Fast Food Transforming American Society Essay

Fast food has grown to be a big part of American Society. According to Eric Schlosser, â€Å"Over the past few decades, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American Society† (3). In a sense, his statement about fast food is not too exaggerated. Today, we see fast food all over America, whether it is through television advertisements, billboards, and magazines. America has grown to be the number one fast food country in the world. The increase of fast food has resulted in good business for the fast food industry: â€Å"In 2000 Americans spent about $110 billion on fast food compared to $6 billion in 1970† (Schlosser). Why are Americans spending huge amounts of money on fast food? How has the fast food industry grown to become a huge influence on American society? Seyhan Sipahi states, â€Å"Recent global economical crisis†¦had a crippling effect on almost all financial sectors in many countries. Surprisingly, the fast food industry had not be adversely affected†¦Ã¢â‚¬  What is keeping the fast food industry alive? Could it be that more families are turning to fast food because recent economic crisis? The fast food industry has grown to be more efficient than when it first started. Making food selling more convenient, fast and for a cheap price has attracted customers. There are multiple ways the fast food industry has transformed American society and what it is to live in America. In this generation, more mothers are in the workforce than there were in the past. Since â€Å"Women’s labor force participation is significantly higher today than it was in the 1970s, particularly among women with children† (Labor Force Participation of Women and Mothers, 2008, The Editor’s Desk) ever since then the rate has been going up. Now that both parents are away from home working it makes it harder for them to make home cooked meals. Due to the lack of home cooked meals, many Americans families have turned to fast food. According to Schlosser, â€Å"three generations ago more money was being spent on food in the United States to make meals at home† (3). Fast food has taken over the diet of many American families. It is more convenient to buy something that is near by, prepared fast, and is reasonably priced for its proportion. Another reason why people choose fast food is because frankly it is delicious. Nothing that is made at home can compare to something made at a fast food restaurant. It is hard to get sick of fast food because there are so many restaurants to choose from that each have their own tastes in foods. The largest class in America is the middle class. Since middle class makes up the majority of the American population it is reasonable to say these families with lower income tend to buy fast food more often. Fast food restaurants have grown to be more efficient in the way that they produce their meals. On â€Å"Dec. 12, 1948, when Richard and Maurice transformed their barbecue joint into the first McDonalds restaurant, focusing on speed, value and high volume. † (Hill). This helped build a kind of assembly line of workers, each worker in charge of one job. For example, in order to make a hamburger, one would be in charge of getting the buns, another in charge of putting the patty, another in charge of putting the lettuce and tomato, and on. In doing this, production of the food becomes much faster. Food being frozen before preparing it is another way that fast food restaurants have grown more efficiently. Schlosser gives an example with guacamole that is made in Mexico, frozen, and shipped to the restaurant (40). Many fast food restaurants do this with the products they serve, although their advertisements may say fresh. Drive-throughs and computerized cash registers have also helped fast food restaurants speed up time for their consumers. An example of how drive throughs are so successful is Victoria’s experience: There’s just one place that Victoria Vollaire stops every day. It’s not the supermarket. It’s not the ATM. It’s the drive-thru. This costs her $400 a month right out the drive-thru window. â€Å"I don’t like getting out of the car,† explains Vollaire, who lives in Ontario, Calif. , and works as a hotel guest service aide. More than half the money spent on fast food rolls in through the drive-thru lane. (Horovitz) Drive-throughs give restaurants the ability to take multiple orders and give convenience for customers that are in a hurry. People like the conscience of not even having to get out of there cars to get their food. Computerized cash registers with buttons for every order possible help to make orders quick and precise. These days it is not surprising to see a fast food restaurant almost at every corner in America. A study was made on how fast food restaurants cluster around schools in America. Steven Gortmaker, in charge of this study, states, â€Å"78% of schools had at least one fast food restaurant within 800 meters. Fast food restaurants tend to cluster near schools and offices because it is more convenient, with the idea to gain more business. Many fast food restaurants are close to places where children and adolescent are close by. They do this because these two age groups are the most targeted by the fast food industry (Fast Food Targeted Marketing). Another study, on a high school that sold fast food products concludes that fast food is 70% of all food sold at the school (Calderon. ) As the expansion of fast food companies continues to increase, more restaurants are seen closer together. Before, companies use to stay away from competition, but now they are clustered all over the place. It seems as though fast food restaurant expansion has forced them to cluster even to the extent of having fast food shopping centers. Fast food has greatly transformed popular culture in America. By looking at McDonalds as an example, McDonalds has far surpassed any other fast food chain in America and possibly the world. McDonalds has grown very close to many children: â€Å"A survey for American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald† (Schlosser). What makes fast food so popular in America? Many people appraise fast food industries for their products because they are delicious and affordable. Did affordability of fast food make it so popular? Fast food transforms popular culture in America mainly through advertising. Whether it is on television, sponsoring professional athletes, or even promoting events like the Olympics or the World Cup. It is said that â€Å"In 2009, teens saw 5 fast food ads each day† (Fast Food Targeted Marketing). The majority of the commercial on TV are based on fast food companies. Fast food has become a trend in American society, eating it is in the norms of society today. Fast food advertisement has a monkey, see monkey do effect on people. If people see famous celebrities on TV eating or promoting the fast food company, it encourages them to go. The constant selling of fast food causes higher demands in agricultural resources. According to Schlosser, â€Å"The fast food chains now stand atop a huge food-industrial complex, taking control of American Agriculture† (59). It is getting harder for farmers outside of this â€Å"food industrial complex† to find business. Many times farmers and cattle ranchers become hired hands for the agribusiness giants† (Schlosser). Although the giant agriculture business may seem powerful, it is still on the bottom of the fast food companies because they are what make their business. â€Å"The fast-food industry changed the nation’s retail economy, eliminating small businesses, encouraging the spread of chains and uniformity, fast food has transformed American agriculture† (Schlosser). Apart from agriculture fast food, companies have also influenced how cattle should be raised, killed, and made into ground beef. The influence of the fast food companies on slaughterhouses has made the work environment a dangerous place. These slaughterhouses sound dangerous for the workers as well as for those consuming the meat. Meatpacking as grown to be one of the most dangerous jobs in America (Gardner). There is a lot of equipment that is dangerous and can cause severe injuries to workers. According to Gardner, â€Å"at least 29. 3% of meat workers suffered injury or illness compared to 9. 7% for the rest of manufacturing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Working Conditions in American Slaughterhouses: Worse than You Thought). Carl Karcher started his fast food business by buying one hot dog cart and then from there he bought another three hot dog carts in Los Angeles. Not too much time past before Karcher had some competition. Recently moved from New Hampshire, the McDonald brothers came to California to find jobs. They opened up a hamburger shop and became famous for their delicious hamburgers. The brothers strived in coming up with new ways to make more money until finally one day they closed down their shop. A few months later the McDonald brothers reopened their shop, with a bigger grill, and a whole new process to make hamburgers. They would divide the food preparations into tasks. This is what started the whole assembly line style to preparing fast food and has been implemented by many fast food restaurants ever since. Two groups that fast food companies look to for hiring are teenagers and illegal immigrants. Having these two types of groups as a workforce allows fast food companies to spend less money on hired hands and more on advertising and expanding (Schlosser. ) Having workers that are not looking for a long-term job lets fast food companies have fewer benefits for their workers. The wages for fast food employees is far too little in ratio to the work that is expected. Fast food companies hire teenagers because they can survive with low pay and most are dependent on their parents. The statistics from the ages, 16-20, alone makes up 25% of the fast food workforce (Food Services and Drinking Places). Immigrants, on the other hand, cannot complain if they get paid so little because they are illegal and will work under most circumstances. The expansion of fast food companies has created many jobs over the years. Out of all food services and drinking places, fast food companies make up 47% (Food Services and Drinking Places). In the past few decades, food-related illness has increased (Schlosser). The way food is processed has affected its quality. Many of the livestock used to produce that typical hamburger patty are mistreated. The most common sickness that the livestock catch is E Coli. In December 2006 â€Å"71 people became sick with E. coli after eating at Taco Bell restaurants in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware† (O’Shea). It is hard to know for sure what is in fast food because most of the time this side of the story is covered up. Aside from meats getting pathogens, artificial flavoring is another key aspect of many fast food products. Many fast food companies injected their products with artificial flavoring. McDonalds for example â€Å"infuses its fries and chicken sandwiches with essences that mimic beef tallow† (Tamminen). Does the food taste that bad that places like McDonalds has turn to artificial flavoring? Can the chemicals being put in fast food be harmful to humans? Although there maybe some companies using artificial flavors, there many other companies that live up to natural flavors. What is the future of fast food industry in America? Will the fast food industry just keep growing until one day it not only becomes a big part of American life but also other places around the world? Fast food companies are expanding at an increasing rate causing high demands for more food. At this rate, could it be possible that someday the fast food industry will control all of the food distribution in America? They practically do already because they are the greatest contributors in meats, corn, potatoes and more. What will be the future for fast food in America? At its grown rate, the fast food industry seems to be taking over many Americans highways. Having many fast food chains by highways makes it all most impossible to not run into a fast food restaurant. Will the constant expansion of fast food restaurants bring down the big grocery stores and replace them? America has grown accustom to convenience when it comes to food. What do other countries think when they see America? Should America be proud because it is the number one fast food country in the world? It is hard to say where fast food will take America in the future, but one thing is certain: fast food and America can never be separated.

