Ocean Park Cast Study Essay Example for Free

Ocean Park Cast Study Essay Officially opened on 10th Jan 1977 by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Murray MacLehose, the Ocean Park was constructed with HK$150million funded from the racing profits earned from the Hong Kong Jockey Club while the land was given free by the Hong Kong Government. It is located in Wong Chuk Hang and Nam Long Shan in the Southern District of Hong Kong. The park has won several awards, including The Worlds Seventh Most Popular Amusement Park and 33rd Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the World by Forbes (American publishing and Media Company. ) and their vision is to be the world leader in providing excellent guest experiences in an amusement park environment connecting people with nature. On 1st July 1987, Ocean Park ceased to be a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, becoming its own statutory body, with a Government-appointed Board. At present, Ocean Park is managed by a financially-independent, non-profit organization called Ocean Park Corporation. In Jun 2005, Ocean Park achieved its highest recorded attendance in its history. Gross revenue grew by 12% and was HK$684 million in 2005 due to their monopoly conditions. It was then Hong Kong Disneyland was opened on Sept 2005 and Ocean Park faced serious competition. The Monopoly Days Even though Ocean Park monopolizes in Hong Kong, they suffered losses from 1999-2002. It was mainly due to the famous Asian financial crisis, while the SARS in 2003 inflict more damages to Ocean Park. The revamping of the brand logo from seahorse to sea lion (Whiskers) on 2000 did leave a better vivid impression to the public, but it was not enough. The management did not see innovation as a major factor to rein still interest to the public, the thrill rides eventually become out-dated and shabby yet Ocean Park remain contented with their current status. The huge investment on the Abyss Turbo Drop was a good start to innovate, but it does not give the public the urge to take a 2nd ride. Activities and festival events ideas were further introduce to attract the public which manage to receive great response from the public. Eventually, employees create a work culture and comfort zone which retards the Ocean Park’s reengineering policy, though the management realizes the need of culturing innovation. The workforce resisted the change and become reluctant and worried about facing the new challenges ahead. The Intervention of Hong Kong Disneyland On Sept 2005, 3rd Disneyland from Joint venture Walt Disney and Hong Kong SAR government was set up with their selling points on those famous Disney Cartoon Characters. Though the admission fees were much higher compare relatively to Ocean Park, their price was considered the cheapest entry for Disneyland and new thrill rides definitely act as surprises for the public who already attended Ocean Park before and acts as an option between the two strong rivals. In terms of attractions, Both Ocean Park and Disneyland have their unique selling point to have a fair market share in Hong Kong. Ocean Park is primarily focusing on nature and wildlife, providing educational to the public on animals while Disneyland emphasis on creating fantasy and virtual stimulations. With sure fierce confrontation from Disneyland, Ocean Park has to seek an immediate response to prevent them for doom. They fought back by introducing new roller coaster and aquarium; build hotels nearby to go head-on-head with Disneyland which always come with hotels for tourists. Major Problem Ocean Park faced Ocean Park already faced shortage of talented and educated employees, due to the fact that the majority of these employees tend to favor finance sector than tourism industry, The great demand is further enhance as Disneyland is competing with Ocean Park for these talents. In terms of career opportunities and prospect, Disneyland has the upper hand over Ocean Park. To add salt to injury, Disney is deemed to poach Ocean Park’s best workers. 3-way attack for Ocean Park (Defender Strategy) I will propose and advise on the management of Ocean Park a 3-way attack to have the lion share of the pie between the two rivals. *** Pricing Package/ Educational package Since Ocean Park has the advantage over Disney over the price of the tickets, I will propose the management team to setup a sales team to target the school and students. Implementation educational tour packages to Mainland/ Hong Kong students will eventually be interesting for school to organize excursion and post-exam events. Disney is more to a virtual land; they cannot provide the educational aspects as compare to Ocean Park. *** Human Resource Management (HRM) The ability of employees is essential to every organization. The management needs to introduce better remuneration packages, better salary wages for staffs whom they interested in keeping and bloom them. A lucrative pension scheme may be able to keep the current employees loyal. Next, provide strict interviews for new employees and send all the employees to service training to brush up their public relation skills to provide a class of service way above Disneyland. *** Innovation The ability to innovate will determine who has the lion share in the Hong Kong Market. Word of mouth is definitely the best form of advertisement. The only reason why tourists will intro to their friends/family the amusement park is fun and thrilling. Since the majority of the tourists are from Mainland (China) , it will be wise if they can do a short survey to poll the public what types of excitement they looking for in amusement park and begin source and introduce new fantastic rides. Take reference on those abroad amusement parks and why they are always so attractive to the public. Furthermore, Ocean Park can organize monthly events with relation to public holidays or the season with attractive discounts towards the price of the tickets. Conclusion. In terms of all rounder, Ocean Park definitely has the edge. The combination of high octane, thrills and spills rides, with superb, and educational, state of the art marine shows and exhibitions is unbeatable. Ocean Park has a pair of superb rollercoasters, a log flume and rapids ride. There are also a number of mid range action rides, meaning there is plenty to keep the family going all day. Disneyland on the other hand has only one rollercoaster and almost no mid range action rides, meaning anyone over the age of ten will be quickly bored. On the other hand, Disney does have a slightly better selection of toddler and young rides, although Ocean Park is also no slouch in this department. Furthermore, Ocean Parks selection of Marine shows are also first class, including shark aquariums, dolphin shows and the superb, sci-fi styled Jellyfish exhibit which provide a extra field of education. Disneyland has nothing to compete with these excellent family friendly shows. In conclusion, Ocean Park will eventually edge out Disneyland, proving that local companies can still compete head to head with big MNCs (Multi-national Company) References http://www. usatoday. com/news/world/2007-06-14-ocean-park_N. htm http://www. docstoc. com/docs/17307909/Ocean-Park-VS-Disney-As-we-know_-Ocean-Park-and-Disney-Park-are http://gohongkong. about. com/od/themeparks/a/OceanvsDisney. htm http://www. articlesbase. com/destinations-articles/hong-kongs-oceanic-aquarium-ocean-park-vs-hong-kong-disneyland-3530410. html.

