Good Marriage Essay

Jim went down to the kitchen where the smell of good food beckons him. He smiled to himself, pleased to note that his wife is cooking his favorite food. They’ve been together for twenty-five years, their kids are all grown up. Yet Ana hasn’t forgotten that he likes Thai cooking, slightly spicy and rich with seasoning. He saw his wife adding cut green pepper on the diced meat that is frying on the stove. Ana turned around and saw him standing in the doorway. She bade him sit down while she finishes her cooking. Instead of sitting down, Jim went to the cupboard to get plates and utensils for their meal. The couple has always find ways to please and help each other, a practice they have kept over the years. 2. A good marriage is characterized by husband and wife’s delight in a give and take relationship. There is mutual respect for each other. Husband and wife helps each other in decision-makings, the raising of children, and doing tasks. They both take care of each other and notes what are the likes and dislikes of each party. In a good marriage, the man and wife are both happy in their decision to be with each other for the rest of their lives. That commitment is reaffirmed time and again despite difficulties and trials. In a good marriage, there is laughter and conversation. Both husband and wife will always find things to talk about, and have the time to listen to each other. 3. Looking at Jim and Ana’s lives, their twenty-five years of marriage has not always been a bed of roses. Ana is scrupulously neat, while Jim is a little scatter-brained. Ana keeps a list of things that needs to be done and does them in an organized and timely manner. She likes getting an early start, eating breakfast and finishing work ahead of time. Jim has a tendency to oversleep in the morning, getting up really late on weekends, and spending half of the day sleeping during 2 vacations. He hates putting anything on his stomach before eleven in the morning and likes to work late at night. Ana would sometimes find Jim deeply asleep after she had her bath and breakfast on a day when they’re supposed to go to the dentist. At a time when Ana likes to get an early start, while Jim wasn’t complying, she’d often get bad-tempered and a little quarrel would ensue. These little quarrels didn’t get out of hand because both of them are capable of stepping back and releasing anger. More importantly, Jim and Ana avoid bringing up past issues during arguments. They stick to what’s at hand and settle them without resorting to foul language and by properly expressing their sentiments and criticisms in a constructive manner. 4. A good marriage is not just about seeing the good side of a person. It’s about knowing his or her little habits that may or may not turn out to be annoying. Each party has to accept the totality of the other person and learn to adjust and adapt. In a good marriage, the couple must not try to change each other. Instead, they must try to meet in the middle and compromise. In a good marriage, the couple don’t start running away when things become a little complicated and difficult. 5. A good marriage, simply defined, is comprised of the good and bad things. There are times to laugh, to talk, to argue, and to make up. It is characterized by a lasting friendship where trust and responsibility go hand and hand. Meeting halfway and speaking up are necessary elements to make the relationship endure. Both parties must work hard and stick it out with one another through thick and thin. Husband and wife must selflessly think of each other’s welfare particularly when there are major issues to face and settle. It’s very important to do things together and to go away on vacations to recapture the moments when you both fall in love with each other.

Future Indian Sports Manager Essay

India is in the forefront in very sporting activities despite having such a huge raw pool of talent which if groomed correctly can catapult the country in the international arena as one of the top sporting nations. Sports has been my first and foremost passion from as far as I can remember. An active participant of every single sporting activity in school and my local clubs my entire life revolved around sports from my childhood. he adrenaline rush that comes with playing  sports  is something that I can’t put into words Due to financial pressure I could not initially take up sports as a career option but after 6 years of working in the corporate world I have now realised that my life still revolves around sports and granted the opportunity I would want to live my life in the sports world. Observing the growing importance of managing sports teams and activities professionally, and seeing the emergence of specialised courses, I would like to work towards changing and growing sports from the grass roots level in my country, India. The prevalence of politics, red tapism and lack of promotion of talented athletes has more or less depleted and killed the motivation of such athletes in our country. Having been a part of the entire system myself and despite having being selected in the training camp for the state basketball team and having being told by my coach that I had tremendous potential but there was no motivation to pursue this as a career option as it offered absolutely no stability. Every year I see extremely talented athletes leaving their passions behind and moving onto make their career in other fields. Throughout the country a wide variety of sports are played. India is home to several traditional sports which originated in the country and continue to remain fairly popular. These include kabbadi, kho kho, wrestling and archery. The British rule brought many popular sports in India including football, rugby union, cricket, golf, tennis, squash, hockey, boxing, nooker and billiards. The country which has produced the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, P. T. Usha among thousands of other great athletes has not even scratched the surface. The talent is there for all to see but to a dysfunctional and corrupted system it fails to promote the same to excel in the international arena. To put in perspective these problems are not only faced in India but in many more countries. Some of the major issues which are considered to be the biggest problems facing a country can be discussed under the following points Management: – The problems in management are the single most destructive force which ensures that the facilities being provided for promoting raw talents never reach. In most developing countries especially in India the key posts in management are coveted posts and are held by politicians or their close associated. The result of this is that the leaders of the sports management in these countries are mostly people who are a) without any experience whatsoever in sports, b) are required to work only till such time that their elected political party is in power so they build no plans which can be executed over a five year plan, c) are mostly politicians who are more interested in gaining political mileage out of the entire deal and most importantly d) Are mostly the biggest perpetrators when it comes to corruption ensuring funds actually meant for the athletes are diverted to their own pockets by using different channels. For instance the Commonwealth Games 2010 which was hosted by Delhi, India came under a lot of scrutiny for the corrupt means used by the organizers  who pocketed funds that had been generated for the athletes. It was a disgrace for the entire nation that an event of such magnitude was no more than a mere money making scheme for a few individuals. In fact, the Head of the Commonwealth games in India Suresh Kalmadi has also been arrested for the same. The prevalence of such a system ensure there is no long term plan for developing the system from a grass root level and ensuring the plan is constantly evolving and growing in a positive direction rather than being changed at the whims and fancies of a politician. Involvement of trained sports managers can change the entire ball game and ensure a much more planned and structural growth for athletes from the grass root level. Most other problems derive their origin from that of management but are long standing problems with ramifications of their own. Some of the more significant problems which have strong ramifications of their own are: – Grass Roots:  The biggest drawback for a lot of sporting activities is a lack of a planned and sustainable program to develop athletes at the grassroots’ level. There is an urgent need to involve professional sports managers who understand the need for the same and are put in charge of the systems which govern the same. Promoting and training promising athletes will lead to emergence of new stars that would have previously gone undiscovered. Developmental:   With sports emerging as a frontrunner in drawing spectators across the world the need today in every country is to promote a variety of sports by professional methods, by packaging and presenting the USP of each sport to draw in a larger fan base. Although hockey is the national sport of the country, despite the country having such a vast raw pool of talent in different sporting genres, mainly cricket holds the limelight across the world. The IPL (Indian Premiere League) overshadows most of the other sporting events due to its glamour quotient as well as the huge sum of money involved. The lack of attention given to other sports in India besides cricket is very disheartening for young sportsmen . Packaged and managed to ensure maximum response will ensure many more varieties of sports draw in the same amount of attention and revive athletes’ interests in following the same as a career option. Disciplinary:   Due to a weak management system coaches and managers use banned substances to train their wards. Young athletes not supervised correctly are most vulnerable to the same. Discipline during growth is an extremely important aspect of a super athlete and forms the backbone during his growing stages and becomes even more important once the athlete achieves milestones. Economics of scale has become a focal point of discussion in sports today. Inequality in finances’ due to sponsorships and also government preferences has proved detrimental to non cash rich sports in all countries. Quality training and excellent facilities in some sports has led them to create a huge imbalance in most countries. Not only restricted to a single country but due to the emergence of imbalance among different leagues across various countries has led to a decline in the fan base where finances are not adequate and may eventually lead to a demise of the sport in that particular In conclusion it may be said that a strong management system ensures strong development of policies which enable a positive and sustainable growth system. Sports are an important segment of our country and also it is a prestige issue. In today’s world cricket assumes primary importance in the minds of the audience and the government has also by no means played a small part in ensuring the same. As a result other sports have suffered tremendously in the country My experience of sports in the state and national arena was restricted to Basketball wherein I had played for the university team and was selected for the state selection camp. Observing the rampant politics and prevalence of corruption I was highly demotivated. Moving on to a high paying job seemed to be the only motivation for me to leave sports and I followed that for 6 years, but my passion for sports never died. I have been strongly associated with basketball as a coach for my higher secondary school, as a player for my club and have also promoted basketball in my company wherein I have formed a team of my peers and have participated and won a number of tournaments. My main motivation for applying for the sports management course is a) to develop a strong understanding of managing sports organisations and athletes b) Understand and work with professional international organisations c) To learn modern technology and its applications in sports today ) To apply all my acquired knowledge in sports today in India e) Develop by working closely with the athletes a system of generating a higher number of quality athletes in a variety of fields Initially I would wish to work with national Women’s sporting teams wherein there would be a requirement for me while at the same time help my state Woman’s basketball association with whom I have been closely associated for the last 15 years dev elop a program to develop young athletes and initially work towards promoting the sport in the national stage and eventually the international stage. My eventual goal would be to bring women’s sports as close to par to men’s sports to guarantee young athletes a promising career in sports and ensure no raw talent gets dissuaded from following sports as a career as I did along with my entire team members. In terms of finance I would have sufficient amount to support myself in terms of accommodation and other living costs but would require financial support from the college by means of a scholarship or assistantship for the education fees. As in India the salaries are not very high in terms of international standards what I have saved would cover as said before the living costs but for the program fees I would need some sort of help in the form of a scholarship. I have spent all my life involved in sports in some way or the other and despite having a natural talent and passion for the same have not been able to follow it as a career option in my life. Today the face of sports especially in India is changing and I am right now in a stage in my career where with all the experience gained in the corporate world coupled with my passion for sports I can contribute in this field. For this I need to be further exposed to the knowledge and experience which your institute offers. I dream to make a change in the industry in my country and this is the main motive behind me applying for the degree which has already enabled many individuals to achieve their goals.

