Discuss the Status of Foreign Claims Essay

1. Discuss the status of foreign claims and possessions in the trans-Mississippi West from 1811 to 1840. Trace the development of American interests in the region during this era. Between the years 1811 to 1840, Americans had migrated into the trans-Mississippi West in order to obtain defined boundaries with Canada and Mexico; moreover, they went westward to acquire the western edge of the continent. Commercial goals fueled early interest as traders firs sought beaver skins in Oregon territory as early as 1811 and then bison robes prepared by the Plains tribes in the area around the upper Missouri River and its tributaries. Many of the men in the fur business married Indian women, thereby making valuable connections with Indian tribes involved in trapping. In the Southwest, the collapse of the Spanish Empire gave American traders an opportunity they had long sought. Their economic activity prepared the way for military conquest. To the south, land for cotton rather than trade or missionary fervor attracted settlers and squatters in the 1820s at the very time that the Tejano population of 2,000 was adjusting to Mexican independence. On the Pacific, a few New England traders carrying sea otter skins to China anchored in the harbors of Spanish California in the early nineteenth century. By the 1830s, as the near extermination of the animals ruined this trade, a commerce based on California cowhides and tallow developed. New England ships brought clothes, boots, hardware, and furniture manufactured in the East to exchange for hides collected from local ranchers. Among the earliest easterners to settle in the trans-Mississippi West were tribes from the South and the Old Northwest whom the American government forcibly relocated in the present-day Oklahoma and Kansas. 2. Justify American westward expansion in the 1840s. American expansion was due to the rapid population growth, advances in transportation, communication, and the bolstering idea of national superiority, known as Manifest Destiny. This sense of uniqueness and mission was a legacy of early Puritan utopianism and Revolutionary republicanism. By the 1840s, the successful absorption of the Louisiana Territory also contributed to the American expansion towards the best. Publicists of Manifest Destiny proclaimed that the nation not only could but must absorb new territories. This Manifest Destiny, the slogan in which they used to justify this expansion, was begun by John L. O’Sullivan. He expressed the conviction that the country’s superior institutions and culture gave Americans a God-given right, even an obligation, to spread their civilization across the entire continent. 3. From 1823 to 1845, Texas grew from a sparsely settled region of northern Mexico to an independent republic to a state in the American Union. Discuss the reasons for and the major events of this transformation. Texas was able to separate from Mexico into the American Union by yearning for their own independence, winning the battle at San Jacinto, and their new republic they were able to create. It began in 1823, when the Mexican government resolved to strengthen border areas by increasing population. To attract settlers, it offered land in return for token payments and pledges to become Roman Catholics and Mexican citizens. In 1829, the Mexican government altered its Texas policy. Determined to curb American influence, the government abolished slavery in Texas in 1830 and forbade further emigration from the United States. Officials began to collect customs duties on goods crossing the Louisiana border; hoowever, little changed in Texas. American slave owners freed their slaves and then forced them to sign life indenture contracts. Emigrants still crossed the border and outnumbered Mexicans. With the victory at San Jacinto, Texas gained its independence. The new republic started off shakily, financially unstable, and unrecognized by its enemies. For the next few years, the Lone Star Republic led a precarious existence. 4. Analyze President Polk’s actions in handling the Oregon question. Was Polk luck or smart in achieving a peaceful compromise with Britain? Polk was not willing to go to war with Great Britain for Oregon, so he withdrawed his suggestion, while he created more difficulties and complicated the resolution, and achieved a peaceful compromise by sheer luck. Polk began by setting out the American position that settlement carried the presumption of possession. Polk recognized the reality that Americans has not hesitated to settle the disputed territories. His flamboyant posture and expansive American claims complicated the conflict’s resolution. He offered a compromise to Great Britain, but in a tone that antagonized the British. Discussions about Oregon occupied Congress for month. Debate gradually revealed deep divisions about Oregon and the possibility of war with Great Britain. Polk took the unorthodox step of forwarding this proposal to the Senate for a preliminary response. Escaping some of the responsibility for retreating from slogans by sharing it with the Senate, Polk ended the crisis just a few weeks before the declaration of war with Mexico. 5. What led so many Americans to sell most of their possession and embark on an unknown future thousands of miles away in Oregon or California during the 1840s? The lands east of the Mississippi began to fill up, and American automatically called on familiar ideas to justify expansion; they moved west for more lands to settle and more opportunity. Americans lost little time in moving into the new territories. During the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s, thousands of Americans left their homes for the West. By 1860, California alone had 3800,000 settlers. At the same time, thousands of Chinese headed south and east to destinations like North and South America to escape the opium wars in the 1840s with Great Britain, internal unrest, and poor economic conditions. Most who came to California called it the â€Å"Gold Mountain. † Most of the emigrants who headed for the Far West, where slavery was prohibited, were white and American-born. They came from the Midwest and Upper South. They had very different routes to arriving West, but they all had the same intention, to reach the riches and the better opportunities to live. 6. Contrast the different lives and tasks face by pioneers on the agricultural, mining, and urban frontiers in the West of the 1840s and 1850s. In contrast to the agricultural settlements, where early residents were isolated and the community expanded gradually, the discovery of gold or silver spurred rapid, if usually short-lived, growth. Mining camps, ramshackle and often hastily constructed, soon housed hundreds or even thousands of miners and people serving them. Merchants, saloon keepers, cooks, druggists, gamblers, and prostitutes hurried into boom areas as fast as prospectors. Usually, about half the residents of any mining camp were there to prospect the miners rather than the mines. Given the motivation, character, and ethnic diversity of those flocking to boom towns and the feeble attempts to set up local government in what were perceived as temporary communities, it was hardly surprising that mining life was often disorderly. If mining life was usually not this violent, it tolerated behavior unacceptable farther east. Miners were not trying to re-create eastern communities but to get rich. 7. Emigrants passing through Utah encountered a Mormon society that seemed â€Å"familiar and orderly, yet foreign and shocking. † Explain The visitors were able to relate and admire the attractively laid of town with irrigation and tidy houses, but as they noted the decorous nature of everyday life, they gossiped about polygamy and searched for signs of rebellion in the faces of Mormon women. Emigrants who opposed slavery were fond of comparing the Mormon wife to the black slave. They were amazed that so few Mormon women seemed interested in escaping from the bonds of plural marriage. Non-Mormon emigrants passing through Utah found much that was recognizable. The government had familiar characteristics. Most Mormons were farmers; many of them came originally from New England and the Midwest and shared mainstream customs and attitudes. But outsiders also perceived profound differences, for the heart of Mormon society was not the individual farmer on his own homestead but the cooperative village. 8. Describe the culture and political organization of the Plains Indians. Discuss how and why their relationship with white Americans changed from the 1840s to 1851. White American first came in contact with this Plains tribes, and witnessed that their culture differed from that of all the other Indian tribes. This ordinary encounter on the overland trail points to the social and cultural differences separating white Americans moving west and the native peoples with whom they came in contact. Confident of their values and rights, emigrants had little regard for those who had lived in the West for centuries and no compunction in seizing their lands. The Plains tribes were similar in other tribes because the had adopted a nomadic way of life after the introduction of Spanish horses in the sixteenth century. Mobility also increased tribal contact and conflict. And war played a central part in the lives of the Plains tribes. This pattern of conflict on the Plains discouraged political unity. But they had signed no treaties with the United States and had few friendly feelings toward whites. Their contact with white society had brought gains through trade in skins, but the trade had also introduced alcohol and destructive epidemics of smallpox and scarlet fever. 9. Write a brief overview of American westward expansion from 1820 to 1860 from the Mexican point of view. For working-class Hispanic Americans, who became laborers for Anglo farmers or mining or railroad companies, we earned less and did more unpleasant jobs than Anglo workers. By 1870, the average Hispanic-American worker’s property was worth only about one-third of what its value had been 20 years earlier. Some of us resisted American expansion into the Southwest. Other Hispanics adopted different tactics. In New Mexico, members of Las Gorras Blancas ripped up railroad ties and cut the barbed-wires fences of Anglo ranchers and farmers. The religiously oriented Penitentes tried to work through the ballot box. Ordinary men, women, and children resisted efforts to convert them to Protestantism and clung to familiar customs and beliefs even as they learned some of the skills needed to survive in a changing culture. This movement seemed to benefit everyone, except for us. We were treated like dirt and was not able to obtain the full potential opportunity everyone else had. We had to struggle to make a living. This American westward expansion was tough on us Mexicans.

Is Striving to Achieve a Goal Always the Best Course of Action?

