Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Education in Teen Pregnancy Essay

Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Education in Teen Pregnancy - Essay Example According to studies that were aimed at providing scientific evidence for evaluation and decision making with regard to preventing teenage pregnancy for the whole nation; it was concluded by specialists that the sex education in teen pregnancy approach is efficient and effective in curbing teenage pregnancy as compared to abstinence only. The relationship between sex education, teen pregnancy and birth rates need to be taught to the teens if the situation is to be salvaged (Stanger-Hall and Hall, 2011). Consequently, other critical influences like socio-economic status, education, cultural activities, and access to contraceptives through Medicaid waivers should be critically analyzed. However, this is not taken into consideration across the nation; the emphasis are on abstinence laws rather than sex education. The teen pregnancy, abortion and birth data significantly shows that higher levels of abstinence education strongly culminates into higher levels of abstinence character hence resulting into decreased pregnancies among teenagers (Stanger-Hall and Hall, 2011). In the same line of argument, other factors as earlier mentioned impact severely on teenage pregnancy. For instance educational attainment, Ethnic composition, and socio-economic status have a hand in either alleviating or aggravating the situation. Medicaid waivers for family planning have been found to significantly reduce unplanned pregnancies especially among low income women and among teenagers (Stanger-Hall and Hall, 2011). Through comprehensive research and analysis it has been established that although elaborate sex education in the US has resulted in lower teen pregnancy rates, these rates are still high as compared to teen pregnancy levels in Europe. This is mainly associated with poor laws and policies that do not advocate for sex and STD education to

The death penalty Essay Example for Free

The death penalty Essay During act1 the play starts were a group of people in Salem go dancing in the woods with a slave woman called Tituba, Reverrand Parris sees this but is spotted doing so, the girls run away.  The next day reverrand Parris is beside Betty who is ill, the doctor suspects the girl has been taken over by supernatural forces. Parris questions Abigail, who was with her, he asks her about witchcraft and Tituba, he then sends for reverrand Hale, an authority on witchcraft. Mr Mrs Putnam see how Betty is and says that she sent her daughter Ruth to raise spirits of her dead babies to see who murdered them so that is another reason for the happenings in the woods that night. Later the girls who were dancing in the woods joined Betty beside her bedside, theyre all woried that they may be tried for witchraft. Abigail has them on their own, she slaps Betty to try to sustain her, she also worns the other girls not to breath a word of when she drank blood in the woods, she uses scare tactics. Abigail and Proctor starts talking about their affair and their affections for each other, while Betty is next to them in bed hearing every word they say, Betty then screams to stop them. Parris, Rebbecca, and Giles come to see whats happened with Betty, Rebbecca manages to restrain her. Parris wants to have a witch hunt, but proctor doesnt believe in witches, they start to argue. The Putnams continue to disagree with the rest of the towns people of Salem about land rights, which creates a lot of tension.  Reverrand Hale tries to wake Betty but doesnt succeed, he then turns to Abigail questions her about the witchery, in hesitation shes quick to accuse Tituba. She accuses two others, realises Titubas escape by naming others, she chants the names of the other girls in the villiage that she believes has seen the devil, Hale is pleased shes confessed and tells her to continue talking. Crucible: A melting pot where basic elements are mixed together to give an explosive force.  This is the title of the play, I think this title is very fitting with the contents of the play, it seems to be like when the characters (basic elements) are put together, they produce arguments, action, tension, fear(explosive force).  Arthur Millers background He was born in New York, 17th October 1915, he was brought up in the brooklyn area. His father owned a clothing factor which collapsed, following this lead Arthur Miller to produce the play Death of a salesman and A view from a bridge set in Brooklyn. During his college years he managed to write plays although he had college and other jobs at the same time.  His first success was All my sons which was about a father forced to realise dangerous moral comprimises changing the American dream of wealth. His biggest hit was Death of a salesman in 1949 which won the Pulitzer Prize. The crucible won an award in 1953, but wasnt an immediate commercial success, this was the time of Mc Carthyism. Mc Carthyism is an issue in which to consider in the play, with Salem being a very theocratic society. In the arrly 1950s Joseph McCarthy, a senator, managed to create a national campaign against communists, ex-communists and anyone who assoiated with them. He made many unfounded statements about the numbers of secret communists in important positions, as chairman of a senate commitee he interrogated many witnesses and tried to make them inform on friends and colleagues. As the anti-communist hysteria increased many people were hounded from their jobs or were prevented from working. McCarthys unproven accusations and aggresive interrogations gradually brought him into disrepute. Witchcraft is an important scene in which act 1 is dramatic, witchcraft was a serious matter in those days, and even more in a religious community. Witchery led to deaths, fall outs, false accusations, murders, tortures, exectutions, being burnt etc which if used in the play, which it was, it can be used to build extreme dramatic situations which can have a powerful effect on the audience. Witches were thaught to be in league with the devil, who was their master, the devil/satan is believed to roam the world for human souls to tempt into hell. He is a supreme enemy of everything thats good and holy. The Christian churches persued and persicuted supposed witches. A common test for a person accused for being a witch was pricking with a needle. All witches were supposed to have somewhere on their bodies, a mark made by the devil himself which was insensitive to pain. Any who were found guilty suffered the death penalty. Whichcraft trials in Salem were common, I think Arthur Miller used it in his play to worry the audience into thinking death was appartant and inevitable, when witchery was present. Whenever death is present in a play, the dramatic tension is bound to rise because death is a most serious matter to anyone. If ever witchery or satanic happenings occured in Salem, it would most probably be taken to court until someone was proven guilty and hanged, maybe Arthur Miller knew this and thaught that the audience would know it too? therefore rising the dramatic tension in the play.