A Good Teacher Should Care About Students

A good idea about teacher want them to students is learning use on lesson in the education for understanding and process for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). It 's so important to know that is use preparation manual in public schools has development for Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES). Because we can help to the student is learning communities for their teacher, staff and parents will discuss getting a meeting in schools. Make sure to have a relationship with parents†¦ A teacher in a general sense is someone that teaches to another person, and I think that teaching is one of the most needed professions there is. By teaching in schools and working with young kids, we are nurturing the minds of people who could have the cure for cancer or find new research about space. And with teaching there are many different philosophies about how teachers should act and interact with their students, but personally I lean more towards a Progressive view of teaching; I believe†¦ Teaching a specialism of any matter requires the teacher themselves to be competent and confident with their own abilities first. To be a competent carpenter requires lots of experience, dedication and time – without dedication, you will not put in the time and in turn not gain the experience. Hence dedication is a fundamental element, which is expressed to all the construction students at Harlow College, in order for them to succeed. Dedication goes hand in hand with motivation, motivation is developed†¦ Should students evaluate teachers? From year to year, educators are evaluated by grade level chairs and administration based on teaching skills and performance in the classroom. Depending the school, a recording of a single class period is used to evaluate a teacher. But what happens after the camera stops recording, and who is there to witness what happens. The answer is: the students. Despite feelings towards a teacher, based on emotion, students truly understand whether or not a teacher is†¦ Watching the videos on the learning to learn taught me a lot not only about what I was doing wrong but also how these things in the videos would be able to help me in my future classroom. Along with making myself more successful with some of the ideas and skills that were presented in the videos I learned that there are many things that I can teach my students, that I was never taught, that will help make them successful in their school and personal careers. One of the biggest aspects from the video†¦ Teachers should have the right to talk about their students When people have a rough day, and they just want to express their feelings. There are many ways for people to express their feelings, they express through words or action. But out of the two, words are the best way to express peoples ' feelings, because the other way might end up hurting someone or themselves. When I said the words the best way to express the feeling I’m not talking about cursing or yelling, I’m talking about talking†¦ Should Students Be Paid For Good Grades In School? Should students be paid for having good grades? This topic has some really strong arguments on either side. In this research paper I will list facts and argue both sides of this debate. Some people believe paying students for good grades is a bad idea, I personally believe students will strive to do better when they are paid for their work. Lots of schools are paying their students for getting good grades, and others are giving it a try. Why would†¦ In the present age, let the students evaluate their teachers has been widely used in the education sector. The students can judge their teachers whether are good or not. Even when the students are not satisfied with their teachers, they can vote to change the teachers. But, whether the students should evaluate their teachers has sparked spirited debate. Some people assert that students should evaluate their teachers, while many others argue that students should not do that. Then this easy will discuss†¦ The article â€Å"Being a Good Teacher of Black Students? White Teachers and Unintentional Racism,† Nora Hyland writes about the roles of 27 White teachers in the U.S. who identified as good teachers, but held racist views against their students. The school that these teachers taught at was in the Midwestern part of the country. They participated in the reproduction of racial inequality, which can exacerbate racist effects. This article explored the idea that teachers perpetuated the â€Å"status quo† of†¦ Should Students be paid for Good Grades? â€Å"There is no question that people will work hard for money at any age† (Peterson). There are programs around the country trying cash-reward programs out. For example, there are some schools in Washington D.C. trying these cash-reward programs out that give students cash awards for getting good grades and/or test scores. The schools think the incentives are working because test scores are boosting and students are working harder. The cash incentives prove†¦

Classical Symphony Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Classical Symphony - Essay Example The key feature is a ternary: themes’ exposition, development and reprise. When exposition, themes are introduced. There are primary and second themes, a connection part between them, and a closing part which introduced a new mode. A development implies themes development. It’s a reverse to exposition, because introduced themes are transforming here. When reprise, themes are sounding again, but with some changes with a view of themes’ development. By this structure a contrast and repetition are conveyed. It’s important, because they are two features symphony and sonata forms have in common. Second part usually is slower, and therefore it makes a contrast with a first part. This part can also be composed in a form of sonata, but more often it takes a form of rondo, or rondo-sonata. When it’s a rondo, a primary theme is repeated at least three times, and it intersperses with other, different from each other, episodes. It ends as it starts, with a primary theme. The formula describes the structure: In case of a rondo-sonata, the interspersion keeps, but they are primary and second themes which intersperse with each other. In the center of the structure is a theme development. The formula describes the structure: Third part of a classical symphony is usually composed in a complicated ternary form. It can be minuet or scherzo. Third part takes features of these dance genres, and therefore is similar to a dance: the metre is 3/4 and etc. The formula of the movement is: Beethoven, who is known for his â€Å"changing the symphony† practice, used a scherzo for a third part in most of his symphonies (â€Å"Symphony in the Classical Period†). Scherzo is fast moving, and can be defined by themes’ roll calls, communication of instrumental parts and sudden steps, because originally, scherzo is an instrumental joke, a play. Yet it should be mentioned, that Beethoven is considered to be â€Å"a

The broken tower Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The broken tower - Research Paper Example Crane’s poetry manifested a lot of treats of death and rebirth of love (Hazo, 1963). The modern perfection of death showed a lot of impossibilities in motion while having some resurrection of some kind though giving a very pessimistic message (Quinn, 1963). In his poem, A Broken Tower, Hart Crane uses a lot of biblical allusions and echoes to describe the creative process and the difficulties that come with it forcing the artists to be bound by it. There are several metaphors used in the poem. In the poem, crane used a lot of metaphors and references to referring to God and the church bells directly. This makes it possible to give a religious interpretation to the poem. It is also argued that both arts and religion have metaphors that are similar making the works of the poet both a way of spiritual expression while at the same time making it possible to search for the truth (Hazo, 1963). The tittle, â€Å"A Broken Tower† has been used continuously to allude to the fact that there is a continuous deconstruction of the existing paradigms making it critical for artistic progress. Crane in the poem talks of destroying a stone tower in a continuous manner while building a new one within himself. There is also the change of tone from negative to positive making the poem a stylistically simple with abab rhyming pattern of ten quatrains (Quinn, 1963). At the beginning of the poem, crane uses the bell which is one of the predominant metaphors. The bell has a lot of religious importance as it is use to refer to the morning call that is normally made for people to go for morning prayers (Hazo, 1963). In this poem however, Crane’s bell is not used to call people for morning prayers but used to gather God. There is also a strange fact in stanza one as the tone is negative despite being used to regard to dawn and God which have traditionally been positive. The angelus bells in stanza one is imagery used to treat the resurrection of Crane from hell as the images suggest in the poem. This is show by the falling stone tower with some stony and hellish (Quinn, 1963). The death that Crane is dealing with was caused by modernity that has caused a lot of pessimist by ostensibly that is nearly inescapable. These towers would be guessed as the one of the modern world. The bells of resurrection are used to open the breaking bonds of the first four stanzas making it possible to bring back the poet to the broken world. As the poem proceeds, the bells become a metaphor of poetry which makes the poet sing. The same is true for the coming of the word of God and the divine revelation that bring love. The same revelation of love is brought in according to the poet. External towers of love forms one of Crane’s poetic projects which broken and inner ones are building (Hazo, 1963). The poet has his ‘feet chill on steps from hell’ and ‘dropped down the knell of spent day’. This portrays a lot of curious negativity showi ng how crane has rejected the traditional region that is established. Going ‘from pit to crucifix’ as always been positive and used to symbolize the movement towards God. The first stanza is however decidedly negative manifesting a disdain of tradition (Hazo, 1963). Some of the Biblical allusions like the angelus bell commemorated the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the alternating melodies that overlapped played on the bells while the papal documents eluded the divinely inspired messages. The bell-towers and campaniles represented the Italian cathedrals

Marijuana and Teen Use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marijuana and Teen Use - Essay Example Thirteen percent of the teen smokers smoked marijuana before cigarettes. Interestingly, more than three quarters of the African American adolescent smokers reported marijuana use before tobacco use. Anecdotal reports have suggested that this practice exists among youth. It is possible that marijuana is more readily accessible to African American than European American teens (SAMHSA, 2001), especially with the increased use of "blunts" (gutted cigars filled with marijuana) in African American communities (Ford, Hong, & Anthony, 2002). The family and peer group have been identified as two of the most important elements in understanding adolescent marijuana use. While the results are not unequivocal, research has largely demonstrated that associating with peers who use illicit substances is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent marijuana use. Parental influences have also been found to be significant predictors of teen alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, including the nature of parental supervision and monitoring, the quality of parental-child attachment, and the history of parental substance use. "It is not clear how early use of marijuana might be related to later substance problems. Although this study suggests that genetic and environmental factors alone cannot explain the risk, Lynskey and Heath say those factors clearly play some role. They believe it also is likely that people who use marijuana at a young age may be more likely to be involved in a lifestyle that will put them at increased risk for a whol e range of problems." (Lynskey & Heath, 2003) "There is something about tobacco that if parents smoke, their kids are more likely to smoke. It may be that parents who smoke might leave cigarettes around where their children can see and get to them. Parents may not leave marijuana and alcohol around in the same way." (www.emaxhealth.com) In addition to the direct associations that peer and parenting factors have with adolescent marijuana use, recent research has explored whether there exist mediating or moderating effects between the two sets of factors. Indeed, some evidence exists that controlling for peer use does mediate the association between adolescent peer use and related family process variables, such as parental attachment, discipline, and supervision. Some have interpreted this mediation effect as evidence that peer influences are part of an intervening chain of relations that stem from differences in family processes (e.g., supervision, discipline, parental attachment), which ultimately increase the risk of adolescen t marijuana use. In fact, some research suggests that the quality of parenting predicts the level of exposure to delinquent friends the stronger the quality of parenting, the less likely the teen is to have access to deviant peers or to select them as friends. "In general, the marijuana-users were more behaviorally deviant, less involved with school and had friends their parents didn't like, the researchers found". (Anita, 2006) Indeed, the prevailing explanations of how and why family structure is associated with adolescent marijuana use reinforce the notion that family structure

O2 transfere in human buddy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

O2 transfere in human buddy - Research Paper Example Chemical engineering treats circularly system as a chemical process that involves the heart as a pump while the blood vessels act as passageways for oxygen. Generally, chemical engineering uses mathematical equation to show a complete oxygen transportation process in the body. Moreover, chemical engineering involves two basic terms including convection and diffusion that helps in calculating oxygen transport in the human body. Convection is more common in the large blood vessels like arteries while diffusion is more likely to occur in the small blood vessels such as capillaries and veins. The two main mathematical equations involved in determining oxygen transport are the overall flux that describes oxygen flow via pipes and Fick’s law that explains diffusion of fluid along a concentration gradient. Oxygen moves in the human body in the breathing process through nose and mouth then goes via the lungs and dissolves in the water lining of alveoli. Oxygen then sticks to red blood cells while passing through the alveoli capillaries. Circulatory system plays a significant role in transporting various materials in the human body. Circulatory system ensures that nutrients, water and oxygen are transported to the body cells while transporting waste products produced by body cells such as carbon dioxide away from the body. The circulatory system acts as a highway with network throughout the human body and it involves the heart, and the blood vessel. The heart is responsible in pumping blood and maintaining blood flow in the whole of the body system while the blood vessels transport blood away from the heart to other parts of the blood. The whole of the circulatory system transports oxygen from outside the body into the blood stream and carries away waste from the blood cell, carbon dioxide to the outer part of the body. The blood vessels

