Monday, March 16, 2020

Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Example

Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Example Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Homosexuality and same sex marriage is one of the serious issue in our society. This essay summarize whether homosexuality and same sex marriage is still considered as a taboo or not. Taboo is any human behaviour that is normal for him/her but may not be for other. Hence, we could recognise taboo only at the time when we encounter other opposing our behaviour. Every society differs in its point of view regarding any sort of Taboo-defying behaviour. Hence homosexuality and same sex marriage is hotly debated between individuals that, should it be considered as a taboo or not?People tolerance to the behaviour like homosexuality and same sex marriage depends upon their on their present norm, values and belief system. Degree of tolerance depends upon various factors like cultural background, religion, sex, historical period and location. Media is one of the prominent factors that make people aware about any social issue. Moreover media covers any social report as their prime report. Hence there are various opinions toward media coverage upon this issue. This essay tries to summarize how media act upon this social issue and what kind of role does it play to create awareness in public.International communication has significant role to create bridge between various nations hence it is obvious that the communication between two or different nation will eventually bring sharing of social issues and make changes to it according to the demand of situation. To show the impact of international communication upon the social issue of a nation, this essay uses Australia as a case study. Essay mainly focuses on how the international communication creates a gradual improvement in the attitude of people and whole nation towards homosexuality and same sex marriage.This essay also address how cultural elements impact laws and opinion, hence it identifies what type of cultural influence may change attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. INTRODUCTION Dr. Hutton Webster defined â€Å"Taboo are prohibitions which, when violated, produce automatically in the offender a state of ritual disability – taboo sickness- only relieve, when relief is possible, by a ceremony of purification†(Wallis, 1943). Any human act is not itself considered as a taboo until other society marked it as a taboo.Hence, we could recognise taboo only at the time when we encounter anything which we could think as a normal but it might not be normal for other. Every society differs in its point of view regarding any sort of Taboo-defying behaviour. Their degree of tolerance relies on their present norm, values and belief system. Those beliefs which were considered as a Taboo may be Taboo at past but not at present. Here, the same belief and norms of society is dealt whether homosexuality and same sex marriage is considered as a taboo or not.This is a vague opinion whether to consider homosexuality and same sex marriage as a taboo or not because it depends on how indi vidual tolerate it. Those who believe that homosexuality and same sex marriage as a right to freedom and every individual has a right to choose their partner to live their life may consider it is not a taboo. But other group may think that it could bring a bad impact to society and even to human race. Some argue that, there will be very frightening consequence of homosexuality and same sex marriage if proper rules and regulation is not made on time, it may affect human race and continuity to subsequent generation.In different society still homosexuality and same sex marriage is a concern which still raises several eyebrows. Regardless of yearly homosexual parades and the judiciary’s move to make homo sexual legal, the utterance still induce powerful comeback from the society. Social scientists are enormously fascinated by the emerging issue of homosexuality and same sex marriage (Ben-Ari, 2001; Herek, 2004; Jefferson, 2010; Lee, 2011; David A. Moskowitz, 2010). According to t he 3 studies of Haslam and Levy (2006), all of the reports are related with crucial importance in attitude about homosexuality.According to them, the 3 things are the belief that homosexuality is biologically based, indisputable, and permanent near the beginning life. It is the faith that is cross-culturally as well as traditionally common; and the faith that it holds a judicious, cautious behavior pattern with defining appearance. Similarly they indicate the faint but influential function of essentialist faith in presuming common attitudes to homosexuals but also the possible defensive function of these beliefs. (Haslam amp; Levy, 2006).In another study done by (Hewitt amp; Moore, 2002), those who believe that homosexuality is a genetically or biologically caused shows little or no negative attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. But those who believe that it is not genetically acquired rather it is a habit developed in later of life as they choose it, may develop neg ative attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. During the post World War II there was various civil right movements, along with other movement homosexuality also came into existence and gain a momentum(Hekma, Oosterhuis, amp; Steakley, 1995).In one of the study done by (Herek, 2004; Raja amp; Stokes, 1998), they found that attitude towards homosexuality and same sax marriage depends upon the gender also. They found that heterosexual female were more flexible and sympathetic towards lesbian and gay rather than heterosexual male. Hence the degree of homophobia not only relates to social norm and values but also to gender attitude which confirms at which degree they treat homosexuality and same sex marriage. Similarly, Lannutti and Lachlan also came to the same conclusion that heterosexual man and women differ in their attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. Lannutti amp; Lachlan, 2007). This hypothesis was further extended by (D. A. Moskowitz, Rieger, amp; R oloff, 2010), and found that homophobia and gender are inter related i. e. gender may have a reasonable effects with the attitude towards homophobia. They presented a graph in which they correlate the relationship of homophobia and gender. Attitude towards homosexuality greatly varies between the different culture, historical periods and location. Different cultures have different norm and values which will verify whether homosexuality is appropriate or not. Since 