Impact of Rapid Application Development (RAD)

Impact of Rapid Application Development (RAD) Impact of Rapid Application Development ABSTRACT This report is submitted in context to a study that was performed to analyze the Impact of Rapid Application Development (RAD) on the software industry using the context of the NASA weather forecasting system. The NASA existing weather forecasting system was studied for a new feature of exposing the NASA weather data to the other countries of the world using Rapid Application Development Platform. NASA is a world renowned organization that deals in space research and forecasting systems. NASA has an internal software system that collects weather data from the various NASA satellites and produce variety of forecasting reports for the next 24 hours that includes temperature, pressure, humidity , wind speed as the major reports. The other countries of the world has requested NASA to give them an API (Application programming Interface ) or a port from which they can import the weather data of NASA into XML format into their local servers after which they can use the it for their countries weather forecasting. The various system development methodologies including the popular Software Development Lifecycle method, Iterative method and Rapid Application Development methods were analyzed to choose the best methodology according to NASA requirements. During the course of the study it was observed that Rapid Application Development methodology works best when you have times and budgetary limitations as well as when you are assigned a limited but elite programming resources. The only thing that need to be maintained is that all the team members work together and there is We attached to the product/project development rather than I , because I word in these sort of small team can become a big danger of losing one or two good team members altogether. The report also includes the principles, realities and myth of the Rapid Application development Paradigms. It was observed that the timelines and the project deadlines can be achieved sooner in an efficient way by using Rapid Application development methodology and RAD project executed and implement at least the twice the speed and half the time taken by the regular Software development Life cycle. It was concluded from the study that Rapid Application Development will form the future backbone of software industry because of its effectiveness, less development and implementation time and more flexibility. Keywords:- Following is the list of important keywords and their definition which might be used through this report:- RAD :- Rapid application development SSADM :-Structured System Analysis and Design Method DSDM:- Dynamic System Development Method Waterfall Model Time Boxing Iterative Model UML :- Universal markup language OOP:- Object Oriented Paradigm/Programming UCD:- Use Case Diagram OOM:- Object Oriented Modeling GUI:- Graphical user Interface IDE:- Integrated development environment API:- Application Programming Interface NASA:-North Atlantic Space Association DLL:-Dynamic Linking Libraries. XML :- Extensible Markup Language Class Diagrams Sequential Diagrams Inroduction NASA or North Atlantic Space Association is a United States Government owned Space Research and Development Company. NASA has its own internal Weather forecasting department and specialized custom build weather forecasting software that connects to the US satellites receive various weather inputs from them and then calculates and forecasts the next 24 hour weather report that includes Temperature, Pressure, Humidity and Wind Speeds. During a recent United Nations Conference US government has accepted the proposal of other countries of the world to provide them weather forecasting data from NASA weather forecasting servers. Following are the project requirements that NASA has to fulfill:- The project development, testing and final implementation should not take more than 3 months. The project will only have the budget for 5 software developers. The project has to contain bare minimum only required important documentation and should not contain detail system specifications The first prototype for the other countries technical experts review has to be release withing15 days of project initialization. The rest of the project phases will work in iterative manner and based on client feedback. The feasibility study on various software development methodologies include software development Life Cycle (SDLC) and RAD was done , keeping in vision the product development cost and the stricter timelines and it was accepted to use Rapid Application Development or RAS as the software development methodology for the current system. LITERATURE REVIEW IMPACT OF RAD ON SOFTWARE INDUSTRY Before starting our discussion on RAD, let us take a closer look of what Agile Methodology is and a brief overview of its history and manifesto What is Agile Software Development? Agility is more attitude than process, more environment than methodology (Jigh Highsmith , April 6,2004 , Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Projects ) Agile Software Development is a set of software development Methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self organizing cross function team. According to (HighSmith, 2002) Agility is the ability to both create and respond to change in order to profit in a turbulent business environment. Agility is the ability to balance flexibility and stability. Agile Modeling is based on a collection of principles, derived from the principles of Agile Alliance, such as importance of assuming simplicity when you are modeling and embracing change when you are working, because requirements do change in future (Scott Ambler , 2002 , Agile Modeling: Effective practices for extreme programming and the unified process, Wiley) History and Manifesto of Agile software development The definition of the agile software development methodology started evolving in mid 1990s as a part of strong opposition against the already existing standard, micro managed use of Waterfall Model for development. There were heavy cost and time schedules escalations in Waterfall Model because of the freezing of design phase first and then starting up with the development and implementation phases. The time when product use to get ready to be deployed at the client side, it is already obsolete for use, because most of the time client requirements change during the product development phase. In 2001, some most important prominent figures in the field of Agile development came together in Utah to discuss the ways of creating software in a lighter, faster and more people centric way. It was then only the Agile software development and Agile methodology term gets coined. In the same meet, they create Agile manifesto that includes the canonical definition of the Agile Development and accompanying agile principles. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development ) Values and Principles of Agile Methodology:- As per the 2001 Agile Manifesto, following are stated as the values of the Agile methodologies:- Individuals and Interactions over processes and tools used. Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer Collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan Some of the principles envisioned behind Agile Manifesto are:- Customer satisfaction by rapid and continuous delivery of software system Working software is the principle measure of progress Even late changes in requirements are welcomed Close , Daily Cooperation between business people and developers Communication Simplicity Feedback Courage Humility