Tourism Crisis Management Techniques Tourism Essay

Tourism Crisis Management Techniques Tourism Essay Today the inescapable media exposes even the most impromptu viewer to our current world of hazard, disaster and crisis; from Northern Africa and the Middle Easts political unrest and upheaval, to earthquakes in New Zealand, Turkey and Haiti, cyclones and floods in Australia and the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. It was once believed that whichever countries controlled the worlds oil reserves would forever prosper however with the realisation that the supply is not ever ending many UAE States such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi have turned to tourism to secure a continued future income into the country. Tourism is facing an ever increasing threat from crises coming in all shapes and forms, causing it to become even more necessary to develop effective disaster prediction and management plans with an instantaneous recovery strategy to mitigate the impact of any crisis. The nature of the tourism environment will be shown highlighting its global importance whilst introducing different causes an d types of crises supported with numerous examples. Alongside this the hardships faced by the industry and the techniques use to minimise the impact will also be seen. The events of the first decade of the 21th century may lead one to believe that it is a bleak time for the tourism industry and a recessive time for the overall tourism environment however even despite the current economic crisis, to which tourism is not immune, the World Tourism Organization forecasts 1.6 billion international tourists by the year 2020. The importance of world tourism is reflected by The World Travel and Tourism council, whose figures show that the contribution of the Travel and Tourism Economy to GDP was 9.3% in 2010 and will rise to 9.7% by 2020. Cabrini (2010) expressed that tourism is not only important economically it also important for human development as it provides income to some of the worlds poorest people. The extraordinary growth of tourism requires increasing attention from all stakeholders on its sustainability and contribution to world development. Over time, an ever increasing number of destinations have opened up and invested in tourism development , turning modern tourism into a key driver for socio-economic progress through the creation of jobs and enterprises, infrastructure development and the export revenues earned. It is believed that the majority of the tourism in the world is international however the large majority of international travel takes place within the travellers own region, with about four out of five world arrivals originating from the same region. As economic development permeates through the Chinese middle class, so does the demand for new destinations with, in 2010, China having the worlds largest domestic tourism market. Their ethos can be summed up by the British journalist, novelist and poet Gilbert Keith Chesterton, the whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on ones own country as a foreign land. The SARS epidemic in 2003 was one of the most serious public health crises of a decade having the potential to seriously damage or even freeze the tourism industry in China. Crisis management techniques which are strategies, processes and measures which are planned an put into force to prevent and cope with crises (Glaesser, 2006) were immediately implemented and after initially stalling and prevaricating causing the tourism industry to suffer for more than three months, the Chinese government managed to control SARS before it became a global catastrophe. This accomplishment required political will, national mobilisation and a series of support policies such as the exemption of administrative, operation and construction taxes, the provision of discount loans and quality assurance deposits to travel agencies (Dombey, 2004). China also developed its own practice of domestic tourism policies such as promotional campaigns like the 2009 China domestic travel fair in April 2009, partnerships like the collaboration between provinces themselves and national and provincial tourism administrators; they also implemented fiscal policies, investing around US$140 million and price cutting where Beijing started to issue two million free tickets of scenic spots to domestic tourists along with longer national holidays (Li, S.N 201 0). Source markets for international tourism are still largely concentrated in the industrialized countries of Europe, the Americas and Asia and the Pacific, however, with rising levels of disposable income, many emerging economies have shown fast growth over recent years. Tourism as a product is itself a function of risk, which is a perceived probability of negativity associated with a tourists behaviour or destination choice. Risk is not a tangible aspect of travel; it is what tourists perceive and experience during the process of purchasing and consuming tourism related services and while being at the destination (Cooper et al, 2008). Travel risk has a great influence on a tourists decision and if the risk perceptions are too high than a destination can suffer greatly as risk averse tourists, who have a diminishing marginal utility, are deterred from the visiting. Tourism is an economic sector whose response to negative events is like no other, it has an above average sensitivity and is more susceptible to shocks and disruptions due to it being a highly perishable sector, requiring consumers to travel to a destination and the environment in which the destination is in. Tourism can be seen as a vulnerable industry for that its particular size and structure means that a large amount of little companies will be needed to provide a tourism experience that are all interdependent on one another. As tourism is a global industry even a country not directly related to a crises can easily be affected, for example even though 9/11 occurred in the US there was a snowball effect which caused not only the worst impact on the worldwide tourism industry since World War II, but also demonstrated how terrorism was able to trigger a slowdown of the whole worlds economy (Ali 2010). A greater number of countries are interlinked and have a degree of inseparability meaning that you cant separate a tourism experience from its place of production with Buhalis (2000) believing a destination is an amalgam of tourism services and experiences; also having to get tourists to the destination increases the level of risk by increasing volumes of people. The places in which tourism is located also increases its vulnerability, such as coastlines, and that the power of one natural disaster such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami whipped out all tourism amenities and accommodation, with world nations needing to provide over US$14 Billion in aid for damage regions (Jayasuriya 2010). Ski resorts are also another example, as mountains themselves are more hazardous than urban areas, but crisis management techniques, actions taken by firms in an attempt to control the progress and outcome of a crises (Laws 2006) are regularly imposed such as controlled avalanches. This example highlights that fundamentally crisis management should be embraced in a management system rather than as a threat moving away from it being a management reactive response. Tourist places are also affected by climate change, nowhere more so than the Seychelles and Maldives in the Indian Ocean which are both economically dependent on tourism, with the latters very existence being really threatened with rising sea levels. Tourism is also very sector specific relying heavily on transport and any disaster in this industry will have a great effect on tourism with the ash could over Europe in April 2010 grounding flights and closing airports. Crisis management strategies were instigated no more impressively so than KLM who took the chance to adopt social media to manage this crisis by using its