Explore the theme of escapism in Peter Pan Essay

The theme of escapism is prominent in much children’s literature. Frances Hodgson-Burnett’s The Secret Garden is, like Peter Pan, an example of Edwardian children’s literature. Both these novels are tales of escapism from real life into another world. There are also more recent examples of escapism in children’s literature. In the 1950s C. S. Lewis invented Narnia, and in even more recent literature, Harry Potter escapes his everyday life to go to school at Hogwarts. J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, an early Edwardian novel, is one of the great classics of British children’s literature and is, on the surface, a tale about a boy who refused to grow up. There is however, an underlying plot concerning a girl who must grow up. It is from this obligation that Barrie’s Neverland acts as a form of escape. Throughout Peter Pan, there is little focus on the female characters. It is almost assumed that Wendy will grow up and become a Mother, as all daughters do. Although Neverland allows Wendy to escape from her home and from the domestic world she knows, she does not escape domesticity altogether. She almost becomes mother to the Lost Boys, and is given a number of domestic duties such as ironing Peter’s shadow. However, Wendy’s relationship with Peter is not entirely conventional. She appears to be the closest thing Peter has to a girlfriend, as he rejects the sexual advances of both Tinkerbell and Tiger Lily. However, Wendy also appears to be acting as his mother, something Peter has been deprived of his whole life. It is the childish energy of Barrie’s imagination filled with such a â€Å"splendid jumble of pirates, redskins, fairies and mermaids† that enthrals so many children (Carpenter p172). Through this manipulation of other people’s minds and emotions, Barrie â€Å"carries them off from the real world †¦ to a country of his own invention† (Carpenter p179). Barrie seems to be presenting his readers with a substitute faith, to act as a form of escape from the Christian teachings of the Victorian era. It has even been suggested that Peter Pan is in fact an alternative religion. Humphrey Carpenter suggests that in many respects Peter is Christ-like. Possibly the most obvious example of this is when he takes Wendy and her brothers on a flight of fantasy to â€Å"his own heavenly land† (Carpenter p182). The Lost Boys who live there seem to represent the souls of the dead as Peter asserts, â€Å"They are the children who fall out of their prams when the nurse is looking the other way†, therefore further increasing Neverland’s resemblance of heaven. The concept of escaping to heaven was extremely important to Barrie. He lost his brother David at a young age and subsequently spent much of his life trying to become a living version of the boy â€Å"who by dying †¦ remained ever young† (Wallshli ger p120). To observe Peter and Hook as the Christ and Satan of Barrie’s religion, the reader must have faith in the novel. The theme of belief is interesting throughout Peter Pan as the reader is, like the Darling children, constantly being asked, â€Å"Do you believe? † In order to fly, the Darling children must have faith, and â€Å"think lovely wonderful thoughts†, as Peter’s fairy dust is, in itself not enough. In turn the reader or audience must have faith and believe in the fact that a child can fly. Similarly, in order to escape to Neverland, a reader must have faith that there is such a place â€Å"somewhere past the second star to the right and straight on until morning†. The theme of belief is particularly important at the end of Barrie’s story when the darling children lose their faith and no longer believe in Peter, and so cannot see him. Though faith and belief are important in Peter Pan, the dream of escaping to another world seems to be almost self-sufficient. Barrie implies there is little need to grow up or awaken from this dream as it is in fact already framed by the Edwardian domesticity of the â€Å"real† world where wealth and relationships are important. Carpenter in fact goes further than this by asserting that children must not grow up and claims that to visit Neverland â€Å"requires an act of belief that children cannot sustain as they grow up† (Carpenter p180). Peter himself seems to be of the opinion that it is only children, who can escape the drudgery of everyday life and claims, â€Å"I want always to be a little boy, and to have fun†. Barrie’s adventure story and his creation of such a magical hero seems to have achieved what so much children’s literature had previously tried to do. Peter represents the shift from the Victorian perception of the child as a â€Å"moral icon† to â€Å"a craze for the child as a fun-loving playboy hero† (Wallshli ger p111). Peter has no memory or emotion, and so â€Å"can live only for the moment† and experiences ecstasies that other children can never know (Wallshli ger p117). Peter is an asexual child rather than a young man. Barrie himself was also somewhat sexless, and it is doubtful whether his marriage was ever consummated. This lack of sexuality and romantic relationship is represented well on stage as Peter is often played by an actress, and is therefore viewed as an androgynous figure. Another interesting aspect of the casting of Peter Pan is that of Mr. Darling and Hook, who traditionally, are played by the same actor. This becomes particularly significant when considering the theme of masculinity in Peter Pan. There is much evidence of male competitiveness in the novel. The most obvious example of this is Peter’s dual with Hook, which appears to be an assertion of masculinity by Peter. It is particularly interesting that it is Peter and the lost boys who triumph over Hook who is a mature villain. This youthful triumph acts as another form of escape for a young reader. Traditionally in Victorian society adults were in control and would have power over children. In Barrie’s Children’s fantasy, it is youth and sexual immaturity that enable Peter to triumph over his adult rivals. It has been suggested by many critics that Peter, â€Å"The boy who wouldn’t grow up†, is a representation of Barrie himself. Barrie was a short man and despite a moustache â€Å"retained a markedly boyish look until old age† (Carpenter p173). He was in a physical respect, quite literally, a boy who couldn’t grow up. This figure of a man in a child’s body is undoubtedly the principle model for Peter, who is â€Å"neither child nor adult† (Carpenter p177).