Retail brands Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Retail brands - Essay Example Every country has had its own way of development that has led to retailing and branding of products. The retailing market has now become a segmented form of marketing with a particular retailer focusing on a particular group of customers. This is perhaps a way of improving the manner of dealing with the growing needs of consumers who demand more attention in their particular items or products of interests. Retailing is now gaining control of the market shares that were once overtaken by the stores that were individually owned or were in the form of co-operatives. Now there are large retailers with a chain of stores that are focused in a particular location or country such as ASDA, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and others in the United Kingdom and GAP, Old Navy and JC Penney in the United States of America. However, it is a far cry from saying that retailers have had an easy go at keeping their share of the market. Retailers have had to constantly improve and strive to better understan d the needs of customers. It may be easier in a manner that the smaller industries are now becoming less of a challenge for retail giants such as Wal-mart but if the consumers stop spending or the stores lack the technological advancements needed to keep up to the fast paced global market then they will lose out on their share of the profits. There is a lot more to printing your brand name on a product and expecting customers to come and buy it. Retailers have had to go a long way to establish a trust between the name and brand of a company and the end customers who are the ones are picking items off the shelves. Brands are considered to be the logo of a company and it is how customers have come to associate products. A particular brand can even be a way of representing the social status of an individual in society such as the purchase of a piece that is branded by Harry Winston as compared on one that someone may pick up from a rack at Primark. Brands go a long way to help to make customers familiar with particular products whether it is fashion, electronics and so on. Particular retailers such as General Electric have widespread array of products that they sell to the public which range from motor vehicles to small kitchen appliances. Brand loyalty is established over a period of time and how well the product meets the desires of the individuals. Many people prefer a Toyota car over a Honda or that of Ford and this is due to the experience that they may have had with the products over time. If there is brand loyalty then it is more likely that the price of various articles won’t be as much of an issue as long as the customers find that the article is needed (Ailawadi, K. L., 2004). Retail brands such as H&M and Marks & Spencer’s have made use of celebrities to further the influence of their retail brands. Marks & Spencer hooked up with Antonio Bandares (Amanda Andrews, The Times), the Hollywood actor, to campaign for the retail brand to increas e sales and the campaign paid off. The brand also featured the fashion icon Twiggy for their campaign to appeal to women and managed to get the attention of their target group as well. The icon managed to shake off the reputation that the brand has of cot carrying fashionable items. Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s products have the retailers brand but there were signs that sales were higher when the products

Researching paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Researching - Research Paper Example It presents an image of the young David before, during and after fighting and emerging victorious over the Philistine giant called Goliath. In this image, Michelangelo depicts the image of David while standing as a bold person who is not worried about anything in life. In another image, he is holding the huge Goliath despite his massive body mass1. On the other hand, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) is a sculpture which was produced by Polykleitos Argos in the 4thc BCE. It presents an image of a young man who is standing stable on his feet. In this sculpture, the male image is appearing to be very strong and relaxed. In his proportionate and balanced position, he supports his body which leans on his right leg. To begin with, it is very clear that each of these sculptures were produced at different times. However, they are depicted as beautiful creatures that stand out as real human beings. They have human body consisting of all the necessary parts-legs, hands, head, face, neck and body hair. This shows that they were purposely produced to represent human creatures as the main object. For instance, David is standing as a soldier who can position himself and change the position of his hands and face. The same applies to the Spear Bearer who appears to be holding something in the hand2. The other similarity between these sculptures is that they are nude. Each of the images presented are naked. Meaning, they represent human beings in their original setting as they were created. In David, the image appears to be that of a naked man who is not bothered about his nude state. The same applied to the Spear Bearer in which the man in the sculpture is not wearing any cloth. The nakedness displayed by these artists must be a symbolic element of these artworks. They demonstrate the appreciation of human body and its aesthetic nature. In David, Michelangelo produced the image to represent the biblical David son of Jesse. Portraying

The Spire by William Golding Essay Example for Free

The Spire by William Golding Essay How does Golding use stylistic devices to create tension in this extract? (extract where the ground opens up) The extract begins with an imperative spoken by Roger Mason, Look right at the bottom. Although, as master builder, Roger has a higher status than the rest of the workers, Jocelin considers himself as more important than Roger, so this creates a form of social tension. Later on, Jocelin says What is it? Tell me! It is Jocelins turn to use an imperative. It is now unclear as to who is really dominant in this scene. The extract continues with a list of materials that make up the foundations of the cathedral. It is factual, the kind of list that might come from a scientific report. The continuing list gives a sense of Jocelins gaze taking everything in, and gives a feeling of apprehension, as we wonder what will come next. Golding uses antithesis to give a feeling of tension. Contrasting with the scientific nature of the list, we get a human response from Jocelin there seemed little enough to look at, followed by a pebble dropping. This could represent a penny dropping in Jocelins head, as he realises the inadequacy of the existing foundations. The hair rose on the nape of his neck is a reaction that people have when they are afraid, and the fact that Jocelin is afraid, when he believes absolutely in the spire, creates tension and horror. The statement They were all moving more or less, is quite vague, and is again in contrast to the precise list that we began the extract with. Golding also uses it to develop the narrative, from one pebble dropping before to all the stones moving. The quotation about Roger Mason eyes wide open could be used as a contrasting image to Jocelins blind faith. Also, in this quotation The living, pagan earth is the first explicit reference to paganism in the extract, bringing the conflict between the church and the pagans into the open. Dia Mater is a reference to the Greek moon goddess oak cult, and Goldings mention of her in what sounds like Jocelins thoughts show a blurring of the line between the church and the pagans in his panic. This is in contrast to Jocelins usual denial of any kind of religion other than Christianity. Golding uses personalisation to create tension. He personalises the stones he saw one stir, with a sudden recklessness. This instils human qualities into them, which echoes paganism. Paganism was in conflict with the church, creating religious tension, and the workers brought paganism into the church. Also, the adjective recklessly suggests a disregard for reason and human feelings- much like Jocelins building of the spire. Another instance of personalisation is The earth was moving under the grubs, urging them this way and that gives the ground control over the grubs. This could be a metaphor for the way in which what lies beneath the ground the church stands on has begun to govern the church peoples (the grubs) lives. This creates tension because it means that humans are now not fully in control, the natural forces at work are, which again references paganism, setting the workers against the church. Golding uses the characters bodies to reflect their feelings of panic and tension. Jocelin is racked with spasms. This is effective as it shows the practical, physical manifestations of the tense atmosphere. Lips tight round his teeth shows Rogers fear, creating tension as he is the expert, and knows what is happening, and he is very worried. A yellow pallor shining through his skin shows Rogers physical horror and nausea at the sight before him. Imagery is also used to show tension. Like porridge in a pot is a pleasant, domesticated image, which contrasts with the images they are seeing in the pit, helping to emphasise the horrors before them. It could also be that Jocelin is horrified, and is seeking comfort in the thoughts of comfortable, everyday things. The use of grubs as a simile is faintly repellent and gives a feeling of trepidation and suspense, partly due to the fact that grubs do not stay grubs for long, but develop into something else. Roger Mason was staring at the grubs. The use of the word grubs has changed from a simile to a metaphor. This is confusing at first, as it is used in a very literal sense. I think that it shows Jocelins gradual loss of rational thought as he becomes ever more desperate to build the spire. The noseless men meaning the skeletons buried in the church graveyard, turning over and thrusting up. This is quite aggressive imagery, and it creates tension between the living and the dead, as the workmen invade the graveyard. Some form of life is a vague and threatening image, reflecting the uncertainty everyone but Jocelin has about the spire. Repetition is always used quite a lot in this extract. What is it Roger? What is it? Here repetition is used to heighten the tension and suspense, and also show how Jocelin needs reassurance from Roger. It also uses hypophora to attract our attention. He glanced at Roger Mason, does the same thing, and shows that he acknowledges Rogers superior knowledge in this area. With a slow stirring, like the stirring of grubs More repetition exists within this sentence which helps to create tension and suspense. Perhaps the damned stirring uses repetition again, repeating the feelings of tension that were present earlier. Both sound and silence are used to create suspense and tension. No-one made any noise. This could signify that everybody apart from Jocelin knows what is wrong. There came a sharp scream breaks the silence since Jocelins questions, and before that, the sound of the pebble falling. This cuts through the tension created by the extended period of silence, but due to the sentence structure we must wait to see who screamed, creating suspense. The fact that it was Goody Pangall that screamed is surprising, and at odds with what we know of her character so far. This too is unsettling, and gives a sense of confusion and disorder. Goldings diction also creates tension. Jocelin jerked out his hand. Here the use of the word jerked, an abrupt action, shows Jocelins physical fear. The fact that he made a defensive sign at the pit, shows his frustration. Coming to the boil implies that soon everything will reach a climax. But the master builder still strained down, eyes wide open. Goldings use of the word strained shows the tension Roger feels in his whole body. Flicking or flinching are quick movements, at odds with the slow contemplation of the earth we have had up to this point. This gives us the feeling that something is happening. Jocelins gradual realisation that there are no foundations is hinted at throughout the extract. This can create tension due to the uncertainty as to whether he will continue to insist that the spire be built or not, as it has not categorically been said. The earth was moving, we use the phrase the earth moved when something new and groundbreaking had been discovered, again, Jocelin is beginning to realise that Roger was right about the spire. Or the roof of hell down there shows that everything Jocelin fears comes from underground, including the lack of foundations. That which ought not to be seen or touched could be implying that the pit should never have been dug, and the spire should never be built. Turning, seething, coming to the boil gives a repressed, rebellious feeling to the darkness under the earth. The quotation doomsday coming up refers to the end of the world, and the destiny of humanity, which seems apt, considering the uncertain future of the spire. In conclusion, Golding uses many stylistic devices to create tension in this extract. These include repetition, personalisation, imagery, antithesis and metaphor. These combine to create tension in a variety of ways. I think that the most effective is the personalisation of the earth, and the repetition.