Topic:Is striving to achieve a goal always the best course of action, or should people give up if they are not making progress? We are blase about the mentality people hold toward success, especially in this modern society, that don't waste time on something any more if you haven't achieved accomplishment. While, I still cannot help but believe despite my own cynicism that persistence is the panacea to reach the goal.When it comes to the clash between insistence and relinquishment, a well-known saying originates from the British dramatist, William Shakespeare, appears before my eyes, that is†Do not, for one repulse, give up the purpose that you resolved to effect. † Nowhere has the significance of determinedness been so vividly and accurately expressed as by Jack Welch and the King' s Speech. I cannot imagine the GE without Jack Welch, but I am sure that if he left GE at that time, we will lose the â€Å"most revered CEO†. Welch joined General Electric in 1960. At first, he worked as a junior engineer, at a salary of $10,500 annually.Welch was displeased with the $1,000 raise he was offered after his first year, as well as the strict bureaucracy within GE. However, Reuben Gutoff, a young executive two levels higher than Welch, persuaded Welch and tried to convince him to stay. After deliberation, he gave up the idea of resigning and resolved the thought to change the bureaucracy. If he resigned at that time, he would not have such success in the future. After many years hard-working, Welch eventually took his oath of CEO and brought GE ushering in a prosperous era. During his office, Welch took many measures to reform the corporation system.For example, he shuted down factories, reduced payrolls and cut lack-luster old-line units. What's more, Welch fired the bottom 10% of his managers resolutely. Because of his actions, many staff rejected him and a man who was fired by him even tried to kill him. Confronting these frustrations, he never tho ught about withdrawing, but executed his regulations more unswerving. I wonder if he gave up his ideas just due to so many difficulties, GE might not have such achievements. Jack Welch attained his goals by his firm actions and the spirit of never saying die.Bernard Shaw said that â€Å"Success covers a multitude of blunders. † Obviously, successful people's accomplishments are based on the experience of failure. Jack Welch tells us like that, and the King' s story also corroborate this truth. The King's Speech, just like its title, describes a king who overcomes the impedance of stammer and eventually becomes the symbol of resisting spirit of Britain during the World War Two depends on his inspiring speech. At first, because of his stammer, George VI doesn't want to take the oath, but after a series of accidents, he is forced to become the king.Fortunately, Geroge VI encounters the language impedance therapist Lionel, who helps him cures his stutter. During the treatment, Ge roge VI gives up for so many times, but by virtue of his wife's encouragement and Lionel's genuine, he conquers his difficult and achieves following attainments. If he surrenders to the illness, maybe today we just know that there is a stammer king in the history of Britain, but not a great king. All in all, resoluteness is not only a sort of attitude toward failure, but also a key element of success which we cannot never ignore just like Jack Welch and Geroge VI.

A Review of the Pirates House and the History of the Restaurant

A Review of the Pirates' House and the History of the Restaurant The Pirates House is a notable eatery and bar built up in 1753. It’s situated in Savannah, Georgia. It is believed that Pirates House is the oldest building standing in Georgia. This restaurant stands out as one of the major tourist attractions in Georgia. This comprehensive narrative reviews the restaurant as a business as well as a historic entry together with the activities that were undertaken in the restaurant since it was established. Criteria 1 Pirates House was based on a plot of land that had been set aside to be a botanical research garden. The garden was assigned to Oglethorpes Trustees. Oglethorpe selected botanists from around the globe to procure plants for the venture, such plants include, cotton, therapeutic herbs, indigo and flavors. The garden was put up with the hope of boosting the wine and silk industries that were mushrooming by then, the garden later centered its operations to growing mulberry trees. The soil and climate states in however did not favor the mulberry trees. The wine and silk industries also crumbled as a result of those factors. The garden would later develop cotton farming that quickly became the staple for the residents of Georgia. The small building had therefore been built to house the gardeners who worked in the farm. The house was formerly known as the herb house due to its old age. By 1754, Savannah was rapidly growing as a port town thus the residents decided that it was no longer relevant to have a botanical garden. The herb house was therefore transformed to serve as a tavern and an inn where visiting seamen from abroad would be housed (McGrath and Pirates House). The pirate’s house started to constantly house seamen and pirates and with time, it started to earn a bad reputation and the general public started to avoid it. The pirate’s house did not earn its status by rumor; many sailors had been reported missing from this restaurant. Duisburg captains who needed slave men frequented the inn and took away vulnerable drunkards. The restaurant was initially owned by captain Flint. The savannah gas company would later buy Pirates house and the neighboring land in the 1900s. Mrs. Hansell Hilyer who was the wife to the president of Savannah Gas Company was attracted to the design of the building in the premises they had bought. She rehabilitated the museum house into a restaurant with 15 dining rooms with a capacity of 120 guests. It started operations and served several varieties of southern dishes. Frances McGrath’s book â€Å"The Pirates House Cook Book lists the recipes that the restaurant offered. Criteria 2 The pirate’s house is a notable restaurant most significantly because of the stories that it is founded on. The restaurant holds an annual competition known as the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgias where they different entries showcase their innovative recipes and at the same time have a time to celebrate the history of the restaurant (McGrath and Pirates House). The restaurant has earned several good reviews for their delicious food and their exclusive service and theme. The residents of historic Georgia view it as a source of their pride and it relatively sees a consistent flow of tourists who come to share the experience and learn the history. The pirate’s house has been used in a handful of contexts which includes Robert Stevenson’s book â€Å"Treasure Island† which was written in 1881. It is believed that the novelist was inspired by the house and the activities that were happening in the house. Some pages of the novel where the action was from the res taurant are displayed in one of the rooms in the restaurant. The pirate’s house serves several people each with a different goal. May people travel from far destinations to have an exclusive service in a restaurant that is believed to be haunted by the souls of the initial owners and those of the sailors that died in the restaurant in the 17s and 18s. Besides that, people like to see the restaurant for its old design from the 17s (McGrath and Pirates House). Criteria 3 One of the most fascinating parts of the hotel is the set of ancient staircases that lead into unseen tunnels that are underneath the restaurant. It is believed that the tunnels beneath the restaurant ran to the banks of Savannah River. The strong men drinking at the bar were dragged via the staircases, to the tunnels and drugged. They would then be dragged through the tunnel to a ship and forced to be part of the crew. The restaurant is a vibrant business that has employed a handful of employees. In the event that the restaurant is closed, several people would lose their jobs and a spring of pride for the Historic Georgia would have dried. People visiting the town often visit the restaurant for delicious foods and interesting ghost stories. Since the 18s, the structure of the restaurant has barely changed. This is most likely because the restaurant needs to preserve the original feel of the house since it was built. Many people who would like to see the building and attribute it to the story behind it will often visit the restaurant and that acts as the restaurant’s point of sale. Conclusion This restaurant has been a favorite spot for everyone who visits as it was the same case for the privateers and sailors for several years. The food and drinks were as terrific as they still are now. It is no surprise that the pirates would hang around the place that they enjoyed and loved when they were alive, like we do today.

Mart -to- Market Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mart -to- Market Accounting - Essay Example Thus all the assets and liabilities recorded on the balance sheet of the firm are recorded at their cost value and are further adjusted by the value of the depreciation or any impairment. However, as the overall complexity of the assets and liabilities increased, it became evident that that the values of these assets and liabilities can also vary due to the changes in their market values. A substantial decline in the value of the asset can actually erode the profitability of the firm and as such if their values are not recorded properly, they may give a different picture to the investor than the actual. It is in this perspective that the role of mark to market accounting emerges wherein the values of the assets are periodically recorded at their market value and all gains or losses are subsequently adjusted in the profit and loss account of the firm. (Schuetze and Wolnizer). During current financial crisis, mark to market accounting played critical role because due to reduction in the values of the assets, firms were forced to record them at lower level thus they booked substantial losses. 3) It may be prudent to relax this idea during the time of crisis because if the overall risk return characteristics of the assets remain same during the crisis, they should not be written down to their market

Healthcare marketing Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Healthcare marketing - Coursework Example As it is now, from a PR perspective, what the hospital has done wrong is placing its interests ahead of public interest in the handling of the case. This is said because it is not as if the hospital failed to apologize entirely but whiles doing this, the hospital became overly focused on giving reasons as to why it may not be entirely wrong with what happened. It is said that it is better late than never. Therefore, even though damage control might not have come very early and might have affected the hospital negatively, the hospital still did the right thing by apologizing in the long run. In PR, it is always important to eat humble pie so that the welfare of the larger people can be protected and this is what the apology did (Natasha, 2005). Going forward, it is important for the hospital to put its house in order. This recommendation is given as a preventive approach to avoiding the need for there to be another damage control or apology. As the hospital goes back to work now, it should check it’s EHR so as to ensure mistakes are not repeated. In a week’s time, there should be evaluation of the system. Into the future, there should be periodic monitoring of the

Symbolism in the Short Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Symbolism in the Short Story - Essay Example For instance, a substantial part of the story is spent on describing the â€Å"stepping stones† in the river and the girl’s passage of it. Stepping stones and rivers have traditionally been symbolic of the journey of life. Rivers are also important as boundaries and crossing them often signifies passage from one world to another. The crossing of river Jordan into the Promised Land, for instance, is a crucial element of the Bible (Ferber, 2007, p. 170). The stepping stones, that are at first harder to cross and easy afterwards are also symbolic of the passage of life. This is the first hint that the speaker may be coming from a different land, or even a different plane of existence. The emphasis on the â€Å"glassy† sky is yet another symbolic clue. Glassy has connotations of an unnatural or artificial material, as it is man-made. It can also signify a certain deadness of the subject, an absence of expression as in the phrase â€Å"glassy eyes†. The absence of life, and the distance she feels from manmade objects further intensify the suggestion that the speaker is already dead. The narrator also mentions several objects of the landscape that she finds missing, suggesting a rather long absence. There was now a road that had replaced the pave and the pine tree she knew was gone.