Age of the Universe Essay

The age of the universe is said to be about 13.75 billion years old. The method used in determining this age would be attempting to find the age of chemical elements, oldest star clusters, as well as white dwarf stars. Scientists also try to find the universes rate of expansion, and behavior of globular clusters, which are spherical collection of stars. In order to find this, scientists can use radioactive decay to determine how old a given mixture of atoms is in rock samples. In order to find the rate of expansion of the universe, The Hubble constant was the basic cosmological model dependent on density and composition of the universe. Some formulas used by The Hubble Constant is that the earth is composed of primary matter and the age of the universe is 2/3(Ho) with Ho being The Hubble constant (1). Another formula is that the earth is said to have very little matter and the age of the universe is 1/ Ho, which is now considered to be more accurate (1). The age of the earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old, about 9.21 years after the universe was formed. The main theory of how the earth was formed is the Big Bang Theory, or a star explosion. Some also call is a supernova. This happens in the universe when the wreckage from an explosion crashed into a cloud of gas, bringing in the ingredients for our solar system. The formation of our sun came first from the collapse of a solar nebula. After about ten to twenty million years after this collapse, dust then clustered to grains, to lumps, to boulders, to planetesimas. Soon it became chunks of rock big enough to have their own gravitational field. So, some plantesimals became the embryonic form of planets in our solar system today. As more asteroids and other planets collided with planet earth, crust began to cool and water began to form and collect on the surface. References Age of the Earth . (2007, July 9). USGS. Retrieved January 16, 2013, from http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html Age of the Universe . (2012, December 27). The Age of the Elements . Retrieved January 16, 2013, from http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/age.html How did the Earth form? | The Planets and our solar System. (2013, January 1). UK2Planets | The Planets in our Solar System. Retrieved January 16, 2013, from http://www.uk2planets.org.uk/how-did-the-earth-form/ How old is the Universe?. (2012, December 21). Universe 101 . Retrieved January 16, 2013, from http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_ag Life’s Origins Early earth was not a place for ideal living because it was a fire and hell-like environment. So much so, that scientists even called it Hadean eon, which is an ancient Greek word for down under. It was a place with many volcanoes and some scientists even say there were continental crusts and oceans. Even though it was extremely hot, scientists have found that some bacteria could survive these extreme conditions. According to Watson, by using zircon crystals, they could tell that early earth had a definite wet temperature. The atmosphere consisted of carbon dioxide, water, and volcanic gases. Today, not as many volcanoes exist. No one really knows when life was originated. Asteroids may have hit from time to time, having an effect on life’s atmosphere by causing organic molecules to synthesize. RNA and DNA are the genetic material for all life, and they are made up of long chains of nucleotides. Nucleotides are made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus atom s. An important step in the origin of life is the ability of all living things to reproduce. Starting with RNA being able to self-replicate itself, we then evolve into being able to pass genetic material onto offspring, and then natural selection. Miller and Urey built an apparatus filled with water, methane, ammonia, hydrogen, but no oxygen. They hypothesized that this was the mixture of the atmosphere of early earth and boiled and condensed the water to keep it circulating. Miller and Urey kept this going for a week and used paper chromatography to be able to show that many amino acids and some other organic molecules were now in the flask. Many other scientists have tested this experiment and found that amino acids, protein molecules, adenine, and other nucleic acid bases were present. Some theories suggest an electric spark could have helped generate these amino acids and sugars in the atmosphere, others suggest the first origins of life could have met on clay. Alexander Graham Cairns- Smith says clay could help the organic compounds become concentrated and organize into patterns similar to genes today. Some scientists theorized that life was brought from somewhere else in space rather than beginning on earth, which is also known as panspermia. In reality, no one is sure of how life began because no one was around to know, but these theories have helped us gain a sense of fascination and knowledge of how life was originated. References 7 Theories on the Origin of Life | LiveScience . (n.d.). Science News – Science Articles and Current Events | LiveScience . Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://www.livescience.com/13363-7-theories-origin-life.html Early Earth Not So Hellish, New Study Suggests | LiveScience . (n.d.). Science News – Science Articles and Current Events | LiveScience . Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://www.livescience.com/241-early-earth-hellish-study-suggests.html How did life originate?. (n.d.). Understanding Evolution. Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/origsoflife_04 Miller and Urey’s Experiment and Molecules of life. (n.d.). Anthropological Study of Workers, Occupational Health, Public Health, Textile Workers. Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://anthropologicalstudy.blogspot.com/2011/03/miller-and-ureys-experiment-and.html The Origin of Life. (n.d.). RCN D.C. Metro | High-Speed Internet, Digital Cable TV & Phone Service Provider. Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/A/AbioticSynthesis.html Ancient Life Radiometric dating is used to date materials based on comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay rate (1). Some different types are radiocarbon dating, potassium-argon dating, and uranium-lead dating. They provide important information about fossil ages and the rate of evolutionary changes. Radiocarbon dating is used to estimate the remains of materials with carbon as of 58000 to 62000 years ago (2). Potassium-argon dating is used to measure the product of radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium into argon. This method works for calculating the age of samples a little over a few thousand years. Uranium-lead dating on the other hand, can estimate the age range of a sample from about 1 million to 4.5 billion years ago (3). This method has two separate decay chains, uranium series, and actinium series, occurring by a series of alpha decays. It is important to have different types of radiometric dating because the earth has b een around for quite some time and a lot of changes has happened in each era, epoch, and eons. There was not as much oxygen dependency in earth’s early atmosphere as there is today. The result of oxygen presence is mainly because of volcanic activity as well as oxygen producing organisms like cyanobacteria, in the oceans of early earth. Cyanobacteria as well as blue-green algae produced their energy anaerobically, releasing oxygen and taking in CO2, and releasing oxygen. Oxygen gained a permanent presence in earth’s atmosphere 2.45 billion years ago for the aerobic organisms that inhabited. When the plates of earth’s crust shift, along with their liquid layers below, this is called plate tectonics. This results in how our continent and land mass appears throughout time. Kenorland, one of the first supercontinents of early earth broke up about 2.6 billion years ago. Another supercontinent called Columbia then formed about 1.8 years ago, and after that Rodinia formed from Columbia’s remains, that broke 550 million years ago. The breaking of these supercontinents caused the earth to have freezing temperatures. Oceans broke out and then Pangea formed and split into two supercontinents called Laurasia and Gondwana. Laurasia consists of what is now North America, Asia, Europe, and Gondwana of South America, Africa, India, Antarctica, and Australia. These continents in time spread and broke to form what we have today. Mass extinctions are when a species has become wiped out. There have been about five mass extinctions that have occurred so far. The first that occurred was during the Paleozoic era which was the end of the Ordovician. Scientist found that 60% of terrestrial and marine lives had disappeared out of nowhere. The next mass extinction was the late Devonian. The environment no longer provided enough for the survival of these organisms. The third mass extinction was the end of the Permian during the Mesozoic era, where scientist found that 85.5% of all marine species became extinct. The Triassic extinction is the fourth one that happened in the Mesozoic era. Marine invertebrate’s population decreased by 50%. The last mass extinction caused the dinosaurs, as well as plants and other tropical marine life to die out during the Cenozoic era. Global temperature and oceans caused flooding for 40% of all continents. One theory is that because of the quick change of CO2 in the atmosphere, mass extinction occurred. While CO2 in the atmosphere changed, surface layers in the deep oceans began to sink. CO2 increased too rapidly for creatures to adapt in time. Some theories suggest an asteroid caused some mass extinction, hitting the earth. The asteroid might have blocked the sun’s rays or cause the earth’s temperature to rise too high. Periods of intense speciation happens because of mutations. Mutations come from ionizing radiation and other factors. Species that do survive, mutate and cause this speciation. Some researchers say that Earth is hitting the sixth mass extinction because many species are endangered and decreasing population. Researchers also found that major mammals have become more and more rare that they could be extinct in about 30 years. These endangered species, researchers found, may be the result of human activities like habitat destruction and hunting. So, we are b asically in a sixth mass extinction, because human play the main cause. References Biello, D. (2009, August). The Origin of Oxygen in Earth’s Atmosphere. Scientific American. Retrieved from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=origin-of-oxygen-in-atmosphere Plastino, W.; Kaihola, L.; Bartolomei, P.; Bella, F. (2001). â€Å"Cosmic Background Reduction In The Radiocarbon Measurement By Scintillation Spectrometry At The Underground Laboratory Of Gran Sasso†. Radiocarbon 43 (2A): 157–161. Parrish, Randall R.; Noble, Stephen R., 2003. Zircon U-Th-Pb Geochronology by Isotope Dilution – Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (ID-TIMS). In Zircon (eds. J. Hanchar and P. Hoskin). Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Mineralogical Society of America. 183-213. Wilkins, A. (2011, January). A History of Supercontinents on Planet Earth. io9. Retrieved from: http://io9.com/5744636/a-geological-history-of-supercontinents-on-planet-earth