Facebook page. It addressed every single wall post promptly providing much timely information to customer service with regards to re-booking, detailed reports and location specific information (Tan 2010). Tourist destinations are also often seen as soft targets for terrorism as tourists are easy to spot and stand out from natives in any area. They are essentially a big target in a small area for example in October 2002 a few bars in the tourist district of Kuta in Bali was targeted killing 202 people. If terrorist have a political motive targeting tourist is a influential way as there will be a mass influence on the media. Tourisms importance can also be seen in its intra and inter linked nature in figure 3, whether its with other tourism organisations and destinations or with governments and other industries. Figure 3 The tourism environment For example a British tour operator may use an Australian flag carrier to fly to Singapore and utilise a local transfer company to get to the Hong Kong based Shangri-La hotel. Leipers (1979) model of tourism takes into account all these stakeholders and includes all the elements intrinsic for a tourist to travel. Its power is inherent as it places tourism in the context of various external environments such as society, politics and economies which are fundamental for crisis management as these must all be assed when one takes place. A typical large scale disruption will force complex movements away from previous relationships which will then usually tend towards stability and equilibrium with Keown-McMullan (1997) noting that organisations and the way in which they interlink will undergo significant changes even when they are successful in managing a crisis situation. During and after a crisis, the destination and its organisations also have to manage their ongoing relations with oth ers in its network of partners. It is often the case that many services will have to be cancelled at very short notice, but, apart from the contractual obligations between partners, there are more fundamental issues of trust and reciprocity. Support organisations are also likely to make considerable efforts beyond their contractual responsibilities to assist in dealing with the problems that result from a crisis. Competitors often come together and provide extra resources to support a fellow member of the tourism industry. There has been an increase in the number of natural catastrophes from 20 in the 1950s to 91 in the 1900s and over 1000 in the 2000s (Glaesser, 2006) such as earthquakes in New Zealand in 2011 and Chile in 2010. Their impact on the world especially on the tourism industry has been heightened due to continued exponential population growth, climate change and human technological achievements. Tourism can also be plunged into crises due to manmade circumstances such as war, the 2000 coup in Fiji, disease and epidemic, the 2001 Foot-and-mouth outbreak in the UK and SARS across Asia 2002-2004, transport, the Air France Concorde crash in 2000, political and economic, the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 and recent events in Northern Africa and the Middle East, acts of terrorism, 9/11 and the bombings in Bali in 2002. It may be thought that the words crisis, disaster, catastrophe and hazard are all synonyms for each other however they all have very different meanings. Catastrophes are negative events which in contrast to a crisis have a clear inevitable outcome thus missing a crisis ambivalence of development and restructuring opportunities ex post. A hazard can be thought of as a lower level problem that would not in itself deter tourists from a destination but could be the swaying factor in a decision which was already uncertain; for example for a risk averse or neutral tourist. Smith (1995, from Ritchie 2004) believed that a disaster would spring from a hazard and that there are no such things as natural disasters only natural hazards with a disaster being the realisation of a hazard and its impact on society. A disaster and crisis can be similar as they both involve an event, natural or manmade, which impacts with such severity that the affected community, organisation or group has to respond by taking exceptional measures. There is often confusion when a crisis results as cause from a disaster with Falkner (2001) making the distinction that a crisis has some degree of being self inflicted through problems such as inept management structures and practices or a failure to adapt to change whilst a disaster has an element of no control as an enterprise is confronted with a sudden unpredictable catastrophic change. Some places may be associated with greater travel risk than others and thus even without an actual crisis taking place travellers may be deterred from that destination. In the context of tourism the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has defined a tourism crisis as any unexpected event that affects traveller confidence in a destination and interferes with its ability to continue operating normally and Sonmez (1998) as any occurrence which can threaten the normal operations and conduct of tourism related businesses, damage a tourist destinations overall reputation for safety, attractiveness and comfort by negatively affecting visitors perceptions of that destination and, interrupt the continuity of business operations for the local travel and tourism industry by the reduction in tourist arrivals and expenditures. These two definitions focus on the direct impact of the event itself however Beriman (2003) expressed a tourism crises as a situation requiring radical management action in response to events beyond the internal control of the destination, necessitating urgent adaptation of marketing and operational practices to restore the confidence of emp loyees, associated enterprises and consumers in the viability of the destination. Glaesser (2006) saw a crisis as an undesired, extraordinary, often unexpected and timely limited process with ambivalent development possibilities. It demands immediate decisions and countermeasures in order to influence the further development again positively for the organisation/destination and to limit the negative consequences as much as possible. A crisis situation is determined by evaluating the seriousness of the occurring negative events, which threaten, weaken or destroy competitive advantages or important goals of the organisation. In order to pursue the effectiveness of crisis management techniques on impact mitigation, we shall focus on the latter two definitions as they not only focus on the direct impact but also the ex post responses. Figure 6 below highlights the impact of any crisis showing that numerous parties would be affect due to tourisms interlinked nature. Figure 6 The various spheres of activity In observing that our environment appears to have become increasingly tumultuous and with the number of crisis increasing, Richardson (1994) suggested that this may not only because we live in a more complex and crowded world but because we have more powerful technology that has a real capacity to generate disasters, which complicates the process of isolating cause and effect relationships. Thus the boundaries between natural and manmade disasters are becoming increasingly blurred which needs to be taken into account in any analysis and critical evaluation. Ali (2010) highlighted that recently crisis management in the tourism industry seems to have received more attention in the generic fields of management and crisis management, whereas Henderson (2003) believed that despite the expanding literature in the field, the interaction between crisis and tourism in its multiples forms still appeared under-researched in comparison to other dimensions with scope for further scrutiny in pursuit of a better understanding. Sonmez (1998) argued that although there has been a large advocation of the necessity of crisis management efforts, few have explored solutions and preventative solutions possibly due to the grandeur