Argumentative research paper Mandatory Military Service for all Males Essay

Argumentative research paper Mandatory Military Service for all Males 18+ in the US - Essay Example Nick Tallant, a Second Lieutenant who is currently the Battalion Operations Officer of the 2nd Infantry Division of the US Army strongly believes that mandatory military service be carried out by eighteen year old males (18) and above. In an interview with Officer Tallant said that he joined the military for its intensive training leadership aspect and his desire to serve the country. He further said that he believed in the conflict and that he could do a good job. He also expounded on the importance of the fact that the choice to serve is "free" and this brings out the best men in those who want to serve the country. He explained that military service shows the beauty of democracy. The Military also provides the opportunity to make people feel free and secure; hence, they do not have to worry about people hurting them. Officer Tallant wants to serve in an elite unit. For instance, the Infantry Division to which he is currently assigned has many elite forces in it. He also likes to b e deployed in the near future. Officer Tallant identified the positive influences of military service to his professional and personal life as follows: a.) it creates in him a dedication to discipline; b.) it gives him an attitude of service; and c.) it helps him assume a great responsibility. Finally, he points out that his military service shapes his future leadership role in American society by making him to always known for serving. As an officer, the people will have different expectations of him and that his ability to serve will never be questioned. He is also confident that his military experience will ultimately provide him with many opportunities down the road to have a leadership role in the near future. James Burk (2001) tackled the military obligation of citizens since Vietnam. He stated that there were changes in political culture regarding the obligation to perform military service. First, widespread doubt about the legitimacy of

Different Approaches to The Ways That Gender Affects Language Use Essay

Different Approaches to The Ways That Gender Affects Language Use - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Ã' ommunication is a significant in the daily life of an individual. It is important that information is relayed within the shortest time possible and is as precise as possible. However, distortions can often occur, mainly due to differences in culture and gender. The gender difference is a factor that affects communication to a significant degree. It is common knowledge that men and women communicate differently. Whereas men are not so open to their conversation, women are generally talkative and will express their feelings through various ways including crying, laughing or just through various body languages. However, these factors cannot resonate across all populations. Several authors on the topic suggest that factors such as family backgrounds, the schools attended, early childhood life, and exposure can always predispose an individual to communicate or react differently. Today, most people accept the fact that gender affects how people communicate; women and men communicate in different ways. The differences can pose interpersonal interaction challenges, therefore, leading to resentment, intolerance, decreased productivity and stress. Women and men are said to belong to two cultures mainly due to their differences in sex and early childhood tendencies to the group as boys and girls. This tendency is not only critical in the business setting, but in everyday life. It is, therefore, important that the differences are understood so that communication can be as effective as possible, irrespective of gender.

Paper for class MIS 2100 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paper for class MIS 2100 - Essay Example Having qualified personnel who can utilize information systems is critical to the success and growth of an organization. As a student, I have realized how important it is for me to learn about these systems in order to guarantee success in the future business career. Secondly, prior to taking this class, I simply viewed business systems as tools used in businesses for daily operations. However, after taking this class, I have learnt that information systems are a major source of competitive advantage, especially in the current business environment. I have learnt that information systems help businesses reduce the cost of doing business, and this ensures that products and services are offered at a lower cost. Through information systems, businesses can be innovative and come up with new products and services that satisfy the needs of the market better and efficiently. Overall, by taking this class, I have learnt not only how to use information systems to carry out daily business activ ities but also use them to set the business ahead of the rest in the market. Finally, the MIS 2100 class has enabled me understand the ethical and social issues raised by information systems. By using technology to carry out business activities, organizations expose themselves to a great risk which may affect their operations and their relationship with the society. For instance, information systems pose major challenges on people’s privacy since personal information is exchanged through different computer systems before arriving at the final destination. Through this process, private information may be leaked to unauthorized parties, and this may lead to serious ethical problems. Through this class, I have learnt how to use such systems responsibly in order to avoid some of these ethical and social challenges. By taking this class, I have leant that although technology is beneficial to the business, it can cause serious problems if not well used. This might comprise the

Computer Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Computer Security - Essay Example Their main result being that vulnerability disclosures mostly lead to a negative and critical change in the market value for a software developer. A solid base for the formation of their argument against information sharing is due to the realization that on average, a vendor loses approximately 0.6% value in stock price when a vulnerability is reported; This being about a 0.86$ billion loss per vulnerability announcement. The Organization of Internet Safety (OIS) defines security vulnerability as a flaw within a software system that can cause it to work against its original design and make it prone to outside manipulation. With the rapid advancement in technology and the internet evolution information sharing has peaked to a new level. This despite its advantages in terms of rapid information sharing also brings to surface the increased chances of vulnerabilities being exposed. As a result not only are software security products like firewalls at a risk but software like operating sy stems and enterprise software can also be manipulated to create security related attacks; Hence providing another aspect that goes against information sharing due to the presence of vulnerabilities. Further examples in terms of a study by NIST in 2002 can be observed which estimated the cost of faulty software at $60 bn per year. Most prominent are incidents like Cod Red virus and the Melissa virus in which hackers exploited flaws in the software and caused enormous damages. Moving on to some arguments in favor of information sharing despite the existence of vulnerabilities we see that prior literature suggests that software defects don’t necessarily lead to a loss in market value of firm. This is due to two main reasons; firstly because the End User License Agreement limits the liability of the software developers encouraging them to facilitate information sharing despite the costs. Second due to the general philosophy held by software stakeholders that it is a uniquely comp lex product which will have understandable defects. A key example here is that of the numerous vulnerabilities present in Microsoft and yet its products are not associated in any way with low quality simply because of the huge user base that it holds in terms of information sharing. Arora, Telang and Xu (2004) look at a more optimistic picture of the vulnerability aspect and argue in favor of information sharing as their study leads them to the conclusion that disclosure can force vendors to release patches quickly. Arora, Caulkins and Telang (2003) follow suit and they discover that larger software vendors find it optimal to rush product into market and then invest in post launch patching hence saving overall product costs and using vulnerability to their advantage. Externality is defined by economists as a situation in which an individual’s actions have economic repercussions for others. It is important to note that in these instances the fact that there is no compensation is of critical importance. Externalities are divided into positive and negative. In negative externality the consequences are mostly known, for example the effects of environmental pollution caused by a plant and the way it might have an impact on the neighboring

Utilitarian Moral Theory Essay Example for Free

Utilitarian Moral Theory Essay Present in your own words the basic elements of a utilitarian moral theory. Utilitarianism is established as a theory promoting increasing utility and especially the happiness of as many people as possible. Utilitarian’s believe the function of morality as a social institution, is to advocate humans well-being by increasing welfare and decreasing damage. Thus, moral rules are regarded as a way to accomplish individual needs and meet social aims. The first basic element of a utilitarian moral theory is The Principle of Utility. In which, it’s important to understand that behaviours are considered correct when they foster happiness and wrong when they spread unhappiness. The public benefits of health care, research, medicine and so on should be maximised. The second element is A Theory of Value, in which utilitarians consider what is good as happiness, fulfilment of wants and ambitions and achieving conditions such as liberty, understanding, security, health and deep relationships with loved ones. Utilitarians tend to look into production of good as an innate value, which doesn’t differ among people. Hedonistic approaches conceive that only happiness can be inherently good, conversely pluralistic approaches believe that values other than happiness have worth such as personal victory, knowledge, friendship, autonomy, love and culture. Since the hedonistic and pluralistic approaches tend to clash, many utilitarians define good as being an object or substance that is subjectively coveted and wanted. The third element, Consequentialism means that actions are only seen as right when the results of actions are good not when the intent of actions is good. It doesn’t mean that future results should be foreseen, only that when judging the cause of an action it should be ensured that the consequence of that action endeavours to generate the best utilitarian conclusion. The last element is Impartiality which means all parties concerned in an action must be considered impartially. From a moral perspective people should receive unbiased judgement regardless of their gender, race and disabilities. This utlilitarian theory comes under general normative ethics. There are many elements of utilitarianism but the four described above are the most important ones and must be met for the sake of permitting a utilitarian theory.