Ganga River Pollution In India Environmental Sciences Essay

Ganga River Pollution In India Environmental Sciences Essay All of us have seen a river large or small, either flowing through our town, or somewhere else. Rivers are nothing more than surface water flowing down from a higher altitude to a lower altitude due to the pull of gravity. One river might have its source in a glacier, another in a spring or a lake. Rivers carry dissolved minerals, organic compounds, small grains of sand, gravel, and other material as they flow downstream. Rivers begin as small streams, which grow wider as smaller streams and rivers join them along their course across the land. Eventually they flow into seas or oceans. Unfortunately most of the worlds major rivers are heavily polluted. The pollution of environment is the gift of the industrial revolution. Prior to this the agrarian cultures created significant environmental deterioration in the form of soil erosion- through deforestation and overgrazing. The environmental degradation is a by product of modern civilization. There has been a steady deterioration in the quality of water of Indian rivers over several decades. Indias fourteen major, 55 minor and several hundred small rivers receive millions of litres of sewage, industrial and agricultural wastes. Most of these rivers have been rendered to the level of sewage flowing drains. There are serious water quality problems in the cities, towns and villages using these waters. Water borne diseases are rampant, fisheries are on decline, and even cattle are not spared from the onslaught of pollution. According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) five rivers in Asia serving over 870 million people are among the most threatened in the world, as dams, water extraction and climate change all take their toll. The Ganges, Indus, Yangtze, Salween-Nu and Mekong-Lancang rivers make up half of the WWFs top ten most threatened river basins. India has a large number of rivers that are lifelines for the millions living along their banks. These rivers can be categorized into four groups: 1.Rivers that flow down from the Himalayas and are supplied by melting snow and glaciers. This is why these are perennial, that is, they never dry up during the year. 2. The Deccan Plateau Rivers, which depend on rainfall for their water. 3. The coastal rivers, especially those on the west coast, which are short and do not retain water throughout the year. 4. The rivers in the inland drainage basin of west Rajasthan, which depend on the rains. These rivers normally drain towards silt lakes or flow into the sand. River Ganga (Ganges) of India has been held in high esteem since time immemorial and Hindus from all over the world cherish the idea of a holy dip in the river under the faith that by doing so they will get rid of their sins of life. More than 400 million people live along the Ganges River. An estimated 2,000,000 persons ritually bathe daily in the river. Historically also, Ganga is the most important river of the country and beyond doubt is closely connected with the history of civilization as can be noticed from the location of the ancient cities of Hardwar, Prayag, Kashi and Patliputra at its bank. To millions of people it is sustainer of life through multitude of canal system and irrigation of the wasting load. Hundreds of the villages and even the big cities depend for their drinking water on this river. It is believed, a fact which has also been observed, that the water of Ganga never decays even for months and years when water of other rivers and agencies begins to develop bac teria and fungi within a couple of days. This self purification characteristic of Ganga is the key to the holiness and sanctity of its water. The combination of bacteriophages and large populations of people bathing in the river have apparently produced a self-purification effect, in which water-borne bacteria such as dysentery and cholera are killed off, preventing large-scale epidemics. The river also has an unusual ability to retain dissolved oxygen. With growing civilization and population all over how long Ganga will retain its self purification characteristics only time can judge.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   SOURCES: The Gangotri   Glacier, a vast expanse of ice five miles by fifteen, at the foothills of the Himalayas (14000 ft) in North Uttar Pradesh is the source of Bhagirathi, which joins with Alaknanda (origins nearby) to form Ganga at the craggy canyon-carved town of Devprayag. Interestingly, the sources of Indus and the Brahmaputra are also geographically fairly close; the former goes through Himachal Pradesh and fans out through Punjab and Sind (Pakistan) into the Arabian Sea. The latter courses for most of its tremendous length under various names through Tibet/China, never far from the Nepal or Indian borders, and then takes a sharp turn near the northeastern tip of India, gathers momentum through Assam before joining the major stream of the Ganga near Dacca in Bangladesh to become the mighty Padma, river of joy and sorrow for much of Bangladesh. From Devprayag to the Bay of Bengal and the vast  Sunderbans delta, the Ganga flows some 1550 miles, passing (and giving life to) some of t he most populous cities of India, including Kanpur (2 million), Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, and Calcutta (14 million). The largest tributary to the Ganga is the Ghaghara, which meets it before Patna, in Bihar, bearing much of the Himalayan glacier melt from Northern Nepal. The Gandak, which comes from near Katmandu, is another big Himalayan tributary. Other important rivers that merge with the Ganga are the Son, which originates in the hills of Madhya Pradesh, the Gomti which flows past Lucknow. Previous Work: A number of investigations have been carried out on the physiochemical and biological characters of the Ganga. Lakshminarayana (1965) published a series of papers reporting the results of studies carried out at Varanasi during the period between March, 1957 and March, 1958. it was observed by him that the values of the most of the parameters decreased during rainy season while no marked variation was observed during winters and summers. In the same year Chakraborty et.al. (1965) from Kanpur reported the water quality of Ganga at J.K. Rayons water intake point and at Golaghat and Bhairoghat pumping stations situated at the upstream of the river. It was concluded that the water quality gradually deteriorated as it passes from Bhairoghat pumping station to the J.K. Rayon water intake point in summers because in this stretch the river received waste waters from number of sewage drains.   A year later Saxena et.al. (1966) made a systematic survey of the chemical quantity of Ganga at Kanpur. According to the study, the biological oxygen demand, i.e. B.O.D. varied from 5.3ppm (minimum) in winter to 16.0ppm (maximum) in summer. The chloride ranged between 9.2 and 12.7 ppm and the river was found to be alkaline in nature except in rainy season. He concluded that the tanneries significantly increased the pollution load of river as they discharge huge amounts of effluents containing organic wastes and heavy metals. It was further reported that forty five tanneries, ten textile mills and several other industrial units discharged 37.15 million gallon per day of waste water generating BOD load of approximately 61630 Kg/day. Subsequently Agarwal et.al. (1976) studied the bacteriological population of the river water and concluded that addition of untreated waste and sewage was responsible for the presence of pathogenic organisms posing threat to the residents of the Varanasi city. Hydrobiological features of the river Ganga was studied by   Pahwa and Mehrotra (1966). The authors studied a stretch of 1090 kms. of river Ganga extending from Kanpur in west to Rajmahal, in Jharkhand state, in the east. They reported that the turbidity was maximum (1100-2170 ppm) in monsoon and minimum ( less than100 ppm) during January to June. The pH of the river water ranged between 7.45 (minimum) during June to August and 8.30 (maximum) during January to May. The dissolved oxygen, i.e. D.O. count ranged from 5.0 to 10.5 ppm with maximum values during January and February. While the minimum values were recorded in monsoon. Bhargava (1982) in a survey of total length of the river Ganga found that quality index was far above the prescribed limit at Kanpur. He further found that the Ganga water was having unusually fast regenerating capacity by bringing down B.O.D. owing to the presence of large amount of well adopted micro-organisms. According to the research Ganga is rich in polymers excreted by various species of bacteria. These polymers being excellent coagulants remove turbidity by coagulation, setting the suspended particles at the sewage discharge point. At the 1981 session of Indian Science Congress at Varanasi, scientists expressed concern at the growing pollution in the river Ganga in presence of the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi who inaugurated the session. At her instance, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the then member, Planning Commission asked the Central Board for Preventation and Control of Water Pollution, New Delhi to conduct studies on the state of the river Ganga. In collaboration with the State Pollution Control Boards of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal and the centre for study of Man and Environment Kolkata (Calcutta), studies were conducted on the Sources of pollution including all human activities, land use pattern and water quality of the river at selected sites during 1981-82 and report entitled Basin, sub-basin inventory of water pollution in the Ganga basin part-II was published in 1984. according to this report sewage of 27 class I cities and towns and effluents from 137 major industries were the main source of pollution of the river. In addition cremation of dead human bodies and dumping of carcasses aggrevated the pollution of the river. It was Chandra (1981) who conducted studies on the pollution status of river Ganga at Allahabad, pointed out that industries manufacturing nitrogenous fertilizers have significant role in polluting the river water.   Study carried out in 1986-87 on physico-chemical properties of river Ganga water at Buxar (Unnao) clearly revealed that extent of pollution varied in different seasons. Usually all the 23 parameters studied showed high values in summer and lower during monsoons except turbidity which was high in rainy season. Values of BOD, COD, DO and H2S were recorded high than the tolerance limits. Study on water quality of river Ganga at Kalakankar (Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh) revealed that even at such a remote and undisturbed place like Kalakankar the river water was not safe for drinking and bathing. It was also noted that the river showed an alkaline trend throughout the course of study. According to the research done by Mehrotra (1990), the various sources responsible for pollution of the river in Varanasi city are domestic sewage effluents of the industries, burning of dead bodies at the ghats, use of detergents, insecticides and pesticides used in agriculture. Study revealed the presence of toxic metals like   mercury ( 65 to 520ppb), Lead( less than 10 to 800 ppm), chromium (less than 10 to 200 ppm) and nickel (less than 10 to 130 ppm) in the sediments of Ganga river at Varanasi city.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Upstream from Varanasi, one of the major pilgrimage sites along the river, the water is comparatively pure, having a low  Biochemical oxygen demand  and fecal coliform count. Studies conducted in 1983 on water samples taken from the right bank of the Ganga at Patna confirm that  escheria coli  (E.Coli.), fecal streptococci and vibrio cholerae organisms die two to three times faster in the Ganga than in water taken from the rivers Son and Gandak and from dug wells and tube wells in the same area. The chemical pollution of the river Ganga in Patna city in Bihar state has been found somewhat alarming beside the storm drain, especially in the regions like Rajapur, Mandiri and Krishnaghat. According to the report published in a book by Mr. U.K. Sinha (1986), the concentration of iron is higher in sediments collected from 10 metres along the bank at Mandiri region. The concentration of all the toxic metals i.e copper, zinc, nickel and cobalt are higher in all the sediments collected from near the storm drain and diminishes towards mid-region of the river. The concentration of zinc is highest in the sediments collected from near the Mandiri storm drain, Antaghat storm drain and Krishnaghat storm drain. The concentration of copper is highest in the sediments collected from near the Krishnaghat storm drain suggesting the presence copper due to utensil work being done in Thatheri Bazar and hospital wastes also, said report. Present situation: For some time now, this romantic view of the Ganges has collided with Indias grim realities. During the past three decades, the countrys explosive growth (at nearly 1.2 billion people, Indias population is second only to Chinas), industrialization and rapid urbanization have put unyielding pressure on the sacred stream. Ganga, the most sacred of rivers for Hindus, has become polluted for some years now. But a recent study by Uttarakhand Environment Conservation and Pollution Control Board says that the level of pollution in the holy river has reached alarming proportions. Things have come to such a pass that the Ganga water is at present not fit just for drinking and bathing but has become unusable even for agricultural purposes. As per the UECPCB study, while the level of coliform present in water should be below 50 for drinking purposes, less than 500 for bathing and below 5000 for agricultural use-the present level of coliform in Ganga at Haridwar has reached 5500. Based on the level of coliform, dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen, the study put the water in A, B, C and D categories. While A category is considered fit for drinking, B for bathing, C for agriculture and D is for excessive pollution level. Since the Ganga waters at Haridwar have more than 5000 coliform and even the level of dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen doesnt conform the prescribed standards, it has been put in the D category. According to the study, the main cause of high level of coliform in Ganga is due to disposal of human faeces, urine and sewage directly into the river from its starting point in Gaumukh till it reaches Haridwar via Rishikesh. Nearly 89 million litres of sewage is daily disposed into Ganga from the 12 municipal towns that fall along its route till Haridwar. The amount of sewage disposed into the river increases during the Char Dham Yatra season when nearly 15 lakh pilgrims visit the state between May and October each year. Apart from sewage disposal of half-burnt human bodies at Haridwar and hazardous medical waste from the base hospital at Srinagar due to absence of an incinerator are also adding to pollution levels in the Ganga. The result has been the gradual killing of one of Indias most treasured resources. One stretch of the Yamuna River, the Ganges main tributary, has been devoid of all aquatic creatures for at least a decade. In Varanasi, Indias most sacred city, the coliform bacterial count is at least 3,000 times higher than the standard established as safe by the United Nations world Health   Organization.  Ã‚  Coliform  are rod-shaped bacteria that are normally found in the colons of humans and animals and become a serious contaminant when found in the food or water supply. A study by Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department pf Zoology, Patna University, showed the presence of mercury in the Ganga river in Varanasi city. According to the study, annual mean concentration of mercury in the river water was 0.00023 ppm. The concentration ranged from NT (not traceable) to 0.00191 ppm. Study done by Indian Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC), Lucknow during 1986-1992 showed maximum annual concentration of mercury in the Ganga river water at Rishikesh, Allahabad district and Dakshineswar as 0.081, 0.043 and 0.012 ppb respectively. Ganga river at Varanasi was found well within the maximum permissible standard of 0.001 ppm prescribed for drinking water by the World Health Organization. The mercury studied in the Ganga river could be traced in biotic as well as abiotic components of the river at the study site. The Hindu devotees take bath in the river where mercury was detected in 28%, 44%,75%, 96%, 42% and 89% of the river water, sediment, benthic fauna, fish, soil and vegetation samples respectively. Though mercury contamination of the river water has not reached an alarming extent, its presence in the river system is worrisome. In the study annual mean concentration of the metal in the sediments was 0.067 ppm. Sediments constitute a major pool of mercury in fresh water. As Ganga enters the Varanasi city, Hinduisms sacred river contains 60,000 faecal coliform bacteria per 100 millilitres, 120 times more than is considered safe for bathing. Four miles downstream, with inputs from 24 gushing sewers and 60,000 pilgrim-bathers, the concentration is 3,000 times over the safety limit. In places, the Ganges becomes black and septic. Corpses, of semi-cremated adults or enshrouded babies, drift slowly by. The tannery industry mushrooming in North India has converted the Ganga River into a dumping ground. The tanning industry discharges different types of waste into the environment, primarily in the form of liquid effluents containing organic matters, chromium, sulphide ammonium and other salts. As per an estimate, about 80-90% of the tanneries use chromium as a tanning agent. Of this, the hides take up only 50-70%, while the rest is discharged as effluent. Pollution becomes acute when tanneries are concentrated in clusters in small area like Kanpur. Consequently, the Leather-tanning sector is included in the Red category of industries due to the potential adverse environmental impact caused by tannery wastes. Highly polluted sediments are adversely affecting the ecological functioning of rivers due to heavy metal mobilization from urban areas into biosphere. Distribution of heavy metals in sediments of the river Ganga and its tributaries have been carried out by several workers. Monitoring of Ganga River from Rishikesh to Varanasi indicated that Kannauj to Kanpur and Varanasi are the most polluted stretches of the river Ganga . Analysis of upstream and down stream water and sediment revealed a 10-fold increase in chromium level.