Poetry Analysis Essay

Irony is a crucial literary device in the dramatic monologue My Last Duchess by Robert Browning. Actually, one of the most important things that can be said about Robert Browning is that he is a perfect ironist, and that irony is an important part of My Last Duchess. In, My Last Duchess, the Duke is projecting one image of himself, yet, through the ironic structure of the poem and the distance it imposes, his image is revealed to readers in a way that contradicts the Duke’s self-image. The Duke proposes an image of himself as gorgeous, wise, with nice attitudes and manners, an expert, a complete man. However, readers of the poem deduce a jealous or crazy psychopath, eaten out with insecurity. In the poem the warmth and sophistication of the Duke’s monolog draw the reader sympathetically into his world. Readers become actively involved in the egoism, haughtiness, and generosity of a proud Renaissance Duke. However, the irony of the poem every minute undermines this way of regarding situation, and awakens readers’ critical abilities. While the Duke describes how he murdered his first duchess quietly because she failed to focus her whole existence on him, readers see his unreasonableness; while he describes his generosity to his first wife, readers see his selfish desire to control another person within the confines of his own pleasures. According to the Duke his first wife was too easily made happy, too freewill, lacking in aristocratic haughtiness or composure: Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough For calling up that spot of joy. She had A heart how shall I say? too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. She enjoyed many aspects of her life at court, and (as the Duke asserts) failed absolutely to focus her attention on him sufficiently. The Duke stresses that she should have been focused on him, and on the importance of his aristocratic descent – his ‘nine-hundred-years-old name’. Still, however much the Duke knows about himself, the reader who listens to him knows more, and the dramatic irony—the difference between the character’s and the reader’s knowledge—runs against him and in reader’s favor. It is the reader who sees how horrible is his haughtiness and brutality. The Duke does not see this himself. He sees himself as a generous and noble expert of art. As the reader decodes the irony, the Duke appears as a madman who reduces people to objects. When the wife of the Duke failed to be a good wife, the Duke did not let himself go below his dignity to reason with her, or explain how her behavior irritated him. He simply had her calmly executed, and began to think about a second marriage. After he has euphemistically told the envoy how he ‘gave commands’, i.e. gave orders for her murder, he points to the portrait and says: â€Å"There she stands, As if alive.† The irony is unexpected and horrible. Browning’s poetic monologue is full of irony. The Duke discloses far more than he really says about himself. Throughout the whole monologue, the Duke speaks in a calm, firm, ironical tone. The line ‘The depth and passion of its earnest glance’ is spoken in intense irony. Only once or twice the reader sees the teeth of this monster flash, showing his horrible heart. When he speaks of the ‘officious fool’ who brought the cherries, and when he states ‘all smiles stopped together’; then the envoy looks at him with fear in his eyes, but the Duke’s face instantly resumes its mask of stone. Browning’s character in the poem is projecting one image of himself, but the ironic structure of the poem reveals to readers completely opposite image. Works Cited Browning, Robert. The Poems. Ed. John Pettigrew and Thomas J. Collins. New Haven: Yale UP, 1981.

Course & syllabus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Course & syllabus - Essay Example The importance of considering both are stressed and explained, as well as the difficulties involved. A greater emphasis on needs, aims, objectives and learning outcomes began when the Council of Europe’s Modern Languages Project attempted to remedy the over-emphasis on teaching methods in the 1970s (Stern, 1989: 212). This was a positive step but it became apparent later on, that treatment and evaluation related factors also needed to be considered for a more balanced approach. However, the focus of attention in this paper is on the needs, aims, objectives and learning outcomes. Needs analysis A needs analysis is a â€Å"systematic collection and analysis of all subjective and objective information necessary to define and validate defensible curriculum purposes †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Brown, 1995: 36). Often, a needs assessment is not undertaken for devising language courses. It is generally thought that it is not possible to be specific in identifying needs. However, it has been sho wn to be not only possible, but also useful in English language classrooms to support problem solving and â€Å"as a basis for aims, courses, and materials; and to provide a concrete illustration of how analysis of data can be performed, and how a tight and direct link can be maintained between needs, aims, and materials, and what actually occurs in the classroom† (Seedhouse, 1993). ... According to Brown (1995, ch. 2), they generally involve two things, firstly making basic decisions such as identifying the types of people involved, the information needed and points of view, and secondly gathering information such as types of questions, instruments, choosing procedures and other factors. For providing such information, Richards (2001: 63-64) recommends a number of strategies such as conducting a literature survey and conducting interviews. This would help to find out information such as the situations in which English is used most frequently, in which difficulties are encountered, perceived difficulties, frequencies of errors, suggestions, opinions, and so on. The Council of Europe model suggests the approach should be systematic and centred on the learner (Richterich & Chancerel, 1977). The Munby (1978) model also advocates the same but also suggests considering features pertaining to the target situation in which the language will be used. The information gleaned from this analysis is then fed as input for processing both language skills and meaning, i.e. for identifying the micro-skills and functions that would be required. Muby also mentions a number of other variables that should be considered, but these are recommended for after, not before, the syllabus is specified. However, all the pertinent information should ideally be gathered beforehand as part of the needs analysis not when the syllabus is finalised. Hutchinson & Waters (1987) formed a number of specific questions in their framework for target situation analysis, and based on these, further questions for analysing learning needs. These are listed in the table below. These questions are useful to ensure that all the important aspects

Communication Strategy of Dahon Folding Bikes Essay

Communication Strategy of Dahon Folding Bikes - Essay Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that for 25 years now, Dahon Folding Bikes has worked on producing foldable bikes that fit the lifestyles of its target market, giving premium to giving its customers with the freedom to move around with their easy-to-carry bicycle units. It also puts emphasis on being able to contribute to a cleaner environment by producing transportation facilities that do not emit gas, and therefore, do not contribute to pollution. 25 years after it was first established, Dahon continues with its aim to penetrate its target market by creating innovations in their product lines. Dahon’s commitment is to develop new-patented technologies at 20 per year and looks at the improvement of its bikes by at least 15% every year. It further renews its commitment to giving back to the community by supporting various projects that tackle environmental concerns and is even involved in other causes. Now, with Bicycle Industry’s continuo us evolution, and the competition among the approximately 2,000 companies that manufacture and distribute bikes in the US and from the estimate of 100 different bicycle brands, Dahon seeks to strengthen its communications strategy to fully achieve the potential of penetrating the target market. It aims to reach more people by creating a good Communications Campaign that would mark its 25th year in the industry and seal its position as the brand of choice. Dahon appeals to a wide range of market segments due to its utility value and market positioning. Its primary are the members of Generation 0, a young market group who gives high value to the benefits that a product gives them. To penetrate this market segment, it will capitalize on Dahon’s philosophy, which is Personal Mobility. The phrase says it all. The products will give the target market with the independence to move around in the most convenient way possible. Main Marketing tools would be interesting leaflets and broc hures that list down and define the various uses of Dahon Bikes. The company should spend an approximate of $ 200,000 for the production and design of sales materials. This is the primary priority of Dahon Bike Company.

Information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Information - Essay Example One reason, the focus of my speech today, is the special protection that baseball (Major League Baseball) has been afforded by Congress. This protection comes in the form of antitrust law and, to a significant extant, insulates owners and other interested stakeholders from competition within the baseball industry. As an initial matter, it is important to define what is meant by antitrust law, a topic frequently foreign to baseball aficionados. Antitrust law is an umbrella designation that includes a number of laws dealing with fair competition; more specifically, because America deems itself a free market capitalist economy, there exist a number of laws designed to prevent such things as monopolies and unfair methods of competition. Strangely enough, baseball has for quite some time been exempt from a number of antitrust laws. As stated by Bartee, â€Å"professional sports are a textbook example of a bilateral cartel made up of club owners and unionized players engaged in intrastate and interstate commerce. The club owners exercise monopoly power in the product market† (2008: n.p.). Baseball, like steel or agriculture in certain respects, is a protected industry. It is not a monopoly per se but a competitive cartel in which owners compete with the unionized players. We read all of the time about competition between owners and players. There are disagreements about such things as free agency, salary caps, and collective bargaining agreements. The irony is that while the owners and the players often trade accusations about the other using unfair methods or misleading financial formulas the truth is that both reap the rewards of a non-competitive industry because of the antitrust exemption granted to Major League Baseball by the United States Congress. In addition, in a 1972 case called Kuhn v. Flood and decided by the United States Supreme Court, it was also decided that â€Å"baseball and its reserve system are also exempt from state antitrust

Product definition Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Product definition - Assignment Example The expected attributes of a product are those benefits that customers perceive that they will be offered in return of purchasing Rolls Royce Phantom. The customers expect that by purchasing the Phantom they will attain the benefit of travelling in a luxurious and expensive vehicle which will suit and compliment their higher social status in the society. The customers expect that Rolls Royce will offer them security and it does provide security in the shape of features including frontal and overhead airbags. It even offers customers safety as these cars come along with the attribute of disabling the ignition. Customers expect that these cars will offer them convenience in shape of programmed temperature controlling option and they even offer the driver with a bin attached on the door. These are those benefits that are offered by Rolls Royce Luxury Cars and provide a competitive advantage to the company over its competitors. One of the major benefits that customers receive from purchasing a Rolls Royce is that they are allowed to customize their own cars according to their needs and taste. The benefit of customization is quite rare and this allows the company to maintain a base of customers who are loyal to the brand. Rolls Royce Phantom offers a moon roof that is not offered by its close competitor Mulsanne. The Phantom even offers warranty coverage for a period of 4 years and even offers door locks for children that are not offered by its competitors. The customers of Rolls Royce luxury cars such as the customers of Phantom expect that in future these cars will be more fuel efficient with updated technologies that will reduce fuel consumption. The customers even expect that in future the phantom may be priced lower with the introduction of a mini Phantom. This will allow a lot more consumers to experience the luxury and comfort