Water Security Concept And Factors Environmental Sciences Essay

Water Security Concept And Factors Environmental Sciences Essay Water security simply means availability of water and secure rights to use potable water for the present and future generations. Water security has been recognised as being important enough to be enshrined in UN Human Rights Resolutions and is now a cornerstone of the UNs Millennium Development Goals  [1]  . The concept of water security includes regional and global availability of water, environment issues, access issues and water stress. Water insecurity is all pervasive in the South Asian region, visible in conflicts and tensions erupting within and across countries. Therefore, the need to integrate water security as a key component of human security is crucial. Availability of Water. Water is widely distributed on Earth as freshwater and salt water. The bulk of the water on Earth is regarded as saline or salt water, which amounts to over 98% of the total water on Earth. The remainder of the Earths water constitutes the fresh water; this also happens to be very unevenly distributed. Nearly 70% of the fresh water is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland. Besides this, most of the remainder is present as soil moisture, or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater not accessible to human use. Only less than 0.1% of the worlds fresh water (~0.007% of all water on earth) is accessible for direct human uses  [2]  . This is the water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and those underground sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. Water Consumption. The six billion people of Planet Earth use nearly 30% of the worlds total accessible renewal supply of water. By 2025, that value may reach 70%. Yet, at present billions of people lack basic water services and millions die each year from water-related diseases. Some believe that fresh water will be a critical limiting resource for many regions in the near future. About one-third of the worlds population lives in countries that are experiencing water stress. In Asia, where water has always been regarded as an abundant resource, per capita availability declined by 40-60% between 1955 and 1990. Projections suggest that most Asian countries will have severe water problems by the year 2025. Water Security. Water security is an elusive concept, but consensus is beginning to emerge in the world community as to its dimensions, its parameters, and the best approaches for its achievement. The Second World Water Forum Ministerial Declaration (2000), endorsed that water security implies the following:- Human access to safe and affordable water for health and well-being. Assurance of economic and political stability. Protection of human populations from the risks of water-related hazards. Equitable and cooperative sharing of water resources. Complete and fair valuation of the resource. Sustainability of ecosystems at all parts of the hydrologic cycle. Dimensions of Water Security The issue of water security has several dimensions such as competing uses, degradation of quality and scarcity. World Bank defines it as a combination of increased productivity and diminished destructivity of water. In the past, the competition for water has triggered social tensions and conflicts between water-use sectors and provinces as the domestic demands for water has forced governments to plan and invest in grand water projects such as the River-Linking Project by India and Three Gorges project by China. The water profile of the region with complex interdependencies implies that internal dynamics within a nation may now increasingly manifest itself in an inter-State dimension. Water is arguably one of humanitys most valuable resources and that is why all ancient civilizations grew along rivers be it the Indus or the Nile. It has come under increased demand due to rapid population and economic growth and may become a constant source of conflicts both within the countries as well as between countries. South Asia is an apt case study of water both as a source of cooperation and as well as conflict. The concern for water is more pressing in the South Asian mainland consisting of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Nepal. The China factor and impact of its water policies has added another dimension to the problem. Water scarcity is a serious and growing problem throughout the world, and the twin pressures of Population Growth and Climate Change will only intensify this problem. The United Nations estimates that the number of people living in water-stressed countries will increase from about 700 million today to more than 3 billion by 2035  [3]  . The developing world alone will be home to 90 % of the 3 billion people expected to be added to the global population by 2025. It is estimated that by 2025, over half of the worlds inhabitants will be directly affected by water scarcity. Most of them will live in either China or India. China has access to about 7% cent of the worlds water resources, but is home to around 20% of the global population, while India possesses around 4% of water resources with only a slightly smaller populace  [4]  . Both countries, along with eight other Asian nations and 47% of the worlds people, are heavily dependent on the Tibetan Plateau for water. Any water policies for the region therefore will have a transnational impact. Measured by conventional indicators, water stress, which occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available amount during a certain period or when poor quality restricts its use, is increasing rapidly, especially in developing countries like India and China. According to the 2006 Human Development Report  [5]  , approximately 700 million people in 43 countries live below the water-stress threshold of 1,700 cubic meters per person. By 2025, this figure will reach 3 billion, as water stress intensifies in China, India, and South Asia. Factors Determining Water Security The scale of the ever-present societal challenge of achieving and sustaining water security is determined by many factors, of which three stand out. First there is the hydrologic environment, the absolute level of water resource availability, its inter- and intra-annual variability and its spatial distribution, which is a natural legacy that a society inherits. Second, there is the socio-economic environment, the structure of the economy and the behavior of its actors, which will re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ect natural and cultural legacies and policy choices. Third, there will be changes in the future environment, with considerable and growing evidence that climate change will be a major part. These factors will play important roles in determining the institutions and the types and scales of infrastructure needed to achieve water security. The Hydrologic Environment Relatively low rainfall variability, with rain distributed throughout the year and Perennial River  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ows sustained by groundwater base  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ows, results in hydrology that is relatively easy to manage. Achieving a basic level of water security is straightforward and requires comparatively low levels of skill and investment (primarily because water is suf ¬Ã‚ cient, widespread and relatively reliable). Dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrologies are those of absolute water scarcity (i.e. deserts) and, at the other extreme, low-lying lands where there is severe  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ood risk. Even more dif ¬Ã‚ cult is where rainfall is markedly seasonal or where there is high inter-annual climate variability. With increasingly dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrology, the level of institutional re ¬Ã‚ nement and infrastructure investment needed to achieve basic water security becomes signi ¬Ã‚ cantly greater. Not coincidentally, most of the worlds poor face dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrologies. A legacy of trans-boundary waters, hydrologic and political or a trans-boundary hydrologic legacy can signi ¬Ã‚ cantly complicate the task of managing and developing water to achieve water security owing to inter-jurisdictional competition both within and between nations. While this is clearly apparent in federal nations with some state sovereignty over water, it is particularly acute in the case of international trans-boundary waters. Re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ecting this complexity, the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses was under preparation for twenty seven years prior to adoption by the UN General Assembly in 1997 and has not been entered into force. Many of todays trans-boundary basins are the result of 20th Century colonial borders that cut across watersheds and created international rivers, particularly in South Asia. The Socio-Economic Environment Water Infrastructure and Institutions. Investments in water infrastructure and institutions are almost always needed to achieve water security. Countries with dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrology will invariably need more infrastructure and stronger institutions, with the development of each of these being greatly complicated where waters are trans-boundary. In almost all societies, man-made assets have also been developed, from simple small-scale check dams, weirs and bunds that became the foundation of early cultures, to, at the other end of the scale, investment in bulk water management infrastructure typically developed by industrializing countries, such as multipurpose dams for river regulation and storage and inter-basin transfer schemes. Macroeconomic Structure and Resilience. The structure of economies plays an important role, with more vulnerable economies requiring more investment to achieve water security. Historical investments in water management institutions and infrastructure, the economys reliance on water resources for income generation and employment and its vulnerability to water shocks will all be relevant. Risk and the Behaviour of Economic Areas. In the poorest countries, where survival is a real concern for large parts of the population and there are few functional social safety nets, economic actors tend to be extremely risk averse, investing only after there is signi ¬Ã‚ cant demonstration of returns. Countries with dif ¬Ã‚ cult hydrology, such as India and Pakistan may well face the highest risks; yet have the most risk-averse populations, the lowest infrastructure investment and the weakest institutions. Climate Change Climate change is making water security harder to achieve and sustain. Global climate change is likely to increase the complexity and costs of ensuring water security. Overall, climate change is expected to lead to reduced water availability in the countries that are already water scarce and an increase in the variability with which the water is delivered. This combination of hydrological variability and extremes is at the heart of the challenge of achieving basic water security. The water security challenge will therefore be compounded by climate change and it will require signi ¬Ã‚ cant adaptation by all countries. This will particularly be the case in poor countries which lack the institutions and infrastructure to manage, store and deliver their water resources and where climate change will be superimposed on existing and in some cases extreme vulnerabilities. According to various scientific reports, by 2050 Himalayan glaciers will have receded by 27.2%. Slow depletion of these glaciers would greatly reduce the river water flow especially to India, intensifying existing problems of water scarcity and competition. Similar changes will affect the 11 Asian countries to which Himalayan waters flow  [6]  . A 2009 Purdue University study, predicts an eastern shift in monsoon circulation caused by the changing climate, which today causes more rainfall over the Indian Ocean, Bangladesh and Burma and less rainfall over India, Nepal and Pakistan. This shift raises serious concerns for the countries expecting decreased rainfall. Summer monsoon rainfall provides 90% of India`s total water supply and as the effects of climate change become more pronounced, agrarian populations in India and Pakistan dependent on monsoons and glacial melt for irrigation will be profoundly affected. International Conventions on Water Sharing Water knows no boundaries and flows in keeping with the lay of the ground, requiring Riparian International Water Laws to govern the non navigational use. The 1815 Law for the Navigational Use of International Waters secured the vital sea lines of communication between the western countries and the colonial powers. Ironically, no such laws were created for management of the river courses. United Nations General Assembly Convention. In 1966, the International Law Association adopted the Helsinki Rules, which provide a set of guidelines for reasonable and equitable sharing of common waterways. In 1970, the United Nations General Assembly commissioned is own legal advisory body, the International Law Commission (ILC), to study Codification of the Law on Water Courses for Purposes other than Navigation. The first formal attempt to manage the riparian waters was the 1997 Draft United Nations Convention, which is yet to be ratified by the requisite number of countries. The convention has been criticized as it is practically impossible to have one convention that would incorporate all possible scenarios, as also a specific convention would be unacceptable to all members of the UN as needs and demands defer from region to region and country to country. Generalized Principles of Trans-boundary Water Allocation Water has become a significant source of conflict and has led to differing perceptions between various states such as the Arabs and Israelis, Americans and Mexicans, and among all ten Nile basin co-riparians. The generalized principles to mitigate problems of water allocation include Absolute Sovereignty, Absolute Riverine Integrity, Limited Territorial Sovereignty and Economic Criteria  [7]  . These can be summarized as under:- Absolute sovereignty is based on hydrography and implies unilateral control over waters within a nations territory while the doctrine of absolute riverine integrity emphasizes the importance of historical usage, or chronology, and suggests that every riparian has a right to the waters that flow through its territory. Limited territorial sovereignty reflects the right to reasonable and equitable use of international waters while inflicting no significant harm on any other co-riparian while the principle of economic criteria uses the market to allocate water among competing users in an economically efficient manner. Approaches to Water Security In trying to understand the various actors and their approaches on the issue of water, it is important to recognise at the outset that there are plurality of actors in the water sector-the state which includes governments, bureaucracy and the state machinery, who can also be termed the managers and the market; civil society organisations and groups; water communities or water users; and knowledge institutions. Each group is characterised with its own strategies and approaches, and within each group there are differences and variations. Technology Solutions. As the demand for this scarce resource increases daily, it has become an urgent necessity that water should be conserved and wastage of this scarce resource should be minimized. Some of the important techniques such as rainwater harvesting, recycling, infrared or foot operated faucets, drip irrigation method etc economise the usage of water but there is a requirement to evolve technology solutions to this crisis. Drainage Basin Approach to Water Security. Drainage basins are an essential, if not the only factor in reducing water stress. They have also been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important. It is therefore natural to manage water resources on the basis of individual basins because the drainage basins are coherent entities in a hydrological sense.