Costa Coffee Essay

1. Executive summary In this business report we are analysing the business environment in which our company – BESO and its main competitor – Costa Coffee operate. The main objective is to research, analyse and understand the competitor’s business strategy, to find out if there is a gap in their action plan and how we can take advantage of this. The report consists of SWOT analysis of BESO and PEST analysis of both companies. The target markets of both – BESO and Costa Coffee are similar. That makes the competition between them even bigger. The report also discusses the marketing approach and the various advertising campaigns conducted by Costa Coffee and the advertising techniques we decide to adopt in the long run. The distribution system of Costa Coffee is also considered and plans to expand to different locations. The pricing strategy of BESO is based closely to the strategy of Costa Coffee as we have adopted competitive pricing. In terms of ethical issues we examined the various types of corporate social responsibilities of Costa Coffee. 2. Introduction. The business report includes an analysis of Costa Coffee as a main competitor of BESO Coffee. The report examines the business environment where both companies operate in. It has been requested from the Marketing Director of BESO and also has to be focused only on the UK market. 3. BESO – Brief history BESO Coffee is a coffee chain settled in the UK in 2001. It has been established by an independent trader but later on when the business has grown, new stakeholders appeared. At first BESO’s target market was limited as well as the products it offered- only a few types of coffee and limited types of confectionary. However, only two years after launching BESO on the market it became popular through different groups of people, therefore the menu became much diversified and the target market as well. BESO has shown great performance during the years and has become one of the most recognized names on the current market. That is why Costa Coffee is determined as a main competitor of BESO. 4 5 The Marketing Profession 4. SWOT and PEST analysis 4. 1. SWOT analysis Strengths †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Efficient and trained staff Customer loyalty Brand recognition High quality coffee Friendly and relaxing atmosphere for our customers. Weaknesses †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Limited number of outlets Low levels of advertisement Interior design needs updating More range of the types of coffee available. Continual change in consumer taste Can be seen as an unhealthy product Opportunities †¢ Based in Central London which covers a large demographic of customers Olympics 2012 will bring in more sales Introduction of new products including healthy options. Retailing mugs and coffee equipment Threats †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Customers demanding fair-trade and organic coffee. Big chain coffee shops dominating the market. Economic issues and crisis Lack of ownership of primary resources e. g. Coffee farming. †¢ †¢ †¢ 4. 2. PEST analysis There are many different Political, Economic, Social and Technological issues that both our company and also Costa Coffee face within the coffee industry. Firstly, the first political issue to consider is that majority of coffee beans are brought and made in developing countries, so companies need to ensure that their coffee is made by fair-trade dealers and they need to consider the ethical conditions of the labor used. Another political issue includes all the taxes and tariffs incurred by any business operating within the UK, whether it be import tariffs or VAT on goods sold. The economic factors that our companies face are similar to the issues faced by many businesses within the whole goods and services market, this including the economic recession of 2008. Customers now have less disposable income to spend and as a result cut-down on the purchasing of non-vital goods. This is due to of unemployment rising and the levels of debt increasing. The social factors that need to be taken into consideration is that consumers are spending more money on coffee due to the demand for quality goods. This can be seen in the comparison of value of tea and coffee industry with coffee valuing at 738 million according to the Times (2008). As a result, companies need to ensure that buying coffee is not only a quick purchase, as they need to have value-added for customers including high quality coffee and a relaxing 5 6 The Marketing Profession atmosphere. Lastly, the technological issues that both our company and Costa face is the introduction of self-made home coffee by the use of coffee machines specifically tailored to make at home, for example, the Senseo coffee-machines. This can be seen as a threat to coffee shops as it is a cheaper alternative for customers in the long run. 5. Target market According to a Mintel report titled â€Å"Coffee Shops† published February 2012, â€Å"Two thirds of consumers buy coffee out of home, rising to three in four among 16-24-year-olds as core users†. Costa Coffee has the highest number of outlets within the UK totaled to 1,302 coffee shop chains as opposed to Starbucks who has 739 and Caffe Nero with 509 shops. It also claimed that â€Å"Costa has different store designs to suit different purposes such as ‘Metro’ which is aimed at the younger/urban consumers and ‘Evolution’ which is designed for more mature customers in provincial locations. It states its customer segments are ‘Recharge, Relax, Refuel’†. Therefore the target market for Costa Coffee ranges from a wide range of customers of different ages as it caters to many different needs. Students have been said to make up 30% of their target market, Professionals 45%, Families 10% and mature consumers 15% of the clientele. At BESO Coffee, our market we aim to target at is very wide as it ranges from teenagers to mature customers. We even target at families as we offer menus for younger children and parents. Our products are reasonably priced so it can be bought from people of many different income level groups, from working to upper class. 6. Marketing approaches Costa coffee have used many different marketing approaches and campaigns in order to succeed within the industry as it is important to continually update their marketing strategies. Costa has introduced campaigns such as ‘How Do You Like Yours’, which allowed customers to customize their coffee’s by for example adding espresso or syrup. This helps them differentiate themselves from competitors as it gives consumers more power and control over their purchase. Another campaign introduced by Costa was the arrival of Costa light in 2011, which offered low-calorie and healthier options to customers. This was an important step for Costa as there has been an increase in healthy eating trends, which can be seen in the figure below. Figure: Consumer demand for display of calorie content on restaurant menus, June 2010-December 2011 6 7 The Marketing Profession. Other campaigns included the launch of Costa Coffee Gift Card in November 2011 which allowed customers to buy card with pre-paid amounts of up to ? 75 and a more recent campaign at the beginning of 2012 when Costa collaborated with the Spirit Pub Company which ensured that Costa coffee would be used in its restaurants chains including Chef & Brewer and Flaming grill. Costa has used many forms of media to advertise their campaigns to the public. One method used to inform customers was through the use of television advertising in 2008 whereby Costa launched its first ad. The advert helped to illustrate the â€Å"superiority of Costa’s products† and according Reynolds (2010) its message was that â€Å"the brand is on a mission to save the world from mediocre coffee and seven out of 10 coffee lovers prefer Costa†. Other forms of media used by Costa include Billboards as it can be seen by many commuters within the UK by their use of big bold writing and minimal distraction of the main message. Their billboards are distinctive as they have a continual theme colour, text and logo, which are recognised by customers. Our approach to our marketing campaign is to use alternative uses of media to portray our message, including the use of the Internet, as it is a popular form of media used in today’s society. We aim to use Facebook and Twitter to advertise our campaign and the company as a whole as it covers a large demographic. 7. Distribution strategy Costa operates in the UK through its own coffee shops, franchises and wholesale outlets. On the18th of October 2011, Whitbread stated that the number of Costa UK stores had risen from 1,217 in March 2011 to 1,302 in September 2011, including 95 openings and ten store closures. In comparison, Costa International increased its stores from 654 to 701 during the same period, including 72 openings and 25 closures. Meanwhile Costa Express/Coffee Nation units increased from 877 in March 2011 to 934 in September 2011, taking account of 79 openings and 22 closures. These units are partnered with service station operators such as Moto, Esso and Welcome Break, retailers like Tesco and The Co-Operative and foodservice group Compass (Mintel 2012). In a market with low loyalty levels, advertising and promotion is important in keeping brands in the forefront of consumers’ minds. Costa Coffee looked to sustain an emotional response among consumers with the marketing supporting its launch of Costa Light variant in autumn 2011 through an advertising campaign that used slogans such as ‘All the love, none of the handles’ and ‘Extra feel good in every cup’ (Mintel 2012) Customers were also encouraged to see the lighter side of life with its Costa Light Comedy Challenge competition. Costa’s aim was to showcase up-and-coming comedians by asking them to submit a one-minute film via its website. A public vote then saw the top ten entries from five regions go through to a further round to be judged during one-off events across the UK, with the campaign finally culminating in two regional winners performing at The Comedy Store, London (Mintel 2012). Costa Coffee’s distribution system is broad with a balanced portfolio across high streets, retail parks, concessions, airports, rail and other travel hubs as well as an increasing number of stores in new locations such as universities and hospitals. Innovative distribution channels, such as Costa Express and Drive Thru are developed. They will extend the brand’s reach and increase accessibility for the customer (Whitbread, 2010). 7 8 The Marketing Profession Andy Harrison, chief executive of Whitbread said that popping out for a coffee has become a â€Å"firm fixture† of peoples’ lives. â€Å"Coffee culture has grown massively over the last five to 10 years – people have a real demand for quality coffee and a choice of different coffees,† he said. â€Å"When I was kid everyone wanted a Nescafe – that has definitely changed. † (The Guardian 2011). 8. Pricing strategy. Costa Coffee is a well-known, high valued and trusted cafeteria all over the world. They offer wide range of high qualitative coffee drinks and food, excellent services and relaxing atmosphere. Costa relies on their superiorities and offer comparatively higher prices because they have realized that the luxury comes with the price. Costa Coffee offers two sizes of drinks – medium and large and the price difference between them is not significant. In this way they encourage their customers to buy the bigger size, because the amount of the drink is bigger and is on almost the same price as the medium one. But even the medium size of cappuccino is served in a cup with the size of soup bowl, so Costa Coffee has a reason to charge a relatively higher price because of the value they give, even though in most cases customers do not need such a big amount of drink although they have to pay for it. In this way, Costa is able to sell cheaper coffee to regular customers, who are aware of the amount of the drink (with elastic demand) and sell more expensive coffee to infrequent visitors, therefore the cafeteria makes big profit from each cup of coffee. This is the corporate strategy and how Costa found a way to charge comparatively higher prices than most of their competitors. This strategy has some disadvantages and threats such as the present credit crunch, which might affect the sales and the budget of Costa Coffee as they target middle and upper middle class, therefore in the time of recession customers may prefer some of the cheaper competitors. 9. Pricing strategy that we will adopt – competition based pricing strategy One of the biggest advantages of the †Competition based pricing strategy† is that in the same time you are focused on your business and objectives and on the competition’s strategies. Once you understand what the competition is doing, you have the chance to do everything better and to gain a competitive advantage (Jobber 2008), therefore to increase the number of customers and to gain bigger market share. There are three types on competition based pricing methods: †¢ †¢ †¢ Price your product the same as the competitor Set your price to increase customer base Seek larger market share through price Compared to Costa Coffee we are fairly new to the market so it would be more appropriate for BESO to adopt the †Competition based pricing† as a strategy that will allow us to grow fast as competitive brand. In order to achieve biggest results we will match/mix the three competition-based pricing methods. BESO will offer similar products as/like the Costa’s products but on lower prices, therefore BESO’s market department must always be aware of what the competition is offering in order to provide better value for money. In this way BESO will has the opportunity to outline its advantages as comparing similar products as those of the competition but on lower prices (even pence). Once customers understand our priorities they will use to come to BESO as a place, which offers better value for money, 8 9 The Marketing Profession. therefore we will increase our market share (Palmer and Hartley 2006). In terms of increasing customer base, the process is similar to market penetration, we have to select a price that will beat the competition and doing that we will motivate customer to notice our products and to make a purchase decision. Market penetration pricing works well in the introduction stage of the product life cycle and in a highly competitive market, as you increase the production some of your costs will decrease. During the next stages of the product life cycle the price can be increased (Jobber 2010). The easiest way to increase the market share of BESO is to select prices that will attract and hold as many customers as possible (depend on target). It is recommended to adopt the †Market – share pricing† after the business achieved market penetration, because they are linked as the market share happens when large volume of products are sold. So it is better if things happen step by step. And finally the market share is calculated by dividing the amount of each company sells out of the total market and in this way the market leader is determined. 9. 1. Disadvantages of †Competition based pricing† †¢ †¢ †¢ There is a danger to ignore your own production cost if you focus too closely on the competitors’ prices. It takes more time to research and update competitors’ information. Competitors also can copy whatever price you select. 10. Customer service Loyalty is particularly low in the coffee shop market, making customer retention a key area of improvement going forward (Mintel 2012). At the start of 2012 Costa Coffee launched the ‘Just How Do You Like Yours? ’ campaign. It aims to highlight the customizable elements of its products, a key differentiator to its lower-priced non-specialist competitors such as EAT and Pret A Manger. A clear pricing strategy was also included in order to appeal to consumer’s sense of value for money. For example, customers can now add an extra shot of espresso or sugar-free syrup shots to their drinks for 35p per unit. Also, in 2011 Costa Coffee launched gift cards (Mintel 2012). Although consumers state that convenient location is more important to them than the brand of coffee chain, operators can still capture consumers’ attention through qualities other than price. For example, two in three users think that quality is the most important decision-making factor when choosing where to buy hot drinks, whilst nearly half disagree that they usually choose the cheapest venue. However, with so many brands trading off of a quality positioning, operators have to ensure that they are differentiating themselves on additional levels, hence the trend towards lifestyle branding in the wider eating out market (Mintel 2012). Costa Coffee’s reputation for excellence applies not only for the exceptional coffee but also the insistence on perfect service. â€Å"Recruiting and retaining highly motivated and talented people is essential and great emphasis is placed on improving the skills, expertise and 9 10 The Marketing Profession performance of our people through award winning, industry-leading training and developing programs† (Mintel 2012). 11. Costa Coffee’s attitude towards environmental issues Consumers are extremely careful about environmental issues, trying to buy environmentally friendly food and drinks. Most of the customers feel that it is their duty to save the environment in order to live healthier. That is why most companies are under a lot of pressure to change their attitude towards the environment most often related to greener, packaging solutions, recycling and many others. Costa Coffee is the first UK coffee chain buying beans from Rainforest Alliance Certifiedâ„ ¢ farms. From October last year, almost 100% of the coffee beans for Mocha Italia blend are from certified sustainable farms. Costa Coffee is also a member of UK Paper Cup Recycling Committee, their cups are made from sustainable sources and that’s saves about 1,100 trees a year. The ingredients from which the cups are made of are all from iconic recyclable material and are made using only certified sustainable pulp. Vegetable Costa Coffee is also concerned about its coffee-growers and in 2006 it registered a Costa Foundation, dealing with the improvement of the welfare of coffee-growing places like Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Uganda and Vietnam. Costa Coffee is also a partner with Cafechurch network, supporting local community. The organization deals with environmental issues, fair trade, divorce and stress problems and others. People are feeling well, being part of a great atmosphere, live music, good communication, and a lot of interviews, having the opportunity to understand more about the Costa Coffee Foundations. 12. The competitor’s CSR activity Costa Coffee is not achieving basic standard of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The coffee company does not give a specific data for the carbon footprint. Its environmental data is part of the environmental data of its parent company-Whitbread. 13. What is your attitude to CSR/environmental issues going to be? The aims that Costa Coffee manages to do are quite a lot. Some of the first ones are: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Developing Costa Coffee’s energy & environmental strategy. Managing carbon reporting and ensuring compliance for CRC. Maintaining the ISO50001 system. Working with manufacturer’s waste contractors and NGO to improve takeaway cup recycling. 10 11 †¢ †¢ The Marketing Profession Developing Costa Good Together CR programme . By 2012/13 Costa Coffee aims to help 15, 000, providing them access to education. That target will help to bring together the communities, helping adults to find jobs and trades. The coffee chain aim is to raise ? 750,000 alone during 2012/13. Costa Coffee will try to dedicate Energy & Environment Manager in Costa Coffee. That will be useful, trying to insure more control and to organize the best structured plan for the company. Costa’s cardboard cups are not recyclable, even though the cardboard can be recycled. The other ingredient in the cardboard cups, the ink and the glue, cannot be recycled. The target environmental plan of Costa Coffee is to use vegetable ink and degradable glue on its cups. Costa Coffee is raising money to build schools in regions where a lot of coffee farms take place. There are already 22 schools in developing countries. That makes a big difference for a lot of young people who have the opportunity to study. Costa Foundation is also taking care for the supplement of special healthy nutritious meals and laptops for the children. †¢ †¢ †¢ 14. Conclusion Based on the researches and analysis that have been done BESO has a great potential to use Costa’s disadvantages and to convert them into our opportunities for prosperity. Offering similar products as those of Costa Coffee but on lower prices and in the same time launching our own products (BESO’s cupcakes) is a good strategy to gain a competitive advantage. Slight changes in the interior design of our cafeteria would be refreshing and a good way to attract new customers. Furthermore increasing our advertising activities would be an opportunity to remind our customers and in the same time to inform our new potential customers about BESO’s fantastic services and great value for money. 15. References Baker S. (2003), New Consumer Marketing, West Sussex, John Wiley & Sons Ltd Cooper D., Schindler P. (2011), Business Research Methods, New York, McGraw – Hill Education Economics Help (2008), Costa Coffee UK and Sales Techniques. Available at: http://econ. economicshelp. org/2008/08/costa-coffee-uk-and-sales-techniques. html [Accessed: 20th March 2012]. Government of Alberta (2012), Methods to Price Your Products. Available at: http://www1. agric. gov. ab. ca/$department/deptdocs. nsf/all/agdex1133#competition [Accessed: 20th March 2012] Jobber D. (2010), Principles and Practice of Marketing, London, McGraw – Hill Education 11 12 The Marketing Profession Kotler P. , Armstrong G. (2006), Principles of Marketing, The United States of America, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data LinkedIn (2011), Costa Coffee Energy and Environment Manager at Whitbread. Available at: http://uk. linkedin. com/pub/ollie-rosevear/14/672/948 [Accessed: 20th March 2012] Mintel (2012), Brand Communication and Promotion. Available at: http://academic. mintel. com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show&/display/id=59 0036/display/id=611992#hit1 [Accessed: 20th March 2012] Mintel.