of the task. Ritchie (2004) insisted that due to the different paradigmatic positions in crisis management, research must explore the attitudes and opinions of mangers and policy makers in both the private and public sector in order to test different models and concepts in the field. To see how crises are managed and whether the met hods employed are effective we must understand that there are many different stages. One of the most extensive works done was by Faulkner (2001) who developed a disaster management framework in tourism that provided a six-phase process. The first is the pre-event phase in which disaster contingency plans, scenarios and probability assessments play a major role in the disaster management strategy. Although the actual timing, location and severity of natural disasters cannot be accurately predicted it is possible to learn from the past to pre-plan emergency procedures and to mitigate the severity of such events by adopting appropriate building codes, escape routes and alternative measures. A study conducted by Boudreaux (2005) discussed the impact of the September 11, 2001 attacks on participants crisis preparation. It was stated that there has been a new emphasis on the security of their facilities and the use of government sanctioned training or meetings to support crisis preparation and highlight public safety. The second is the prodromal phase where the disaster is imminent and warning systems and command centres are established with contingency plans being initiated. The role of a crisis manager here is not reactive, but instead a proactive approach where information can be found in various places, such as internal and external audits, government legislation and industry publications. The third is the emergency phase in which the disaster effects are felt and actions are necessary to protect people in the tourism destination. A prime example of this was immediately after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in which tourists and locals had to flee for their lives seeking safety in any types of buildings with sizable ground clearance and authorities constructing shelters for disaster ridden South East Asians. The fourth is the intermediate phase in which short-term and immediate needs of people have to be addressed by emergency and rescue teams with a clear media communication strategy also being crucial in this phase. An example of t his was post Hurricane Katrina in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season in which the US government alongside domestic and international aid agencies set up community shelters and organised food, water and sanitation programs. The fifth stage is the long-term (recovery) phase in which the damaged infrastructure has to be rebuilt, and environmentally damaged areas have to be reconstructed. A prime example is the 2010 Haiti earthquake in which Renois (2010) estimated that 250,000 residencies, 30,000 commercial buildings and 16,500 schools had collapsed or were severely damaged which all needed to be rebuilt. The final is the resolution phase corresponding to Finks (1986) where routine is restored or a new, improved state occurs. This stage identifies a clear end to the crisis; although organisations view this as the goal, it is not one to be rushed to. An organisations premature conclusion that Finks (1986) third chronic stage has ended can leave them vulnerable to the resurgence of the c risis. Due diligence in the earlier stages of the model must be practiced to ensure such a regression does not occur. Having explored crises in great detail we shall now move to see how they are handled in order to limit their damage. Crises occur on a scale spectrum that ranges from local through to global and in todays world, crisis and disaster management is a major requirement for all businesses, defence and government organisations. How efficiently any crisis or disaster is handled depends on the decision making capabilities and the resources available. While technical expertise can improve crisis avoidance or minimise the disruption resulting from a crisis good management is also need to deal with both the needs of those affected and the adverse publicity which might result. Policy makers are faced with the challenge of how to respond to such crises sometimes in the absence of any disaster management framework. Good crisis management is partly about the ability of organisations to learn from experience and that of others and partly about the willingness of leading organisations to carry out research and then pass on information which is required for effective pre-planning. Dreyer (2001) believes that it is o f prime urgency to assess the crisis early enough and to adopt existing crisis plans within the affected area and then later in the operational crisis management stage the goal is to manage the ongoing crisis and to limit damage. It is clear that a strategic approach to crisis planning and management is needed to help retain the confidence of travellers and the travel industry and to minimise the negative impact of crises on destinations. The goal is to get tourists back to affected destinations as quickly as possible and with good crisis management techniques this can be speedy. Regardless of crisis type, the techniques for dealing with it are similar. According to the UNWTO, good communications based on the principles of honesty and transparency together with communications, promotion, security and market research are the key to a successful strategy for crisis management. The early reports of a respiratory disease in one part of China didnt alarm the tourism industry in most countries and the first few days reports of the Foot and Mouth outbreak in the UK generated some concern but primarily for agriculture. In both cases measures were taken as a reaction which triggered an impact on tourism. The latter caused all footpaths and bridleways to be closed effectively closing the countryside to tourists and the latter made the travel advice given by governments and the WHO (World Health Organisation) made consumers and airlines change their plans. A large consequence of a crisis will be a substantial drop in sales volumes, for example the drop in turnover for airlines alone as a result of the Gulf War was estimated at 2 billion dollars (Blake and Sinclair 2003). Terrorist attacks in Egypt during the 1990s also caused tourist to stay away which meant that in the space of a year, the revenue from the international tourism industry for this destination droppe d by 1 billion US dollars. This was topped by the events of 9/11 in the USA, which caused not only the worst impact on the worldwide tourism industry since World War II, but also demonstrated how terrorism was able to trigger a slowdown of whole worlds economy. These examples illustrate how the tourism industry as an economic sector is challenged by negative events. It is therefore important to analyse negative events from every angle, to systematically identify critical success factors which are elements that organisations should focus on during a tourism crisis and integrate them to ensure effective strategic corporate orientation between different stakeholders, ensuring a most effective recovery plan. Lynch (2004) provides steps for tourism organisations that should be taken to mitigate the effect of a crisis over a three phase model, the first few weeks, three months and three years later. During phase one resources and media messages must be organised, statistics and scenario planning must be undertaken, mechanisms of communications within the tourism industry and customers must be established as some methods may have been destroyed and a wish list uniting all parties around a few key things articulated consistently. This time is likely to be frantic but is most important for the provision of human life. In phase two certain new realities will have influenced everyones thinking and there will be an urgent need to get customers travelling again. This is about tactical marketing