1970s, various countries were tolerant towards homosexuality.Many people in Africa and Middle East were still denying to accept homosexuality and considered it as a taboo which was found by the The Pew Research Centers 2007 Global Attitudes Survey. Homosexuality and same sex marriage is getting more acceptable in Western Europe, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and United states. Similarly, though the acceptance could be a less majority many Latin American countries now accept homosexuality. Figure 2: Percentage of responder s that answered accepts towards homosexuality (Source: Pew Research Centers 2007 Global Attitudes Survey)CONTRIBUTION OF MEDIA TO ATTITUDE TOWARD HOMOSEXUAITY AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE Media has a prominent affect on any social issue. Media covers any social issues as their prime reports. In the same manner homosexuality and same sex marriage issue is covered by various media. How the society attitude is changing on the timely basis is covered by media. Bryati and Zillmann, 2009 present a view that though there are lots of debate going on how mass media effects public learning ability, scholars argue that mass media has prominent effect to particular issue, and attitude formation and change.There are various media awareness program in different nation and they give their view regarding the modern media like Television program and Movies whether these source of media are actually providing useful tips to the viewer or not. In the same sense, media awareness program frequently object that modern TV and Movies are providing positive feedback to sanitize the homosexuality and same sex marriage and try to hide or cover its filthy part. Nevertheless homosexuality and same sex marriage have created a great movement and achieve an enormous momentum in recent years in both media portrayal and participation in media production.The issue of homosexuality are tremendously dominant in all areas of media, covering production to consumption. Moreover, media is considered as useful tools in highlighting social issues like homosexuality and same sex marriage that they are invested in the political spot light. For example fight over gay marriage in California (Sean Sullivan, March 27 2013) regarding Supreme Court’s consideration of same-sex marriage in high-profile cases. Likewise, Media is always trying to show the gradual change in attitude of an individual towards homosexuality and same sex marriage.There are several homosexual people as a high-ranking media personality l ike Ellen Degeneres (host of one of daytime television largely admired program as well as reviewer on American Idol), Elton John (Grammy and Academy Award winning singer-songwriter), Jann Wenner (owner and publisher of Rolling Stone), David Geffen (billionaire co-founder of DreamWorks SKG), Rich Ross (studio chair of Disney). There are various popular shows in Television related to homosexuality like â€Å"Modern Family† and â€Å"The Office†.These shows are trying to give viewers a positive feedback regarding homosexual lifestyles and exhibit a growth of homosexuals in present culture. Not only TV shows but also various movies are pushing homosexuality as a desire of people is innate and we should show positive attitude towards homosexuals. The film â€Å"MILK† by Sean Penn won the Oscar of 2009 for his portrayal of gay right activist Harvey Milk. Similarly in the movie Phiadelphia which was an American drama movie of 1993 related to homosexuality and homophobi a won the various awards.This movie actually show how we treat homosexuals people in our society and try to push people out of this dilemma and make believe that homosexual people should be ranked in the same position as others. Though various research are conducted on sexual socialization, till we have little knowledge that how adolescence gain knowledge of about homosexuality. As well as how ethnicity and sex manipulate their awareness regarding homosexuality. In one of the research conducted by (Calzo amp; Ward, 2009) , they try to see the sights how parental, peer and media communication they frequently encounter about homosexuality.Their results showed that media addressed the topic homosexuality more frequently. IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION IN HOMOSEXUALITY AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE – AUSTRALIA International communication plays a vital role in changing attitude towards any social issues. Each nation see how other nation go with any social issue and try to be a part of the nation or they can give their opposite view regarding any social issue. Homosexuality and same sex marriage is a prominent social issue which every nation is facing at this time. There is gradual development in the acceptance of homosexuality.There are changing views and attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. Countries like Norway, Argentina, Canada, Portugal, Urugay, Iceland, Netherland, Sweden, South Africa, Belgium, Spain and Denmark legally recognise same sex marriage nationwide. In USA only a minority people believes that being a gay or lesbian is sinful now - a change that a Southern Baptist-allied research group associated to President Barack Obamas changed opinion of gay marriage(Bob Smietana,2013). Culture is shifting from anti gay to acceptance of same sex marriage in USA.Though homosexuality has been illegal in most countries for many centuries, we can see the gradual acceptance of it and various nations began to implement legislative reforms which allow for certain consensual homosexual acts. In case of Australia, the majority jurisdictions have responded to this inclination and have legally recognized homosexual acts between consenting adults in some cases. In 1972 South Australia became the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalize some homosexual acts. (Bull, M. , Pinto, Susan, Wilson ;amp; Paul, 1991). Further reforms were made and still continued in the area of homosexuality.The impacts of international communication are clear upon Australian law reform regarding homosexuality. Since the Australia was first settled by British in 1788, the law governing sexual behavior came from England. Every Australian States were inherited by the British anti-homosexual laws i. e. Act of 1898. In 1960s, Don Dunstan, Attorney-General in South Australia made an attempt to present the draft to decriminalize homosexual behavior but during the last hour he decided not to present the draft due to the lack of public support (Graham Carb ery, 1993).Australian criminal law stopped treating