Role and Significance of Budgetary Control

Role and Significance of Budgetary Control Introduction: Enterprise is a complex man-made running coupling system and a contractual association with body; it is very necessary to the business activities of its process and implements control. According to the modern management guru Robert  Simons theory, management control achieve management objectives. Through the implementation of a series of management control lever, so it should increase the importance of budgetary control and devote energies to the management of budgetary control to ensure that business objectives and performance management of the smooth realization. The essay will first give an overview of budget control. Secondly, it will introduce the Performance Management Overview. Thirdly, it will discuss How to improve the effectiveness of budgetary control. Finally, it will give a short conclusion. An overview of budget control The meaning of budgetary control Budgetary control has the existence of broad and narrow sense. Broad budgetary control sees the entire budget system as a control system, which it is the formation of a prior, during and after the whole process control system (David E.W. Marginsona, 1999). Through the budget preparation, budget evaluation, reward and punishment by monitoring of budget execution. Narrow budgetary control prepares a good budget as a basis for performance management and standards on a regular basis to compare actual performance with the budget analyze differences in the results and take corrective measures, which is mainly referring to something in the process of budget implementation in the monitoring of behavior. According to control activities, budget control includes target control, process control and system control, while the budget as the primary means of corporate internal controls provides a comprehensive management platform. Budget target of control is that Budget management through strategic planning to determine the annual business objectives; then through the decomposition of indicators to clarify the responsibility of the objectives of the responsibility of the budget units as a basis for evaluation. Budget program control is that Budget management achieves complete control over the purpose through the division of budget management decision-making authority and authorization controls, segregation of duties control is incompatible with the budget organization, budget, audit, budget monitoring and internal audit characteristics (John K. Christiansen and Peter Skà ¦rbà ¦k, 1997). Budgetary control regulates businesses and peoples behavior through a series of system control and enhances enterprise rule of law capacity, at the same time improves the enterprises core competitiveness. Budgetary control is the core of enterprise management control and a business management system, a very important control system. Budgetary control is a comprehensive system of budgetary control, That budgetary control infiltrates to the various business processes of enterprises. At the same time, it is still the core of internal control. Science and the implementation of budgetary control is an important guarantee for the effective implementation of budget management The role and significance of budgetary control Budgetary control mainly refers to the budget during the execution of the budget implementation of the routine supervision and control; it is the budget target to achieve the necessary guarantees. Control functions are the basic functions of management of the budget in the analysis of the implementation of enterprise budget management; Control effect of budget management throughout the management process. Budgeting is a pre-budget control, budget execution is a matter of control, budget evaluation is a kind of ex post control. As the enterprises own internal and external conditions change, sometimes business strategy need to make corresponding adjustments, though corporate budget management must change in accordance with the strategic objectives of changes in the future management of operational activities to achieve feed forward control (Peter Brownell ,1985). In the budget execution process, from budget management, budgetary control organizations in the field and promptly discovered that the actual deviations from the budget differences, and took the necessary measures to eliminate weaknesses and achieve process control. Budget management functions In the budget- feedback control, budget management, budget management and the implementation of the main functions keep the actual results to compare with budget targets in time, and deviations occur message to budget management and the main body so that adjust it timely to ensure the budget goals. In short, the advance control focuses on the corporate budget management and budgeting. Things in the process control focuses on each link to control the implementation of a business, and afterwards , feedback control focuses on the feedback according to deviate from the budget target follow-up control of information. Because of the combination, only the budget to strengthen all-round management and control capabilities, it enables Enterprises strategic objectives to be refined to implement. Budgetary control is not only a wide range of control, but also a full range of control; budget control must penetrate to the enterprise in all business processes and the business links, which is covering all business sectors and positions. On the one hand, the application of accounting measurement accounting methods reflect implementation of the budget process and oversight for accounting control and budget management for the basic values to provide the required information. On the other hand, in-depth into the origin of the value of management activities, the daily operations of specific business areas, such as procurement, production, sales and so on, to carry out management control. Enterprise Budget Management of the main needs of the accounting department and co-ordination between business units and communication account control and management control together. Budget management involves many factors, the breadth of the decision of the board of directors and the boards of supervisors only grasp what is important in order to take into account the overall situation, but also decided to encourage the implementation of the budget, the main body of self-control is particularly necessary. Performance Management Overview Performance Management connotation Performance management is developed on the basis of a management concept and management models in the traditional management ideas (David Otleya, 