to make sales and rebuild confidence, for example do you price cut or add value. The main things to focus on are making the case for financial support, lobbying for other measures which will help business with cash flows e.g. deferral of tax payments and providing good quality information to policy makers on how the crisis is developing. In the next three years (phase 3) it is necessary to wind down the crisis teams, promote the destination and focus on the return of the customer especially traditional customers. Systems changes will be now be being implemented and as we know new relationships will have formed which need to be nurtured. A recurring theme in crisis management is that of recovery and getting tourists back to the area and this is largely influenced by the medias response and so Beirman (2003) defines four steps in the marketing management of a destination crisis with the emphasis on how the crisis is managed in terms of the appearance projected. The first two steps are identifying the event or problem as a crisis or hazard with the latter just being a lower level problem that would not deter tourists in itself and establishing a crisis management team and defining roles, both which we have seen before. The difference is in the emphasis of the third step which is promoting the destination during and after the crisis, highlighting the importance of the media again in the recovery of a destination as crisis management is as much about dealing with human perceptions about the crisis and the management of a crisis as it is about physically resolving the crisis (Health, 1998 in Miller and Ritchie 2003). The last is monitoring the recovery and analysing the crisis experience in order to learn from the situation and improve their techniques. There are numerous crisis management frameworks or models available for companies and destinations to base their activity on. One suggested was by Heath (1998, from Ritchie 2009) known as the 4 Rs; reduction (risk management), readiness, response and recovery. Another was by Hystad and Keller (2006, from Ritchie 2009) which involved the stages; pre-disaster, disaster, post disaster and resolution. Santana (2003, from Ritchie 2009) nicely brought these similar strategies and others together and put together a two stage model of proactive crisis management consisting of signal detection, preparation and prevention and post crisis management involving damage limitation and recovery. The pre-crisis stages normally involve scanning the environment using a PEST (political, economic, socio-cultural and technological) analysis or consulting the countries foreign office for advice. It can be challenging to specify the danger precisely but even if you know what to look for provisions may not b e implemented. In 2002 post 9/11 there was widespread international recognition that the tourism industry may be a soft target for terrorists which should have prompted tourism industry bureaucrats to consider the possibility of an attack, however believing that Indonesian tourism enhances peace between nations the government were too optimistic that no incident would befall them (Andari, 2008). Even so there was no organisation learning, incapacity to improve or continuity in the institutions responsible for designing and implementing the recovery plans as they believed that it would never happen again, leading to private organisations doing a large bulk of the work, but in 2005 the second bombs struck (Andari 2008). Quite often this first stage does not occurs as we have seen but also was the case in turkey 2001 where the research findings reveal that neither the government nor private organizations had any plans for dealing with the crisis before or after the event (Okumus 2005). A pre-crisis success method is in the form of examining and risk assessments using maps which help identify the most vulnerable parts of a destination for example landslide maps in Brazil and Chile, and flood maps in the UK and Australia. Successful mitigation can also help to reduce the loss of human life and damage through physical measures like dams and cyclone shutters and through diversification if an area relies too heavily on tourism like the Maldives. The importance of plan creation is paramount like emergency plans and warning systems which are now in place throughout South East Asia, building codes in earthquake prone areas; the London 2012 Olympic Games have also had stringent terrorist attack simulations. Responding to the crisis itself requires coordination and control with its handling being essential to mitigate a crisiss impact. The 2001 Foot Mouth Outbreak in the UK and 2005 Hurricane Katrina were poorly managed with the former suffering as tourism was not perceived as a stakeholder leading to the allocation of resources to the agricultural sector. This disaster for the tourism industry was not the disease itself but the actions taken to eradicate the farming crisis and the media images associated with these actions (Miller 2003). The latter became the costliest natural disaster in the history of the USA (Knabb, 2005) due to reasons like a slow response at the federal level given there was some warning and time to prepare and a lack of overall control as discrepancies as to which body were in charge. In this stage of a crisis the media play a huge part to whether the area will recover and prosper in the near future. In regards to the very early stages of a crisis it is often not at all clear what the scale is, what the likely duration will be of solving it will be or exactly who has been affected. There may be many reporters on the ground, tourists who may phone or email contacts often providing video clips of the situation which are inserted into news broadcasts; in this way misinformation may spread. In the longer term, in managing the aftermath of a crisis when the immediate short term problems have been dealt with, the destination will turn to the media with a combination of advertising and public relations to communicate to their client base that the crisis has been resolved. This alongside marketing campaigns will be used to stimulate demand in order to fill some of the lost revenue. Essential is a quick response, consistency in the information given out and openness and honesty. The 1988 Lockerbie disaster and the two examples just discussed were examples of poor media communication however much better handled disasters were the 1989 Kegworth air di saster with the companys reputation actually enhanced ex post even though it was actually their fault and 9/11 with New Yorkers positive spirits documented and the Mayor as the spokesperson for the city. The final stage is that of recovery and resolution which has already been discussed in Faulker and Finks frameworks. The key elements are media and marketing communication getting tourists back to the affected area, physical recovery like infrastructure repair and sharing best practices in the reflection and learning process. As well as negative outcomes, crisis and disasters also have potentially positive results such as stimulus for research and innovation, economic and human development and the emergence of new markets. Some crises are largely restricted to the tourism industry and arose from problematic characteristics in its own operations. The origins of other crises lay completely outside the influence of tourism sector managers, and many of these crises devastated large areas and killed, injured or damaged many sectors of the local population or key infrastructure and industries. Thus we have seen the ever changing nature of the world and its population making tourism organisations and destinations more susceptible to crises and disasters, a more vulnerable industry in general with the potential for major impacts. This creates vast challenges for the industry however by establishing the phases of a crisis, disaster management techniques and strategies can be implemented to mitigate the impact of t hese, more often than not, catastrophic events.