Consumer Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Consumer Law - Case Study Example Sue inquired of the sales assistant whether the labeling means the dye would be suitable for use by those with skin allergies; the assistant replies, I suppose so, that’s what it says on the telly. The statue covering breach of stipulation can be found in the Sale of Goods Act of 1979 in section 14 2(b). Implied terms about quality or fitness is where the seller sells goods in the course of a business, there is an implied condition that the goods supplied under the contract are of merchantable quality, except there is no such condition. If the buyer examines the goods before the contract is made, as regards to defects, which that examination ought to reveal.1 An implied warranty is the shorthand label used in the Product Warranty Liability Act to describe the supplier’s contractual responsibilities (or guarantees) regarding the quality or fitness of the goods. Implied warranties, which don’t depend simply on what the supplier says but are based on the consumerâ⠂¬â„¢s reasonable expectations about the goods in all circumstances. The supplier may be responsible under the implied warranty even if the supplier says nothing at all about the goods, 2 The purpose and nature of implied warranties is to protect the reasonable expectations that a buyer would have about the goods considering all the circumstances of the sale. Because reasonable expectations do not simply depend simply on what the supplier says but on other circumstances as well, implied warranties apply even when the supplier says nothing at all.... the reasonable expectations that a buyer would have about the goods considering all the circumstances of the sale. Because reasonable expectations do not simply depend simply on what the supplier says but on other circumstances as well, implied warranties apply 1Sale of Goods Act 1979 2Product Warranty Liability Act 3 even when the supplier says nothing at all.3 The issue is supported in law bySmith v. Land and HousePropertyCorporation (1884), 28 CHD 7 South Australia, where the court held; "a statement of opinion can be regarded as a statement of fact in certain situations. Such a situation will be where the maker of the statement has greater knowledge or appears by implication, to be able to support that statement.4 This case is buttressed by Dimmock v. Hallet (1866), and Bisset v. Wilkinson (1927) AC 177. Also in Schawel v. Reade (1913) 46 ILT 281, the court held that; "the strength of the inducement can be important, the more emphasis put on representation, the more likely the courts will regard this as a term".5 Also see Rutledge v. McKay (1861) WLR 615, where the court cited Section 14 (2) of the Sale of Goods Act of 1979, and in Wilson v. Rickett, Cockerall and Company LTD. (1954), the court concluded; "the goods supplied must be considered in the units and measures in which they were supplied when examining quality".6 Further in Wilson v. Rickett, the court goes on again to point out the SOGA 1979, Section 14; "that it apply only when the purchaser has relied upon the vendors skill and expertise. It