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economics - Essay Example Global capitalism has been tried before in the world and it has failed. However, when the reforms proposed by the West prove ineffective, it tends to blame the East for its innate weaknesses like insufficient entrepreneurial skills. The matter of the fact is the entrepreneurial skills of the Third World and the ex-communist countries are quite similar to those of their Western counterparts. If the people in the third world do not suffer from certain fundamental deficiency in cultural or genetic heritage, then what could be the reason behind the fact that the capitalism is successful only in the West? An answer to this puzzling question is the failure of the Third World and the ex-communist countries to produce capital. The poor people in the developing world are not wanting in the assets that make capital successful. They in fact hold these assets in defective form: the ownership rights are not fully documented, the terms of the businesses are not defined and the industries are not l ocated at suitable places the cumulative result of which is that these assets cannot be turned into capital. In the West, the property is fully documented which can be used as a capital for producing surplus value in various forms such as mortgage and securities. Because of the absence of this representational process, the third world countries are undercapitalized. The third world despite assimilating a lot of western cultural traits has failed to follow the example of the West in this crucial area of producing sufficient capital. This is the mystery of capital. The fundamental difference between the western nations and the Third World and the ex-communist countries is that only the former have the knowledge of converting capital from places which the other countries cannot. This absence of the conversion process in the Third World is compounded by the failure on the part of the West to understand the origin of the capital. This book is an effort to trace the history of capital and learn right lessons from it to help poor countries overcome their problems which have nothing to do with deficiencies in culture and genetic heritage. This fact has been made clear by the fact that the regions which are culturally as diverse as Russia and Latin America share the same problems because of building capitalism without capital. The Third World today faces the same challenges such as lack of enforcement of property rights, poor law and order situation and biased business and trade regulations which were faced by US in its early history and other Western countries only a couple of centuries before. There are at least five questions which need to be answered to understand why the role of capital despite being the most important component of Western development is not adequately understood: first, how much saving has been done by the poorest sectors of society in the west; second, what is the nature of capital and what is its role in the creation of wealth; third, why have the governments not been able to put the â€Å"dead Capital† in the hands of the poor people to some profitable use; four, why have the lessons not been learnt from the history of successful capitalist countries and five, why the adoption of the Western legal system in the third world has not delivered. The Mystery of Missing Information In the Third World, the documentation of property

Animal Rights Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Animal Rights Analysis - Essay Example Within the animal rights movement, every animal, from conception to natural death, has a certain value given by God. The second strand employs the arguments from the field of legal philosophy, specifically natural law, claiming that the right-to-life is a fundamental right which should be protected by law. On the other hand, if an animal and its existence threaten human life, it is morally permissible to kill this animal: for instance, outcasts with rabies, extreme aggressiveness of an animal or invasion of animals such as wild foxes or wolves. Also, gene engineering and cloning need sacrifices in order to protect human life and find treatment for incurable diseases. Also, all medicines and treatment methods are tested on animals to be sure that they are safe for human beings. In this case, it is morally permissible to do these things to non-human animals. This balance is an expression, then, of core values, of basic societal choices. This is the point where the distinction between r ights and boundaries collapses since Moral rights- beyond the core-become an expression of the kind of particularized societal choice of which fundamental boundaries are an expression. Moral boundaries are designed, thus, to allow communities to make and live by those differing balances which they deem fundamental.  Ã‚   The main similarity is in perspectives they are written from. Both web sites UUFETA   (Unitarian Universalists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and Animal Freedom are based on religious perspectives incorporating moral and ethical point of view. Both web sites state that the community should always seek to adopt the highest standard of animal rights around. Both sites agree that the voice of one indi ­vidual in a modern society will normally carry little weight unless the demands which that individual articulates come from within the central elite and its decision-making body until those concerned get together with others who share a common interest and aggregate their demands into a program for action.

Right to die Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Right to die - Essay Example The golden rule applies to the majority of people since many people are unable to justify the treatment of an individual through certain ways. However, distinctive treatment applies when one is willing to admit the treatment of the other person through justification when positions reverse (Rachels, 1986). Therefore, according to Rachel’s arguments and use of the golden rule, Euthanasia only applies when one person admits to treating the other with the same measure as he or she receives the same treatment. On the other hand, Kant’s issues on morality and the golden rule regards as a major historical alternative to utilitarianism. Kant sought expressions of all morality in a single principle that viewed sophisticated versions of the golden rule. Besides, emphasis on Euthanasia need to act on rules applied globally while behaving like everyone else. The idea applies to one supreme principle of morality called categorical imperative. The principle represents Euthanasia since it demonstrates maximum acts of individuals at the same time according to the universal law on the rights to die. Moreover, emphasis applies in demonstrating individual actions while making decisions to focus on general rules that everyone is willing to follow before making any decisions (Rachels,

Apple Inc. in 2010 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Apple Inc. in 2010 - Essay Example As such, Jobs turned the focus of Apple towards producing and developing non-PC compliments and applications. This was so unbelievably effective that by 2010, over 60% of all of Apple’s revenue was derived from non-PC devices; such as the iPad and the wildly successful iPhone (Bland 58). Ultimately, the Apple brand has a litany of different competitive advantages. One of the first of these is with respect to the seamless level of integration that exists between the hardware and software that Apple provides to its consumers. Taking same song and/4 Microsoft as an example, it can quickly be seen that the designer of the hardware and the designer of the software are oftentimes two different entities; oftentimes creating a situation in which the level of integration between these two leaves something to be desired. However, due to the fact that iOS operates on a native platform utilizing hardware that was designed for no other function but to perform iOS, this represents a noted strength with respect to the degree and extent Apple continue to exert a competitive advantage on the market (Beech 47). Another noted competitive advantage is with respect to Apple’s youth and simplicity of use. Although it is true that competitors have come a long way in recent years in seeking to simplify and improve their interface, Apple has long represented an intuitive design that leaves hardly any room for confusion on the part of the user. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, it should be noted that Apple’s sleek and appealing design is one of the competitive advantages that has driven the firm to the level of success that had experienced over the past decade. Ultimately, if it were not for the fact that Apple’s products were sleek, appealing, and even â€Å"sexy†, it is doubtful that the company could experience anywhere near the degree of success that it has currently enjoy. Finally, another competitive advantage that Apple

Dead Poet Society Essay Example for Free

Dead Poet Society Essay Is living a crime? Is choice unacceptable? Is suicide typical? Reading this is so simple but going through it is much harder than we think. Forgetting your best friend who suicided, having your close relative killed and been alone was Charlie’s life. â€Å"The perk of being a wallflower† directed by Stephen Chbosky is an astonishing film which involves youngster entering the world of adulthood. Beginning a new year of high school here Charlie finally befriends Sam and Patrick and through this we explore the themes of self-realisation and loneliness. Self-realisation and loneliness is conveyed in both films; Directed by Peter Weir Dead Poet society is a story of a teacher called Mr Keating who makes his students releases the ability they have in them. The film â€Å"Perk of being a wallflower† definitely reinforces the themes in â€Å"Dead poet Society†. Loneliness is deeply attached and expressed early in Charlie’s life. It is shown by him not participating in any class activities. The camera angel that supports this statement is an eye-level shot where Charlie is sitting in class backed down on his chair. This symbolises that he is too afraid to speak out. The body language is dull with a lower self-esteem. Similarly, in Dead Poet Society Todd a shy and insecure guy who is too afraid to come out of his shell. The camera shot used is close-up where Todd’s facial expression is conveyed by tension and fear. So, therefore both films definitely share a similar theme. â€Å"Things change. And friends leave. Life doesnt stop for anybody. † Being intensely devoted to his past Charlie stopped realising who he really is. Every step he took he remembered the past, and that past has stopped his life in one motion; stress and alone. Fortunately, with help from his friend Sam he realises that life is full of happiness and freedom. The Camera Angle used is Medium shot where Charlie is standing on the truck bed, with his hands open, he learns that he can go on with life without being scared, because he is more than a wallflower. Furthermore, Self-realisation in Dead Poet Society is shown by Todd at the end of the film where he is confident and fearless. He seizes the day by standing on his desk as a symbol of his respect to Mr Keating. The camera Angle used is low angle shot of Todd which makes him look powerful and full of dignity. Confident, happiness and self-realisation taught both Todd and Charlie that life keeps going so. So, therefore, again the perk of being a wallflower has expressed similar themes as Dead poet society. To conclude, both films had similarities and differences but overall the same themes; Themes of self-realisation and loneliness. The perk of being a wallflower and Dead poet society show us lives of teenagers that are sometimes unseen and the way they overcome each obstacle. So, what would you do if you were in this situation? Because in life people like Mr Keating or Sam aren’t always there. So my friends seize the day your own way.