Wallace Stevens Harmonium and the Visual Arts :: Literature Art Papers

Wallace Stevens' Harmonium and the Visual Arts By the time Wallace Stevens moved to New York City in 1900 he had completed three years as a special student at Harvard, and had published a few poems in the Harvard Monthly and the Advocate (a literary journal at Harvard of which he was president). He continued to pursue a literary life in New York, but after an attempt at journalism and at the urging of his father (L59), he enrolled in New York Law School in the fall of 1901. In 1904 he passed the bar and eventually acquired a position in the insurance field after attempting to hang out his own shingle (Stevens, H., 77-8). He married Elsie Viola Moll (a woman also from Reading) in 1909 and in 1916 they moved to Hartford. Stevens was by this time working for the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co., the insurance company he was to stay with for the rest of his career, becoming vice-president in 1934. Before leaving for Hartford, though, he caught the literary bug again (L 187) and by 1914 Stevens was submitting poetry again for publi cation and communicating with the editor of Poetry, Harriet Monroe (L 192). The thirteen years separating any serious poetic output on the part of Stevens might easily be accounted for by his early career in law and his desire to make a secure place for himself there. Above all a practical man, Stevens may have simply put a sustained effort at poetry aside for a time in order to avoid poverty, as he said he did for eight years after publishing Harmonium in 1923 (L 364). Perhaps he was "stewing" during this time, having a few life experiences and just generally maturing. Also, his courtship and marriage, which might also have been delayed for economic reasons, had taken place during this interval. Any or all of these variables could have worked to delay his poetic achievement. The turning point came, I believe, once Stevens came into close contact with modern artists and their works. Although there is no sustained discussion of visual art or influences in Stevens' letters, I will argue that the writing of Harmonium is in a sense bracketed by Stevens' exposure to Walter Arsenberg and his salon. It is my contention that Stevens wrote Harmonium while steeped in modern art and it's theoretical underpinnings and that the poems contained in his first book of poetry reflect certain modern visual sources.

Death’s Marathon Shot0By-Shot Analysis

Shot-by-shot Analysis of â€Å"Death's Marathon† dir. D. W. Griffith. (1913) Shot 1(straight-on angle): †¢White text on black background written, † To find his friend before he losses all† (2 seconds). Cut to Shot 2 (medium long shot, slightly low angle): †¢Front of house, with stairs slightly to the right of shot and potted plant on either side of stairs. Friend (man) enters from right and walks up stairs (2 seconds). Cut to Shot 3 (medium shot, straight-on angle): †¢Interior of living room where foreground is pretty vacant but background has a study and a desk with a vase with flowers in it.There are three ladies standing: Two nurses on either side of the wife. wife asks maid on left something (1 second) then turns back towards camera (1 second) to ask maid on right also (2 second). Turns back to face camera (2 seconds). Then knock on door (presumably by friend) startles maids and wife and the maid on the left exits shot (3 seconds). Re-enter maid and friend from the left. Friend asks about husband with sharp hand movements (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 4 (medium long shot, slightly high angle): interior of room with gambling table 3/4 shown on the bottom left corner of shot (foreground) and five men sitting around it gambling and doorman standing in background (2 seconds). Doorman turns to open door (1 second). Cut to Shot 5 (medium close-up, high angle): †¢Gambling table with chips and cards on table, and one player's hands (player to the left of husband) holding cards, places them down and takes all the chips in the centre of table(3 seconds). Cut to Shot 6 (same as shot 4) †¢(setting same as shot 4) and the man to the left of the husband swipes able and brings all his winnings to him and begin to stack up chips (2 seconds) then husband harshly throws two cards on the table, one at a time (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 7 (medium long shot, straight-on angle) †¢friend on the left of shot, speaking with wife, on the ri ght of shot turned towards each other with their forearms elevated in foreground of shot. Two maids standing in the background (2 seconds). Then friend and maid standing on left exit shot to the left (1 second) and maid on the right exits to the right of shot, leaving wife to stand alone in the centre of shot (2 seconds).Cut to. Shot 8 (long shot, slightly low angle): †¢(setting like shot 2) friend walks down stair and out of house (2 seconds) Shot 9 (same as shot 4) †¢(setting same as shot – but without doorman) Player to the right of husband and husband place chips into the centre of table respectively (3 seconds). They both fold cards and player to the right of husband swipes all the chips in the centre of table towards him and laughs (5 seconds). Husband bangs fists on table and gets up and exits door in background while man sitting on the right of shot gets up to congratulate man on who won (5 seconds).Cut to. Shot 10 (long shot, straight-on angle): †¢ sho t of exterior of house with big pillars and stairs on left of screen. Husband walks down two steps, pauses, then continues walking and exits out from the right (5 seconds): Shot 11 (medium long shot, straight-on angle) †¢interior of room (like shot 3). Wife has back to camera and walks towards the background with worried expression (right hand clasped on face) and then turns to the left of shot (8 seconds). Cut to. Shot 12 (long shot, straight-on angle): exterior of house (like shot 10) car drives through and parks in front of stairs on the right of shot with friend in the car. Friend gets off, converses with driver then walks into the house (4 seconds). Cut to. Shot 13 (medium long shot, slightly high angle) †¢interior of house (like shot 9). Friend barges into room, and walks over to gambling table where game is going on. Presumably asks players and spectators where husband is, they reply and friends leaves the room (7 seconds). Cut to. Shot 14 (long shot, straight-on an gle) Friend runs out of house (same setting as shot 10) from left of shot, down stairs and into his car. His drivers drives him away, exit right of shot (4 seconds). Cut to. Shot 15 (medium long shot, straighten angle) †¢shot of husband walking on the street along shops, one which has â€Å"rokers† written on window on the left of screen. He walks towards the shop, pauses to stare at it and then walks in (4 seconds). Cut to. Shot 16 (medium shot, straight on) †¢ interior of ‘Rokers' shop. There is a desk with a telephone on it, and chair in the foreground.The background though is more cluttered with a study, stacks of books, a rocking chair and cabinets . Husband enters through door on the right of shot. inspects the space, takes his hat off then unbuttons his jacket, pulls a gun that he's been keeping in his