Aberdeen Tartan Day This repo

Aberdeen Tartan Day This repo Aberdeen Tartan Day    This report examines the data from a Market Research Questionnaire presented to visitors of Aberdeen. Awareness of past events is reviewed and, preferences for future events are examined, with various alternatives being explored. On August 5, 2005 Aberdeen City Council held its second Tartan Day. In an effort to expand this newfound tradition Council wishes to explore levels of interest in different types of potential activities. In the past such activities as the Country Fair, walking tours, a family day at the Union Terrace and special Jacobite displays at Provost Skene’s House were included in the programme. The data, provided by the client, consisted of 30 respondents to the questionnaire. Although this number is small it is sufficient to extract some general information for Aberdeen City Council to make decisions regarding future events. The raw data were assumed to be correct as well as the methods for collecting the data deemed appropriate. The raw data were copied to a minitab file (available upon request) and various graphs and statistical tests performed. Means and medians were compared and, in some cases, correlation coefficients were calculated to identify relationships between areas. Demographically the respondents were evenly split by gender and equally distributed in the three age ranges 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29. Twenty-eight live in Aberdeen City, 23 are college students, one secondary student and six employed full time. All six of the respondents employed had salaries below  £1500 per month. There was huge variance in the level of awareness respondents had in the events held in Aberdeen last year. Of the 30 people surveyed almost all were aware of the â€Å"Free at the Dee† event but less than 25% were aware of ‘Tartan Day’. Event Number Aware Number Attended Aberdeen Jazz Festival 6 2 Aberdeen International Football Festival 14 1 Aberdeen International Youth Festival 13 1 Free at the Dee 28 14 Tartan Day 7 1 International Traders Fair 4 0 10k Fun Run 8 2 Highland Games 15 3 Apart from the traders fair, the football and youth festivals, the Tartan Day attracted the fewest percent of the people aware of its existence. Free at the Dee seems to have generated the keenest attraction. How respondents find out about events connected with their hobbies and interests is shown below: Communication mode Percent who used this TV 50% Press 22% Posters 18% Text Message 20% Internet 60% e-mail 30% Word of Mouth 93% Leaflets 13% Clearly word of mouth and the internet seem to be the most effective communication modes with traditional print modes (leaflets, posters, press) among the least. A review of the cost effectiveness of e-mail and the internet compared to TV may be worth undertaking. Note that since many respondents make use of more than one media the above percents add to more than 100%. The pie chart below shows the relative popularity of the five proposed themes for future Tartan Day events. These are based on the number of respondents who chose each activity as either their first or second choice. The boxplot below poignantly illustrates how the respondents voted. The shaded area shows how the middle half voted with the line in the box showing the median. The broad box for sports indicates the wide range of opinions related to the desirability of sports as a theme but whereas the small shaded area for music indicates a strong consensus (the median is actually 1). The star at 4 for music is a lone dissenter called an outlier. Clearly neither theatre, art nor highland games are very attractive as themes to the respondents. No one ranked theatre or art as number one and a singular champion of highland games voted it a first choice. Both sport and music seem to be popular. Twenty ranked music as number one and 8 ranked it as number 2 where sport received nine votes in each category. A closer inspection of the data revealed that those that placed music high as an activity tended to place sports low. A similar relationship held between highland games and theatre. This information could be valuable should the committee decide to hold two events concurrently. Most people who expressed a preference voted for the event to be held at the beginning of July either at the beach or Duthie Park. Month Count Time Count Place Count June 11 Beginning of month 13 Beach 11 July 16 End of month 1 Duthie Park 14 August 2 No preference 16 Union Terrace 3 September 1 Castle Gate 1 Exhibition Centre 1 Seventy percent of the respondents would like to see a Scottish theme (Haggis, Angus Beef burgers, Whisky and tartan) at the festival. Almost a quarter had no preference. Two-thirds of the respondents claimed to be willing to pay for this event and, of those, an overwhelming 80% peg  £1 to  £5 as reasonable with the rest willing to pay between  £6 and  £10. Since a full two thirds of the respondents selected music as the theme they would prefer for future events a review of their preferences might reveal some additional information. The music lovers showed the same generally low level of awareness and participation at the various events held in Aberdeen last year as the complete sample of thirty respondents. The first surprise is the mode of communication for the people who selected music. Communication mode Music People Percent who used this Full Sample Percent who used this TV 50% 50% Press 75% 22% Posters 65% 18% Text Message 20% 20% Internet 60% 60% e-mail 30% 30% Word of Mouth 90% 93% Leaflets 20% 13% The group that choose music made use of most media the same as the full cohort with the notable exceptions that the music group made much more use of the printed media: press, posters and leaflets. The planning committee may wish to take this into account when designing their advertising. Advertising in the printed media could place more emphasis on the music aspect and other forms of media target a more general audience. The music group favoured the beginning of July as did the whole group with an even greater percentage favouring Duthie Park. They also would like to see a Scottish theme added to the festival although whether this is confined to food, drink and dress or includes the music was not indicated. Last years brochure heralded ten out of its sixteen venues as ‘admission free.’ Two-thirds of the respondents expressed a willingness to pay for the event they chose as a potential theme for Tartan Day (ie. they expressed a willingness to pay for a music event). The committee will need to consider the question of fee from a philosophical view as well as a pragmatic one. Generally the profile of the group willing to pay aligns closely to the whole group of respondents with a few notable exceptions. The potential payers showed greater attendance at both the 10K fun run and the highland games. They relied less on internet for communication and slightly more on e-mail. They showed a significantly greater reliance on TV for communication. None of the potential payers wished to see Tartan Day in August and they favoured Duthie Park very strongly. The data were reviewed by parsing other subgroups with no startling results. The age groupings and the groupings according to employment status showed no difference from the group as a whole. There were slight gender differences in the choice of media. Females tended to favour the press and posters. A number of questions emerge naturally from the above results. If music is to be a theme what kind of music would be best received? Could there be two themes like music and sport? The survey did not indicate family status. If Tartan Day is to be a family event this group could be targeted in any follow-up surveys. The general level of awareness as indicated by the participants of the survey of Tartan Day in the past has been low and the attendance even lower. Based on the survey results the committee should consider changing the date of Tartan Day to early in July. The majority favour a music theme with the venue at Duthie Park and they are willing to pay a small entrance fee (below  £5). Depending on the target group a variety of media should be used to communicate the events of the day.

Business is Compatible With Sustainable Growth and Environmental Well Being :: Business Ethics

Several studies have been commissioned to look into ways of modern business values (such as technology) are incompatible with sustainable growth and environmental well-being. People provide a broader approach to the introductory analysis of modern business problems and principles by their method of decribing business in a general way and relating into society as a whole. Business world is changing too fast. Globalization, technology, markets, new competitors, new activities are all causing quicker changes in our corporate environments. Focusing on results means that we have to define very clearly the relation between those main points, so that the outcome can be continuously measured against the facts. Improvement of the main objective of this conference is needed to listen to assessment of where we are today in terms of modern business, sustainable development, and environmental well-being. Modern businesses have an implicit set of essential values, however the most significant property is technology. The information technology may have streamlined the business processes, but also lead to job redundancies, retrenchment and outsourcing. This means that a lot of lower and middle level jobs have been done away with causing more people to become unemployed. Not only business world have influenced negatively but also society is affected unfavorably, for example genetically modified food which damages health or mobile phones which cause to radiation. Furthermore, gaining access and information is became easy and this lead to datamining, workplace monitoring and privacy invasion which are ethical issues that arise from technology. Limits and opportunities should be presented by changes in global, social and environmental circumstances, as limitations of future growth may occur if the global and environmental perspectives for sustainable societies are ignored. Nowadays, ‘Up-to-date business properties are compatible with sustainable growth and environmental well-being’ is an impossibility statement that modernity’s shift to environmental governance for sustainability is not a harmony, just a complication. Sustainable development satisfying the needs of today, without risking the possibilities of satisfying the needs of coming generations. The concept of growth is focused and centres on national and international changes of society from a social, economic, political and ecological point of view. Social relations have changed in ways that have undetermined the modernization process associated mainly as union busting, workplace surveillance and employment law.

Essay --

In mid-20th century western society, preconceptions of male behavior remained inert. Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire exemplifies rigid stereotypes of an alpha male within American society and Gallimard from M Butterfly juxtaposes with a deep, but thus far unfulfilled, desire for complete dominance over a woman. Society expected men to be exclusive figures of authority within the home, and more generally patriarchal dominants. Stanley, the antagonist in Streetcar, is immediately introduced as aggressive and dominant. It is quickly apparent that he is a man of habit and structure and expects undisputed authority and respect in his household, specifically from his wife. In scene one, â€Å"Stanley heaves the package [of meat] at [Stella]† (Williams 4), barely acknowledging his wife after coming home from work and Stella â€Å"laughs breathlessly†. Stella finds Stanley’s ignorant behavior amusing, which infers that Stanley regularly acts without much regard for his wife. From the first scene, the audience can already discern that Stanley feels superior to Stella and takes her for granted. In scene two, Stanley accepts an enthusiastic kiss from Stella with â€Å"lordly composure† (Williams 29). The suggestion that Stanley is lord-like is significant for two reasons. First, in feudal times lords had sworn vassals that owed full allegiance and obedience to their lords. If Stanley is the lord, then Williams implies that Stella is the faithful vassal doing her duty. Second, aristocratic succession dictates that only men can hold the title of â€Å"Lord† and subsequently the power that comes along with it. Since Stanley is the man, the comparison implies that Stanley has all the power in the relationship and that Stella will never have any power over S... ..., first hinted at with the way he treats his wife, is fully evident after he rapes his sister-in-law. Stanley shows no remorse for the brutish actions he takes to restore himself to power in his house and eradicate the threatening presence of Blanche. Gallimard is reserved, insecure, and submissive by nature. His deepest desire is to play the role of the archetypal â€Å"alpha-male† and dominate a woman completely. Although dominance is against his nature, he refuses to accept that his incarnate fantasy of â€Å"Butterfly† was only a veil of perception that was ironically used to dominate him. Both characters go to sickeningly extreme lengths to attain and preserve the dominant role in their household. But as they were men in the mid-20th century, they were responsible for upholding the patriarchal concepts in society that only accepted men that played the role of a dominant.