Sizing Up The Active Wear Market Marketing Essay

Sizing Up The Active Wear Market Marketing Essay In the wake of falling sales and decreasing profit margins, Harrington Collection is evaluating the opportunity to expand into the high-growth active-wear market. The idea of expanding into lower priced fashion product lines was not new to the company (Tedlow Beckham 2008) which was renowned for its sophisticated high class roots. However, after three years of consecutive lacklustre sales and margins Sara Huey, Vice President of Strategic Planning and her team have to take a critical look at the active-wear product line option as a possible solution to reverse the companys negative performance trend. To come up with sound decision Harrington Collection executives would have to analyze the financial implications of the opportunity, assess trade and competitor reactions, consider the risks, and determine whether they have the capacity to successfully launch and manage the new product line. This basically means that they will have to assess consumer behaviour, product introduction and financial implications. Consumer behaviour Consumer buying behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers (individuals households) who buy goods and services for personal consumption. This is generally affected by consumer culture, social, personal and psychological characteristics. Consumer products are designed to be attractive to consumers, so that they feel encouraged to buy. This makes it mandatory for any organization to understand and manipulate product attributes so as to positively influence consumers to buy. However, buying behavior is also a function of the competing products in the marketplace and the brand marketing strategy applied by that given firm. In order to design the best product, it is necessary to understand not just the physical and chemical nature of the product, but also the psychology of consumers and the sociology of consumer groups. Harrington Collection is a company with decades of expertise (Tedlow Beckham 2008) that has an excellent relationship with its retail trade (Tedlow Beckham 2008) therefore their knowledge of consumer behaviour is high. Moreover we are told that the company also commissioned surveys and focus groups which revealed that their target customers showed considerable interest in buying active-wear clothing (Tedlow Beckham 2008). The push for introduction of a new product line is also supported by three factors that determine consumer behaviour i.e. loyalty, sociology and psychology. Loyalty is defined as that tendency for consumers to stick to the same products. Loyalty is also manifested through what is referred to as the memory effect, which represents that tendency of consumers in returning to products they had previously used, after trying something new they then did not like. The focus groups commissioned by Harrington Collection showed that a subset of Harrington customers who had been loyal throughout their careers were interested in something fresh and comfortable that would fit their active lifestyles (Tedlow Beckham 2008). On the other hand the sociology factor was heightened by the popularity of active-wear among Hollywood celebrities. Sociology in this context implies how one persons buying is influenced by that of others. We are told that this trend toward more contemporary athletic fashions resulted in rapid growth for firms that offered these lines. Harrington Collection estimated that over seven and a half million active-wear units were sold in 2007 with the projection that this would grow to 15 million by 2009 (Tedlow Beckham 2008). Moreover by 2009 it was expected that 40% of the 15 million buyers would prefer the better category which is what Harringtons Vigor division specialized in. Vigors market expertise could come in handy in deploying the active-wear better product line. Psychology covers what, and how, aspects of the actual items on the shelves influence people to make their choices, possibly buying something different from previously. Most firms would use advertising to influence consumer psychology. Harrington on the other hand we are told was known for its top in-house design staff, extensive national advertising campaigns and its exceptional quality and styling (Tedlow Beckham 2008). Plus, after analyzing the better sets of active -wear that were in the market Harrington knew that the standards they had could not allow them to produce such poor quality products. Therefore a launch of a product line in active-wear could provide Harrington with an opportunity to display their superior products to the low end consumer market and thus rapidly increase their market share and probably pull though a customer lock-in. Also we cannot ignore the fact that introduction of a new product onto the market by as renowned a fashion company as Harrington has the ability to change the way consumers, or at least some of them, view the other established active-wear brands. Harringtons quality and styling might draw attention to some quality which was not previously much regarded by consumers in this category, or it might make people give different weightings to the established products when making their decisions. If Harrington Collection decides to go ahead with the idea to add an active-wear product line to its existing business then they would have to model their target consumers behavior. They will need to look at the external stimuli that assist the consumer to make the decision to buy their product. An external stimulus that Harrington Collection has direct influence over is the marketing mix: product, place, price, promotion, people, process and physical evidence. Product is the active-wear itself and here decisions regarding the features of the product, quality level, product lines and branding will be addressed. Place caters for decisions on channel type, service levels, managing the channels, transporting and delivering, market exposure, intermediaries, locations and stores. Pricing in this case is vital considering that the target market is price sensitive and there are other large competitors such as Liz Clairbornes Juicy Couture. Decisions regarding the discounts to be allowed, allowances and whether pricing will change with product life cycle will also depend on the breakeven analysis that we shall be looking at later in this paper. Promotion decisions regard the communications mix, the type, qualifications and number of salespeople needed the required media, sales promotion, and publicity. People decisions regard the type of customers, the customer care personnel and their knowledge, qualifications and motivations for participating during the service encounter. The process factor looks at the length of the process, the activities that can be done during the process and technologies that will facilitate the process and finally, physical evidence is concerned with decisions on the types of tangible evidence available to customers. In spite of all the theories and models made with respect to consumers it is still acknowledged that the buyers decision process is a black box that even with knowledge of characteristics that affect consumer behaviour. Product Introduction The introduction process of a new product into any market is highly complex. It requires ability to coordinate work of numerous teams within an organization, as well as with the extended network of partners and suppliers. The new product in here would be the active-wear apparel (hoodies, tee-shirts and pants). One aspect of the complexity is derived from the use of several different new parts, each of which may need unique design, specifications, development, and other specialized conditions. This complexity is compounded further by the myriad of tools used during the new product introduction (NPI) process e.g. computer aided design (CAD) applications, project management tools and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. A typical new product development and introduction process would consist of three core phases: 1) product definition, 2) product development, prototyping, and testing, and 3) product build and ramp to production. Each of these phases requires effective project management to ensure that at the end we have optimized productivity and results. In modern best-in-class NPI processes, a collaborative approach is encouraged, that is, where manufacturing integrates into the design phase early, ramping up the manufacturing effort as the design progresses to production. Engineering continues to participate even in the production phase to ensure the design is correctly built (Arena 2007). This joint approach shortens new product introduction time to market and enhances product quality. However, it also necessitates greater levels of communication and coordination amongst the project teams. The first phase in the new active-wear apparel introduction would be product definition. At this stage the design and marketing teams come up with new ideas either from market research. The NPI team for Harrington Collection would then perform technical feasibility studies and business case analysis (which we shall look at later in this paper using the breakeven analysis). This is duly followed by the creation of initial market and product requirements. These initial planning documents outline the objectives and goals for the new product introduction (NPI). The real challenge at this stage is in the selection of the right ideas and managing them to commercial success. It is advisable for organizations to develop a disciplined portfolio management process that they shall be using to aid them in consistently choosing the better product ideas and NPI processes to bring better products to market, before their competitors do so. After product definition we proceed with the product development phase. How this phase is managed generally determines how quickly the innovative idea reaches the market. New product development is complex partly due to the huge number of participating groups required to collaborate e.g. the design team, sourcing, quality control and others. These teams carry out hundreds of activities, such as design, prototyping, sourcing, quoting, testing, manufacturing and planning. This situation could be worse for global outsourced players because of the geographical distance and the extension of the teams beyond the boundaries of a single company. To deal with such a complex team environment the organization would need to set up a centralized and shared project and data management infrastructure, so that cross functional and cross enterprise teams are able to access the latest design files, work instructions, change orders, task list, and project plans as and when they are revised. The idea that Harrington Collection should pursue this product development under its Vigor division is heavily supported by this point. Being a division that is already running we would expect most of the infrastructure required for data management and information sharing to be in place in contrast to having to set up everything a new in the case where a new division is formed to handle this new product line. Also, with the increasing environmental and regulatory compliance pressures from different countries where the active-wear would eventually be sold, an organization at this product development phase must seek cost-effective solutions to meet product and process compliance requirements such as Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), Global Best Practices for Clothing Manufacturers and ISO standards. Harringtons is advantaged here since it has not outsourced its manufacturing. In an outsourced environment, companies need to assess compliance risks of all outsourced activities, implement necessary controls, and create documentation to establish an audit trail. This adds to complexity and has high cost effects too. The final key phase for NPI is the production phase. To ensure that manufacturing is efficient and cost-effective all teams (operations, manufacturing, testing, component manufacturing and design engineering etc.) must work together to ensure that a given design is manufactured to correct specifications. The earlier teams begin to collaborate the better equipped they will be for a rapid production ramp. According to Arena to facilitate efficient and accurate communication of product bills of materials (BOM), companies must ensure that the product record is available to all involved in the production and change implementation, including internal groups, contract manufacturers, and suppliers. Providing contract manufacturers and suppliers with selected visibility to centralized product record allows them direct access to the most recent changes. It removes the data communication bottlenecks that result from relying upon individuals and reduces the potential costly revision errors (Arena, 2007, p5). It is our opinion that having the product line run under Vigor division would be more efficient and effective than establishing a new division to do it because it has a seasoned team, supportive infrastructure in place and Harrington Collection could more easily develop a cross-functional product development process which is important to ensure the success of the new product introduction (NPI). From the shared project and data management infrastructure within Vigor division teams involved in the NPI would be able to access the latest project plans and tasks that are related to parts, sub-assemblies, and assemblies. It is also easier to ensure that project revisions are accessible to everyone involved. Demand and Profitability Analysis Template Table 1: Start up costs table Start Up Costs: Amount ($) Start-up Costs Pants Plant 1,200,000.00 Start-up Costs Hoodie and Tee-shirt Plant 2,500,000.00 Equipment Pants Plant 2,000,000.00 Equipment Hoodie and Tee-shirt Plant 2,500,000.00 Launch PR, Advertising 2,000,000.00 Fixtures for Company Stores* 2,500,000.00 Total Start-up Costs 12,700,000.00 Annual Depreciated Start-up Costs** 2,540,000.00 *For Fixtures for Company Stores we assumed that only the exclusive Vigor stores would be stocked with active-wear apparel. The company owned stores are 120 in total but exclusive Vigor stores are 50 (Tedlow Beckham 2008). Fixtures for each Company Store would cost $50,000.00 (Tedlow Beckham 2008). The figure obtained above was therefore obtained by multiplying $50,000 by 50 stores. **We are told that all launch fixture, plant start-up, and equipment costs would be depreciated over a five year period (Tedlow Beckham 2008). We used the straight-line depreciation method: Table 2: total fixed operating costs Annual Ongoing Operating Costs Fixed Overhead Pants Plant 3,000,000.00 Overhead Hoodie and Tee-shirt Plant 3,500,000.00 Rent Pants Plant 500,000.00 Rent Hoodie and Tee-shirt Plant 500,000.00 Management / Support 1,000,000.00 Advertising 3,000,000.00 Total Fixed Operating Costs 11,500,000.00 Table 3: total direct variable costs Direct Variable Costs Hoodie ($) Tee-shirt ($) Pants ($) Sew and Press 3.25 2.00 2.85 Cut 1.15 0.40 0.70 Other Variable Labor 3.20 2.40 3.05 Fabric 9.10 2.20 7.50 Findings 3.85 0.50 2.30 Total Direct Variable Costs 20.55 7.50 16.40 Table 4: total unit direct variable cost Direct variable costs translated into unit cost Hoodie ($) Tee-shirt ($) Pants ($) 20.55 7.50 16.40 multiply by 0.50 1.50 1.00 10.28 11.25 16.40 37.93 Table 5: Vigor unit Retail Price Suggested Retail Unit price Hoodie ($) Tee-shirt ($) Pants ($) 100.00 40.00 80.00 220.00 Wholesale unit price = 50% of Retail unit price = $110 Table 6: total variable costs as % of Wholesale Price Total variable costs as % of wholesale price working capital requirements 3.00 sales commissions 4.00 inventory costs 1.00 bad debt 0.70 transportation 0.24 miscellaneous 0.15 9.09 Table 7: total variable costs per unit Indirect variable costs Wholesale unit price 110.00 Total variable costs as % of wholesale price 9.09 Indirect variable costs per unit 10.00 Direct variable costs per unit 37.93 Indirect variable costs per unit 10.00 Total variable costs per unit 47.92 Table 8: contribution per unit Contribution Wholesale price per unit 110.00 less total variable costs per unit 47.92 Contribution per unit 62.08 Table 9: Breakeven units Breakeven Fixed annual costs (operating and depreciated start-up) 14,040,000.00 Ã · Contribution per unit 62.08 Breakeven Units 226,174.37 Table 10: Vigor active-wear approximate revenue Vigor active-wear approximate revenue Total units sold in 2007 7,500,000.00 Vigor Market share % 7.00 Vigor total unit sales for 2007 525,000.00 Vigor retail unit price 220.00 Approximate Vigor revenue for 2007 115,500,000.00 Table 11: Profit Margin Profit Margin Revenue 115,500,000.00 less fixed annual costs 14,040,000.00 less total variable costs (Vigor total unit sales for 2007 x total variable costs per unit) 25,160,100.00 Profit before tax 76,299,900.00 Profit margin before tax % 66.06 Making the Decision Based on the breakeven analysis we see it would be prudent for Sara Huey to approach the board and advise them to embark on the new active-wear product line because within a year Harrington Collection would have been able to not only breakeven but make a pre-tax profit of $76.3 million. Secondly we believe that the new product line of active-wear should be folded within the Vigor division so that it can benefit from the already existing infrastructure and sales channels. Moreover, like Myers suggested, the active-wear line would be a perfect addition to the Vigor division because it also focused on better wear plus fewer than 2% of respondents in their customer research survey felt that a less-expensive active-wear line would cheapen the brand (Tedlow Beckham 2008). This is a big thumb up from the most important public for the Harrington Collection, i.e. the consumer. We have also seen from the consumer behavior analysis that Harington Collection has got a lot more to gain from intr oducing the active-wear line for example we are told that the aging baby boomer population wanted clothes that would not make them feel old. In addition to that, another survey showed that 10% of customers purchasing apparel in the $100 $200 price range would buy an active-wear set if they could get one with superior styling, fabric and fit, which is what Harrington Collection was intending to manufacture and sell.