heterosexual and homosexual conduct differently in 2003. The main element in fetching the first 2 restructurings of South Australian’s anti homosexuality laws was the death of gay academic Dr George Duncan on 10th May 1972. It alerted public attention by this event which was extensive aggravation of homosexuals in Adelaide by police. If we start from 1700s, the first recorded death penalty for Sodomy was seen as guilt around 1828-63. Till 1969, it was a crime for men to engage in homosexual act in every state in Australia.In 1972 the first political activist, Gay liberation was initiated at the Sydney University. Homosexuality law reforms were passed in 1976 in Australia. Likewise in 1978 huge rally was conducted by homosexual commemorating the 9th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. New South Wales became the first state to pass the bill not to do partiality against homosexuals. Similarly, In 1984 Australian Medical Associa tions agree to remove the homosexuality from its list of illness or any mental disorder.Australian Capital Teritory (ACT) passes the Domestic Relationships Act; it was the initial authority which provides same sex relationships similar lawful status as heterosexual relation (gaytraveller. com. au). Till now Australia bans recognition of same sex marriage at federal level. All of the above mentioned histories regarding homosexuality and gradual development and acceptance of homosexuality at public and authority level are due to the influence of mass communication both at public and federal level.International communication creates a bridge between raising issue at different level and how other Nation responded to these issues. There are a long history on how Australian treated homosexuality and now how they are reforming their attitude and behavior regarding homosexuality. International communication has significantly raised the concern about homosexuality and made the government com pelled to make reforms in the laws which was on public interest. Despite the various countries had already accepted same sex marriage, Australia has not given full support same sex marriage.Still Prime Minister Gillard opposes the same sex marriage. Australian increment support for Gay marriage and international acceptance may bring changes towards the attitude of same sex marriage. It is obvious that changes should happen because the public support on gay marriage is outstanding and sooner or later it may happen. After the US President Barack Obama publicly endorsing same sex marriage in national television, there was a hope that Gillard may change her views regarding same sex marriage but it seems that Prime Minister Julia Gillard will continue to oppose gay marriage.There is not only national pressure from public or any social organization to accept homosexuality and same sex marriage. There are various international organizations which prepare certain criteria up to which level any nation can act upon any social issues. Though it is not compulsory to be under the rules of international organization, but still every nation has to be a part of international organization and follow its certain criteria. There was a claim by UN Human Right Commission that Tasmanian Legislation did partiality to homosexuals and hence it violated International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.Due to this Federal Government passes legislation, that gives public right to sexual privacy, which ultimately supersedes Tasmanian’s anti-gay laws (NSW Council for Civil Liberties). This is how international communication can create a situation to bind with certain condition and change attitude towards the social issues like homosexuality and same sex marriage. CULTURAL IMPACT ON HOMOSEXUALITY AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE There are various cultural element that may impact laws and public opinion that may influence attitudes towards homosexuality. Religion may play a significant role towards any social issues like homosexuality.Each and every person abides by their own religion and follows the code and conduct of that religion. Religion is an organized collection of belief system which when violated may be quite serious problem to any people social status. Homosexuality is still considered as a taboo in many societies, this may create a threat to homosexuals to show their inclination to homosexual behavior. For example in an Islamic Nation like Iran still homosexuality is considered as serious crime and their law orders the punishment of homosexuals acts by the death penalty(Gorton, 2002).People of western cultures are more likely to accept homosexuality than other cultures. Hence those cultures which have already accepted homosexuality may have affect on other culture to change their opinion towards homosexuality. Different religions have varying views in regard to homosexuality. Jewish, Christian, Sikh and Muslim cultures have generally recognized homosexual a ctivities as wicked. However, Hinduism and Buddhism generally view homosexuality primarily from the viewpoint of its karmic effects, with different conclusions.While having a sight upon Australian religious affect upon homosexuality, it has still captured public negative attitude towards homosexuality though there is now large majority of people accepting homo sexuality and same sex marriage. Recently PM of Australia assured that religious groups they will have the freedom under a new rights bill to discriminate against homosexuals and others they deem sinners, according to the head of the Australian Christian Lobby (Jonathan Swan, Jan 16 2013).The Australian Christian Lobby and Catholic Australian Family Association, still get up against homosexuality and same sex marriage. However The Progressive Jewish community in Australia largely supports LGBT rights. In Australia religion plays a vital role that controls the activity of homosexuality. It is obvious that those who believe reli gion as their sole source of civilization do not want to go against their religion and the views against religious institution and people. Hence still there are majority of people who believe homosexuality as wrong task.Not only religion but social control also influence heavily on public opinion towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. Internal social control like socialization and internalization of norms, values and beliefs play a significant role. External social controls like social media and media campaigns, moreover Politics, government rules, large organizations, embarrassment and stigma etc. also have a prominent affect on it. Australian