1999). Performance management objectives promote the responsible people accountable for results to achieve organizational behavior efficient; it could through the design of organizational activities and achieves the objective evaluation of the effects. Compared with traditional management, performance management activities of the organization is advocating relaxation of process management and rules of control, the management focus from a rules-based accountability to performance-based accountability, the entire management process demonstrates the activities of the organization goals and achieve its objectives effectiveness concerns. We must establish a performance-based accountability, it is necessary for organizations and individuals to evaluate the performance of activities which result in the activities of the organization and individual performance evaluation. By designing a set of performance evaluation index system of scientific, it reflect the objectives of organizations and individuals to achieve results, and it provide a basis for incentive and restraint and the allocation of resources for managers Performance appraisal is an important technology tool for performance management that improve the efficiency and it is the key factors of organizational behavior, thus constitute the core content of performance management An overview of Performance Budgeting The performance management concepts for budget management practices produced a performance budgeting. According to the Ministry of Finance Budget Division of the definition of performance budgeting, performance budgeting is a goal-oriented budget, it is based on achievement of the governments public sector objectives and it is in budget preparation, control and evaluation of a budget management model( Robert Dransfield,2000). In contrast with the traditional budget management, performance budget, focuses the effectiveness of fiscal spending in the stresses, at the same time it advocated to give managers sufficient autonomy in budget management and reporting system through the public sector, public sector reporting system in the traditional budget system to inject a kinds of incentive and restraint mechanisms to effectively contribute the organizational goals. In the performance budget management, budget expenditure performance evaluation as a management control tool, which is a core content in performance budget management. The so-called budget expenditure performance evaluation refers to the use of certain assessment methods, quantitative indicators and appraisal criteria and functions of the department to achieve its performance goals established by the realization of the extent, as well as to achieve this goal; the implementation of the budget was carried out by the results of a comprehensive assessment and evaluation. The aim of the department of performance objectives is rational allocation of resources, optimizing effectiveness and efficiency of the use of budgetary funds through a comprehensive evaluation. Performance evaluation of scientific conclusions of the performance of expenditure is the key to the successful implementation of performance management. This relates to how to organize the implementation, how to choose the scope of evaluation, how to determine the performance objectives, performance indicators and evaluation methods and so on; in order to obtain one scientific conclusion question on public expenditure in the economic, efficiency and effectiveness of the Three. From the definition of performance budgeting, performance budget has two core elements, one is performance evaluation to solve how to set up performance evaluation system of science to arrive at the performance of scientific information; second is performance information and budget integration to solve performance information (PI) how to combine of management and budget issues, which is how to combine the performance information and budget preparation, execution and reporting system in order to achieve the efficient budget management and the promotion of organizational performance improvement (Jack Diamond,2003). Both of these two aspects are interlinked and mutually distinction, which constitute a complete performance of the budget system. How to improve the effectiveness of budgetary control Sometimes, the implementation of the budget alone to assess a business operation in the period may be good or bad business lacks flexibility, and thus induce businesses to focus only on some short-term, and immediate interests, rather than from a long-term, strategic point of view thinking. Therefore, we should budget for the traditional appraisal methods to do some improvements and make control tools with some other combine, so as to achieve the optimum. Drawing on balanced scorecard thinking Balanced scorecard help us from the level of multi-dimensional performance of the integrated assessment managers, it both on the organizations financial indicators for evaluation and the organizations customers, internal operations, the learning and growth aspects of assessment. Incentive and constraint mechanism to conduct innovation Budgetary control get people to complete it, they have to take into account peoples behavior and psychological factors, so the incentive and restrictive mechanism in the budget management is most importance (Michel J. Lebasa, 1995). Enterprises should be based on objective circumstances to develop a series of truly value-creating linkages with the staff of the incentive and restraint mechanisms to fully and effectively mobilize the enthusiasm of staff performance and creativity, so that employees consciously enterprise business objectives into their own development to be achieved goals, and actively take the initiative to complete the business plan to develop a budget, so that the budget management companies could be more active and effective implementation. Dynamic evaluation Dynamic evaluation refers to the budget implementation process, the budget of the implementation of dynamic and tracking of evaluation of the budget in the implementation, the timely detection of the budget in the implementation of the problems found and processing and adjustment of the budget in time. Through dynamic evaluation, we can more timely control the budget management and ensure its effective implementation. Conclusion Some companies focus only on practical preparation of the budget and ignore the control of the budget implementation process. In fact, the control of budget management play a key role in the budget; if there is no budget control, the budget would be a mere formality lose control. Budget management control system is adopted by various government departments and budget implementation of the relevant series of internal control procedures and the adjustment mechanism, whose main function prevent errors and fraud to ensure the correct implementation of the budget, as well as the efficient realization of organizational goals. Budget management and budgetary control systems also known as the internal control system, which constitute a complete budget control system together with the budget and external control systems.