pocket out and sits down on chair and is inspecting the gun (21 seconds). Cut to. Shot 17 (long shot, slightly high angle) †¢shot of exterior of hou se (like shot 2). Friend's car drives in from right of screen and parks in front of steps leading up to house front door. Friend gets off car and walks briskly into the house (5 seconds). Cut to.Shot 18 (medium long shot, slightly high angle): †¢interior of room (like shot 3), wife sitting on chair on the right side of the foreground. Then enters maid with friend. Cut to. Shot 19 (medium shot, straight on) †¢interior of room (like shot 16). Husband sitting on chair, leaning against table with telephone near his elbow. Husband looks at gun, chuckles then looks at telephone and picks it up (8 seconds). cut to. Shot 20 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢interior of room (like shot 3), friend and wife talking then phone rings and friend picks it up (5 seconds). cut to. Shot 21 (medium shot, straight-on) Interior of room (like shot 16), husband sitting on seat leaned against table speaking on telephone (4 seconds). Cut to. Shot 22 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢interior of ro om (like shot 3) friend laughs on phone then wife gets up looking relieved and happy (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 23 (medium shot, straight on) †¢husband in same pose as in shot 21 continues to speak on the phone looking at his gun which is now pointed towards the ceiling (5 seconds). Cut to Shot 24 (title) †¢White text on black background that reads, â€Å"Determined upon suicide† (3 seconds) Shot 25 (medium shot, straight-on) friend and wife standing in the middle of interior of room (like shot 3), friend speaking on the phone and wife standing looking over shoulder (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 26 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢interior of room (like shot 16) with husband in same position as shot 21, continues to laugh and talk; still pointing gun to ceiling (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 27 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢friend and wife in same position as shot 25, friend getting angry, hands wife the telephone then exits to the left of shot. Wife speak on the phone w ith softer, happier expression (11 seconds).Cut to Shot 28 (Long shot, straight-on) †¢friend exits house, gets into car, then is briskly giving instructions to his driver pointing forward. The car drives off and exits to the right of the shot leaving a dust trail behind (3 seconds). Cut to. Shot 29 (Medium shot, straight on) †¢Husband sitting in same position as shot 21 and continues to speak on the phone and absentmindedly play with his gun (5 seconds). Cut to. Shot 30 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢interior of room (like shot 3), wife standing in the centre and continues to speak on the phone and occasionally smiling (5 seconds).Cut to. Shot 31 (long shot, straight on) †¢shows friend's car turning onto main road from left of shot and driving towards audience (3 seconds). Cut to. Shot 32 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢interior of house (like shot 3) with wife in same position as shot 30. Wife now looks worried and is accentuating the things she is saying over t he phone (6 seconds). Cut to Shot 33 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢setting and husband in same position as shot 21. Husband laughs once and looks at his gun (4 seconds). Cut to Shot 34 (medium shot, straight-on) wife in interior of room (like shot 30) and continues to look worried in and disagree into the phone, but after starts smiling and calming down slightly (13 seconds). Cut to. Shot 35 (medium shot, straight on) †¢same as shot 29 (2 seconds). Cut to Shot 36 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢wife in interior of room (like shot 3) and continues to speak on the phone worriedly. She then puts the phone down and moves off screen from the right (5 seconds). Cut to. Shot 37 (medium shot, straight on) †¢interior of room like shot 21, but the man stops speaking and puts the phone down (2 seconds). Cut to.Shot 38 (medium long shot, straight on) †¢interior like shot 3, wife frantically walking around room then moves off screen from the right (4 seconds). Cut to Shot 39 (medium long shot, straight-on) †¢interior of room which as a curtain on the right, a lot of empty space in the centre, a chair and a cabinet on the foreground to the right and a cabinet in the background on the left. The wife enters through the curtains on the left puts hand up and looks exhausted (3 seconds). Cut to. Shot 40 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢husband sitting on a chair in the same interior of room as shot 16.He looks straight at the camera and thinks then proceeds to write something down on (8 seconds). Cut to. Shot 41 (long shot, straight on) †¢car driving on windy road at fast speed (3 seconds). Cut to Shot 42 (medium shot, straight on) †¢husband sitting in same interior of room as shot 16 holding telephone in one hand and the gun in the other (gun pointing towards viewer). His eyes get droopy and he looks from the gun straight to the camera then smiles slightly (10 seconds). Cut to. Shot 43 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢same interior of room as shot 39, wife looks panicked, maid enters frame rom right side carrying baby and they all exit through the curtain on the left of the frame (3 seconds). Cut to Shot 44 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢wife and maid holding baby enters interior of room (like shot 3) from right. Wife picks up phone looking worried still and maid and baby stand to her left looking concerned (3 seconds). Cut to Shot 45 (medium shot, slightly high angle) †¢interior of room (like shot 16) husband is still sitting looking at his gun, then something on the telephone catches his attention and he puts it to his ear (3 seconds). ut to. Shot 50 (medium shot, straight on) †¢same setting and positioning as shot 44. Wife puts phone to baby's ear and tries to get him/her to speak (5 seconds). Cut to. Shot 51(medium shot, straight on) †¢same setting and positioning as shot 45, husbands looks more happy to hear the voice on the phone (3 seconds). Cut to Shot 52 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢sam e as shot 50 (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 53 (medium shot, straight on) †¢same setting and position as shot 51, husband looks relieved but sad. (3 seconds). Cut to. Shot 54 (medium shot, straight on) same setting and shot as 44 wife tells maid and baby to leave, they exit to the left of the shot then wife continues to speak on the phone (3 seconds). Cut to Shot 56 (long shot, straight on) †¢shot of streets and car driving fast down in (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 57 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢same setting as shot 44. Wife standing in the centre of shot continues to speak on the phone (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 60 (medium shot, straight on) †¢same setting as shot 45, husband puts phone down and slowly brings gun up to temple (6 seconds). Cut to. Shot 61 (medium shot, straight on) Wife in same