Labor Party has come under a great deal of attack from LGBT for not fully supporting same-sex marriage (Luke Gaham 26 Sep 2012).This makes sense how political interference can create a situation to react to any social issues. As I had already discussed earlier about media, various campaigns and media shows about their affect on social i ssues, homosexuality, it is always trying to give public either its opinion regarding homosexuality or present public opinion of homosexuality and same sex marriage. In both case media campaign plays a vital role to control pubic attitude towards homosexuality. Social media like facebook, blog are increasingly showing increment in the popularity of homosexual and gay marriage.Media Release: Gay Marriage Rights in Australia (GMRA) reaches a historic 100,000 fans, which is one of the facebook page. This page is created to make public aware about LGBTIQ rights and to give people a clue how they can participate to establish a change in public negative attitude towards homosexuality. This page was created on May 2009, and now it is the most significant and powerful LGBTIQ right related facebook pages in Australia (gay marriage rights in Australia, www. facebook. com). There are various blogs about homosexual campaign where various fans provided their views regarding homosexuality.Similar ly different websites are on internet which periodically updated current affairs about homosexuality and how people are changing their views towards homosexuality. More over as discussed earlier there are different TV shows and movies which try to show the homosexuality as a normal practice and should be adopted by public. Educational institutes are also giving their proper attention in Australia to make homosexuality as a choice of public and hence should not be treated differently. CONCLUSIONIn the overall, Homosexuality is one of the major social issue which is hotly debated in various nation. Attitude towards homosexuality greatly varies between the different culture, historical periods and location. Media has a prominent effect on homosexuality and same sex marriage. It covers the issued related to homosexuality and make public aware about the pros and cons of homosexuality. This will eventually help public to understand homosexuality in depth and choose whether to accept it or not. On the whole media is always seemed to provide a better understanding of homosexuality.In Australia this issue is still debated. Though majority of public are accepting homosexuality as a normal behaviour still federal government has not given full right as hetero sexual couple have. Same sex marriage is not legally permitted in Australia. Australia as developed nation full of elite people is still lagging behind to solve this issue which may due to political and religious matter. But seeing the public acceptance of homosexuality we can predict that sooner or later this nation may allow same sex marriage.Last but not the least I have some of my opinion why homosexuality is so hotly debated issue and why this may be considered as a taboo in various parts of world. I think it might be an issue like homosexual cannot produce any children and as well as they are not being part of the way things are done. The way we perform marriage, our family, tribal devotion etc. were significan tly valued in prehistoric culture. So how any couple who cannot bear children can fit in this culture. Moreover, homosexuality is thought to be performed for only sexual pleasure and public believe it to be an immoral act.So in overall homosexuals were taken as the one who have not any contribution to society. Homosexuality won’t be taboo itself if people do not believe it as a sinful behaviour. People must believe that every human being should have a same right as other; no one is allowed to discriminate any one on the basis of sexual behaviour. Its sound so horrible that even people are sentenced death penalty after they are found to be homosexual which is itself a crime and even a great taboo for me. No one has right to take any one life on the basis of their sexual nature.If we believe that religion has a power to penalise any homosexual, I completely disagree that view because if god has created this world and people, it’s a wish of god to make any one homosexual or heterosexual.REFERENCES Ben-Ari, AT. (2001). Homosexuality and heterosexism: views from academics in the helping professions. British Journal of Social Work, 31(1), 119-131. Bob Smietana, January 11 2013, USA TODAY, Survey: Big drop in those who say being gays a sin, accessed on 16 April 2013 usatoday. com/story/news/2013/01/10/poll-minority-says-being-gays-a-sin/1825461/M. (2009). Contributions of parents, peers, and media to attitudes toward homosexuality: investigating sex and ethnic differences. J Homosex, 56(8), 1101-1116. Gay marriage rights in Australia, 3rd June 2011, Media Release: Gay Marriage Rights in Australia (GMRA) reaches a historic 100,000 fans, www. facebook. com, accessed on 17th April 2013 https://www. facebook. com/notes/gay-marriage-rights-in-australia/media-release-gay-marriage-rights-in-australia-gmra-reaches-a-historic-100000-fa/10150212436128560  Gorton, Don. (2002).Gay Rights in the Clash of Civilizations. (Essay). The Gay amp; lesbian review worldwi de, 9(1), 16. Graham Carbery, 1993, Towards homosexual equality in Australian criminal law: A brief history, Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives Inc, accessed on 16 April 2013    alga. org. au/files/towardsequality2ed. pdf

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Foreign Exchange Derivatives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Foreign Exchange Derivatives - Essay Example Since mny derivtives involve cross-border trding, the derivtives mrket hs led to incresed interntionl finncil frgility nd the ttendnt need for greter suprntionl governnce of derivtives. To explore these themes, I will use monetry theory of production provided by institutionlist economic theory. From the outset, institutionlist nlyses of the economic process hve incorported the impct of monetry phenomen on the production of goods nd services. Thorstein Veblen distinguished between pecuniry nd industril employments, Wesley Mitchell between mking goods nd mking money, nd John R. Commons between rel nd finncil vlues. Wht ll sought to cpture ws dilecticl reltionship between money nd mteril flows. s Dudley Dillrd put it, under mrket cpitlism "the production of goods nd services by which we live is byproduct of the expecttion of businessmen to 'mke money'" [Dillrd 1987, 1623]. In institutionl nlysis, money is