Dr Kings Vision of Economic and Social Justice Essay -- Martin Luther

Not many folks remember that the 1963 "March on Washington" was officially named "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." This fact often gets lost amid the important celebration of the general achievement and highlights such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" oration. Indeed, the theme of job creation runs though Dr. King’s writings. Perhaps no single policy could have as great a social and economic impact on the African American community—and the entire country—as federally funded job assurance for every person ready and willing to work. This is a policy approach that was explicitly supported by Dr. King, and that is currently receiving attention in economic and policy circles. In an article in Look published just after his assassination (King, 1968), Dr. King wrote that: "We call our demonstration a campaign for jobs and income because we feel that the economic question is the most crucial that black people, and poor people generally, are confronting." Thirty-three years later, at the peak of a peacetime economic expansion heralded as the longest and strongest in recent history, not only is the African American unemployment rate stuck at twice that of whites, but at around 8% that figure remains at a rate that would be considered evidence of a deep recession were it to hold for society as a whole: There is a literal depression in the Negro community. When you have mass unemployment in the Negro community, it’s called a social problem; when you have mass unemployment in the white community, it’s called a depression. The fact is, there is a major depression in the Negro community. The unemployment rate is extremely high, and among Negro youth, it goes up as high as forty percent in some cities. (Kin... ...ew, 15, April. Other Works Cited Darity, Jr., William A. Darity and Samuel L. Myers, Jr. (with Emmett D. Carson and William Sabol), 1994, The Black Underclass: Critical Essays on Race and Unwantedness, New York: Garland. Darity, Jr., William A. and Derrick Hamilton, 2001, "A Test of the Functionality of Discrimination," presented at Allied Social Science Annual Meetings, New Orleans, January. Other Work on Public Service Job Assurance Carlson, Ellen, and William F. Mitchell, 2000, The Path to Full Employment and Equity, ELRR: Economic and Labour Relations Review, Supplement to Volume 11. Warner, Aaron, Mathew Forstater, and Sumner Rosen, 2000, Commitment to Full Employment, Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe. Wray, L. Randall, 1998, Understanding Modern Money: The Key To Full Employment and Price Stability, Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar.