United States International Childrens Emergency Fund Research Paper

United States International Childrens Emergency Fund - Research Paper Example UNICEF served that purpose adequately. â€Å"For the postwar period 1946 to 1950, the "emergency needs approach" meant swift action to meet the food, clothing, and health needs of children, particularly in Europe† (Nobelprize.org). UNICEF spent $112000000 to provide as many as five million children with different clothing articles in twelve different countries along with vaccinating eight million children to fight tuberculosis. UNICEF also distributed various kinds of facilities among these countries. Children were provided with meals on daily basis. From 1951-1960, UNICEF adopted the approach of long-range benefit along with meeting the emergency needs. Several campaigns were carried out in order to improve the children’s health in general and reduce their susceptibility to yaws, tuberculosis, malaria, and leprosy. In the same decade, UNICEF also formulated several provisions for the improvement of environment, and devised programs for education of mothers. In the 1970 s, UNICEF had been working for children’s well-being for quite some time and was all set to advocate their rights. In the 1980s, UNICEF played an important role in the attempts of UN Commission on Human Rights to formulate the â€Å"Convention on the Rights of the Child† (History.com), which was readily approved as the most effective human rights treaty in the whole history in 1898, after it was introduced to the UN General Assembly. UNICEF had played a decisive role in the enforcement of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Of all 184 member states of UN, United States and Somalia were the only two countries that did not approve the treaty. The two countries had different reasons for non-ratification of the treaty. Somalia’s government was not recognized internationally. Accordingly, it was not in a position to ratify the treaty. On the other hand, although US was an original signatory of this treaty, yet US had reservations on the effect of the treaty on the parent-child relationship and the national sovereignty. UNICEF – Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize: It was on 26 October 1965, when UNICEF received the Nobel Peace Prize (â€Å"UNICEF History†). Nineteen years after its establishment, UNICEF got this Prize for promoting brotherhood and unity among different nations of the world, which is essentially a fundamental condition of the Nobel's will as well as appearing on the stage of the world as â€Å"a peace-factor of great importance† (â€Å"UNICEF History†). Several events led UNICEF to this entitlement that include but are not limited to improved coalition among governments, various non-governmental agencies and private organizations and the people all over the world in general. This provided them with more opportunities that could be availed to upgrade the lifestyle of children everywhere in the world. Henry R. Labouisse, the Executive Director of UNICEF expressed what achieving the Nobel Peace Prize meant to the UNICEF in these words: To all of us in UNICEF the prize will be a wonderful incentive to greater efforts in the name of peace. You have given us new strength. You have reinforced our profound belief that each time UNICEF contributes...to giving today’s children a chance to grow into useful and happier citizens, it contributes to removing some of the seeds of world tension and future

Concept Comparison and Analysis Across Theories Paper Essay

Concept Comparison and Analysis Across Theories Paper - Essay Example Early nursing theorists aimed in defining what is nursing; conversely, contemporary theorists discussed the metaparadigm concepts in more depth, gave high regard to nursing actions in particular, and attempted to provide the rationale as to when is nursing necessary (Daniels, 2004). The works of contemporary theorists like Myra Levine, Dorothea Orem and Sister Callista Roy as highlighted by Daniels (2004), serve as the theoretical basis for a variety of interventions in current nursing practice. In the theories formulated by Sister Callista Roy which is known as the Adaptation Theory and in the Self-Care Theory by Dorothea Orem, the concepts given emphasis pertain to Man, Health, the Environment and Nursing (Timby, 2009). Man as defined by Dorothea Orem in her Self-Care Theory, is â€Å"an individual who utilizes self-care to sustain life and health, recover from disease or injury, or cope with its effects† (Timby, 2009, p. 7). On the contrary, according to Sister Callista Roy in her Adaptation Theory, Man is â€Å"a social, mental, spiritual and physical being affected by stimuli in the internal and external environments† (Timby, 2009, p. 7). In these two definitions of man, it is evident that man as described in the Adaptation theory portrays the different dimensions of a man whereas man in the Self-Care Theory is depicted in general. Health is the product of practices that people have learned to carry out on their own behalf to maintain life and well-being as stressed in the Self-Care Theory by Dorothea Orem (Timby, 2009, p. 7). Conversely, Health is defined as the persons capability to respond appropriately to changes in the environment (Timby, 2009). It is apparent that the two aforementioned theories defined health in varied ways; Self-Care Theory views health as an end product of individuals practices while Adaptation Theory deems that health is

Answer question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Answer question - Essay Example Samsara is a complex state of the mind where a recreation occurs in the material world. In Buddhism, the process entails three crucial states of beginning, death and the recreation of an individual. An individual experience process when the mind wonders in a systematic ritual. Buddhism describes Samsara as the desires to recreate existence within the mind while opening and closing the eyes within different intervals (Wangu, 2009). The existence provides other interaction platforms of individuals within the recreational process. Samsara entails the Karma as a recycled process of birth. Buddha offered guidance on how to stop the process through individual determination and decision. The process of Samsara and Nirvana entail complex mental states that transform the individual mind. The belief on both the processes lacks the concept of reality but entail a defined existence. In Buddhism, both processes occur because of individual decision to existence and self-acceptability. The mind is the distinguishing element to define and relate the two

Human Trafficking in the United States Research Paper

Human Trafficking in the United States - Research Paper Example While these impoverished people from South and Central America get into the United States in order to improve their economic wellbeing, evidence suggests that they barely get past acute poverty and only manage to survive. Despite being the richest nation on earth, a significant portion of its inhabitants lives below the poverty line. A large portion of them recently arrives illegal immigrants, who find disillusionment and further misery on their arrival into the country through illegal channels (Lybecker, 2008). This essay will argue that while human trafficking is not solely responsible for poverty in the United States, it does contribute to the growing pool of poor people and is a manifestation of the dark side of the global capitalist economy. Firstly, poverty and homelessness in the United States can be traced back a long way. Even long before political discourse about illegal immigration started, there has been a constant influx of impoverished and oppressed people into the country. As and when immigrants (legal or illegal) arrive into the confines of the country, they start out as homeless people by default. The direct and circumstantial evidence for this is available in literary and performing arts of the last one and half centuries. Prominent among the artists who dealt with this subject are Walt Whitman, Jack London, Charlie Chaplin, Woody Guthrie, John Dos Passos, Bill Mauldin, Jack Kerouac, and John Steinbeck. In the early twentieth century slang, homeless, vagabond immigrants were casually referred to as hoboes, which is a term of denigration. These so-called hoboes had a reputation for being barbaric, wild, lazy and unscrupulous. The first detailed representation of these people living on the fringes of society s tarted appearing after the end of the Civil War.  

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

Persuasion - Essay Example This is a great advantage for the Mac computers because many users like to install and use multiple operating systems for different uses (Stoncypher, 2010). Therefore, with apple computers, you can run multiple operating systems on a single machine. Secondly, apple computers software has advantage over windows computers. This is because apple’s software is compatible with many others as compared to windows (Martin, 2008). Apples software is very different from that of Microsoft in that Microsoft’s software is not compatible with apples software. For example, the type of files, file extensions and complex codes in the operating system are different, and apple can handle most of them, unlike windows computers (Emigh, 2007). The other advantage of apple computers over windows computers lies in their design (Martin, 2008). Macs are cosmetically designed to appeal to the user’s requirements. Apples designs are light and thin, and powerful than windows. The design itself is engineered to meet high performance standards than other computers. Apple computers have an appealing design to the eyes of the user, with an apple logo that is lit at the back, a backlit keyboard and keys. Apples design eliminates bulkiness and uses spinning hard drive technology and not the optical drive to enhance high performance (Martin, 2008). This hard drive technology makes apple’s drive faster than windows computer drives, and this saves the designs space hence making apple lighter and slim as compared to windows computers. The design of apples cooling system has been engineered to draw air from the sides, to ensure that they remain cool for a long period. Apple’s speakers have been custom designed to utili ze every space available and provides good sound response and high quality performance. The other advantage of apple computers over windows is the security of their system. Windows PCs are considered more insecure than apples

DB Qs Dar mkt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DB Qs Dar mkt - Essay Example In this regard, the significance of online stores like Amazon cannot be denied taking buying preference to the next level. Companies need to switch to aggressive marketing strategies in order to respond to the marketing needs and consumers’ demands. Amazon should consider offering online platform to brick and mortar stores in order to help them in surviving rather along with maintaining the aggressive marketing channels to cater to the needs and demand of consumers. There are a number of factors affecting the buying behavior of consumers including the demographic, social, psychological, and economic factors. Keller 2 stated that demographic factors like age, sex, and gender determines the buying preference of consumers while social factors like preference for certain products along with availability also affects the buying process. Kotler 3 stated that economic factors in the form of availability of money and need also determine the buying behavior. However, factors like reference from others and marketing channels also affect the consumer behavior and their buying decisions in the long run. Keller 2 believed that business to customers and business to business are two different things that need proper understanding and analysis. In terms of the major difference, it can be said that business to customers is based on emotional connect, analysis of cost and benefits, and identifying the specific needs. On the other hand, business to business is based on analyzing the benefits on a broader note often based on personal and private presentations by the marketers stating the usefulness and benefits of the products and services. B2C is not very much personal in nature while B2B is often very personal in nature in terms of signifying the value and benefits. Keller 2 further added that B2C is further driven by the reference and recommendations of others while B2B is driven by the thorough analysis of the