Perfectionism and Eating Disorders Essay -- Self Image Esteem Health P

Perfectionism and Eating Disorders Many extreme pressures exist in modern society which directly affect a large number of the population to the point of extremity. In an age of high technology, rapid development, and intense social pressure, the pressure to be the best of the best prevails. Many people succumb to the pressure in a variety of ways, some beneficial, and some detrimental. Eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa in part result from an intense pressure to achieve the perfect ideal body weight and physical appearance. Emphasis on being perfect begins early in childhood and continues to grow with age, sometimes so much that a personality takes on a perfectionistic drive affecting every aspect of daily life. Perfectionism is a common individualized personality trait which in part stems from this ardent cultural pressure. According to the Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, perfectionism is defined as "a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable". Given this definition, is this trait, perfectionism, one that can be directly linked to those people who suffer from eating disorders? II. Perfectionism: A Closer Look: Setting high and demanding goals of achievement for oneself can be both a positive and negative experience. Yes, goals are important and essential in life to allow us to work for an ultimate high achievement. They give one purpose and drive. But what happens when this goal exceeds the normal realm of possibility to the point that it directly changes from a means for a self-actualizing strive for excellence to a neurotic, obsessive preoccupation with perfection? Roedell (1984) continues the argument that perfectionism can be looked upon as bo... ... (1 994). Perfectionism and the gifted. Roeper Review (I 7)3, 173-176. Pigott, T.A., Altemus, M., Rubenstein, C.S., Hill,J.L., Bihari, K., L'Heureux, F., Bernstein, S., Murphy D.L. (1991). Symptoms of eating disorders in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry. 148(11), 1552-7. Roedell, W.C. (1984). Vulnerabilities of highly gifted children. Roeper Review, 6(3), 127-130. Rothenburg, A. (1990). Adolescence and eating disorder: the obsessive-compulsive syndrome. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 13(3), 469-88. Slade, P.D. Newton, T., Butler, N.M., Murphy, P. (1991) An experimental analysis of perfectionism and dissatisfaction. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 30(Pt2), 169-76. Silverman, L.K. (I 99 5). Perfectionism. Paper discussed at the 1 1 th World Conference on Gifted and Talented Children, Honk Kong.

Kants Attack on the Amphiboly of the Concepts of Reflection :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Kant's Attack on the Amphiboly of the Concepts of Reflection ABSTRACT: In the neglected 'Amphiboly of the Concepts of Reflection,' Kant introduces a new transcendental activity, Transcendental Deliberation (Kemp Smith calls it 'Transcendental Reflection'). It aims to determine to which faculty a representation belongs and does so by examining the representation's relationships to other representations. This enterprise yields some powerful ideas. (1) Some of the relationships studied have great interest, numerical identity in particular. Indeed, seeing Kant discuss it here, one wonders why he did not include it in the Table of Categories. (2) Kant gives a solid argument for the necessity of a sensible element in representations, something not found elsewhere in the Transcendental Analytic. In the neglected Amphiboly of the Concepts of Reflection, Kant introduces a new transcendental activity, Transcendental Deliberation (Kemp Smith calls it Transcendental Reflection). It aims to determine to which faculty a representation belongs and does so by examining the representation's relationships to other representations. This enterprise yields some powerful ideas. (1) Some of the relationships studied have great interest, numerical identity in particular. Indeed, seeing Kant discuss it here, one wonders why he did not include it in the Table of Categories. (2) Kant gives a solid argument for the necessity of a sensible element in representations, something not found elsewhere in the Transcendental Analytic.The Transcendental Analytic of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason ends with a little appendix on what Kant calls the Amphiboly of the Concepts of Reflection. As an appendix, the passage is more than a little curious. The point that Kant eventually gets around to defending, that we are aware only of appearances, not things as they are in themselves, is familiar, but the argument that Kant now gives for it is entirely new and so interesting that one wonders why Kant relegated it to an appendix. Second, the passage introduces an important new concept, namely, numerical identity. For the first time in the Critique so far, Kant treats the notion separately and gives it important work to do. The Table of Categories does not so much as mention numerical identity, even though the concept would seem to be at least as good a candidate for categorial status as, say, modality. Third, the passage argues for the claim that knowledge requires sensible intuitions as well as concepts. Prior to the Amphiboly Kant has of course asserted this many times — but try to find an argument! Here he offers one.