Importance of Art Education in Primary Schools

Importance of Art Education in Primary Schools Art is the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. It is also the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings. There may be a few variations in the precise naming of the activities it is generally accepted that the triumvirate of creating, performing and appreciating dance as a conceptual basis underlies all phases of dance education. (Davies, 2003) Why are the arts important to young children? The role of the visual arts in early childhood education has long been recognised and valued as an essential component of the curriculum. (Eckhoff, Angela, 2011) The arts consist of variation of appreciation. The different forms art such as dancing, drawing and painting, performance art, sculpturing and many more. Art needs to be included in the schools curriculum and encompass the knowledge of the arts education to the children. Art appreciation can be inculcate to children at young age. Knowing and understanding of the arts may also help children to express themselves in different creative art forms in which they are comfortable in. Art nurtures the child to be inventiveness as it engages the child in a process that helps in the development of self-esteem, self-discipline, cooperation, and self-motivation. Childrens self-esteem will improve as there is not right or wrong in self creative creation. In this way, childrens are able to complete task with self-discipline and longer patience in completing an art piece regardless whether it is an drawing and painting piece or a dance and music piece. Working cooperatively will also be enhanced childrens patience such as dancing together with music and other children to produce a wonderful piece of musical. Most importantly children needs to be self-motivated to have the interest in arts. At times while working with each other to produce an art piece also needs problem solving, contributing ideas and respecting each other. Each child will have to communicate in a variety ways to express their thoughts and produce the art piece they want it to be. The belief that art education should encourage the childs creativity, imagination, and expression did not mean that all previous pedagogies were replaced. (Jolley, 2010) Imagination helps children with expression in dancing and also helped in language to find the correct vocabulary to describe their expression. Childs creativity should not be obstructed or corrected by the adults or educators. Updated pedagogies helps to improve and also work on the previous believes. Forms of art In terms of aesthetic and creative education, dance has much to share with drama, music and the visual arts. (Davies, 2003) Dancing is an activity that needs time to work on and gain wide experience. It needs to work with choreographing of movements and music together by trying out and composing the art piece. Performing can be taken to mean to do, to show, to dance, creating as making, trying out, or composing, while appreciation is the outcome of watching, viewing, talking about and drawing about dance. (Davis, 2003) It may be an expressive dance in a drama which could be a class activity having children to have a discussion with their ideas and suggestions on how the characters should dance, facial expression , choosing the piece of music to express the mood of the scene and moving along with the music. Children would have trials and errors along the way in the making and appreciating in every part of the dance drama they have created. In terms of dancing consist of being a creator or maker, a viewer or spectator or as a doer or performer. (Davies, 2003) Certain movement ideas frequently used by in informal situations seem to belong together and can be utilised in dance. (Davis 2003) Educators on their part, they can facilitate the students by guiding exploring different ideas of movement such as running and leaping, turning and twisting, moving and stopping suddenly. Children will be able to choose the right movement they would want to include into their dance. Educators may also guide children choosing the instrument they would like to use for the movement using different sounds. For example, the sound of the fast ringing bells can be the movement of running. Another form of art is drawing. Drawing from observation still represents a key component of statutory art education for children aged 5 to 14 years of age. (Jolley 2010 ) Drawing involves imagination and creativity and expression. Drawing helps children to express their thoughts with different kinds of lines and shapes. Observation also plays an important part in drawing. For example, children may observe a stalk of flower or the movements of the grass when the wind blows and draw the expression of what they have observed using different lines. For example, curvy lines, straight lines and zig-zag lines. Once children are allowed to make representational drawings, rather than mere line and shape, they are often directed towards forms of subject matter such as cubes, cones, prisms, and so on, whether copies from pictures of three-dimensional models. (Jolley,2010) Children may also move to a higher level to explore drawing representational drawings with their imagination. Educators may guide children by introducing the drawing of different lines such as horizontal line, vertical line, wavy line and spiral line. Students will then apply what they have learnt in their drawings. Students will also need to be given opportunities to observe the environment around them , space for creativity and imagination. Children are then taught to draw more controlled lines. (Jolley, 2010) Teachers go for PD? It will be beneficial for educators to undergo training attaining higher level certificate may also attend a more intensive and substantial art modules. In this way, it will equip the educators with more knowledge and understanding of art education. Educators will have better skills to guide the students and facilitate the child to explore the choices or methods he could use to express his art piece. School management may also encourage their educators to attend professional development to be equipped with updated skills and pedagogies. Student will not be bored with structured ways of teaching art and lessons are more enjoyable for students to learn. Arts education in the curriculum planning. According to the Ministry Of Education, Singapore, Kindergarten Curriculum Guide (KCG), aesthetics and creative expression is being part of integrated learning in the holistic development of the child. In the school planning, it has to include the childrens experiences in visual arts, music and movement allow children to be expressive, creative and imaginative. (Kindergarten Curriculum Guide, 2008) Therefore, it is essential to plan the schools curriculum according to the framework and arts will not be left out. In the schools curriculum, children are also taught to learn appreciation of visual arts and musical instruments. Children will be given chance to discuss about their own art works such as describing the lines , colours and shapes used. (Kindergarten Curriculum Guide) Children will also be given opportunity to appreciate, learn and explore the different sounds made by the instruments. Conclusion Art is important in young childrens education as it is one of the ways to help children to express themselves through different channels such as dance, drama and visual arts. Children need not to be afraid making mistakes as art promotes creativity, imagination and expressions. It is also essential to have arts education in the school, so as to have educators to guide the students and giving then opportunities to explore different kinds of art such as visual arts, drama and music and movement.