setting and position as shot 57. She continues to listen attentively to the phone, then has two shocks when she hears something on the phone. (12 seconds). Cut to. Shot 62 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢same setting and position as shot 60, husband takes fuming gun out of mouth slowly (2 seconds). Cut to . Shot 63 (medium shot, straight on) †¢same setting and positioning as shot 52. Wife now frantically speaking into phone (9 seconds). Cut to. Shot 64 (long shot, straight on) †¢Friend's car drives around the corner and parks in front of shop. He gets off quickly (3 seconds).Cut to. Shot 65 (medium long shot, straight on) †¢friend runs quickly through door at the background then exits through door on the left of screen (5 seconds). Cut to. Shot 66 (medium long shot) †¢friend walks into interior of room (like shot 16) then slowly picks up friend by the head and then places him back down (15 seconds). Cut to. Shot 67 (medium shot, straight-on) †¢wife standing in the same interior as shot 63 speechless (4 seconds). Cut to. Shot 68 (medium shot, straight on) †¢ same interior of room as shot 66 friend stares at dead husband and the n picks up telephone. Cut to.Shot 69 (medium shot, straight on) †¢Wife still speaking on the phone in interior of room like shot 63 (4 seconds). Cut to. Shot 70 (medium shot, straight on) †¢friend in same position as shot 68 speaking on the telephone (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 71 (medium shot, straight on) †¢same as shot 69 (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 72 (medium shot straight on) †¢same as shot 70 (2 seconds). Cut to. Shot 73 (medium Shot, Straight on) †¢same setting and position as shot 69, then wife puts telephone down and looks shocked and sad and exits to the right of the shot (13 seconds). Cut to. Shot 74 (long shot, straight on) same interior as shot 39, wife enters from right of shot, can see her profile, then she drops to the floor and her head is partially hidden between the cabinets in the background and foreground (12 seconds). Cut to. Shot 75 (title) †¢white writing on black background written, â€Å"The wife set free from her unfortunate alli ance† (6 seconds). Cut to. Shot 76 (medium long shot, slightly high angle) †¢interior of room, with lots of furniture, wife sitting on chair looking sad, friend enters from left of shot and give a huge bouquet of flower to wife, wife looks slightly happy and hopefully (32 seconds) Written Account of Death's Marathon† dir. D. W. Griffith. (1913) D. W. Griffith's â€Å"Death's Marathon† contain certain prominent stylist cinematic features which are evident through the repetitive use of mise-en-scene, specifically the setting and staging of each shot, editing, framing and the level and angle of each shot. Firstly, the mise-en-scene used in this extract of â€Å"Death's Marathon† are specific to the setting, props and movement of characters. In this clip, the settings evident mainly include the interior of rooms in houses or the landscape of the geographical location as evident with the long shots of the roads and town.These settings are used primarily to show that the story is focused around family and relationship issues as the problems that arise in the story include conflict between marital and business relations. Also, the each setting of the interior of rooms where shot with a short focal length (wide angle) which exaggerated the depth making the distance between the background and foreground seem greater. Apart from the setting, the props used help the viewers distinguish between each interior of the rooms. Also, in each setting there is a different alignment of chairs, desks etc. hich makes certain different props stand out; this allows for objects such as the telephone to become a motif prop. In regards to mise-en-scene, the movement of the character, or lack thereof, is another formal property which is largely evident in this extract because most of the movement is restricted to the small, central area of each shot creating an emphasis on the character's actions. Apart from being restrictive, the character's movement is als o The angle and distance of framing of the shot in this extract are all very imilar in the sense that most of the shots are either a straight on angle or has a slight hight angle. And the Apart from the miss-en-scene aspect of the extract, the specific editing used, combined with the shot length was another stylistic pattern that was evident. The extract did not have any use of transitions. It only cut from one shot to the next throughout. However, Griffith did use shot-reverse-shot technique when the characters were having a discussion over the telephone specifically when the wife was speaking with her husband leading up to his death.The build up to the climax (death of husband) used the shot-reverse-shot technique which includes using shots with shorter lengths (2 seconds each) to create a rhythmic beat, much like that of a heart beat. This slow shot length however is also balanced with longer shots (which lasted up to 12 seconds), more specifically evident after the death of the husband which mimicked the speechlessness of the wife. †¢ angle – straight on angle, medium + long shot (quite simple)

horizontal gene transfer essays

horizontal gene transfer essays For centuries, humankind has made improvements to crop plants through selective breeding and hybridization, the controlled pollination of plants. Plant technology is an extension of this traditional plant breeding with one important difference, plant biotechnology allows for the transfer of a greater variety of genetic information in a more precise controlled manner. Since introduction of plant biotechnology, many farmers have planted millions of acres of biotech corn, cotton, soybeans, fruit, and other crops. While these new varieties have enhanced, crop protection reduced production costs and increased yields, raising concern among some consumers, legislators, and activists. Many critics of agricultural biotechnology have often been dismissed. Sywanen, a professor of medical microbiology, defends the concerns of biotechnology opponents in his article titled, "In search of a horizontal gene transfer". The impact of horizontal gene transfer concerns agricultural biotechnology critics who claim that genes inserted into domesticated organisms might be transferred to wild organisms, an example would be the transfer of antibiotic resistance marker genes to soil bacteria. Sywane's studies of bacterial and plant phylogeny indicate horizontal gene transfer is involved in evolutionary change. A disturbing consequence of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria is the potential for antibiotic resistance, and other traits carried on plasmids to migrate from one type of bacterium to another. There has been evidence suggesting that genomic DNA is transmitted in nature. In bacteria, conjugation is the most likely mechanism responsible for gene transfer. Another research stated that transposon-like elements are likely vehicles for cutting and pasting genomic DNA from one organism to another, and that viruses may be responsible for transmitting genes between eukaryotes. Sywanen argues that some of the gene frequency ...