Adolph Hitler’s Leadership Ethics Essay Example for Free

Adolph Hitler’s Leadership Ethics Essay About 18 months ago, the Council of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa (ASSAf) appointed a Study Panel of eminent scientists to examine and collate the most relevant and reliable evidence on the influences of nutrition on human immunity, particularly in respect of HIV infection and active tuberculosis in South Africa. The decision to focus on this topic was sparked by the prevailing debates and public uncertainty in South Africa regarding the role of nutrition and nutritional supplements such as vitamins and minerals in the management of HIV infection. The Study Panel report released a few weeks ago under the title ‘HIV/AIDS, TB and Nutrition’ observes that South Africa is currently in the throes of three distinct epidemics – malnutrition, HIV infection and TB. The prevalence of each is sufficiently high that the same communities may be affected by all three epidemics in a purely mathematical overlap, but there is also prima facie evidence from observational studies that the three epidemics are in fact often linked in a synergistic relationship in which they mutually reinforce and facilitate one another. The report provides up-to-date and in-depth epidemiological summaries of each. This editorial will however largely concern itself with nutrition and HIV infection. Why nutrition is important for the immune system The body defends itself against microbial invasion by activating its quite complex immune system, and mobilising what the report dubs the ‘flamethrowers’ or respiratory burst whose central role is the intracellular killing of pathogenic organisms by oxidation or ‘burning’. This in turn relies on the availability of energy stored in energy-yielding fuels such as carbohydrates and fats to fuel the ‘respiratory burst’. Largely for this reason, the resting energy expenditure in HIV-infected individuals is increased by at least 10% compared with noninfected persons. This critical chain of complex defensive mechanisms (involving regulatory hormones, neuropeptides, cytokines and neurotransmitters) is obviously undermined if the infected person is not kept supplied with adequate energyladen macronutrients such as carbohydrates and fats. Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) are equally important as part of the nutritional landscape for the optimal functioning of the immune system. For example, the vitamin B complex – thiamine, riboflavin and niacin – has a critical role in the Krebs cycle via which the required energy is generated. However, oxidants are indiscriminate warriors that will attack and destroy both invader and host cells alike. For this reason, there is a need for ‘fire extinguishers’, and micronutrients fulfil the parallel and important role of serving as antioxidants whose function is to limit and contain the destructive effects of oxidants on the host cells. HIV infection and nutrition HIV infection is associated with weight loss and wasting, both of which are independent contributors to poor clinical outcome. The reasons for the weight loss and wasting are multifactorial, and include the increased resting energy expenditure, food scarcity, and decreased absorption of ingested food due to gastrointestinal disease or viral disruption of the intestinal mucosa. Although a 10% or greater loss of body weight over a year is not uncommon in HIV, there is in fact a high degree of variability in the extent of weight loss and wasting which, not infrequently, is causally associated with secondary infection. Whole-body protein turnover may be as high as 25% in untreated HIV sufferers, leading to cachexia. Also, as already mentioned, resting energy expenditure is increased by 10% in HIV-infected people. It would therefore appear to stand to reason that nutritional intervention in people with HIV infection will improve survival and/or quality of life, but hard evidence to this effect is woefully lacking. Very few randomised, placebo-controlled trials have been conducted in this regard. There is preliminary evidence, however, that specific dietary supplements such as amino acid mixtures increase body weight and reduce HIV viral load. Supplementation with medium-chain triglycerides reduces HIV-associated intestinal dysfunction and fat malabsorption. And ready-to-use therapeutic food improves nutritional status in severely malnourished children. Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) are essential to immune function, and deficiencies may therefore act as cofactors in HIV transmission and progression. Micronutrient deficiencies are common in HIV-infected people. Multivitamin supplementation has been shown in observational studies to result in a 40 48% slower progression to AIDS and a 40 60% reduction in the risk of death after 8 years of follow-up. But here again, there is an unhappy lack of sufficiently powered randomised controlled trials to confirm these benefits. The World Health Organization, the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society and the Department of Health have all published guidelines for nutrition in HIV/AIDS that have been collated in the ASSAf report. But the report also identifies gaps in our knowledge regarding HIV and nutrition, and recommends areas and topics that ought to be prioritised for research. Daniel J Ncayiyana Editor ‘HIV/AIDS, TB and Nutrition’ – ASSAf Report SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL JOURNAL – FIRST PUBLISHED JANUARY 1884 October 2007, Vol. 97, No. 10 SAMJ 893

HIV Diagnosis Essay Example for Free

HIV Diagnosis Essay Because a new HIV diagnosis can be stressful to an individual, it is not only important to seek follow-up care from a medical standpoint, but from a mental and spiritual standpoint as well. Some follow-up recommendations may include: 1. Prompt medical treatment for initiation of antiretroviral medications, appropriate vaccine administration 2. Continuation of medical care including taking prescribed medication, even when not symptomatic. 3. Education regarding changes in behaviors to reduce risk of transmission to others. 4. Referrals to behavioral and psychological services to assist with emotional needs as well as assistance with coping strategies to deal with the many changes that accompany the diagnosis. 5. Encouragement to seek spiritual care and companionship. 6. Education regarding reproductive choices and contraceptive information.1 What is hiv? HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, which leads to immunosuppression. The immunosuppression can cause opportunistic infections, cancer, central nervous system degeneration, and death. HIV is transmitted from person to person from sexual contact, blood contact, or from mother to infant.. 2 HIV is generally classified into three categories; the primary infection phase, the latent phase, and the overt AIDS infection phase. The progression of these phases typically spans 8-12 years. Many people have symptoms after their primary infection that may include: fever, fatigue, sore throat, night sweats, gastrointestinal problems, rash, and headache. If the infection is detected during the primary infection period, the patient may have a much better outcome with early treatment. The primary phase is followed by the latent phase, when the patient is asymptomatic. This phase lasts an average of 10 years. The latent phase is followed by overt-AIDS. If untreated, this phase can lead to death within 2-3 years, or sooner.2 who’s at risk? Men who have unprotected sex with men are at the greatest risk for acquiring HIV. Infants are at risk for acquiring HIV from their mothers in utero, during labor and/or delivery, and during breastfeeding; however transmission can be almost entirely prevented by the proper use of antiretroviral  medications and the absence of breastfeeding. 3 Sharing contaminated needles, unprotected sex, receiving unsterile medical procedures, and accidental needle sticks put individuals at risk. testing There are several different tests available to screen for HIV. Testing is recommended at least once per year for sexually active persons. Enzyme immunoassay test (results take up to two weeks) 4 Rapid HIV antibody test (results take 10-20 minutes) 4 Both tests may be done using blood, oral fluid, or urine. If a positive result from either of the previous two tests, a Western Blot test must be performed. Testing may not be positive even in the presence of infection if testing occurs shortly after infection. The results of the Western Blot test may take up to two weeks. 4 Antigen test (blood test. Can diagnose earlier at 1-3 weeks after first infection) 4 PCR test Can identify HIV in blood within 2-3 weeks of infection. Used in testing of babies born to HIV positive mothers to determine if the babies themselves are positive 4 Home testing kits Home test kits may be purchased at most pharmacies. A small blood sample is mailed in and the patient is contacted with results. 4 Prevention There are several different ways individuals can help prevent acquiring HIV. Some of the methods include: 1. Correct and consistent use of condoms 2. Abstinence or mutual monogamous long-term relationships 3. Regular testing for HIV 4. Use of sterile syringes by IV drug users 5. Antiretroviral treatment for those infected5 6. Male circumcision TREATMEnt There is no cure for HIV. Treatment focuses on slowing down the replication of the virus. Treatment of the HIV virus involves taking medication that interrupts the virus’s replication process. Typically this involves using a combination of medications. The current standard treatment is a combination of three to four antiviral medications which is referred to as high active antiretroviral therapy or HAART.2 Because opportunistic infections are  highly problematic in individuals with HIV/AIDS, infection exposure should be limited and vaccines should be obtained as recommended. 2