described s hving functions beyond tht of medium of exchnge. Money is core component of economizing behvior under mrket cpitlism becuse it serves s the numerire by which gin my be clculted in quntittive terms, n element essentil to wht Mx Weber clled cpitl ccounting, or Kpitlrechnung. Perhps the most importnt function of money in the mrket economy rises from wht Dillrd [1987, 1625] termed its chrcteristic s specil form of property. key feture of the use of property is the power to hold or withhold. Moneyholders hve the power to grnt or withhold ccess to their money cpitl, nd it is this bility tht provides one of the mens through which monetry flows my disrupt the production process nd thereby socil provisioning. Hymn Minsky's [1986] finncil instbility hypothesis furthers the nlysis of the dilecticl reltionship between the rel nd finncil sectors. For firm to purchse physicl cpitl ssets it must often issue debt. Unlike its fixed debt obligtions, the firm's expected income flow is subject to uncertinty. Income flow depends on the level of ggregte demnd in the economy, fll in ggregte demnd being likely to cuse decline in the firm's sles nd income from which it services its debt. Should ggregte demnd fll fr enough, the firm my fce insolvency nd the instbility cn spred throughout the finncil system. It is Minsky's contention tht incresed dependence on corporte debt s mens of finncing investment in physicl cpitl hs incresed the possibility of substntil defltionry pressures should there be mjor downturn in economic ctivity. To dte, the extensive intervention of the welfre stte hs prevented recurrences of the mssive defltion experienced during the Gret Depression. Fiscl policy hs mintined dequte levels of ggregte demnd while, s the result of monetry policy, firms hve been ble to refinnce their debt, rther thn liquidte rel cpitl ssets tht hve lost vlue through defltion. Hence, s Dillrd noted [1987, 1644], n irony identified by Minsky's nlysis is tht while privte sector debt hs been destbilizing, the growth of public sector debt hs hd stbilizing effect on the rel sector of modern economies. The monetry theory of production my be extended to n nlysis of the interntionl economy. Ntionl centrl bnks hve used their lender of lst resort cpcities to provide short-term liquidity to bnks involved in interntionl finncil mrkets. The Finncil Derivtives Mrket Finncil derivtives re finncil contrcts

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Legal studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Legal studies - Essay Example Law provides a basis for the details of day to day life like contract of sale whenever we indulge in sales and current affairs like governmental proceedings and regulations etc. Chesterman and Rhoden stated that many students opted legal studies because they are attracted to understand the forces that shape the society and others would like to enjoy the thought of getting their hands on those forces (3). Law has wide influence on our social life and this is a reason why many students choose Law schools and Law colleges. Garth and Sarat argued that Law has more pervasive influence in structuring society and Law can be seen as a way of organizing the world into categories and concepts (2). Legal studies and gaining a graduation in Law has been considered to be a respectful education level. Students who choose Legal studies perceive Law as a useful tool for justice and same time they see Law as a respectful and rewarding career opportunity. A society with diverse aspects and concepts will flourish only if the society members respect different opinions and if they are wise to think of mutual commitments to public discourse for solving conflicts and disagreements. The current situations of global business and modern economic complexities require that Law is always a matter of concern. International trade laws, intellectual property laws, human rights laws and so on form part of fundamental legal establishments that play vital role in today’s business world. In order to meet the requirements and make use of growing opportunities, ‘Legal studies’ thus has become one of the most significant requirements of the time. Learning Law requires mental skirmish at Law schools and law colleges. Many students find it difficult and same time many enjoy this mental skirmish. In learning Law, it is inevitable to extract conclusions from various legal cases and incidents and to understand the reasons for the rules.

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Influenza Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Influenza - Essay Example The disease attacks the respiratory system, is spread by inhaling droplets and these droplets are spread when an infected, contagious person sneezes and/or contaminated hands and/or surfaces are touched and then the virus gains entry into the body. The disease has a 1-2 day incubation period and symptoms displayed can include the following: â€Å"†¦ malaise, myalgia †¦ fever lasting a few days and respiratory symptoms of varied intensity† (Kuszewski & Brydak, 2000, 188). Some of the complications that can develop from contracting the disease are myocardial infections or pneumonia (Kuszewski & Brydak, 2000, 189). Individuals with low immune systems, the young and the old, are particularly susceptible to the disease. Epidemiologically, an influenza outbreak occurs when there are higher than normal levels of infected persons, a low rate of mortality and very few complications. In a pandemic situation, the death rate is quite high and there are numerous complications and , sometimes, depending on the severity of the pandemic, there are short and long-term effects on an economy.The Centres for Disease Control define the social determinants of health as â€Å"†¦the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work, and age, as well as the systems put in place to deal with illness†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The CDC further notes that the above circumstances are strongly influenced by â€Å"†¦economics, social policies, and politics†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (CDC, 2014). In other words, the disease does not occur in isolation but is influenced by the manner in which individuals live.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Nortel Meridian :: essays research papers