Essay --

According to Welsh et al (2003, p. 246), e-learning is delivering information and instruction to individual using of computer network technology, primarily over or true the Internet. Rosenberg (2001) also says that e-learning use internet technologies to deliver various solution to learners. For higher education, cost will increase and budgets are lean and getting tighter. It is because, higher education has many course that offered and it makes the number of student increase and more cost will be needed. To solve this problem, the institution of higher education needs to have strategic planning and clear implementation to achieve the goals, missions and objective of the institutions. To developing a successful e-learning strategy the institutions of higher education need a good planning. Understanding the objectives or reasons why an organization needs to establish e-learning is a good step. There are many reasons that identified by organization to establishing and integrating e-learning program into their educational structure. After the goal and objectives have been indentified, ...

rights of a woman Essay -- essays research papers

In her article â€Å"Women’s History† Joan Scott states that it is important for historians to be attentive to both â€Å"the ways in which politics constructs gender and gender constructs politics†. First, definitions for politics and gender will be established in order to analyze Scott’s claim. Second, what Scott meant by the claim â€Å"politics constructs gender† will be illustrated. Third, the contradictory claim â€Å"gender constructs politics† by Joan Scott will be explained. Finally, this paper will evaluate why it is important for historians to be attentive to both the notion that politics constructs gender and gender constructs politics. The usefulness of Scott’s claim on our understanding of both politics and gender will also be examined. The point that Scott was trying to get across in stating that historians should be attentive to the circular claim that â€Å"politics constructs gender and gender constructs politicsâ⠂¬  is that an incomplete history will be recorded if both sides of the equation are not considered hand in hand. To portray why Joan Scott believes it is important for historians to be cognizant of both gender’s effect on politics and politics effect on gender we must first establish what Joan Scott’s definitions of gender and politics are. Gender has many definitions that have been developed through the numerous approaches to history and the many other social sciences. The basic debate in defining gender is at what point is the distinction made between the natural (sex) and the cultural (gender). Gayle Rubin’s definition in â€Å"The Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’ of Sex† is that â€Å"sex† is the raw material on which culture uses to produce â€Å"gender† and that gender is the cultural expectations of the differences between men and women. The important aspect of the definition of gender is that it is culturally defined and does not remain static over time. As society adjusts, so do its definitions of gender. Politics is the other key word in Scott’s statement that must be defined. Politics, according to Scott in â€Å"Women’s History†, is not just formal government but all relationships involving unequal distributions of power. Scott uses this broad definition of politics in order to explain the â€Å"cultural determination of the terms of sexual difference†. In other words this definition allows for a more complete explanation of what has shaped society’s e... ...he role of historians should be to record history and its significance. The third reason historians should look at the relationship between politics and gender is that if historians only look at the way formal politics shapes gender then a black and white picture of gender is portrayed. If a broad definition of politics is used, such as the one used by Joan Scott, then â€Å"arguments about the separate and distinctive qualities of women’s character and experience† can be avoided. As a result a clearer picture of history will be drawn that does not rely on â€Å"fixed distinctions† that have been made between the genders over time and in the present. Finally, by paying attention to the idea that gender and politics have an effect on one another we can get a clearer picture of where women’s history fits into the history books. In conclusion, Scott’s claim that historians should be attentive to both the ways in which gender constructs politics and politics constructs gender is a thought provoking comment that must be considered if an accurate and unbiased history is to be produced. Politics and gender are both socially construed notions and by definition will have an influence on one another.

Time To Change :: essays research papers

Time To Change The earth and many of its contents, thanks in large part to humans, is deteriorating and it has been for quite a time now. It is overwhelmingly populated with both ignorant and lazy people. In effect, not much is being done to prevent this deterioration. For instance, we are killing off vital animal populations every day. We have caused the extinction or endangerment of numerous species for absolutely no reason other than selfishness. An example is the poaching of elephants. We are killing these animals only for our own wealth. We take their ivory and leave them behind to die. As a result, they are on the verge of extinction. Also, pollution caused by humans and their inventions cause a major dilemma. Automobile exhaust fumes and factory pollutants are only a couple of the impurities causing damaging affects to the ozone layer and atmosphere. We depend on the ozone to defend us from harmful UV rays. Finally, we have a major impact on the degeneration of natural resources. Millions of gallons of oil, coal, and other valuable resources are wasted each day. These are just a few of the human disruptions to nature available to our knowledge. We are conscious of many more, and there are probably others that we are not aware of. If we do not start taking them seriously soon it will be too late, if it is not already. We need to reevaluate our priorities and plan for the future existence of this world. A group labeled the Earth-Firsters' often attempt to accomplish this task through drastic and sometimes dangerous methods. As Joni Seager states ( The Eco-Fringe: Deep Ecology, Pg. 636), "In Australia, Earth-First protesters buried themselves up to their necks in the sand in the middle of logging roads to stop lumbering operations; in the American Southwest, Earth Firsters handcuffed themselves to trees and bulldozers to prevent logging; and in California, they dressed in dolphin and mermaid costumes to picket the stockholders' meeting of a tuna-fishing company." The Earth-Firsters' tactics are not the only drastic only measures they practice. Their ideas seem to be quite extreme as well. For example, they believe the population of the world is entirely too high, by as much as ninety percent, causing too much "wear and tear" to the earth. To resolve this issue, some say we should cease all study toward the curing of disease. Others said we should stop aid to the poor, sick, and homeless. They ration in Africa that the sickness is a natural occurrence. Also, some of the Earth-Firsters' believe in order to conserve land and nature, Time To Change :: essays research papers Time To Change The earth and many of its contents, thanks in large part to humans, is deteriorating and it has been for quite a time now. It is overwhelmingly populated with both ignorant and lazy people. In effect, not much is being done to prevent this deterioration. For instance, we are killing off vital animal populations every day. We have caused the extinction or endangerment of numerous species for absolutely no reason other than selfishness. An example is the poaching of elephants. We are killing these animals only for our own wealth. We take their ivory and leave them behind to die. As a result, they are on the verge of extinction. Also, pollution caused by humans and their inventions cause a major dilemma. Automobile exhaust fumes and factory pollutants are only a couple of the impurities causing damaging affects to the ozone layer and atmosphere. We depend on the ozone to defend us from harmful UV rays. Finally, we have a major impact on the degeneration of natural resources. Millions of gallons of oil, coal, and other valuable resources are wasted each day. These are just a few of the human disruptions to nature available to our knowledge. We are conscious of many more, and there are probably others that we are not aware of. If we do not start taking them seriously soon it will be too late, if it is not already. We need to reevaluate our priorities and plan for the future existence of this world. A group labeled the Earth-Firsters' often attempt to accomplish this task through drastic and sometimes dangerous methods. As Joni Seager states ( The Eco-Fringe: Deep Ecology, Pg. 636), "In Australia, Earth-First protesters buried themselves up to their necks in the sand in the middle of logging roads to stop lumbering operations; in the American Southwest, Earth Firsters handcuffed themselves to trees and bulldozers to prevent logging; and in California, they dressed in dolphin and mermaid costumes to picket the stockholders' meeting of a tuna-fishing company." The Earth-Firsters' tactics are not the only drastic only measures they practice. Their ideas seem to be quite extreme as well. For example, they believe the population of the world is entirely too high, by as much as ninety percent, causing too much "wear and tear" to the earth. To resolve this issue, some say we should cease all study toward the curing of disease. Others said we should stop aid to the poor, sick, and homeless. They ration in Africa that the sickness is a natural occurrence. Also, some of the Earth-Firsters' believe in order to conserve land and nature,