Evolution & Creationism in Education Essay examples -- Teaching God Cr

Evolution & Creationism in Education The twentieth century has witnessed the escalation of the creation - evolution debate through famous court cases and Supreme Court decisions on the teaching of evolution in public schools, culminating most recently in a Kansas Board of Education decision. As this highly controversial issue of the teaching of evolution in American classrooms rages on, it may be difficult for some individuals of Christian faith to form an alternative belief other than the extremes of creationism and evolutionism. Before discussing this issue any further, when I refer to strict beliefs in creationism or evolution as extreme views I am not necessarily implying that they are wrong, but are simply two views on completely opposite sides of the creation - evolution debate spectrum. For some creationists, accepting God as Creator as told in the Book of Genesis means the simultaneous rejection of evolutionary theory. For some evolution believers, accepting evolution ultimately results in the replacement of God as Creator with the process of evolution. After reading the preceding two sentences, we can come to the conclusion that the creation - evolution debate is really a matter of faith, either there is a Creator or there is no Creator. However, at the same time the main battle of the debate is over what is taught in our public schools. This creates a problem, particularly for creationists, because separation of church and state keeps religious criticism to evolutionary theory away from the classroom. The Kansas Board of Education decision to eliminate evolution and the Big Bang Theory from statewide tests reflects the resulting pressure on school officials to chose between what many have come to view as two mutu... ...l Bible Society. Johnson, P. E. (1999). The Church of Darwin. Human Events, 55(32), 16. Lane, C. (1999). Devolution. New Republic, 221(11/12), 6. Marcus, D. L. (1999, August). Charles Darwin gets thrown out of school: A Kansas ban on the mention of evolution. U. S. News & World Report, 127, 32. Merriam Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1995). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. Miller, L. R. (1997). Must Christians chose between evolution and creationism? http://www.goshen.edu/bio/Biol410/Biol410SrSemPapers97/millerl.html (1999, November 1). The Scopes "monkey trial." http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/scopes.htm (1999, November 1). Wright, R. T. (1989). Biology: Through the eyes of faith. New York, NY: HarperSanFrancisco. Zimmerman, J. (1999). Relatively speaking: Creationism's political evolution. New Republic, 221(10), 13-14. Evolution & Creationism in Education Essay examples -- Teaching God Cr Evolution & Creationism in Education The twentieth century has witnessed the escalation of the creation - evolution debate through famous court cases and Supreme Court decisions on the teaching of evolution in public schools, culminating most recently in a Kansas Board of Education decision. As this highly controversial issue of the teaching of evolution in American classrooms rages on, it may be difficult for some individuals of Christian faith to form an alternative belief other than the extremes of creationism and evolutionism. Before discussing this issue any further, when I refer to strict beliefs in creationism or evolution as extreme views I am not necessarily implying that they are wrong, but are simply two views on completely opposite sides of the creation - evolution debate spectrum. For some creationists, accepting God as Creator as told in the Book of Genesis means the simultaneous rejection of evolutionary theory. For some evolution believers, accepting evolution ultimately results in the replacement of God as Creator with the process of evolution. After reading the preceding two sentences, we can come to the conclusion that the creation - evolution debate is really a matter of faith, either there is a Creator or there is no Creator. However, at the same time the main battle of the debate is over what is taught in our public schools. This creates a problem, particularly for creationists, because separation of church and state keeps religious criticism to evolutionary theory away from the classroom. The Kansas Board of Education decision to eliminate evolution and the Big Bang Theory from statewide tests reflects the resulting pressure on school officials to chose between what many have come to view as two mutu... ...l Bible Society. Johnson, P. E. (1999). The Church of Darwin. Human Events, 55(32), 16. Lane, C. (1999). Devolution. New Republic, 221(11/12), 6. Marcus, D. L. (1999, August). Charles Darwin gets thrown out of school: A Kansas ban on the mention of evolution. U. S. News & World Report, 127, 32. Merriam Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1995). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. Miller, L. R. (1997). Must Christians chose between evolution and creationism? http://www.goshen.edu/bio/Biol410/Biol410SrSemPapers97/millerl.html (1999, November 1). The Scopes "monkey trial." http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/scopes.htm (1999, November 1). Wright, R. T. (1989). Biology: Through the eyes of faith. New York, NY: HarperSanFrancisco. Zimmerman, J. (1999). Relatively speaking: Creationism's political evolution. New Republic, 221(10), 13-14.

Linkage Of Art History And Information Technology Essay

Art History at first glance has nothing in connection to Information Technology and so Information Technology has no link in the discipline of history art. I, myself, had not thought that these two entirely different academic discipline have something in common to share even they are quite different from each other. I will begin this paper by giving definitions of these two fields of study. Art history refers to the academic discipline covering the study of history, visual arts, which is study the development of painting, and sculpture arts, humanistic discipline, humanities and liberal arts which are studies to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills. Categorizing changes in art through time and better understand how art shapes is what art history endeavors. In addition, art history also covers the outlooks and creative impulses of the artists. It covers all kind of arts that is extending from the megaliths of Western Europe that the best example of which is the Stonehenge in Britain to the paintings of the Tang dynasty in China. On the other hand, although information technology is hard to define because it is a wide based term and encompasses many areas and I have read many definitions of it, I chose the Information Technology Association of America’s or ITAA’s definition in which they defined information technology as the study, design, development, implementation support and management of any computer based information systems. Visual arts, as I mentioned in the definition of art history above, is covered by the discipline of art history. In connection, visual arts, which language is visual, helps develop the skills and knowledge of people to interpret visual arts using visual languages. The importance of said skill and knowledge that are developed by taking the academic discipline of art history is that you have the ability to dig out meaning from visual environment thus in return coincides with the skill you have learned in information technology. This may sounds illogical but if you think deeper, you will say it is indeed reasonable to claim that there is a linkage between art history and information technology. Just for example are works of architects, film editors, and insurance assessors. In everyday of their lives, they are using their knowledge and skills in information technology and therefore, the skills in extracting meaning from visual environment will surely come to the rescue to help them to be successful on what they are doing. Thus, I reiterate once again that art history has a connection to information technology because both   mentioned skills above, which are skill in using computer database and skill in extracting meaning from visual environment, are both needed in the realm of those jobs. These kinds of job require skill in the scrutiny of visual data, and to build connections and depict incongruent elements together to make a coherent whole. Because art history is actually about engaging people’s imagination, communicating ideas and bringing out emotions and feelings by means of carefully arranged visual cues, it aids information technology in some sense like what I have mentioned above about the aid art history gives in the realm of works of the architects and many others. Other good examples of this are the people who work in advertising agencies, theater, fashion and all other areas of design. These people are in need to fully comprehend and appreciate the manipulation of visual information. Thus, given those examples, studying art history indeed helps broaden and developed a person’s natural ability to create and communicate meaning from almost any visual environment.   Tackling on the other aspects, because art history studies the so-called ‘work of art’ and its other aspects, it is important to note that these works of arts can contain many themes or any themes which can be about many thing or any thing under the sun, and technology is not an exemption for that. There are many people, nowadays, that choose jobs in which they can be called programmers, systems analysts, network service providers, webmasters, information industry moguls and directors of academic computing because this age demands us so. It is true to consider that information and computer literacy, are priceless technical skills but it is also important to bear in our minds that information literacy is a new liberal art. The coverage of knowing how to use the computers and access information to critical reflection of nature of information itself and, its technical infrastructure is also covered by the information literacy and technology. Social, philosophical and even cultural context to the mental framework of educated information-age citizen as the trivium of basic liberal arts, such as grammar, logic and rhetoric, are also essential and are parts of information literacy and technology. Also, it was hoped, because of the facts that not all information can be found in internet, one should know something about its major cultural landmarks. It is also important to consider that one should know the literary monuments of secular, humanistic culture from Shakespeare through his modern novel. All in all, history arts and information technology though they are two different fields of study have a good linkage in one another to further help building the triumph of mankind in acquiring knowledge and skills. References Definition of Information Technology. Ezine Articles. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://ezinearticles.com/?Definition-of-Information-Technology&id=1109986 Department of Art History, Sweet Briar College.1998 February 8.What is Art†¦?†¦What is An Artist?. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/artartists/artartists.html De Sousa, Mike. The Column. The Purpose of Art. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ablestable.com/resources/library/thecolumn/2005/027.htm Graduate Careers. Art History.Retrieved July 23, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/content/view/full/183 Malibu Arts Journal. Art: An Elusive Term. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.malibuartsjournal.com/art/art.html Shapiro, Jeremy J. and Hughes,Shelley K. Hughes (1996). Information Literacy as a Liberal Art. Educom Review Volume 31, Number 2. Retrieved July 23, 2008, from http://net.educause.edu/apps/er/review/reviewArticles/31231.html