Gender Constructions in The Hours

Gender Constructions in The Hours TITLE: Gender Constructions in The Hours (Daldry. S, 2002) AIM/OBJECTIVE: To illustrate gender as being a social construction rather than a biologically determined entity and to evaluate how heteronormativity influences the several layers of identity. METHODOLOGY Drawing upon the evolution of gender construction in The Hours, I intend to use feminist theory and the social construction on gender to obtain a preview of a society devoid of the restrictions in terms of heteronormativity. LITERATURE REVIEW: Judith Butler’s (1988) ‘Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory’ asserts that â€Å"gender identity is a performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo†. Butler (1988) argues that gender is constituted through a series of â€Å"acts† that have been actualized by individuals in repetition over time. She further argues that gender is something that is not a concrete â€Å"social fiction† but is constantly being reproduced, shifted and moved. In short, she theorizes that gender is not a set of concrete identities, but it is always reproduced over and over by the body. â€Å"One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.† This emblematic quote of Simone de Beauvoir in ‘The Second Sex’ (1949) demonstrates that â€Å"no biological, psychological, or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presents in society†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Gender must be understood as a process of taking on or realizing possibilities, a process of interpreting the body and giving it a cultural form. In other words, to be a woman is to become a woman through an active practice of appropriating, interpreting and reinterpreting received cultural possibilities. In so doing, women are relegated to the category ‘the other’ through cultural construction, which Butler identifies as being the key to women’s oppression. Gender identity, advocates Simone de Beauvoir, â€Å"rests on unstable bedrock of human invention.† Drawing on Laura Mulvey’s work ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, Anneke Smelik’s ‘Feminist Film Theory’ (1999) indicates a prolific diversity which echoes the multitude of voices, manifold points of view, and cinematic styles and genres that indicate womens triumphant endeavor for self-representation on the silver screen. However, a restriction such as the reproduction of a male/female dichotomy is questioned and the need for a deconstruction is expressed. The renewed interest in the sex/gender distinction that Gayle Rubin had introduced in 1975 is given much importance. The term gender usually seemed to point to a more lucid distinction between anatomy (sex) and social construction (gender), and equally between sexual practice and gender identity. This distinction contributes to the critical appreciation of movies where gender constructions are depicted as being unusual. BACKGROUND: Society has been, most of the time, portrayed as being a patriarchal one. One representation that can be recurrently seen in texts is that man is the norm, and woman is ‘the other’, or as stated by Culler (2007), â€Å"Men have aligned the opposition male/female with rational/emotional, serious/frivolous, or reflective/spontaneous†. In such a scenario, the woman feels restricted to particular roles dictated by men and at some point, she feels stifled by the various impositions levied upon her. This research topic gives a discerning stance of the struggle of women of the 20th century who have been constantly seeking for more meaningful lives. In order to question the whole issue of gender construction as well as the hierarchy of the opposing attributes, this tale of women will be considered. These heroines of everyday lives will be analysed in terms of the construction of a patriarchal society as they make heart breaking and defining choices that eventually influence their whole life. INTRODUCTION: The Hours is a 2002 drama film – a screenplay by David Hare based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Michael Cunningham. Starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore, the movie relates the life of women of three different generations, who are interconnected by Virginia Woolf’s novel, Mrs. Dalloway. The character of Virginia Woolf, magnificently portrayed by Nicole Kidman, lives against her will in Richmond, England, 1922. Laura Brown is a pregnant housewife living in 1951 in Los Angeles. Played by Julianne Moore, she feels suffocated in her so-called â€Å"perfect life†. Lastly, Clarissa Vaughan, expertly acted by Meryl Streep, is a contemporary version of Mrs. Dalloway and leads a somewhat happy life with her homosexual partner, Sally, in New York City, 2001. DISCUSSION: In The Hours, Virginia Woolf is seen to be delving into her imagination to create Mrs. Dalloway – a woman who, like herself, embodies liberal thoughts, but nonetheless, enjoys a more expansive freedom in her lifestyle. Through her creation, she craftily plays on the notion of what gender identity should represent. This idea is once again explored through Mrs. Brown, who engages herself in reading the novel Mrs. Dalloway in her moments of solitude and depression. Virginia Woolf thus gives birth to Mrs. Dalloway, who in turn, becomes a source of inspiration to Laura Brown. Woolf turns many cultural gender stereotypes and generalizations on their heads, and seems to do so more in an effort to expose how gender is a socially constructed concept rather than promoting an exclusively feminist agenda. The character of Clarissa is yet another portrayal of construction related to gender identity. The contrast between Mrs. Dalloway in the novel and Clarissa Vaughan in the movie shows how the process of deconstruction occurred over time. The fact that Mrs. Dalloway could only be allowed to reminisce about her love for Sally shows that there are some limitations for her to live her femininity and sexuality as compared to Clarissa who is in a committed relationship with her homosexual lover. The construction of identity as portrayed in Clarissa goes beyond sexual orientation and constricted roles for women. It focuses on how the concept of the self develops in a society defined by social norms. CONCLUSION: With each upcoming generation, the characters demonstrate that they are given license to broaden their horizons. This evolving pattern shows a deconstruction of heteronormativity and at the same time does not restrict women to being portrayed as the other. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ahmed, S. (2010). ‘Killing Joy: Feminism and the History of Happiness’. The University of Chicago Press. Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 571-594 Beauvior, S. D. (1949). ‘The Second Sex’, trans. and ed. H. M. Parshley. New York: Knoph. Butler, J. (1986). Sex and Gender in Simone de Beauvoirs Second Sex .Witness to a century. 72 (3), 40-42. Butler, J. (1988). ‘Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory’. The John Hopkins University Press: Theatre Journal, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Dec., 1988), pp. 519-531 Butler, J. (1988). ‘Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory’. The John Hopkins University Press: Theatre Journal, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Dec., 1988), pp. 519-531 Butler, J. (1990) ‘Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity’. London and New York: Routledge. Butler, J. (1993). ‘Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of â€Å"Sex†. London and New York: Routledge. Cott, F. N. (1987). ‘The Grounding of Modern Feminism.’ Yale University Press Culler, J. D. (2007). ‘On Deconstructionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬: Theory and Criticism After Structuralismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. Cornell University Press.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬ Daldry. S (Director).The Hours[Motion picture]. Miramax Films, 2002. Fausto-Sterling, A. (2000). ‘Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality’. New York: Basic Books. Flax, J. (1990). ‘Postmodernism and gender relations in feminist theory’. In Nicholson, L. J., editor, Feminism/Postmdernism. London and New York: Routeldge, 39-62. Foucault, M. (1961). ‘Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason.’ Howard, R., translator. New York: Pantheon Books. Hjersing, C (2009).‘Representations of Clarissa and Septimus in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway A deconstructive approach combined with aspects of feminist and psychoanalytical criticism’ Molyneux, M. (1986).‘No God, No Boss, No Husband: Anarchist Feminism in Nineteenth-Century Argentina.’ Sage Publications. Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 13, No. 1, Latin Americas Nineteenth-Century History, pp. 119-145 Motashery, I. (2012). ‘A Feminist Reading of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway’. International Journal of Applied Linguistics English Literature. Vol. 1 No. 3. Offen, K. (1988). ‘Defining Feminism: A Comparative Historical Approach’The University of Chicago Press. Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 119-157 Probyn, E. (1993). ‘Sexing the Self: Gendered Positions in Cultural Studies’. London and New York: Routledge. Shihada, M, I. ‘A Feminist Perspective of Virginia Woolf’s Selected Novels: Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse.’ Shor, M. et. al (1999).‘Contemporary Feminism: Art Practice, Theory, and ActivismAn Intergenerational Perspective’. College Art Association. Art Journal, Vol. 58, No. 4, pp. 8-29 Smelik, A. (1999). ‘Feminist film theory.’ Warner, M. (1991). ‘Introduction: Fear of a Queer Planet’. Duke University Press. Social Text, No. 29 (1991), pp. 3-17

Thesis Essay -- essays papers

Thesis The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the effectiveness of character education programs and how technology can be used to enhance student learning about character education. According to Laura and Malcolm Gauld (2002)" For families, educators, corporations, and communities, the biggest job we'll ever have is nothing less than a new paradigm for reconnecting education with core values." (p.1) The world of education is at a place where they are placing extreme importance on teaching our students values. This paper will discuss the true meaning of character education, give ideas on how to incorporate character education, and give examples of technology that is helping this process. Items such as the computer blocking software and parental controls will be explained. All of these things will make up what character education means to our students and schools. Defining Character Education Before we discuss methods of character education we must first define the term. Many sources define character education as different things but all reach one general view. In the book, Bringing a New Era in Character Education Damon (2002) says, â€Å"there are two themes needed in character education today. The first is a consensus that fundamental moral standards must be passed along to the young and that educators at all levels bear a serious obligation to transmit these core standards to their students†¦The second theme that emerges from this volume is a shared determination to get rid of sterile old oppositions that have paralyzed even some of the best efforts in this field over the past decade.†(p.11) Damon’s view is a summary of the definition of all those involved in character education. The goal of character educa... ...orporate character education into the classroom. Damon, W. (Ed.). (2002). Bringing in a new era in character education. Stanford, CA: Hoover Press. This book shows different peoples pint of views on what character education is and how they maintain it in their classrooms. Frieman, B. (2001). Children at risk. New York: McGraw-Hill. This book discusses different way children are at risk in the classroom and how to help them if they are at risk. Gauld, L., & M. Gauld. (2002). The biggest job we'll ever have. New York: Simon and Schuster. This book talks about the fact that teaching our children how to be good people is the hardest and most important job we will ever have. Steyer, J. (2002). The other parent. New York: Atria Books. The book by Steyer talks about how technology such has television and computers are parenting America’s children.