Acid Rain :: Environment Ecology Nature Essays Papers

Acid Rain If it was possible to peer into the future and see the environmental consequences of mankind’s actions, humans’ harmful contributions to the highly acidic rain levels would be apparent. Seeing the possibility of a tragic environment in the future would change the ways we treat our environment today and forever. The environment receives its main punishments from a variety of sources, ranging from car smog to industrial smog and waste. Acid rain, fog, sleet and snow all have severely harmful affects on our environment. In order to protect our environment, humans need to be conscious of the results of their actions and act responsibly to slow down, if not stop, the negative effects of acid rain on our plant, animal and human life. Acid rain is rain with a low PH level. A scale ranging from zero to fourteen defines the ph scale, with zero representing the most acidic, fourteen representing the most basic ph levels and seven representing neutral. Acid rain can formulate from sulfur and nitrogen, which is emmited by cars and coal fired generators. America and Europe are the leaders in the war against acid rain, and are fighting to protect our health and environment. One way these two regions are attempting to reduce acid rain is by encouraging the use of natural gases rather than coal in power plants. This is useful because natural gases contain less sulfur. Acid rain is detrimental to all living organisms and needs to be decreased. Acid rain affects the entire environment, especially plants and animals. One of the most harmful effects acid rain has on the ecosystem is its destruction of plant life. Acid rain containing highly acidic ph levels also greatly affects animal lives. After falling, acid rain flows directly from the plants, through the watershed and into a stream, river or lake, where it can dramatically affect aquatic life. During the flow of acid rain through soils and into the watershed system, aluminum is picked up and dispersed into the nearby streams, rivers and lakes. Aquatic life can live with a below normal acid level, but the additional aluminum deposited into the reservoir greatly affects the fish. All breathing organisms are also affected by the acid rain pollutants distributed into the air. The major source of these air pollutants is nitrogen oxide from vehicles and industrial sites where fossil fuels are burned. Acid Rain :: Environment Ecology Nature Essays Papers Acid Rain If it was possible to peer into the future and see the environmental consequences of mankind’s actions, humans’ harmful contributions to the highly acidic rain levels would be apparent. Seeing the possibility of a tragic environment in the future would change the ways we treat our environment today and forever. The environment receives its main punishments from a variety of sources, ranging from car smog to industrial smog and waste. Acid rain, fog, sleet and snow all have severely harmful affects on our environment. In order to protect our environment, humans need to be conscious of the results of their actions and act responsibly to slow down, if not stop, the negative effects of acid rain on our plant, animal and human life. Acid rain is rain with a low PH level. A scale ranging from zero to fourteen defines the ph scale, with zero representing the most acidic, fourteen representing the most basic ph levels and seven representing neutral. Acid rain can formulate from sulfur and nitrogen, which is emmited by cars and coal fired generators. America and Europe are the leaders in the war against acid rain, and are fighting to protect our health and environment. One way these two regions are attempting to reduce acid rain is by encouraging the use of natural gases rather than coal in power plants. This is useful because natural gases contain less sulfur. Acid rain is detrimental to all living organisms and needs to be decreased. Acid rain affects the entire environment, especially plants and animals. One of the most harmful effects acid rain has on the ecosystem is its destruction of plant life. Acid rain containing highly acidic ph levels also greatly affects animal lives. After falling, acid rain flows directly from the plants, through the watershed and into a stream, river or lake, where it can dramatically affect aquatic life. During the flow of acid rain through soils and into the watershed system, aluminum is picked up and dispersed into the nearby streams, rivers and lakes. Aquatic life can live with a below normal acid level, but the additional aluminum deposited into the reservoir greatly affects the fish. All breathing organisms are also affected by the acid rain pollutants distributed into the air. The major source of these air pollutants is nitrogen oxide from vehicles and industrial sites where fossil fuels are burned.

Chem 1301

Syallubus for CHEM 1301 General Chemistry I Fall 2011 SCIE 2. 106, M,W: 2:35-3:50 Instructor Name: Dr. J. G. Parsons Email: [email  protected] edu Office: Science room number: 3. 348 Phone: Office : 381-7462 Office Hours: M/W: 1:30-2:30 or by appointment CRN: 12626 REQUIRED MATERIALS: Text Book: Chemistry by Julia Burdge (ISBN 978-0-07-302554-4) Scientific calculator (ARIS software package Required) RECOMMENDED MATERIALS: Burdge study guide Blackboard web course and a UTPA email address. CREDIT: Lecture credit: 3 hours. laboratory is a separate one hour course ,1101 series). PREREQUISITES: One year of high school chemistry. College level algebra recommended. Grading: Grading will be based on a 100 point scale 90 – 100 points = A 80 – 89 = B 70 -79 = C 60 – 69 = D Below 60 = F Breakdown of points is as follows: 65% 4 unit exams (lowest is dropped) 10% Homework/Quiz grade 20% final exam. EXPECTIONS and OUTCOMES: 1. To understand and apply methods and appropriate technology to the study of natural sciences. 2.To recognize scientific and quantitative methods and the differences between these approches and other methods of inquiry and to communicate findings, analyses and interpretation both orally and in writing. 3. To identify and recognize the differences among competing scientific theories. 