Automobile Industry China Essay

? China became the world’s largest automobile producer and market in 2009 with annual sales of nearly 14 million vehicles. The market continues to expand in 2010. In the first nine months of 2010, automobile production reached 13. 08 million units, a 36. 1 percent increase from a year ago. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) raised its forecast for annual sales to reach a record 17 million this year, matching the highest annual total ever reached in the United States. Industry growth has been primarily driven by rising domestic demand stemming from rising incomes, a growing middle class, and by supportive industry policies from the Chinese government. The Chinese automotive industry remains very fragmented. In addition, Chinese central government officials fear that unchecked expansion of China’s auto industry encouraged by local authorities could harm the wider economy, and that excess capacity must be stopped. Hence, the central government continues to push for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the automotive industry which will support the emergence of a few leading national companies. China’s weak R&D, domestic innovation and design capabilities are key challenges to its international competitiveness. With the government’s encouragement, domestic firms have opted for strategic partnerships with foreign players, aiming to facilitate technology transfer and improve domestic design and engineering capabilities. The Chinese government has implemented a number of tax adjustments and subsidies for automobile purchases to encourage hybrid electric vehicles, pure electric vehicles and traditional vehicles of small engine displacement. Beijing has gradually introduced higher automobile emission standards for new vehicles. Plans to develop hybrid electric and pure electric vehicle production capabilities are part of a broader, environmentally friendly strategy to develop the auto industry. Market opportunities exist especially in the following areas: o Developing domestic innovation capabilities (e.g. vehicle design and engineering, hybrid electric and pure electric engines, electric motors and electric controls) o Productivity and quality upgrade (e. g. engines, transmissions, electronic control systems and safety systems) o Mergers and acquisitions (both in China and in Israel) o Clean transportation technologies 3 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) ? ? ? ? ? ? o Advanced manufacturing technologies o Supply of essential automotive components/systems to OEMs (e. g.electronic control systems and safety systems) ? The following automotive segments in China are considered to be highly competitive and it will likely be difficult for Israeli firms to penetrate the market unless they have an extreme competitive advantage: Fabric for seats/interiors, seat covers, floor mats, curtains, aluminum die casting, rubber bumpers, electronic harness cables, antennae, speakers, electric starters, vehicle cleaning products, window films, A/C compressors, fuel and oil and air filters. 1. MARKET OVERVIEW ? ? China’s automotive market has the most growth potential in the world; per capita car ownership is still remarkably low at 4. 78% and is expected to grow significantly. Domestic whole-vehicle manufacturers and automotive suppliers are still extremely fragmented (government-supported consolidation is imminent in the near future); challenges remain for domestic R&D and design. With government subsidies and tax incentives, China is aiming to establish an early footing in the production of low-emission and environmentally friendly automobiles. Component imports surged by 130% in the first half of 2010; 60% of imported components were drivetrains, engines or automotive body components. ? ? 1. 1 GENERAL OVERVIEW Market Growth Primarily fueled by domestic and partly by foreign demand, China’s rapidly expanding automotive industry has outpaced the nation’s already impressive GDP growth rates in recent years. Domestically, rising incomes and encouragement from the Chinese government for the urban population to obtain drivers licenses have spurred the demand for passenger vehicles. The booming passenger vehicle market has led to a soaring demand for automotive components. Internationally, automotive manufacturers faced with decreasing margins and profitability have sought out more affordable supply chain solutions, looking to China as a potential source for lower cost automotive components. Unlike developed markets for passenger vehicles, where growth in demand has been largely stagnant, China’s domestic demand for new automobiles has skyrocketed in the past years. Strong car sales in China in 2009 pushed the auto market to the largest in the world, and 2010 is set follow the positive trend. 4 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009). Source: China Association of Automotive Manufacturers (CAAM) In the first nine months of 2010, automobile sales reached 13. 08 million units, up 36. 1% from a year ago. Over 9 million of the total sales were passenger cars and 3. 24 million were commercial vehicles. CAAM predicted that the 2010 annual sales will reach a record of 17 million units. It is widely believed that China’s automotive market currently has the most growth potential in the world. China’s 2009 per capita private car ownership was 4. 78%, far less than the 40% average of developed countries, and even less than other emerging markets such as Russia, Brazil and India. This is a strong indication that China’s domestic market is far from being overly saturated. According to CAAM predictions, growth in the auto industry will remain strong until 2020 with annual growth expected to consistently range from 13 to 15 percent. The total number of vehicles will jump from 67 to 150 million. Sales in larger tierone and tier-two cities as well as rural areas should keep growing at a rapid pace over the next few years and high growth areas will move from eastern China to the central and western regions. Market Players There are currently more than 100 whole-vehicle manufacturers and nearly 8,000 automotive parts manufacturers in China, located primarily in Southern, Eastern, and Northeastern and central China (see the map on the right). Together, the top ten passenger vehicle manufacturers (seven of which are joint ventures (JVs) make up almost 90% of China’s market share (see the table below). Nearly every major global vehicle manufacturer has established JV operations in China. 5 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009). Top 10 Passenger Vehicle Manufacturers in China (2009) Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Source: CAAM Company SAIC1 FAW2 Dongfeng Chana (incl. Hafei) Beijing Auto Guangzhou Auto Chery BYD Brilliance Geely Others HQ Shanghai Changchun Wuhan Chongqing Beijing Guangzhou Hefei Shenzhen Shenyang Taizhou JV Partner GM, VW VW, Toyota, Mazda PSA, Nissan, Honda Ford, Mazda, Suzuki Hyundai Daimler Honda, Toyota, Isuzu, Fiat N/A N/A BMW, Toyota N/A Sales (Unit) 2,705. 5K 1,944. 6K 1,897. 7K 1,869. 8K 1,243. 0K 606. 6K 500. 3K 448. 4K 348. 3K 329. 1K 1,750K Market Share 19. 83% 14. 25% 13. 91% 13. 70% 9. 11% 4. 45% 3. 67% 3. 29% 2. 55% 2. 41% 12. 84% Import Positive demand growth for automobiles and components has not only caused domestic industry development, but has led to increased attention from leading foreign automotive manufacturers eager to expand into the rapidly growing market. Foreign automotive manufacturers have also been encouraged by lower import tariffs, which have been lowered for whole vehicles from 70-80% to 25% since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Import tariffs on Semi-Knocked-Downs (SKDs) and Complete-Knocked-Downs (CKDs) have dropped from 50% to 25%, while import tariffs on vehicle components have dropped from 15% to 10%. 1 2 Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation First Auto Works 6 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) China’s automotive import growth was slowed due to weaker demand caused by the global economic crisis of 2009. Annual total import were USD 33. 1 billion in 2009, representing a year-onyear increase of only 5. 34%. Assisted by government incentive programs and China’s economic recovery, China’s auto import total bounced back from a sluggish 2009, surging by 130% to USD 27. 22 billion in the first half of 2010. Imported European luxury cars had a remarkable 237. 2% increase in 2010 compared to the same period the previous year. China’s automotive component imports grew to USD 12. 7 billion in the first half of 2010, a 90% increase over the same period of 2009. Drivetrain, engine and automotive body components accounted for over 60% of the total component imports (see chart). More than 80% of the imported components came from Japan, German, Korea, and the United States. The main groups of imported automotive components to China can be divided into three categories: ? Japanese and Korean OEMs and Tier I suppliers: Generally these companies tend to only use suppliers from their country of origin. For example, Toyota typically sources components from Japanese JVs or Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprises (WFOEs) on the mainland, or directly imports from Japan. Such practice tends to result from strict quality requirements, cultural compatibility and logistical concerns. German OEMs and Tier I suppliers: These companies typically import components in the areas where Chinese suppliers are weak (e. g. safety systems for high-end passenger cars). The US and French OEMs operating in China have not increased their automotive component imports as much as their peers for different reasons. US OEMs have steadily increased their sourcing from local Chinese suppliers for vehicles manufactured in China to stay competitive, and French OEMs are facing a shrinking market share in China. ? ? Chinese OEMs are emerging buyers of imported automotive components, especially in the segments of hybrid and electric vehicles and Chinese-brand luxury vehicles. 7 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) Export The impact of the economic crisis in 2008-2009 forced many multinational companies to reduce their sourcing of automotive vehicles and components from China. According to CAAM, China exported a total of 369,600 units in 2009 worth USD 5. 19 billion, which was down by 46% from 2008. China’s auto exports rebounded as the global market recovered in 2010, with 250,100 vehicles exported in the first six months (up 55. 93% year-on-year). Passenger vehicle exports surged 115. 93% to 116,500 units, while commercial vehicle exports increased 25. 50% to 133,900 units. Algeria, Vietnam and Egypt were the major whole-vehicle export destinations in the first half of 2010. The auto component’s export growth has witnessed even more impressive growth than whole-vehicles. Exports increased 54. 11% to reach USD 18 billion in the first half year of 2010, with drive system components exceeding 50% of the total by value. More than 50% of the components were exported to the USA, Japan, South Korea, Germany and the United Kingdom. 1. 2 MARKET STRUCTURE Supplier Landscape The automotive supplier landscape in China is extremely fragmented. According to CAAM, there are approximately 8,000 automotive enterprises scattered across various segments including full vehicle manufacturing, vehicle refitting, motorcycle production, engine production and automotive parts manufacturing. Most of these companies specialize in lower-end parts and lack the capital needed to invest in production of higher quality products. Seven of China’s ten largest components manufacturers are foreign companies, and about 70% of the country’s USD 160 billion auto supply market is occupied by foreign companies or joint ventures. There are approximately 120 OEMs in total, 40% of which produce passenger vehicles. One of the key contributors to the fragmentation of the automotive market as a whole is that Chinese suppliers serve a large amount of separate OEMs. The world’s leading automotive companies are all well-established in China. OEMs are represented by Ford, General Motors (GM), Volkswagen (VW), Daimler, BMW, PSA, Mazda, Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, and tier-one international companies including Bosch, Delphi, Denso, Johnson Controls, Lear, Magna, Visteon, Yazaki, ZF, Arvin Meritor and TRW. 8 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) Most of the international automaker and component manufactures have invested heavily in China in attempts to gain a competitive edge. For example, GM, Ford and Jaguar Land Rover have established their Asia Pacific headquarters in China. GM, VW and Honda have also opened China R&D centers and have begun to design car models specifically for the Chinese consumer. International automotive components companies have also expanded their presence in China. For instance, BorgWarner recently opened a China Technical Center. ZF announced the establishment of its Asia Pacific headquarters in Shanghai as well as a new Shanghai R&D center. Eaton’s Asia Pacific headquarters is in Shanghai. Rapid expansion from international firms has let to foreign-invested automotive components suppliers holding 70% of the Chinese market share. Most of the top Chinese automotive parts manufacturers are wholly owned domestic companies such as ASIMCO, Wanxiang, Hongteo, Fuyao, Dicastal, Wanfeng and others. These companies could be potential competitors or partners for Israeli companies. In response to the soaring domestic demand, Chinese automotive component manufacturers have ramped up their production capacities significantly, but this has also led to an increase in quality complaints. Key Challenges for the Domestic Industry Chinese suppliers are now looking beyond the domestic market and improving their production process to emerge as true global competitors. However, further investment in R&D is still required before Chinese manufacturers can truly compete globally, as the industry still lacks technological capability and suffers from quality issues. China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) Flagship Domestic Automotive Companies Chery Automotive (Chery) ? Founded in 1997 and now has an annual production capacity of 650,000 vehicles, 400,000 engines, and 400,000 sets of gearboxes. ? Continues to expand into the overseas market and has established plants in 16 countries becoming the biggest Chinese vehicle exporter for seven consecutive years. ? Chery Automobile Test & Technology Center opened in July 2010, which became the largest auto lab in Asia. The company will invest RMB 2. 4 billion in 2010 to accelerate its new model development. ? Chery now owns a full set of manufacturing and R&D facilities, including four car plants, two engine plants, a gearbox plant, an automobile engineering research institute, an automobile planning and design institute and an automobile test & technology center. ? Have extensive technological and business relationships with overseas auto companies. Chery signed an agreement with Chrysler to produce Chery made cars under the Chrysler brand to be sold in the United States and Mexico. ? Chery Quantum Auto. Ltd is a joint venture between Chery and Quantum LLC under an Israeli Group. They aimed to invest USD 334 million in 2010 to develop high-end cars and SUVs for the overseas market. 9 R&D capability Chinese automotive component manufacturers are able to manufacture products when they are provided with designs and specifications, however most of them lack design, engineering and R&D capabilities. Owing to weak R&D and engineering capabilities, many local suppliers have opted to enter into technical collaborations or JVs with leading international suppliers with the goal of facilitating the transfer of technology and improve basic product engineering capabilities. A growing number of Chinese auto parts suppliers have begun to invest in and acquire western firms. Domestic R&D capabilities of Chinese automotive part manufacturers have historically been limited due to the small-scale of most operations and a shortage of investment in laboratory facilities in comparison to international firms. Taking steps to remedy the situation, the Chinese government has continued to encourage investment in R&D for core systems, such as engines, transmission systems, steering systems, brake systems and driving control systems. Safety and reputational issues Incidents and product recalls have raised questions about the quality and safety standards of Chinese manufactured automotive components. According to the 2009 China Automotive Product Quality & After Service Quality report, among the 9359 complaints documented about Chinese made cars, 19. 