, very hard and exhausting job. It takes a lot of attention and a lot of hard work, therefore, not everyone can complete this assignment successfully. In my opinion, writing a bad essay definitely takes more efforts than writing a good essay. Maybe that is why a great deal of students prefer not to get into a trouble and choose not to deal with bad essays. Therefore, I am sure that it is always safer, more interesting and challenging to write good, readable, clear, laconic and fully referenced essays. Works Cited: â€Å"How to Write a Bad History Essay.† Keele University. History School of Humanities. 19 Apr. 2008 .   

James I’s Intolerance of the Catholic Faith Essay

Do you agree with the view that the main cause of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was James I’s intolerance of the catholic faith? It was the lack of tolerance in which James showed toward the Catholic faith, but also the large amounts of tolerance to the Protestants in the mean time. James was, almost, too pleasant towards the Protestants and therefore angered the Catholics as he did so, leaving the Catholic’s wanting to display that the intolerance shown towards them was unacceptable. Therefore, historians are able to infer that it was due to James’ attitudes towards the catholic faith that the Gunpowder Plot took place. Source 2 and 3 both agree that the gunpowder plot was due to James dealing with the Catholic faith with a very harsh attitude, also pushing the Catholics into taking measures such as ‘massacres, rebellions and desperate attempts against the King and State’ due to the King driving them to. James ‘dealt severely [..] he took a lot of money’ which he, evidently, didn’t implicate amongst the puritans. James shows a lot of hatred towards the Catholics and their faith through the way he dealt with them. Source 4 supports evidence shown through both source 2 and 3 in the way that it is expressing the ‘utter detestation’ he had of Catholicism and how he was happy to show his ‘hostility against the Catholics in order to satisfy the Puritans’. James states how he couldn’t comply with all the needs of the Catholics which they present to them, however he made no effort to even think about contemplating those needs of the Protestants. The kings hatred towards the Catholics, however, may also have been due to the influence of his inherited chief minister, Robert Cecil, who from Source 3 we can understand himself didn’t enjoy having the Catholic faith around, being warned that if the harshness shown towards them wasn’t to stop then the king would have to intervene in ‘massacres, rebellions and desperate attempts against the king and state’. However, Robert Cecil, down to his own despise of the faith manipulated the situation, applying a larger amount of pressure upon James to continue to treat the Catholics with a harsh manner, shown in source 5, ‘Cecil used every opportunity to infer to James that the popes were rivals to his authority [†¦] something James could not tolerate’ . Source 5, unlike source 3, states how Cecil was a ‘staunch protestant’ seeing the Catholics as being ‘tantamount to traitors’ due to their beliefs opposing the king by referring back to the pope, although they both show that Robert Cecil is using his own viewpoint to affect the way in which the King undertake the ‘issue’ of the Catholic faith, just in diverse ways, and therefore a possible cause of the gunpowder plot, which many historians would argue, was due to James’ ministers themselves, influencing the kings beliefs and ideals. Robert Cecil through his influence over the king shown in source 5 can also be supported in source 1 with him stating that the King has been too tolerable of the Catholics and how the king should be harsher towards them and how ‘the King’s excessive kindness’ has resulted to ‘priests preach that Catholics much kill the Kings to help their religion’, and therefore wasn’t James’ intolerance of the Catholics that caused the Gunpowder plot but the tolerance he showed them instead. Many Catholics would say that due to James’ deliberately publicly announcing his ‘utter detestation’ of their faith that James deserved the plot to be against him due to the harshness shown towards their faith and beliefs, which we are able to infer via source 4 telling historians that ‘all priests [†¦] had been expelled and recusancy fines introduced’. Overall through the sources historians are able to infer that James showed a large intolerance towards the Catholic faith, whether it be through him own ideals or influenced by other, which then pushed them into believing that performing the Gunpowder plot upon the Houses of Parliament was for the greater good of their religion, and therefore the main cause of the gunpowder plot of 1604 was King James’ intolerance for the Catholic faith. Amy Poole.

Mona Lisa Reflection Essay

To be honest I have never been much of an artsy kind of person. My major is history and I just never thought art as such a significant thing until now. The painting I find myself most interested in is the Mona Lisa. As it is probably the most valuable and most popular painting in today’s modern time, I find it very interesting that nobody really knows who the women is in the Mona Lisa and why paint it in the first place? I think the skeptics of the painting is what drives me to like it so much. I mean you have this painting of what is supposed to be a women in Italy around the 18th century and you see this nice glowing smile, but in the back ground it almost looks like Armageddon. I mean as far I know Leonardo Di Vinci wasn’t a very dark or Dominic man. I mean this guy painted the famous last supper. If you look at this painting you would almost think of it as a man with female qualities. There have been skeptics saying that Da Vinci made a self-portrait of him as a women, but nobody knows. That eerie feeling that nobody does know makes you think so much about it. It’s this painting along with a couple others that Da Vinci did that got me interested in taking art history especially around the time of the Renaissance. I figured since I am already a history major that maybe understanding why art has such an impact on today’s society will help me see a more rounded view of certain topics in history like the Renaissance. Which was the time that Mona Lisa was painted and the time where culture is just booming and you have all these other great artists at the time. You know my biggest question is who are these artists why are they painting such portraits and why does art have such an impact? By learning the reasoning behind this maybe it will help me get a better grasp on other things in history during this time.