fully just? :: essays research papers

Fully Just? The death penalty debate is an extremely controversial issue affecting the world today. In today’s society, people argue whether the death penalty is an acceptable form of justice. In America, the pros and cons of the death penalty are an ongoing debate. Countless questions arise whenever someone mentions the death penalty. Is Capital Punishment just? The death penalty is just. As a citizen of the United States, I am interested in this issue because I live under the statutes of the American justice system. Someone who disagrees with the death penalty claims that it is wrong to promote murder, yet he or she promotes murder by opposing an equal punishment for those who commit the crime. Not executing criminals who commit horrific crimes is preserving a life that has devalued all life. People have been sentenced to death for various forms of wrongdoing all throughout history. One can trace back execution all the way to the crucifixion of Jesus. Stoning, drowning, burning at the stake, impaling, and beheading are other forms of punishment that people used hundreds of years ago. These previous methods are found cruel and unusual and evolve to what we refer to today as modern capital punishment. Capital Punishment today is the legal infliction of death as a penalty for violating criminal law and is justly so. Since 1976, capital punishment is accomplished through various means; lethal injection (primarily), electrocution, and gas chamber are the most prominent (Death Penalty Information Center). These new methods are more efficient and less inhumane for the party receiving the sentence of death. Thirty-eight states across the country currently take part in capital punishment; thirty-seven of which use lethal injection as the primary means. The law executes both men an d woman for various crimes, but for the most part the severity of the punishment increases with the severity of the crime (Death Penalty Information Center). The crime most punished with the death penalty is murder, and rightfully so. Society is better off without people who commit inhumane crimes. Opponents of the death penalty commonly portray the death penalty as a barbaric "eye for an eye" approach to criminal justice. Although most parts of the world do not take this philosophy literally, our culture still follows the spirit of this law. In America, two out of every three people support the death penalty, about sixty-six percent (Death Penalty Information Center).

Increasing the Educational Benefits of War Veterans Essay

It is tough to be an American soldier. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the mainland, the United States of America has been on the offensive in hunting down the terrorists responsible for the crime. The US launched a war against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and a few years after in Iraq. And in order to sustain the offensive, more American youths are drafted to join the military. America’s military men and women serve as national role models for their selfless sacrifice. They spend more than a year in the front lines combating terrorists, insurgents and help liberating foreign lands from the tyranny. Soldiers help rebuild war torn nations through much needed infrastructure and by introducing democracy. But as the war on terror drags, the number of enlisted men killed in encounters increase day by day. More and more troops return home suffering from debilitating injuries, not just the physical but including invisible scars of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The patience and vigilance of America’s military men and women have preserved peace, stability and helped fulfill the nation’s destiny. It is therefore reasonable that they receive all the needed support and remuneration after serving the country. War veterans acquire assistance and benefits through the G. I. Bill. The original G. I. Bill officially known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 provided college or vocational education (covered full tuition at public or private schools, fees, books, and a living stipend) for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as or G. I. ’s) as well expensive healthcare. It also provided loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses (Hyman 1986). The G. I. Bill helped around 7. 8 million the World War II veterans re-adjust to civilian life. The unprecedented educational opportunity immensely transformed the American society. A whole generation of blue-collar workers became engineers, doctors, lawyers, teachers and entrepreneurs (Humes, 2006). The G. I. Bill was one of America’s most successful investments. According to the 1988 report for Congress’s Subcommittee on Education and Health of the Joint Economic Committee by 1952, the US government had spent $14 billion (1952 dollars) on educational and job training benefits for 7. 8 million veterans. Of these funds, $7 billion was spent on college and graduate school for 2. 2 million G. I. ’s. ? The first benefit from this investment was increased growth in the economy. The report calculated that about 40 percent of those who took advantage of the G. I. Bill would not otherwise have been able to attend college. The extra output those people created in the economy amounted to $35. 6 billion (1952 dollars after factoring out inflation) over the next 35 years. There is no doubt that better educated veterans have higher income levels that will inevitably increase tax revenues. For instance according to the same report, for every $1 invested in education under the original G. I. Bill of 1944, the government received at least $6. 90 in return economic benefits such as increased tax revenue. Unfortunately at present time, the educational benefits provided for by the G. I. bill is not enough to cover even the educational expenses of the war veterans. The sad reality is that while the cost of an education has increased, the benefits available to veterans have decreased. To obtain a college education, veterans must pay their own tuition, room and board and other college costs and then are reimbursed only up to their eligible benefit amount over the course of the semester. In 2005-2006, the average cost of a four-year college (tuition, fees, and room and board) topped $17,000 a year. Yet full-time G. I. benefits covered barely more than half those expenses (USA Today, 2008). All these limitations effectively put the dream of higher education out of reach for far too many soldiers who have served the nation in the current wars. As the war on terror drags, the prospect of serving the country among young Americans appears gloomy. A sound G. I. Bill is critical to the military in meeting its recruitment goals and attracting high-quality college-bound high school graduates. In order to ensure a steadier stream of good recruits, the government must enact legislation that would increase the benefits received by the war veterans. Investing on American war veterans through the GI Bill proved to be one of the most rewarding investments the country had. We must renew the commitment to a new generation of men and women who have served our country with extraordinary courage and distinction. In so doing, they will achieve the better lives they so richly deserve and we will secure a better America. We need a revamped GI bill that would address the educational needs and other benefits of our war veterans. I propose that the veterans committee provide an increase in the educational benefits or if possible award the same benefits received by the World War II veterans to the new generation of US war heroes. References Labor Institute and Public Health Institute (1997). Corporate Power and the American Dream: Toward an Economic Agenda for Working People. New York: Apex Press. Hyman, H. M. (1986). American Singularity: The 1787 Northwest Ordinance, the 1862 Homestead and Morrill Acts, and the 1944 G. I. Bill. University of Georgia Press. Humes, E. (2006). Over Here: How the G. I. Bill Transformed the American Dream. Harcourt Brace. Marklein, M. B. (2007, June). How Far Do G. I. Benefits Go? USA TODAY. Retrieved: April 20, 2008 from USA TODAY website: http://www. usatoday. com/news/education/2007 07-10-gi-bill-report_N. htm Subcommittee on Education and Health of the Joint Economic Committee (1988). A Cost Benefit Analysis of Government Investment in Post-Secondary Education Under the World War II GI Bill.