A paper about Apollo 13 Essay

On April 11, 1970, three men were scheduled to fly to and land on the moon. The mission labeled Apollo 13. Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell made-up the original crew members of Apollo 13, but because of an inner-ear surgery, Alan Shepard felt unprepared to fly Apollo13. Jim Lovell, the commander of Apollo 14, was then approached and asked if he would mind switching flights with Shepard. Jim did not think there would be a great difference between the two flights and wanted to get back to the moon. He agreed and his crew began training. (Lovell and Kluger, 60-61) Jim’s crew included Fred Haise, Ken Mattingly, and himself. They gladly accepted their mission. Little did these men know, however, their flight was going to be riddled with problems and be forever remembered for them. The three men should have known that their mission was fated for mishaps when at the last minute Ken Mattingly was removed from the crew because of an accidental exposure to German measles. He was replaced by the â€Å"playboy† Jack Swigert. Jack, who was not taken very seriously by the public, became a huge asset to the crew of Apollo 13. The chosen men of Apollo 13 were to become the second group of men launched towards the moon. Their mission was clear: Get to the moon. Apollo 13 planned to land in the Fra Mauro Formation, an extensive geologic unit covering large portions of the moon. The men were to exit the spacecraft and perform numerous experiments for NASA. These experiments would give information on the composition of the moon’s surface and its formation. Age dating would have been done when the samples returned to earth. This shows the age of the formations and provides an idea of where the moon falls on the geologic time scale. (Godwin, 63) Ken Mattingly, Jim Lovell, and Fred Haise were ready for their mission. This is what they had trained their whole lives for. Devastatingly, Ken Mattingly was not allowed to fly with the crew of Apollo 13 to the moon. Seventy-two hours before the flight launched into space, NASA informed Ken that he had been exposed to the German measles and would not be able to continue with the mission. (JSC) The entire crew including the back-up crew was exposed to the disease. Back-up LEM pilot, Charlie Duke, became sick after being exposed to the disease because of his son.  Even though the entire crew, including the back-up crew had been exposed, Ken Mattingly had not been immunized and would endanger the flight if he were to become sick while in space. (Lovell and Kluger, 88) NASA has strict rules about such things and knew that a sick crew member could not be trusted completely as an operator of a spacecraft. Ken’s crew rallied behind him and fought NASA so that Ken could join them on this mission. Unfortunately, NASA disregarded the crew’s arguments. Jim Lovell became Mattingly’s number one supporter, however. He wanted his friend with him and did not understand why Ken could not go into space. He asked the flight surgeon, â€Å"How long is the incubation period for this thing?† The surgeon replied, â€Å"About ten days to two weeks?† After more discussion about the fact that during lift-off Ken would be fine and when they reached the moon Ken would be healthy, Lovell asked, â€Å"Then what’s the problem? If he starts running a fever when Fred and I are down on the surface (of the moon), he can have that whole time to get over it. If he’s not better by then, he can just sweat if out on the flight home. I can’t think of a better place to have the measles than in a nice cozy spaceship.† (Lovell and Kluger, 89) When Lovell finished ranting, the surgeon still bumped Mattingly from the flight. Jack Swigert replaced Ken for the April 11th launch. Jack Swigert took the place of Ken Mattingly as Command Module pilot. Jack had a reputation as a rambunctious bachelor and had an energetic social life. The public knew of his behavior and during the flight, instead of watching late-breaking news, they watched talk shows that belittled him for such behavior. On April 13th, two days after the launch, ABC was showing The Dick Cavett Show. Dick had one comment about the space flight. He said, â€Å"And speaking of girl watching, did you know our first bachelor astronaut is on his way to the moon? It’s Swigert, right? He’s the kind of guy who they say has a girl in every port. Well, that may be, but I think he’s kinda foolishly optimistic taking nylons and Hershey bars to the moon† (Lovell and Kluger, 4). America knew him as â€Å"the bachelor.† Swigert, however, was quiet, unassuming, and hard-working. The only astronaut unmarried in NASA’s history, Swigert knew this was bad for his image in the 1960’s, but NASA kept him on because he was such a good pilot. Swigert and NASA knew that he was a good pilot, but his lifestyle not his qualifications had been publicized for the public to judge him by. Swigert served in the Air Force after graduating from the University of Colorado. During this time he was a fighter pilot in both Japan and Korea. After earning a Masters of Science from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1965, Swigert was selected by NASA in 1966 along with Ken Mattingly, Fred Haise, and nineteen other astronauts. (Godwin) The crew had trained for a good year before the flight was to be launched. During this year, the crew became so close that Lovell and Haise could interpret the nuances and inflections in Mattingly’s voice. This would become valuable when Mattingly would only be shouting commands at the two men while they tried to steer their lander. (Lovell and Kluger, 89-90) So it wasn’t that the crew of Apollo 13 did not believe in Swigert’s abilities, but they had trained with Ken Mattingly for so many months that they were afraid they would not be as successful. To their surprise, Swigert fit into the crew nicely. Forty-eight hours before they were to launch, NASA certified Jack to fly. (Lovell and Kluger, 89-90) With Mattingly left behind in Mission Control, Apollo 13 launched on April 11, 1970 with full faith it would make it to the moon. NASA launched Apollo 13 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:13 p.m. (Godwin, 81) The launch went well. The only problems the crew encountered were with fuel cells and the fact that Swigert had not filed his tax returns yet. The Capcom, Joe Kerwin, asked the guys if they had completed their income tax forms. Swigert replied, â€Å"How do I apply for an extension?† Joe laughed. â€Å"Joe, it ain’t too funny. Things happened kinda fast down there and I do need an extension. I may be spending time in another quarantine when we get back, besides the medical one they’re planning for us.† After cracking up the entire mission control, Joe came back on saying, â€Å"We’ll see what we can do, Jack† (Lovell and Kluger, 92). The crew continued with regular business. Little did they know they would be dealing with much bigger problems than Jack’s taxes, but they would also be glad that they had him along. â€Å"Houston, we have a problem† (History Channel). Most people know this saying  well. They’ve said it when things go wrong in their own lives, but for the three men of Apollo 13 and the world it was the scariest phrase they had ever uttered or heard. Quickly after the ship was launched, a NASA technician discovered higher pressure on a helium tank than there was supposed to be. Nothing was done. After liftoff, Apollo 13’s second engine cut off two minutes early. To make up for this, the astronauts â€Å"burned the other four engines an additional 34.† (Space Exploration History) This resulted in a 1.2 feet per second speed gain. On April 13, 1970 after a television broadcast, the men were sent this message from mission control, â€Å"We’d like you to err, stir up you cryo tanks. In addition err, have a shaft and trunnion, for a look at the comet Bennett if you need it.† Jack Swigert did as he was told. (Space Exploration History) This le d to his now infamous phrase, â€Å"Houston, we have a problem† (History Channel). Jim Lovell described the explosion like this, † Fred was still in the lunar module. Jack was back in the command module, in the left-hand seat, and I was half way in between, in the lower equipment bay, wrestling with TV wires and a camera, watching Fred come on down, when all three of us heard a rather large bang – just one bang.† (Compton) All the men thought that the explosion was a joke being played by Fred Haise, but they quickly realized something was seriously wrong. Jim continues to describe his feelings by saying, â€Å"I guess it’s the kind of interesting to know what the feelings of the crew are when something like this happens. When you first hear this explosion or bang†¦you don’t know what it is. We’ve heard similar sounds in the spacecraft before that were for nothing†¦my concern was increasing all the time. It went from â€Å"I wonder what this is going to do to the landing† to â€Å"I wonder if we can get back home.† (Compton) The â€Å"bang† came from oxygen tank #2. The tank supplied oxygen used in the fuel cells, the primary energy source for Apollo 13. The astronauts were eighty-seven hours from home with only ten hours of back-up battery power. The battery power had to be saved for reentry into earth’s atmosphere. (Compton) With the help of mission control on the ground, the crew of Apollo 13 devised a plan to get back to earth safely. In 1968, NASA commissioned twenty-one panels to research aspects of the  Apollo spacecrafts. One of these panels included Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert. Their particular panel was to investigate in-flight fire emergency procedures. (Lovell and Kluger, 31) Jack had even written the procedures for malfunctions in case of such for the Command Module. (CD-ROM) So he and Lovell knew somewhat they way to get them back home safely. They planned to use the Lunar Module to survive. The LM was designed to separate from the Command and Space Module, land two astronauts on the moon, sustain them while they were on the moon, and carry them back to the ship in orbit. (Compton) The Command Module had to be shut down to save the batteries for reentry. Aquarius, the Lunar Module equipped for two men for two days now would have to contain three men for four days. Another problem that arose was the oxygen supply and the falling temperature. If the men continued to breathe normally, they would start breathing in their own carbon dioxide. This would kill them after a period of time. The men had to devise a plan to rid the ship of CO2. The next obstacle they had to tackle was the temperature. It ended up dropping to thirty-eight degrees in the Command Module. As all this was happening, the crew had to maneuver Apollo 13 around the moon, not to the moon, and towards earth. Once the crew was headed toward earth, the men in mission control were in complete control of the crew’s fate. Not only did NASA bring in the normal members of mission control to get the men back safely, but the Apollo 14 crew was there and so was Fred and Jim’s good pal Ken Mattingly. Together they all came up with a way to make an air filter that the crew could use to take away the carbon dioxide. While mission control and the others were hoping to get the men home, Marilyn Lovell and the other wives met at the Lovell home to pray for the crew. Even Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin watched coverage of the tragedy with Marilyn Lovell in her home. (Lovell and Kluger) All of the watchers on were glad when the men finally arrived home safely. The three men trapped in Apollo 13 were on their way home, but first they had to help Fred survive and say goodbye to a friend. Two days before the crew was to say goodbye to Aquarius and the service module, Fred Haise came down with a serious fever. His fever was due to a kidney infection he had  acquired from the lack of liquid intake the crew had been facing. During the time that Fred was battling his fever, the astronauts separated from the Service Module and the Lunar Module, powered up the Command Module, which they would use to return home, and Mission Control said its goodbyes with the famous quote, â€Å"Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you.† Luckily, the power did return when the crew powered up the Command Module. (Space Exploration History) This had been a worry for the men and everyone at home. Two hours before splash down, Fred Haise reached a peak in his sickness. Jim glanced over at him and he had his eyes closed, hugging himself trying to stop from shivering. At this point Lovell wrapped Haise in a huge bear hug to warm him up. The shivering subsided and they all looked forward to the eighty degree weather in the South Pacific. (Lovell and Kluger) After being held captive in space for eighty-six hours and fifty-seven minutes with no idea if the would ever return home, the crew of Apollo 13 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. They landed only three miles from the recovery ship, Iwo Jima. (Compton) The landing is the most accurate landing in the history of manned space flight. Apollo 13 wasn’t the last flight to the moon, there were four others, but none of the men who had flown with 13 ever went back into space. Ken Mattingly was the closest astronaut to Apollo 13 to ever fly. He was part of the Apollo 16 mission. The men of Apollo 13 all retired from NASA shortly after their fated mission. Jim left in 1973 and went on to work in telecommunications. Fred’s Apollo 19 mission was cancelled and he left the agency in the late 70’s. Jack, the surprise hero of the mission, left the agency immediately after splashdown. He returned to Colorado and entered politics. (Lovell and Kluger, 366-367) In November 1982, he was elected to the U.S House of Representatives. Unfortunately, Jack Swigert died of bone cancer days before he was to be sworn in. For three men who were not supposed to fly to the moon together, the crew of Apollo 13 became closer than any other flight crew before and showed a courage never shown by astronauts. They never copped o ut. When thoughts of â€Å"poison pills† and suicide starting entering their minds, they kept their efforts focused on getting the spacecraft back home. (Lovell and Kluger, 1) They had a pride to up hold. They had the pride of NASA and the United States. All of the men  had been soldiers. Jack Swigert fought in Japan. He knew what it was all about. The mission clearly was to get to the moon, but after the explosion of the oxygen tank the mission became life. It became teamwork. When Fred Haise became ill, the other two crew members made sure they took care of him and brought him home. (Lovell and Kluger) And in return he made sure he got them at the correct angle so that they would not catch on fire or bounce off the earth when reentering the atmosphere. Everyone pulled together in space and on the ground to get these heroes home. They came together like a family in a time of need. For this, they will always be remembered and looked at as heroes of the United States Space Program. For a mission that was forced to be labeled a failure, Apollo 13 was a great success for humanity and NASA.