1 4. To demonstrate knowlegdge of the major issues and problems facing modern science, including issuses that touch upon ethics, values, and public policies. 5. To demonstrate knowledge of the interdependence of science and technology and their influence on, and contribution to, modern culture.CLASSROOM POLICIES: Only chemistry questions will be addressed in class. All other questions about the course or grading will be addressed individually during office hours. A schedule showing due dates for assignments and exams will be available on Blackboard. Attendence: Attendance may be taken periodically. Professors will have the option of dropping a student a fter three unexplained absences. Students arriving late to class should notify me that they are present. Class roles are periodically taken and attendence from groups work is also noted.Make-up exams will not be given. The lowest exam score will be dropped and in cases where students miss an exam for any reason, that exam will be the one dropped. Missing two exams usually results in a F for the course. Cheating: Students will be dropped from this course for cheating. Cheating consists of submitting someone else’s work under your name, obtaining information from someone other than the instructor during an exam. Cellular Phones: Cellular phones and/or beepers should be turned off or set to vibrate during the class period. ============================================================== Disability: If you have a documented disability which will make it difficult for you to carry out the work as outlined and/or if you need special accommodations or assistance due to the disability, please contact the Office of Services for Persons with Disabilities (OSPD), at Emilia Ramirez-Schunior Hall, Rm. 1. 101 immediately, or the Associate Director at [email  protected] edu,; 956/316-7005. Appropriate arrangements/ accommodations can be made. =============================================================== TENTETATIVE SCHEDULE: Weeks 1-4: Unit I Stoichiometry: Ratios of Combination: Reactions in Aqueous Solutions: First Exam Monday, Sept. 19th, 2010 Weeks 5-8: Unit II Gases: Thermochemistry Second Exam CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 5 Monday Oct. 17th, 2001 Weeks 9-12 Unit III Quantum Theory and the Electronic Structure of Atom Electronic Configuration and the Perodic Table Third Exam Monday Nov 16th, 2010 Weeks 13-15 Unit IV Chemical Bonding I Basic Concepts Chemical Bonding II, Molecular Geometry and Bonding Theories Organic Chemistry: Fourth Exam Dec. th, 2010 Important Dates: Sept. 5th 2009 Sept 14th 2009 Sept 27th 2009 Nov. 14th, 2009 Nov 24th, 25th, 2009 Nov 27th, 2009 Dec 8th-9th CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 Labor Day (University Closed) Census day Last day to Change Courses Last day to drop Thanksgiving (University Closed) Classes Resume Study Days no classes Final Exam: Dec 10th -16th, 2011 Final Exams Week (Final Exam Monday Dec 12th, 2011, 1:15-3:00) This calendar is tentative and subject to slight Variation. Course Evaluation: Simply log in to UTPA Assist self service using your UTPA username & password.Click on Student Services> then click Student Records> click on Student Evaluations link> then click on Evaluation link next to the course you wish to evaluate> then click Submit. To see a tutorial, follow this link: http://cdl. utpa. edu/tutorials/surveydig/ 3 The chart below shows information that is required and optional topics that will be covered timepermitting in CHEM 1301. Sequence Chap 1-2 Required Parsons – CHEM 1301 Have Powerpoint presentations for Chaps 1&2, hand-out materials, pre-test and pretest answers available on Blackboard. Optional Parsons – CHEM 1301 Homework Set I (with answers) provided through Blackboard.Two optional review sessions (I on Dimensional Analysis and II on Nomenclature) scheduled on the Course Calendar (also available on Blackboard) Requirements for a chemical reaction to be balanced; charge balance and mass balance. Chap 3 The Mole Concept and Mole Mass/Stoichiometry Calculations, Balancing Chemical Equations, % Composition and Determining Simple/Emperical Formulas Oxidation –Reduction Reactions; Precipitation Reactions; Acid-Base Reactions Molarity and Dilutions Problems, Solution Stoichiometry Problems, Balancing Oxidation-Reduction Reactions.Concepts of Pressure, Volume, and Absolute Temperature; The Gas Laws; The Ideal Gas Equation; Molecular Speed; Real Gases and the van de Waals Equation, Gas-Stoichiometry Problems; the Kinetic Molecular Theory; Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures and Raoult’s Law Introducti on to Thermodynamics, Pressure-Volume Work and Heat, Internal Energy, Enthalpy; Calorimetry, Hess’s Law, Heats of Formation and State Functions Quantum Theory, Quantum Numbers, Electron Configuration, Orbital Diagrams, Sets of Quantum Numbers, The Line Spectrum of Hydrogen; Chap 4 Chapt 11Use of the Solubility Rules to write precipitation reactions and net-ionic reactions. Use of the Activity Series to write reactions showing displacement of hydrogen by active metals. Meaning of terms electrolyte, strong electrolye, weak electrolyte and non-electrolyte. Properties of Gases, Reactions with Gaseous Reactants and Products, Degrees of Freedom for particles in the free state, the liquid state and the solid state; a comparison of gases, liquids and solids as to compressibility, density, and particles freedom of motion Units of Energy, Enthalpy, Standard Enthalpies of Formation, Constant Pressure processes vs.Constant Volume Processes Chap 5 Chap 6 Properties of Waves, The de Brogli e Hypothesis; The Uncertainty Principle, Atomic Orbitals, Electron Configurations and the Periodic Table; the Schrodinger Equation Chap 7 Periodic Trends in Properties of Elements; Ions of Main Group Elements, Ionization energy, electron affinity, Atomic Radius Lewis Dot Symbols, Electronegativity and Polarity; Drawing Lewis Structures; Formal Charge Molecular Geometry-VSEPR, Valence Bond Theory, The Modern Periodic Table; Effective Nuclear Charge, Nuclear Shielding, IonicRadius; Isoelectronic series, metallic character Ionic Bonding; Covalent Bonding, Exceptions to the Octet Rule; Bond Enthalpy, Resonance Molecular Geometry and Polarity, Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals, Molecular Orbital Theory Hybridization in Molecules Containing Multiple Bonds Molecules, Organic Reactions; Organic Polymers, Isomerism Chap 8 Chap 9 Chap 10 Why Carbon is Different, Representing Organic Molecules, Classes of Organic Compounds, Basic Organic Nomenclature 4