Shareholder vs Stakeholder vs Market Failure’s Model

Business and ethics are often considered as opposite ends of a magnet, one in the means of seeking profit and other with the common assumption of refraining from profit maximization; so the question become is business ethics really an oxymoron? The usual perception of business ethics is very poor and pessimistic as many corporate executives say one thing yet do another. Although the maximization of self-interest and profit seeking is what drives the economy forward, but how should one’s actions be justified, is it ok to do as you wish as long as the law permits?Business managers along with other professionals have sets of ethical codes laid out and are to be followed. There is the bar set in place to monitor the practices of each individual lawyer; medical association for doctors as they perform medicine; and a ring to be worn to constantly remind the engineers of their professionalism and the potential consequences of their work (Heath). Managers on the other hand do not have an association to oversee the decisions they make, whether they are permissible by law or meet the moral obligations.However not having the standards on paper does not mean there aren’t any to be followed. In order to make justification for the type of behaviours business managers have and to outline the appropriate actions they should take, many ethical theories have been developed since. There are three that best represent the key perspectives in this matter; Friedman’s Shareholder theory, Freeman’s Stakeholder theory and Heath’s Market Failure Model of business ethics (Heath).Each of them is the pillars of which many other theories are based on but have very different and opposite views. The Shareholder theory suggests that manager has fiduciary duties to the shareholders only and must maximize profits as long as the law permits. The Stakeholder theory on the other hand suggests that managers have fiduciary duties to all stakeholders whom are positive ly or negatively affected by the decisions of the firm; shareholders are only of the stakeholders and their benefits cannot account for all.The making of one group’s benefits can only be made in conjunction of making all other stakeholders better too; shareholders are no more special than the suppliers, customers, employees and communities. Both the Stakeholder and Shareholder’s theories are biased towards different ends, one suggesting profits to be maximized for one group while the other stating that profits should be common good for all. Furthermore, the Market Failure Model of business ethics comes in between the two, yet containing arguments of both but in revised versions.I will argue in this paper that the Market Failure Model is the one that best describes the causes and effects of the business environment we have today and the role ethics play within it. First, an extraction and analysis of the Market Failure Model will be conducted and be used to explain why it is the best fit for the current business environment and ethics. I will then explain the shortfalls of the Shareholder and Stakeholder theories and why they lack considerations on a broader scope. Market Failure Model Market failure is the situation when the competitive market fails to provide an efficient outcome.In order for an efficient allocation of resources, there must be the absence of externalities, symmetrical information between buyers and sellers, insurance markets, and utility maximizing agents whom are rational when making decisions (Heath). However in the real world, the above conditions are rarely met and thus the idea of a perfect market becomes only ideal in theory but impractical in reality. In response to such failure in the market, two corrective phenomenons exist. The first being the creation of corporations which is organized in a system of hierarchy.Managers have fiduciary duty to follow legal as well as moral constraints to achieve profit maximization for members in the hierarchy, in this case the shareholders. Moreover, in order to achieve the highest profits for anyone in the market, they will need to compete in prices as well as product innovation. Many historical scenarios has proven that competition leads to economic advancements where without it would result in economic stagnation. China and India had been communist states in the past where there were minimum price competition and product innovations, the government had full control and attempted to effectively allocate resources.However such intervention only led to full economic stagnation and poverty for its people. By the late 80s, both the Chinese and India government returned control to the market itself where competition for profit resumed and thus the economies began to advance and has brought prosperity upon its people. This not only proved profit seeking, price competition in the market is rather healthy for the economy but also concluded that government interventions in the market can create unneeded deadweight loss.The second response to Market Failure involves preservation of the market transaction and is subject to legal and regulatory constraints (Heath). In a competing market, there are various strategies firms may take to maximize their profits. Strategies that involve only of lower prices, better quality and product innovation that would exist in perfect completion are referred to as preferred strategies whereas the ones involving pollution, misleading advertising, sale of products with hidden defects are called non-preferred strategies (Heath).From the Market Failure’s perspective, the ethical firms will refrain from using non-preferred strategies even if they are allowable by the loophole of the law and regulations. These firms seek non-preferred strategies because they bring easy and quick forms of profits, but it is also short lasting. â€Å"Misleading advertising stands to false advertising as deception does to fraud† (Heath). When firms adopt misleading advertisement for its products, it will bring short term profits before consumers realize they are being deceived.However when consumers do acknowledge the unethical behaviours of the business, they will switch products and by the word of mouth spread unfavourable comments of the firm; thus in the long run, such business behaviour is not practical as bad reputation leads to loss of sales and eventual closedown of operations. Profit seeking often bears negative conceptions due to the frequent exploitation of the market and flaws of the legal and regulatory systems.These firms fail to consider the moral obligations they must also endure. The analogy between â€Å"orporate social responsibility† and â€Å"Good sportsmanship† effectively compares and applies such concept. Having good sportsmanship does not only include not breaking the rules of the game but also refraining from exploiting the loopholes and flaws of the regulations. Taki ng basketball for example, unavoidable physical contact will occur during the game; however one should avoid purposely injuring other players just to win.Although certain teams do adopt such tactics like those firms using non-preferred strategies to make money, but most top ranked teams along with the most reputable firms still win by applying only of the preferred strategies. Attack on Shareholder’s Theory Milton Friedman’ Shareholder theory argues that there is a fiduciary relationship between the managers and shareholders; managers by all means possible and permissible by law, must maximize profits (Friedman). However recent corporate scandals proof otherwise.The case of Enron for example, where corporate CEO and president along with other top executives engaged in a sequence of deception behaviours to achieve the maximum profit, not for shareholders but for themselves. Even on the verge of bankruptcy, these top managers froze the shares held by common shareholders so they could sell out all their shares while everyone else will suffer the drop in price. This proved the willingness to break the law never mind moral obligations, in order to maximize the self-interests of the managers themselves.It is mistaken to trust the strength of the fiduciary relationship between managers and shareholders where the shareholders are without protection. One may argue that shareholders can simply fire the irresponsible manager, but as Enron proves, these managers can easily cheat shareholders without being found out until it is too late. Another shortfall of the Shareholder theory is the inconsideration for others who are also affected by the firm’s decisions. Lockean argues that shareholders are entitled to the profits as employee deserves their wages, but it is unconvincing because it only defines the legal obligations but not the moral (Heath). We have no legal obligation to give but do not mean we have no moral obligation to give to charity†( Heath) This quote from Heath suggests that even though it is not by law that we must be moral and has concerns for other, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t any moral and ethical codes to be followed. Attack on Stakeholder Theory The Stakeholder theory compared to the Shareholder theory argues that managers have fiduciary duties to everyone who are affected by decisions of the firm, including suppliers, customers, employees and many others (Freeman).It is true that consideration for these stakeholders are important when making business decisions however it doesn’t mean managers have fiduciary duties to all. Managers in corporations are trusted directly of property rights of shareholders with no alternatives and minimum protection against uncertainties. Suppliers, customers, employees and other stakeholder on the other hand have the ability to choose whether they are to be affected by the corporation.If suppliers refuse to agree to conditions and prices offered by firm, they may wish to supply to other firms instead; when customers refuse to pay for certain products or cannot agree to values (values referred to the corporate operations and its effects in the society) offered by the firm, they may choose not to purchase it’s products; and lastly employees may choose to resign from his position when conflict of interest and ethical concerns occur or may blow the whistle and expose the wrong doings of the firm to the public.Each group of stakeholders have their own alternatives in dealing with managers decisions and do not have property rights already invested and paid to managers for the outcomes of their performance thus they cannot be considered as having fiduciary relationships with managers. The major flaw of the stakeholder theory is that it assumes the stakeholders are not capable of making their own rational decisions and has left the responsibility of their wellbeing in the hands of others.The second shortfall of the Stakeholderà ¢â‚¬â„¢s theory is its short-term and narrow scope view of the matter and failed to consider the long-term strategies of the firm and wellbeing of the people. Walmart has been growing exponentially in recent years, but has also been experiencing much negative publicity like poor wages and benefits for its employees. When worker aren’t paid enough, the most common solution they seek is from the managers raising their wages.However most of these workers fail to realize they are only being paid according to their skill sets, rather than holding the managers and corporation responsible they should instead reflect on themselves and obtain higher education or more specialized skills to be worthy of their pay. If workers demand two or three dollars increase of their wage, they also need to consider the overall effects on the firm and not just themselves; it is not about a little more on one person’s pay cheque but the effect of thousands of workers and the incremental costs t hat a firm will bear.The market is competitive in nature, when firms fail to make profits, it will cease in existence in the long run. When the firm becomes bankrupt, all employees will lose their jobs and whom should be held responsible for that? Conclusion In conclusion, all three theories share different views of business ethics and the role of managers should take in it. Shareholder theory argues managers have fiduciary duty to shareholders only and should seek to maximize profits as long as it’s legally permissible; Stakeholder theory states managers have fiduciary duty to all stakeholders and must make ecisions so when certain stakeholders are made better off, the others involved must also be better than their original state. Both of these theories tries to outline what behaviours managers should take on a biased perspective yet fails to fit actual economic and market characteristics. Heath’s market failure model on the other hand suggests that managers do have f iduciary duties to shareholder only but should make decisions meeting their moral obligations as well, meaning adopting strategies that best benefit the firm and the society in the long run.Certain firms may donate to charity because they feel morally responsible or perhaps to cut taxes or simply for publicity; however in the overall wellbeing of the society, intentions matter but results matter even more. Firms that adopt non-preferred strategies will eventually break laws or be publicly criticized, will suffer losses in sale and be eliminated by firms applying preferred strategies because the market works to correct itself of its failures. Bibliography Heath, J. (n. d. ). Business ethics without stakeholders.In F. Allhoff & A. Vaidya (Eds. ), Business in Ethical Focus: An Anthology (pp. 110-126). Peterborough: Broadview. Friedman, M. F. (n. d. ). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. In A. Allhoff & A. Vaidya (Eds. ), Business in Ethical Focus: An Antho logy(pp. 65-69). Peterborough: Broadview. Freeman, E. F. (n. d. ). A stakeholder theory of the modern corporation. In A. Allhoff & A. Vaidya (Eds. ),Business in Ethical Focus: An Anthology (pp. 69-78). Peterborough: Broadview.