INPUT/OUTPUT CRASH COURSE Meridian crash course faq798-5880 Posted: 20 May 05 (Edited 3 Jun 05) Programming Meridian SL1 PBX This is a short introduction into programming a Meridian PBX. The Meridian PBX's software divides information into LOADS. Each Load has a specific function for example. LD 20 is where you can print information about phones. The loads range from LD 01 - LD 143 How to HyperTerminal in to the PBX and VOICEMAIL Systems. 1. Launch HyperTerminal 2. Set phone number to your modem dialin number 3. Set terminal emulation to VT102 X Modem 4. Dial†¦ it should end up at a blank HyperTerminal window 5. Type the password to access the PBX modem. This will not show up on the screen when you type it. The screen should now display â€Å"Ok, You are now transparent to port 1†. 6. Type â€Å"logi† to login, then the password. 7. You should now have a > command prompt. To go from PBX commands to VOICEMAIL (in Hyperterminal) 1. Go to â€Å"File†, â€Å"Properties†, â€Å"Settings† and set the terminal emulation to VT100. 2. At the >, type â€Å"AX† 3. Hit â€Å"F1† to bring up the command bar at the bottom. 4. Hit â€Å"F1† again to Logon To go from VOICEMAIL back to PBX (in Hyperterminal) 1. EXIT all the way out of VOICEMAIL, back to where F1 says â€Å"logon† (lower left button) 2. Go to â€Å"File†, â€Å"Properties†, â€Å"Settings† and set the terminal emulation to VT52. 3. hit â€Å"Ctrl ]† TO EXIT IMPORTANT – Do NOT exit HyperTerminal until you have logged out of BOTH the VOICEMAIL and PBX Command System (â€Å"logo† is the PBX logout command) Basic commands LOGI = LOG IN LOGO = LOG OUT **** = TO CLOSE LOAD ** = RETURN TO REQ PROMPT ERR SCHXXXX = Explanation of error code ( ovl†¦sch†¦) DNB = DIRECTORY NUMBER (DN) a.k.a. phone extension ex: 2300 TNB = TERMINAL NUMBER (TN) (port number on the switch) = i.e. 24 00 02 05 - 24=Loop 00=Shelf 02=Card 05=Unit = *Please note: Enter "spaces" between the numbers: CUST: Customer number (almost always "0" unless you have more then one customer set up) Short Cut's For Option 11's: When entering the "TN" information you don't have to insert all the 0's. i.e. 09 00 00 02 would only be 9 2. ============================================================ Logging in: Be carful not to log in more than 3 time incorrectly, If you see OVL400 this means you are locked out for up to 45 Minutes. You should see this when you press return:">" or "OVL000"

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Red bull Essay

Red Bull is a functional beverage founded by Austrian entrepreneur, Dietrich Mateschitz, in 1984. Containing ingredients such as taurine and caffeine, Red Bull beverages are specially developed for those who wish to be physically and mentally active. The various product variants under Red Bull aim to enhance performance, concentration and stimulate metabolism which improves the overall well-being of consumers. Red Bull is currently present in over 162 countries, and holds 65% of the worldwide energy drink market. With a witty slogan â€Å"Red Bull gives you wings†, the product is marketed through advertising, extreme sports tournament sponsorships, sports team ownerships, athlete endorsements, online games and a record label, Red Bull Records. However, in the fast progressing beverage industry cluttered with many substitutes and large competitors, Red Bull might face issues concerning its lack of product variability as well as arising health concerns with regards to its high caffeine content. In order to tackle these issues, we will first conduct a SWOT analysis to determine the internal and external environment which Red Bull is operating in. Secondly, we will conduct an in-depth analysis on Red Bull’s market structure and control systems to determine if these systems are effective complementing strategy implementation. Lastly, we will provide relevant recommendations to address the issues and problems faced by Red Bull in its strive expand and grow globally. 2.0 SWOT Analysis of Red Bull Strengths †¢ Market share leadership with approximately 65% market share in the energy drinks market. †¢ Strong reputation especially backed up by strong customer loyalty from Generation Y †¢ Strong brand identity since its incorporation in 1987 with steady growth into a market giant and is now synonymous with brand and product excellence. Weakness †¢ Small product base as Red Bull markets only 4 branded products (Red Bull Energy Drink, Red Bull sugarfree, Red Bull energy shot and Red Bull Cola), therefore vulnerable to market fluctuations †¢ Lack of product innovation thus being left behind when a number of new energy drinks have been launched in 2004. Opportunities †¢ Could diversify retail outlets and distribution network by means of capitalizing on vending machines as a new route to increase sales as well as keep up with industry trends. †¢ Potential to extend product lines by adding new products, such as new flavours, forms, colours, added ingredients and packages sizes. †¢ Marketing their products as functional drinks so as to capitalize on strong consumer awareness of its brand. †¢ Geographical expansion in the Asia Pacific regions by building upon developing markets such as India. Threats †¢ Imminent threat of new entrants as the energy drink industry has always been considerably attractive due to its high profit margin †¢ Near zero switching cost for consumers makes it even easier and more attractive for new entrants to capture market share †¢ Real threat of substitute products which serve the same functional purpose of Red Bull but main ingredient of caffeine replaced by electrolytes, which is a healthier choice. †¢ Government regulations could pose as a threat to the expansion and penetration plans of  Red Bull as their products is not just another flavoured beverage in the market; the high caffeine content in the drink has always been a concern to certain interest groups. †¢ Recent popularity with organic food and drinks products could eat into Red Bull’s market share, especially when Red Bull’s market is seen to be in the maturing stage. 3.0 Analysis of Red Bull’s Market Structure and Control Systems 3.1 Market Structure 3.1.1 The number of players in the Energy Drink Market  Red Bull belongs to an oligopoly market structure where the market is dominated by a few large players. The degree of market concentration is relatively high with a large % of it taken up by Red Bull. There are currently more than 30 types of energy-drink products in the market, with Red Bull occupying the largest market share of approximately 65%. With the number of players in the market, there is therefore certain degree of interdependence between firms and it is necessary for Red Bull to take into account the likely reactions of other firms during strategy planning. 