5% were related to engine problems; 10. 5% to steering systems; 10. 7% to braking systems; 18. 5% to automobile accessories and electronics; and the remaining 40. 8% related to the gearbox, clutch, front and rear axles, suspension systems and air conditioning systems. As a result of complaints and recalls, as well as other non-automotive related manufacturing scandals in China including melamine milk, contaminated pet food, and anti-freeze laced toothpaste, Chinese manufactures are facing serious issues about their reputation. This is a problem local manufacturers will have to overcome if they want to increase their competitiveness on the global stage. The drivers are in place for Chinese domestic manufacturers to move to the forefront of the global automotive industry, but substantial domestic investment in R&D and improvements on quality and reputation are a necessary prerequisite. 1. 3 EMERGING INDUSTRY TRENDS Industry Drivers The rapid expansion of the Chinese automotive industry has been largely attributed to the growth in domestic demand for passenger vehicles and international demand for affordable automotive components. The Chinese government also continues to play an important role in encouraging the growth of the industry. 10 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) Tier II and Tier III cities emerge as market growth engines In 2010, most multinational automakers have included a focus on Central and Western China markets into their strategies in order to capture future growth opportunities. For example, Volkswagen is ramping up capacity of its Chengdu plant more than doubling its production of Sagitars and Jettas from 150,000 to 350,000. GAIC Toyota (a JV between Guangzhou Automobile Industry Corporation and Toyota) is considering building a small and price-competitive car to target the lower end of the market. The JV also announced plans to expand its dealership network across central and Western China. Central and western China have emerged as the main growth engine of the automotive market. According to CAAM, automobile sales in second and third-tier cities in the first nine months of 2009 surged 41 percent and 51 percent respectively, while sales in the firsttier cities increased by 34 percent. Domestic demand has been fueled by rising incomes and a growing middle class creating a larger consumer culture. The purchase of an automobile is increasingly becoming a symbol of financial success. In the past, the focus has been on coastal cities. Since 2009, tier II and tier III cities have emerged as the strongest market growth engines (see more details on your left) Even though large cities in China are facing serious traffic congestion issues, Chinese have not been deterred about making new automobile purchases. China overtook the U. S. as the world’s number one automotive market in January 2009. The positive developments in the passenger vehicle industry have benefitted both domestic auto manufacturers (which are emerging from their infancy stages and developing competitive capabilities) and major international automotive giants (which have increased investment into China to expand their presence). However, with per capita car ownership was still only 4. 78% in 2009, still far below the 40% average in developed countries. This is a strong sign that domestic demand for passenger vehicles will remain high in years to come. The domestic aftermarket for automotive components is increasingly becoming an important driver of the industry. More than thirteen million cars are sold annually in China which is leading to a growing market for automobile repairs and further stimulating domestic demand for automotive components. International demand for automotive components has also increased as international automotive firms face pressures to reduce costs and take advantage of more economical alternatives abroad. China’s inexpensive labor force presents an attractive option for producing lower-cost automotive components, which were initially primarily for the international aftermarket but are increasingly being used by international OEMs. The majority of leading international automobile OEMs have established global sourcing offices, R&D centers as well as regional headquarters in China. 11 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) Finally, the Chinese government continues to play an important role in driving the industry. Post-WTO accession concessions have resulted in lower import tariffs, giving international automotive firms more access to the domestic market. Beijing has actively encouraged the establishment of JV R&D centers with preferential tax policies designed to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technology. The government has pledged substantial funds towards automotive technology innovation, upgrades, and the R&D of alternative-fuel automobiles and components. They are also setting restrictions and quotas requiring all vehicles that are used for government use to be produced domestically. Industry Consolidation China is determined to restructure its automotive industry, with the hopes of changing the market from many fragmented manufactures to two or three dominant domestic firms. According to the State Council’s regulations released in early September 2010 which called for greater industrial consolidation, the automobile industry was at the top of the list of targeted sectors. The State Council set the goal of reducing the number of major automakers who are responsible for 90% of domestic sales output, from 14 to 10. Under the plan two or three companies would dominate the industry, responsible for producing more than three million vehicles annually, while four others would have annual output capacity of 1. 5 million units. The State Council named the following four groups as potential industry heavyweights, urging them to take advantage of consolidation opportunities: FAW; Dongfeng; China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) Flagship Domestic Automotive Companies Shanghai Automotive (Group) Corp (SAIC) Industry ? Headquartered in Shanghai, it is one of the top three auto groups in China. ? Mainly engaged in the manufacturing, sales and R&D for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and auto components. ? The company is ranked 223 of the Fortune 500 companies with consolidated revenue of US$33. 6 billion in 2009. ? Sold over 2. 7 million vehicles in 2009, making up almost 20% of China’s market. ? SAIC invested over 10 billion RMB on new model development in the past 3 years, and will launch hybrid and electric vehicles in 2010 and 2012. ? Acquired Nanjing Automotive (Group) Corp (NAC) in 2007 and became the largest manufacturer in China with a consolidated annual production of 2 million units. ? SAIC has opened branches in the USA, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. It has established a long-term cooperation with GM and Volkswagen. SAIC and GM formed Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) in 1997 and launched 8 additional China joint ventures, including SAIC-GM-Wuling, GMAC-SAIC Automotive Finance Company, and General Motors SAIC Investment Limited. ? Shanghai Volkswagen (a joint venture between SAIC and Volkswagen AG) recently announced it will build a fifth assembly plant in Jiangsu. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles and start operation by the end of 2012. 12 SAIC and Chang’an. Additionally, it named four regional leaders that it encouraged to consider regional consolidation: Beijing Automobile; Guangzhou Automobile; Cherry and Sinotruck. All of these companies are passenger vehicle manufacturers with the exception of Sinotruck which manufactures heavy-duty trucks (sales of over 125,000 units in 2009). Industry analysts predict that the coming wave of M&As within the automotive sector could see a deal that breaks the USD 1 billion mark, more than doubling the largest deal to date which was the USD 450 million purchase of General Motors’. Nexteer steering components unit by a joint venture established by Beijing’s Tempo Group and the Beijing government. Global Expansion As the leading automotive market, China automakers are accelerating global transformation to increase their presence in the overseas market. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (one of China’s largest independent carmakers) recently completed its acquisition of Ford Motor’s Volvo brand for USD 1. 5 billion. This is an indication that Chinese automakers have begun to recognize the power of strong brand reputation. Geely’s Volvo bid is the largest takeover in Chinese auto industry and will provide a pattern for Chinese carmakers to expand aboard and acquire companies with a strong reputation. Beiqi Foton, China’s leading commercial automaker followed Geely’s step and announced its global expansion plan. This includes setting up a production base in Russia by 2012 with an annual capacity of 100, 000 vehicles and building five other plants in Brazil, India, Russia, Mexico and Thailand before 2015. New Energy Vehicle: Focus of Future Development High oil prices, air pollution, and China’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions have led the automotive industry to explore alternative energies. The Chinese government has launched policies and incentives to stimulate the development of new energy vehicles, including electric (hybrid, plug-in and battery), fuel cell, and hydrogen-powered. China has identified new energy vehicle as one of the seven emerging strategic industries. Many estimate China will become the world’s largest new energy vehicle market by 2020. The Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicle Development Plan (2011-2020) and the Automotive Industry 12th Five-year Plan (2011-2015), two of the key policies expected to guide the development of new energy vehicle industry, are expected to come out by the end of 2010. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is the principal drafter of these plans which are later submitted to the State Council for approval. The plans set the following key targets for the new energy vehicle industry by the end of 2020: ? In the following five years China will aggressively support the development of key components of energy efficient and new energy automobiles. For electric motors and 13 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) ? ? batteries manufacturers, China hopes that three to five â€Å"backbone† enterprises will emerge with their combined market share exceeding 60%. China will produce 5 million new energy vehicles and become the number one producer of new energy vehicles in the world by 2020; Average fuel economy of passenger vehicles will be 4. 5 L/100 kilometers by 2020, the same as European standards. The plans will become the backbone policy for the entire new energy vehicle industry, as it provides direction for public funding, sector focus and industry structuring. Most important to pay attention to is that Chinese companies are likely to reap the most benefits from these structured strategies. To support indigenous innovation, the Chinese government has stated that the two or three key new energy vehicle component manufacturers will most likely be domestic companies, either state-owned or private. 2 REGULATORY OVERVIEW ? Government tariffs on automotive imports are in compliance with WTO rules, but minimum capital barriers still exist for foreign investors. The government has created some incentives to spur R&D partnership, and regulations for foreign distributers have been eased somewhat. The government has plans to implement higher auto emissions standards for new cars in China. So far four regions have implemented â€Å"China IV† emission standards (Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangdong Province). The Chinese government views the development of the new energy vehicle industry in China as a top priority and has introduced a wide range of subsidies and policies in its favor. ? ? China’s automotive industry supply chain is very broad with many components such as import and export, manufacturing, environmental protection, technology upgrades and quality control. As such, the industry is regulated by a range of government organs, both at the national and sub-national level. The below chart illustrates the key central level regulators of the automotive industry, and their relevant responsibilities. 14 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) The automotive industry is subject to a number of laws and regulations. The key regulations that are relevant to Israeli companies are addressed below. 2. 1 FOREIGN ACCESS TO THE CHINESE AUTOMOTIVE MARKET Trade The Chinese auto sector is competitive and has a well-developed supply chain. Imports of foreign-made auto parts will likely decrease as OEMs continue to increase their local capacities. At the same time, higher quality Chinese auto parts are increasingly being integrated into the global supply chain. Currently the import tariff for whole vehicles is 25% and for automotive components is 10%. 15 China’s Automotive Sector – Prepared for IEICI Updated November 2010 (Original April 2009) Investment Foreign businesses must meet a number of requirements in order to access China’s automotive market. The Chinese government has set requirements for minimum registered capital when a firm wants to establish an automotive facility which is RMB 500 million (USD 75 million3) for automobile financing, RMB 500 million (USD 75 million) for engine production and RMB 10 million (USD 1. 5 million) for an R&D center. All projects are subject to government approval. Foreign firms looking to produce passenger vehicles cannot set up WOFEs, but must partner with a local Chinese firm in the form of a JV, with the foreign partner’s stake limited to 50%. On the other hand, China offers fiscal and financial incentives to attract foreign investment in R&D strategies as part of the central government’s strategy to speed up the transfer of international technology. China currently provides tax incentives for enterprises engaged in research and development activities, allowing R&D enterprises to deduct 50% of R&D expenses. Suppliers are most often required to localize or invest in China and Israeli companies interested in tapping into the vast Chinese market will need to consider establishing a local presence. IPR Issues in China While the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) remains a contentious issue for companies in China, the country’s laws and regulations have progressed considerably in recent years, with the large majority now compliant with requirements of the WTO’s TRIPS agreement. The main challenge surrounding IPR protection in China is the lack of effective enforcement of the existing regulations. Enforcement issues arise from a range of root causes, including the relatively recent introduction of IPR legislation and concept of intellectual property in general, the absence of a fully independent judicial system, and provincial officials’ often protective attitude towards local job creating counterfeiting industries. While most foreign companies considering business operations in China may have to accept an unavoidable degree of IPR infringement, there are nevertheless a number of actions that a company can take in order to limit their IPR-related risk: ? ? ? Ensure to register your patents, copyrights, or trademarks with the relevant bureaus Ensure that your trade or other.