Effects of Online Games to the Students Essay

As time passes by, technology continues to evolve. Because of technology, new things were created that sustains and lightens human work. Computers were created because of technology. Computers were the greatest thing ever invented by man itself. In the modern age, computers have become a part of man’s life. Almost all the things around us were made by computers with the aid of modern machines. From the edited books, design, special effects in movies, and televisions etc., were all made by computers. Along with the evolution of technology, computers continue to upgrade as well until the time that computer has now become a part of man’s everyday life that are hooked to computers. Computers can now edit documents to your PC, play mini games, search information you need using the internet, save documents to your PC and play online games. It’s like an all-in-one gadget that can do all the things you want anytime you need it. From 1990 to the present year, online games had a big impact to us especially teenagers. Online games have many genres, including FPS games, MMORPG, Casual games and multiplayer games. A game will become an online game if it involves in using a computer or a series of computers with one player in each computer to battle it out with other players using the Internet depending on the game genre. Games have always been a popular pastime, but with the advent of computer games they have become even more pervasive. Despite all this progress, we may still stop and ask what makes a game. Because computer games are a subset of games, everything we can say about games in general applies also to them. Nevertheless, computer games are also computer programs, and, therefore, lessons learnt in software construction can be applied to them. A third perspective to computer games is subjective and it concerns finding out what features the players expect from a computer game. A dictionary defines ‘game’ as ‘a universal form of recreation generally including any activity engaged in for diversion or amusement and often establishing a situation that involves a contest or rivalry. A computer game is carried out with the help of a computer program. This definition leaves us some leeway, since it does not implicate that the whole game takes place in the computer. For example, a game of Chess can be played on the screen or on a real-world board, regardless whether the opponent is a computer program The world of online gaming is basically all about community. Gaming has gained such popularity that it could now be considered as practically mandatory. Being great and skilled at playing these video games gives individuals several social benefits. Gaming communities have proven to be powerful, profitable, and at the same time, very fragile. Based on studies and research conducted, gaming has become one of fastest growing in the entertainment sector. It has surpassed the achievements of full-length films, revenue-wise. Gaming is truly a social activity and the mere act of playing games has been directly linked in the establishment of relationships as well as social hierarchies throughout history. Games could be engrossing for many different reasons. Online games or video games are those that could be played over some kind of computer games to those games that incorporate complex computer graphics with virtual worlds that are populated by a lot of players simultaneously. A lot of the video games today have their own associated online communities and these make online games a true social activity that goes beyond the single player games. Online gaming has really made it mark, being an innovative feature of the Internet which would surely be staying and developing in the many, many years to come. In the past, only those who were willing to spend expensive fees and put up with a hard setup process made up online gaming communities. Today, though, a lot of people are getting into, even the younger generation, which raises some negative implications as well on its effect on students. Background of the Study Development of technology brought many things that people do not have many years back. One of those things was online gaming that was provided by the internet. Online Gaming is one of the widely used leisure activities by many people. Teenagers who were playing these online games said that they were playing online games just for fun, to keep away from the heat of the sun, without knowing that there were a lot of effects of playing these games that are more than what they think. Playing online games enabled the mind of the players to be more active, especially those puzzled based-games. It helps the players to come up with decision tight situations, especially those adventure games that kept the players to be alert, active and strategic. Playing online games made the players experience different feelings because it was as if the players really are the one taking the challenges. Despite those benefits, playing online games also brought negative effects, it requires much of the playerâ €™s time, leaving school activities and homework unattended. The Internet has pervaded our society rapidly. It has been major means of communication, used for the exchange of information, for news and for shopping, and now one of the most popular online contents is the game. Online gaming was mainly concentrating on gaming over the internet, where an amount of money is bet on the prospect of a player or group of players winning. Those types of games were usually referred to by the websites as games of skill, and include chess, backgammon and solitaires. Online gaming is a technology rather than a genre, a mechanism for connecting players together rather than a particular pattern of game play. Online games are played over some form of computer network, now typically on the Internet. Some of the advantages of playing online games are, the ability to connect to multiplayer games, although single-player online games are quite common as well, and the ability to build the confidence of the individual in the game that they have used to play. Some of the disadvantages also on playing online games were; the students may be too much hooked on this game and may have insufficient time to study their lessons that their teachers taught them. In the year 2008, most high school students have played a lot of online gaming, and it is very popular. Online games were inspired by video games. The first video and computer games, such as NIMROD (1951), OXO (1952), and Space war! (1961) were for one or two players sitting at a single computer which was being used only to play the game. Later in the 1960s, computers began to support time-sharing, which allowed multiple users to share use of a computer simultaneously. Systems of computer terminals were created allowing users to operate the computer from a different room than where the computer was housed. Soon after, Modem links further expanded this range so that users did not have to be in the same building as the computer; terminals could connect to their host computers via dial-up or leased telephone lines. With the increased remote access, â€Å"host based† games were created, in which users on remote systems connected to a central computer to play single-player, and soon after, multiplayer games. Online games can give us positive effects and benefits to us students, but on the contrary we notice that the students spend more time in playing online games rather than it in such a productive way. Online gaming is an emotionally draining and time-consuming activity. To create more time for the computer, gaming addicts neglect sleep, diet, exercise, hobbies, and socializing. They let their own health go as they do not get the proper rest and nutrition they need. They may suffer a number of health problems from back strain, eye strain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and repetitive stress injury. In this study, sophomore students of College of Business in Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) are the respondents. We chose them as our respondents because we see that most of them are addicted in online games. They are given an opportunity to answer and evaluate themselves whether they can handle playing online games and at the same time can do other important activities. It is for the reason that we are interested in taking a more serious look in the effects of online games particularly to the sophomore students of Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) who are the role models of freshmen students. Theoretical Framework Game theory is a study of strategic decision making. More formally, it is â€Å"the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers.† An alternative term suggested â€Å"as a more descriptive name for the discipline† is interactive decision theory. Game theory is mainly used in economics, political science, and psychology, as well as logic and biology. The subject first addressed zero-sum games, such that one person’s gains exactly equal net losses of the other participant(s). Today, however, game theory applies to a wide range of class relations, and has developed into an umbrella term for the logical side of science, to include both human and non-humans, like computers. Classic uses include a sense of balance in numerous games, where each person has found or developed a tactic that cannot successfully better his results, given the other approach. Early discussions of examples of two-person games occurred long before the rise of modern, mathematical game theory. The first known discussion of game theory occurred in a letter written by James Waldegrave in 1713. In this letter, Waldegrave provides a minimax mixed strategy solution to a two-person version of the card game le her. James Madison made what we now recognize as a game-theoretic analysis of the ways states can be expected to behave under different systems of taxation. In his 1838 Recherches sur les principes mathà ©matiques de la thà ©orie des richesses (Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth), Antoine Augustin Cournot considered a duopoly and presents a solution that is a restricted version of the Nash equilibrium. The Danish mathematician Zeuthen proved that the mathematical model had a winning strategy by using Brouwer’s fixed point theorem. In his 1938 book Applications aux Jeux de Hasard and earlier notes, Émile Borel proved a minimax theorem for two-person zero-sum matrix games only when the pay-off matrix was symmetric. Borel conjectured that non-existence of mixed-strategy equilibria in two-person zero-sum games would occur, a conjecture that was proved false. Game theory did not really exist as a unique field until John von Neumann published a paper in 1928. Von Neumann’s original proof used Brouwer’s fixed-point theorem on continuous mappings into compact convex sets, which became a standard method in game theory and mathematical economics. His paper was followed by his 1944 book Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour. The second edition of this book provided an axiomatic theory of utility, which reincarnated Daniel Bernoulli’s old theory of utility (of the money) as an independent discipline. Von Neumann’s work in game theory culminated in this 1944 book. This foundational work contains the method for finding mutually consistent solutions for two-person zero-sum games. During the following time period, work on game theory was primarily focused on cooperative game theory, which analyse optimal strategies for groups of individuals, presuming that they can enforce agreements between them about proper strategies. In 1950, the first mathematical discussion of the prisoner’s dilemma appeared, and an experiment was undertaken by notable mathematicians Merrill M. Flood and Melvin Dresher, as part of the RAND corporation’s investigations into game theory. Rand pursued the studies because of possible applications to global nuclear strategy. Around this same time, John Nash developed a criterion for mutual consistency of players’ strategies, known as Nash equilibrium, applicable to a wider variety of games than the criterion proposed by von Neumann and Morgenstern. This equilibrium is sufficiently general to allow for the analysis of non-cooperative games in addition to cooperative ones. Game theory experienced a flurry of activity in the 1950s, during which time the concepts of the core, the extensive form game, fictitious play, repeated games, and the Shapley value were developed. In addition, the first applications of Game theory to philosophy and political science occurred during this time. In 1965, Reinhard Selten introduced his solution concept of sub game perfect equilibria, which further refined the Nash equilibrium. In 1967, John Harsanyi developed the concepts of complete information and Bayesian games. Nash, Selten and Harsanyi became Economics Nobel Laureates in 1994 for their contributions to economic game theory. In the 1970s, game theory was extensively applied in biology, largely as a result of the work of John Maynard Smith and his evolutionarily stable strategy. In addition, the concepts of correlated equilibrium, trembling hand perfection, and common knowledge were introduced and analysed. In 2005, game theorists Thomas Schelling and Robert Aumann followed Nash, Selten and Harsanyi as Nobel Laureates. Schelling worked on dynamic models, early examples of evolutionary game theory. Aumann contributed more to the equilibrium school, introducing an equilibrium coarsening, correlated equilibrium, and developing an extensive formal analysis of the assumption of common knowledge and of its consequences. In 2007, Leonid Hurwicz, together with Eric Maskin and Roger Myerson, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics â€Å"for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory.† Myerson’s contributions include the notion of proper equilibrium, and an important graduate text: Game Theory, Analysis of Conflict (Myerson 1997). Hurwicz introduced and formalized the concept of incentive compatibility. Modern game theory began with the idea regarding the existence of mixed-strategy equilibria in two-person zero-sum games and its proof by John von Neumann. Von Neumann’s original proof used Brouwer’s fixed-point theorem on continuous mappings into compact convex sets, which became a standard method in game theory and mathematical economics. His paper was followed by his 1944 book Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour, with Oskar Morgenstern, which considered cooperative games of several players. The second edition of this book provided an axiomatic theory of expected utility, which allowed mathematical statisticians and economists to treat decision-making under uncertainty. This theory was developed extensively in the 1950s by many scholars. Game theory was later explicitly applied to biology in the 1970s, although similar developments go back at least as far as the 1930s. Game theory has been widely recognized as an important tool in many fields. Eight game-theorists have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and John Maynard Smith was awarded the Crafoord Prize for his application of game theory to biology. Game theory, is a branch of applied mathematics that provides tools for analysing situations in which parties, called players, make decisions that are interdependent. This interdependence causes each player to consider the other player’s possible decisions, or strategies, in formulating his own strategy. A solution to a game describes the optimal decisions of the players, who may have similar, opposed, or mixed interests, and the outcomes that may result from these decisions. Although game theory can be and has been used to analyze parlour games, its applications are much broader. In fact, game theory was originally developed by the Hungarian-born American mathematician John von Neumann (http://www.gametheorysociety.org/)