3.1.2 The Degree of Product Differentiation in the Market Being in an oligopoly market structure, Red Bull produces branded products where advertising and marketing is an important feature of competition. The different types of energy drinks in the market serve as close substitutes to Red Bull. Hence, Red Bull presents itself as a premium product, having â€Å"a unique combination of high quality ingredients† (Red Bull, n.d.) which â€Å"vitalizes body and mind† (Red Bull, n.d.). It segments its market differently from its competitors, focusing on performance-oriented individuals who want to have a clear, focused mind and a fun and active lifestyle. This has resulted in Red Bull pricing its product higher than its competitors. For instance, an 8.4 fl oz. can of Red Bull retail for $2.59 whereas a 16 fl oz. can of Rockstar retails for $1.50, which constitute to about half the price per fl oz. as compared to Red Bull. 3.1.3 The Ease of Entry and Exit Into And Out Of the Energy Drink Market There are huge, though not insurmountable, barriers to entering the energy drink market. One prevalent barrier is brand loyalty which Red Bull has built up over the years. This strong brand loyalty has the effect of reducing consumer  consideration of alternatives in the marketplace. Also, the high initial capital cost associated with research and development prior to formulating energy drinks could deter potential competitors from entering the market. In addition, government policies pertaining to licensing and patents create the biggest barrier to entry, which aids in the dominance Red Bull enjoys today. 3.2 Marketing Control System In order to ensure that the company’s objectives are achieved, Red Bull markets its energy drink in three ways, namely the media advertising, sports and event sponsoring as well as sampling. The three marketing techniques not only increase the brand awareness of Red Bull, but assist the management in terms of market control. Additionally, Red Bull also performs control techniques in the following ways. 3.2.1 Intensive Research Work Firstly, Red Bull conducts on-going research to determine if consumers are satisfied with its product. This includes sampling to its primary target market – tired people who need energy. Through sampling, consumers are able to provide feedback on the product, essentially its taste, packaging and effects. If there is negative feedback received, Red Bull will then look for ways to improve so as to meet consumer needs. 3.2.2 Internal Statistics Secondly, Red Bull uses statistics such as sales, revenue and market share to assess if its marketing strategies are successful. Based on analysis, a total of 4,204 billion cans of Red Bull were sold worldwide in 2010, which signifies an increase of 7.6% against 2009 (Red Bull, n.d.). This can be one of the factors indicating that Red Bull is heading in the right direction in marketing its product. 3.2.3 Marketing and Pricing Strategies Thirdly, Red Bull employs advertising strategies that are suitable to its primary target market. Hence, at this moment, Red Bull does not need to adjust its strategies to change consumer perception. Nonetheless, if Red Bull has decided to introduce new uses for its product, changes have to be made to the advertising strategies to market the new uses. However, unlike most companies which adopt pricing strategies that involve adjusting the  product prices to meet market changes so as to remain competitive, Red Bull does otherwise. Consumer reviews state that Red Bull is being priced steeper as compared to other energy drinks in the market. Despite that, Red Bull continues to maintain its premium price as it has positioned itself as a premium product. 4.0 Solutions and Recommendations Q1. Red Bull should construct a market-oriented mission statement, focusing on customer needs rather than products. A product-centered mission statement is too myopic and does not reflect the long-lasting basic market need. Red Bull’s mission statement has to reflect the company’s core product, position in the market, distinctive competencies, and lastly, it has to be motivating. Our group proposal of Red Bull’s mission statement: â€Å"As a market leader, Red Bull promotes an active lifestyle by providing high-quality energy drinks to the global market, empowering our customers to live to their fullest potential and have the courage to achieve their dreams.† Q2. Red Bull has managed to identify the best target market. Red Bull has segmented the market as follows: Demographic segmentation Red Bull is targeting young teenagers to busy working adults. It targets students who often suffer from exhaustion, blue collared workers who require strength for their manual jobs, and office professionals, who require concentration to focus in meetings and their respective work. Psychographic segmentation Red Bull targets markets based on the consumers’ lifestyles. These consumers include party-goers, sportsmen and gamers. In terms of the personalities of the customers, Red Bull targets those who are able to connect with the brand image of Red Bull, which is to live with zest and lead a fun, happening and risk-taking lifestyle. Product – Red Bull does not have a wide variety of flavours – only original, sugar free, cola and Red Bull shot. The rationale for this is mainly to establish a clear core product. Furthermore, Red Bull is recognized as an energy drink that gives a strong and immediate energy boost to improve performance. In terms of design and packaging, a Red Bull can is small and easy to carry which is chromed, making it reflective and hence, it can catch a customer’s eye easily. As for recommendations, Red Bull could produce an alcoholic beverage of its own, which can be sold over-the-shelf in stores. This would be able to create new product that mixes Red Bull and alcohol. Thus, the non-party-goers can have a taste of an alcoholic Red Bull as well. Promotion – One of the most well-known activities that Red Bull has been involved in for many years is Formula 1. This is a form of above-the-line advertising done by Red Bull to increase consumer awareness of Red Bull. Other than that, Red Bull also engages in â€Å"Opinion Leader Marketing† by having more than 250 agreements with top athletes. This is to attract people who follow and look up to these athletes. Red Bull’s strategy of attracting celebrities to endorse their products is very unique because they do not pay the celebrities a single cent. Instead, they approach athletes who support Red Bull wholeheartedly. Q5. Red bull’s competitors come in two forms – direct and indirect. This is measured by how close these competing products are in relation to Red Bull’s. The direct competitors would be those who produce similar