Gender Roles and Fashion Essay

Most people feel that the qualities and characteristics we perceive as specific to gender are inherent by nature. In America, physical strength is stereotyped to be masculine, while emotional behavior is stereotyped as feminine. Any straying from these expectations is sufficient grounds for alienation. However, historian Howard Zinn has documented that gender roles are a part of a system constructed by the ruling class during the formation of our nation. The gender role structure in the US was designed in order to maintain a centralized, wealthy ruling class. In order to keep wealthy, white men in control of the economy, women have been constructed as inferior to men — physically, mentally and emotionally. In Judith Lorber’s article â€Å"Night to His Day†, Lorber explains that the definition of being a man or woman is comprised of more than apparent genetic information. â€Å"Gender† is a socially constructed status, which has the intention of â€Å"choosing people for the different tasks of society†(Lorber 55). Thus, ideas about how one should behave in order to fit into a gender category are learned, not intrinsic. As a society assigns people as â€Å"men† or â€Å"women†, this categorization denotes the accepted and preferred â€Å"personality characteristics, feelings, motivations, and ambitions† that create different classes and preferences for people (Lorber, 55). That is, the genderization system produces men and women who tend to have a â€Å"natural inclination† toward ideas, behaviors, and careers that help them assimilate to anticipated gender stereotypes. Parents, constantly in fear that people will not be able to dis tinguish the sex of their new baby, instinctually encourage dress, styles, and behavior that perpetuate the masculine and feminine labels from birth. The term â€Å"woman† itself was created by the masculine conception of what femininity should be. These criteria set up the dominant/subordinate relationship standard because women lacked the power to challenge the male point of view. Lorber suggests that â€Å"as a process, gender creates social differences that define ‘woman’ and ‘man'† through interactions and expectations of peers and family. As a stratification, gender ranks men’s work superior to women’s, regardless of skill or difficulty. As a social structure, gender organizes work habits both domestically and economically  (Lorber 60-1). For the average girl in American society, adapting to gender roles is taught in every single facet of life. The media, entertainment, and school cooperatively exhibit and promote gender assimilation. Barbieà ¤ dolls are the first toys I can recall playing with as a young girl. Her long blond hair, short skirts, disproportionately long legs, and spike heels set the precedent for how I would view true â€Å"femininity† throughout adolescence. By age six, my life became infiltrated by gender specific, â€Å"girly† activities. I: practiced ballet and avoided sports, painted fingernails, nearly always wore dresses with nylons, experimented with my mother’s make-up (rather unsuccessfully), joined Girl Scouts, grew out my hair to mid-back, and wished for everything to be pink or lavender. I was so excited and anxious for the day when the boys would†¦ finally†¦ notice†¦ me (sarcasm intended). Fashion trends and clothing styles, in particular, significantly aid the social construction of gender. The mere presence of a standard for the judgment of beauty automatically designates some group to be in control of the other. That is, individuals are constantly judging one another to make certain that they fit into the correct gender classification. Trendy, hip clothing are made for a very specific, minority group of women- narrow-hipped, small-breasted, tall, and skinny. The pressure to fit into these styles of clothes is unrelenting and produces insecurities and a poor body-image. These adolescent anxieties are not uncommon and can produce eating disorders, depression, and suicide. Joanne Finkelstein, in After a Fashion, explains that fashion can be seen as a device for confining women to an inferior social order. Throughout history women have been isolated from men by their fashion dues to society – women would risk spinal disorders from corsets, chronic foot pain and arch trauma from high-heels, and submit to a constant preoccupation of worry over men’s approval of clothing appropriateness. Fashions play such an integral role in how we judge one another – how much money we have, what music we listen to, how much education we have received – that any gender-bending fashions  exhibited by women are at best taboo, and at worst, unattractive to men (the alleged Ultimate Woman’s Worry). In many societies, gender is not considered a part of nature, but rather learned, acquired, or earned as a rite of passage. In some tribal communities, acquiring gender status represents maturity and responsibility. There is an unspoken agreement between American men and women that women will fashion their clothing and styles as part of a system that favors men. In part this system favors men simply by distinguishing a class apart from men, requiring someone to exist on the outside of an established social norm. John Lorber puts it best: â€Å"Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at† (Lorber 46). In a society where many women still do not recognize the inequalities of genderization, the pervasiveness of gender roles in America remains perpetuated and profound. Works Cited Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. New York: Viking Press, Reprint edition, January 1995 Finkelstein, Joanne. After A Fashion. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1996. Lorber, Judith. â€Å"Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender†. Paradoxes of Gender. New York: Yale University Press, 1994. Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.