Multispectral Imaging

Multispectral imaging is used oven an extremely wide spectral domain. It started with NASA using the technique for satellite imaging using kilometer-length radio waves, to the technique being used by forensic science using light in the visible to the near infrared region, to medical forensics using MeV gamma rays (National Research Council 1998) The use of Multispectral imaging in forensics and law enforcement for the examination of a wide variety of evidences is a field that is growing but has not yet reached the state of being a universally accepted practice.The technique is being used for analyzing photographic and video based evidence, and also for DNA analysis in recent times (Lanir 2005) Using Multispectral imaging has both advantages as well as certain disadvantages in the analysis of a scene. In addition, there are some pre-requisites needed which make the approach limited to certain situations. All these points are discussed subsequently in this section. Advantages of Multis pectral Imaging Technique 1.Advantage over naked-eye viewing – While a human eye has the capability of differentiating between millions of colors and various combinations; it is obvious that the perception is usually dependant on a mixture of different wavelength. In other words, the complete spectral information as received by eyes is still incomplete. The reason for this is because the visible portion of light, no matter the degree of its complexity, is still divided into the three basic colors – red, green and blue. Multispectral imaging can generate the accurate and complete optical spectra at every pixel.Finally and image processing software can be used for getting the maximum information from each of the pixels (Condea , Haneishia, Yamaguchia , Ohyama & Baaz J 2007) This might not be very important and might seem like overkill for regular vision. But in case of forensics, where the actual and precise data is necessary, this capability becomes very helpful as the data is completely analyzed. Differences in spectra can be used for the accurate detection of foreign particles in a terrain or differences in finger prints from different individuals .Advantage over cameras – Forensic science is the capture and preservation of accurate image. Conventional color films and digital color cameras also break the various colors combinations in RGB, so the information is just as inaccurate as seen with a naked eye. Hence, multispectral imaging scores over using these equipments also (Chieu 2001) In addition, multispectral imaging can be used in areas which are inaccessible ad can give simple multi-temporal readings. The area range of the scene is also more than what is for a digital camera.Also, until very recently the use of numerical processing was fairly restricted in the camera systems. Finally, Multispectral imaging also offers light attenuation techniques (Westland & Ripamonti 2004) 3. Avoid Contamination of the crime scene – One of th e advantages provided by using multispctral imaging is that there is no need for constant physical contact with the crime scene. This characteristic helps in two types of investigations. In case of analyzing a crime scene for evidence, the constant contact means contamination which can be avoided because the multispectral imaging can be taken aerially.This feature is also used in the forensic analysis of ancient documents where the contact with the document should be minimal. In such cases the document can be reconstructed with minimum contact. The aerial image taking capability also helps in dangerous locations also, as in the case of finding the location of a minefield. The initial identification of a minefield helps in localizing the area using an airborne multi-band camera. Using light in both the visible and infrared region minefield having both surface mines and well as buried mines can be detected (Sjokvist Lundberg Gu & Ulvko n. . )4. Time and Cost Saving – Using mult ispectral imaging the complete analysis can be done faster than using conventional methods and also cost for producing the same results using the other spectroscopic methods is much costlier. This is because, the wide range of operation of multispectral technique i. e. from ultraviolet to visible to thermal infra red, means that many different physical parameters can be analyzed simultaneously. Also the data has no major spatial co-registration problems.As an example in case of medical diagnostics and forensics, the interface used for multispectral imaging is easy to use and also much cheaper than conventional systems like the 7T MR scanner. Disadvantages of Multispectral Imaging technique Multispectral imaging in not without its faults. Some of them are primarily due to he budget and requirement of the individual area where multispectral imaging is used. 1. Complete Image not provided – Multispectral imaging does not provide complete 3D image. The reason is that this techniq ue does not offer any method to separate the effect of absorption from scatterSpatial resolution – Multispectral imaging due to its optical nature does not provide for complete spatial resolution. Some ways that have been suggested is to examine by contrasting with IR image but with acoustic resolution. In the case of detection of landmines, the problem is that while the technique can judge the presence or absence of mine over an area, the exact location cannot be pinpointed. This means that the technique can be just used to find if the area is contaminated by mines, but the detected rate of each single mine is not high (Sjokvist Lundberg Gu & Ulvko n. d. )System Complexity – Analysis of complex systems poses a problem when multispectral imaging is used. This tendency increases as the system complexity increases. For example , in case of mine detection, the mine field is assumed to have a near perfect alignment which is not always possible in case of real time environm ents (Sjokvist Lundberg Gu & Ulvko n. d. ) 2. Noise Vulnerability – This is one of the critical requirements of any forensic detection techniques. Multispectral image by its very nature are sensitive to any pollutants, which is why the crime scene has to be assumed to be clean from any external influences.The spectral features of any foreign body is more important that its chemical or biological properties, which raises the probability of mistakes as all environmental substances have broad spectral absorbance bands (Miskelly & Wagner 2005) 3. Complexity of analysis – A crime scene can be considered to have a limited number of objects having distinct spectral characteristics. Some experts feels that most of the individual scene should hence be individually analyzed for a accurate reproduction.This means that each scene would have different multispectral properties which would mean a different system, making the detection complex. In addition, this also calls for advance d digital signal processing techniques and the possibility of large quantities of data to be analyzed (Gordon 2001) 4. Usage in Crime Scene – While multispectral imaging is increasingly being used to analyze physical evidence, the first hand usage in crime scenes is not very popular even now. This is because the technique is much too costly for usage for normal forensic departments.In addition, the equipments are not portable enough for it to be easily taken to a crime scene (Gordon 2001) 5. Image recreation – This problem occurs at the time of image recreation. However, not every field faces this problem. In case of document forensics, where the final document has to be reconstructed, specialists observe the complete image before deciding on the parts to include. The image recreation needs human presence however. However, in case of some other forensic scene recreation, the problem might become more difficult.This is because, the image given by a multispectral analysi s is 3D in nature, though not complete. But the image presented or used by an observer is 2D. Hence, the transformation of the image and the components to select the exact transformation is not very easy (MacDonald & Luo 2002) Limitations of Multispectral Imaging Technique Multispectral image techniques need some additional technology boost before they can be successfully used for forensic applications universally. 1. Problems in analyzing details – As has been said earlier, multispectral imaging was used by satellites for recording data.From this distance, any blurring is attributed to distance and smaller details were usually not expected. When the technique was applied for analyzing objects at smaller distances, like forensic analysis of document, initially the results were satisfactory. This means that the results obtained were much better than was observed using the optical techniques employing the RGB technique. However, the problem arose when the details in the documen t were not very clear. (Hill 2005). The image size is also not that of the original image which also makes the alignment difficult.Also the many imperfections which are inherent of the real world, makes it difficult for the technique to be used in the real-time situation. Here, the contamination is almost entirely expected. The noise is however not acceptable while using the multispectral imaging technique. Researches are on for finding a suitable fusion technique which is both adaptive and intelligent enough to take care of these conditions, though it might take some time for this to actually materialize (Danien & Grant 2006) 2.Calibration Errors – There is another problem that might happen when multispectral imaging is used for analyzing details at subatomic levels. The problem is related to precision of the technique and occurs due to imperfect calibration of equipments. The errors means false data being sued as input which raises the error when the output data is analyzed . This in turn effects the spatial resolution when a simple approximation is needed for the temporal evolution. There is also a very high requirement for symmetry as the technique is primarily related to pixel information (Koch Haan & Mancini 2004) . Need for reconstruction software – An imaging software package is essential for making the final image which would be analyzed.The problems lie when this imaging software is not up to the standard. In this case, the entire advantages are in the danger of being lost. Unfortunately, the reconstruction still requires human presence despite the sophisticated software packages available. The output image deciphering from these software have proved to vbe confusing, and hence scientists prefer analyzing in the human presence wheich is a tedious process (Foy & Theiler n. d)Future Application and Trends in Multispectral imaging With the many advantages that can be achieved using Multispectral imaging techniques, the near future will see more research in this field. Forensics will now be the main focus, as because of the accuracy of data that can be found using this technique. There are however many issues that need immediate attention. The most important is the image retrieval software which is very important for the analysis of the evidence by investigators. The area is seeing lot many advances with many tools being developed that target specific areas of forensic work.The second target area is the reduction in equipment size and complexity. Use in satellites did not put a lot of restrictions to the size of the equipment. However, when it is used by investigators for crime scene detection, the size of equipment becomes important. The equipment should also be able to access spaces, meaning that it should be able to cover the entire crime scene. The interest in making smaller electronic devices with higher computer power may prove to be very helpful in this case. In addition, the research is also being done to impro ve the quality of optical systemsFinally, the multispectral imaging technique itself should be improvised such that its susceptibility to noise is reduced. In many cases like landmine detection, a prior analysis of the land is first doe before using the multispectral equipment, which is a good solution Investigators are finding that using multispectral imaging assists in the process of analyzing evidence. Sufficient research in this field to make the technology more efficient, will help it in becoming a universally accepted technology.