utility/functional products, such as Monster, Rockstar and Naughty G. Indirect competitors would be other drinks that are somewhat similar but do not give the same benefits as Red Bull. Examples would be Pepsi and Coke (caffeinated and soft drinks, but not energy drinks) and 100 Plus and H20(sports and soft drinks, but not caffeinated). Clearly indirect competitors are furthest away in terms of substitutability. Examples are Nescafe (caffeine only), Sprite (soft drink only) and Gatorade (sports drink only). Q6. Currently, we think Red Bull’s marketing strategy is already very successful. In relation to how Red Bull reaches out to ‘tired’ and ‘exhausted’ people by giving them free samples, we feel there might not be such a strong need to raise more awareness about the product as it has already established itself adequately. Instead, Red Bull can invest in product Research and Development, which might enable Red Bull to introduce more flavours and variety to its current line of products. Red Bull can introduce â€Å"limited edition† flavours, where they can bring in new flavours for a limited period of time, and then see how well the sales of the new flavours turn out to be before deciding to permanently add them to their product line. For example, Red Bull can come out with a product comprising of natural ingredients, such as Siberian/American Ginseng(natural alternatives to caffeine), or add in some vitamins like vitamin C to its existing products , which might capture more of the ‘health-conscious’ consumers. Furthermore, this might attract Asian consumers who prefer traditional/herbal ingredients. Control measures: Analysis of how the market share amongst Asian consumers is affected(look at sales, growth, etc.). Red Bull can also give free samples to consumers, just like how it does for its existing products through its Red Bull vehicles. Along with their free samples, they can conduct surveys on the consumers and ask for their feedback. Also, they can conduct online surveys, as the use of online social media is largely pervasive today. Red Bull can build a theme park comprising of extreme rides. It can aim to break the world records for the highest roller coaster drop or have the fastest ride. In this theme park, it can also provide complementary Red Bull drinks to its visitors. This will also be a great avenue for new flavours to be sampled. Such an extreme theme park would create much buzz all around the world, and people who visit the theme park will definitely share their extreme experiences with their friends. Thus, Red Bull would have come out with another form of its already famous buzz marketing. Control measures: By calculating the theme park’s return on marketing investment. Building such a theme park has a lot of fixed costs, like the costs of land and constructions. Hence, it is easy to calculate total cost. Furthermore, sales can also be easily calculated by simply looking the number of tickets sold. Therefore, it would be easy to calculate the theme park’s return on marketing investment. ​ Q7. Small Asian Businesses have relatively lower financial power as compared to big companies. They face difficulty competing with the big companies given similar products. To simply put it, they are the small ‘fishes’ regardless of the size of the market. Firstly, like Red bull, they can focus on a small product base and differentiate their products from the competitors’. They can identify the right market segments and target markets which have been relatively untouched and fit their products to be the most attractive for the consumers in their targeted markets. Like Red Bull, small Asian businesses should create an efficient Marketing Informatics Systems (MIS) and have an  appropriate mix of marketing research and intelligence, so that they are constantly able to discover new opportunities and cater to the needs of consumers, and at the same time be aware of their competitors’ strategies. Also, small Asian businesses can adopt Red Bull’s stealth marketing approach. This eliminates costs such as large scale advertising costs coming from big billboards or banners for example. Red Bull has also shown through stealth marketing that doing something unorthodox and not merely following what everyone else does can also lead to success. Therefore, small Asian businesses can draw inspiration from this and be creative and brave in their marketing strategies. References http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Red-Bull-Energy-Drink/001242937921959 Drawert. http://www.drawert.com/red_bull_1.php

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

College Is Not For Everyone - 1286 Words

Ever since you can remember, you have been attending school, either because your parents said so, it s required by the government, or because you really want to further your education. When senior year approaches your future is literally in your hands. You are trying to decide which route to take. Should you take the route that most kids take after graduation; college, or should you chose your own path. You began to consider the cost, the effectiveness, and other problems associated with college which makes you start to reconsider if college is actually worth it. You have to decide whether to go to college, an alternative institute, or to get a job. Your dreams are big and you know the chances of achieving them are less if you do not receive a college degree. After all, a college degree is a life necessity, depending on what your dreams are. Not everyone would agree with the sentence above, especially Charles Murray. Charles Murray, a political scientist and author, believes college is not for everyone. Murray himself writes, But while it is true that the average person with a B.A. makes more than the average person without a B.A., getting a B.A. is still going to be the wrong economic decision for many high school graduates. I have to disagree with Murray on that because he overlooks the fact that when one is investing in college, one is investing in their self. The result of a college degree weighs much more than the initial investment. In the end it is all worthShow MoreRelatedIs College For Everyone? Essay1164 Words   |  5 Pages In her article â€Å"Is College for Everyone?† blogger and college professor Pharinet discusses the value of a college education and debates whether or not it is worth it to pursue a continued education. The author’s purpose for writing this article is to attempt to change a popular societal opinion that it is necessary to attend college in order to succeed. 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