College Writing in a Democratic and Digital Society :: Education College Technology Essays

College Writing in a Democratic and Digital Society Citizens of the United States spend obscene amounts of money to get a quality college education. For example, Rhetoric classes at Oakland University are costing each student about $600 to take for one semester. What are students getting for their money? One way to really make this class part of the college experience, and worth the high cost, would be to involve multiculturalism. Writing about and listening to other peoples personal experiences can help students learn about and better understand other cultures. This is important because it can help students learn about each other, themselves and the rest of the world. By learning about other cultures students may be able to break down existing barriers and expand their horizons. Rhetoric classes have become much more advanced in the area of technology. Technology has advanced all over the world, including in the classroom. Now the question is how do we use this technology to help better our education as well as our society. We need t o use this technology as a tool for literacy (Camper). Rhetoric teachers across the nation are taking different approaches to meeting the goal of spreading multiculturalism. A Professor of Rhetoric and Composition, from the University of Texas at Austin, named Maxine Hairston takes an interesting approach to teaching writing. She describes this style of teaching in an article entitled "Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing." Hairston is a strong believer in spreading multiculturalism in education. She believes in a teaching style that allows students to express themselves freely through writing. Through this exchange of ideas, values, opinions, traditions and personal experiences students recognize and relate to other cultures and backgrounds. Hairston states that "these students bring with them a kaleidoscope of experiences, values, dialects, and cultural backgrounds that we want to respond to positively, using every resource we can to help them adapt to the academic world and become active participants in it" (Hairston). Basically, what Hairston wants to do is develop a curriculum that is not based on text book drills, but rather on the experience s of the students in the class. However, there are many students like myself, that spent all of their High School years in an environment with very little to no cultural diversity. I grew up in a neighborhood where I was surrounded by people that all shared a similar nationality, ethnic background, and even social class.

Customer Empowerment Essay -- Economics

Customer Empowerment The Choice is Yours The Internet has permanently changed the relationship between consumers and the retail industry. Electronic commerce has provided consumers with more options, more alternatives and more opportunities than ever before. Consumers are no longer limited to physically visiting "main street" or "big-box" retailers. Instead, they are able to choose from products and services from companies large and small, located all over the world, without leaving their homes. Tangible points of comparison between retailers, which now can be automatically aggregated by software buying agents in seconds, include more than selection and price. Shipping costs, return policies, privacy practices and personalization of products are examples of tangible points of comparison. Equally as important are intangible points of comparison, specifically the customer experience. Everything from the look and feel of the home page to the shopping and buying process defines this experience. It encompasses everything the customer sees, clicks, reads, or otherwise interacts with. The customer experience is the key to dotcom survival. Consider the options available at the Land's End Web site. Consumers can browse the catalog online or shop with a friend, speak with a customer representative on the phone or online, create a model to try on clothes virtually, ask questions about specific products, place an order and track past orders. Concern over the customer experience has clearly driven the design of the Land's End business model, creating numerous options unavailable in the physical world. Of course, this overlooks the most powerful and fundamental option to consumers on the Internet: the ability to leave one store and enter another within seconds. And if a satisfactory purchase cannot be made, online auctions provide alternative shopping venues that directly compete with many traditional retailers. Central to the creation of a positive, unique and personalized shopping experience are technologies employed to remember customer preferences. Tracked preferences help expedite, and sometimes fully automate, the shopping process while offering targeted marketing and discounts. Online chat, bulletin boards, user reviews, auction sites, consumer feedback, online help and other customer-oriented features are als... ...e the price was just too high (because of the pricing error). I asked him if he could change it and he said no. He also knew that they would be throwing out the oranges soon if they didn’t sell. His frustration in not being able to correct such an obvious problem in his own department was evident. The Lesson. I tell these two contrasting stories because they relate directly to customer satisfaction and profitability as a function of employee empowerment. Two good grocery chains with two very different approaches to management. At Fresh Fields, every employee is aware of his or her impact on profit and is empowered to take independent action to maximize it. The decision to give two expensive cookies to a customer is not an insignificant decision. It is a business decision that may influence the relationship between a store and its customer. Unfortunately, it is a decision that most employees in traditionally managed organizations have no authority to make. My hope is that these two examples will clearly show how customers and profits can be won or lost when employees are enabled to take ownership of day-to-day problems. Once again, it just makes sense.

Earth’s Magnetic Field Essay

Earth’s magnetic field is one of the world’s most complicated features. It started to be observed in 1845 by a scientist named Carl Friedman Gauss (Sarfati). The magnetic field is generated inside of the earth’s core and there are many scientists who still debate over how it was first created. There are also many arguments about the many changes that the field has gone through in it’s existence. These arguments are mostly either for a young-earth model or an old earth model. History of the magnetic filed Earth’s magnetic field is a field of electric current that is conducted from the earth’s solid inner core through the liquid outer core (Richard). The electrical current goes around the earth and through it at the north and south poles. The north pole was first discovered by James Ross in 1831 (nasa.gov). No one visited it again until the early 1900s. â€Å"In 1904, Roald Amundsen found the pole again and discovered that it had moved–at least 50 km since the days of Ross,† (nasa.gov). The north pole continued to move at an average of about 10 kilometers per year in the twentieth century (nasa.gov). More recently scientist Larry Newitt of the Geological Survey of Canada has said that it has been moving an average of 40 kilometers every year (nasa.gov). The past of earth’s magnetic field can be studied by past lava eruptions that have hardened. â€Å"When grains of the common magnetic mineral magnetite in volcanic lava or ash flows cool below its Curie point of 570 °C (1060 °F), the magnetic domains partly align themselves in the direction of the earth’s magnetic field at that time. Once the rock has fully cooled, the magnetite’s alignment is fixed,† (Sarfati). The Curie point of a substance is the temperature at which it loses its magnetism, so the lava must cool below this point before the magnetite can align(Sarfati). Using these records scientists have seen that the earth’s pole have switched several times in the past. What the magnetic field actually does that is beneficial to the earth is deflect cosmic rays. The magnetic currents push them toward the north and south poles. â€Å"The increase could knock out power grids, scramble the communications systems on spacecraft, temporarily widen atmospheric ozone holes, and generate more aurora activity,† (Roach). The effect that these cosmic rays would cause to humans are unknown though some think that they would cause tissue damage much like x-rays (Richard). It also reduces the emission of carbon 14 which makes the earth healthier (Humphreys). Magnetic field reversals Magnetic field reversals occur when the currents of the the outer core of the earth move the electrical current around enough that it actually flips upside down. Many scientists believe that when the poles switch places there is a period of time where the magnetic field does not exist, but the University of California professor Gary Glatzmaier says â€Å"It just gets more complicated,† (nasa.gov). He states that when the poles are reverse there will actually be multiple magnetic poles that appear all around the earth. â€Å"A south magnetic pole might emerge over Africa, for instance, or a north pole over Tahiti,†(nasa.gov). Earth’s magnetic field during a reversal (nasa.gov) Some old earth scientists believe that when poles reverse is caused by a second magnetic field coming into existence with an opposite polarity and it then overpowers the first. This idea works if you assume that the geodynamo model is true because if the current of the liquid metal causes the magnetic field then the currents are can make a new field easily (Richard). Once the first field decays the second takes over. Other old earth scientists believe that when the polarity changes it is just the electrical current being shifted enough by the liquid outer core that it reverses directions completely (nasa.gov). Both of these processes would take large amounts of time and since there is proof that there have been many reversals have occurred in the past, this is what old earth scientists can use as evidence that the earth is old (nasa.gov). Dr. Russell Humphreys accepted that reversals were real, unlike some previous creationists. He proposed that the process of convection could cause the magnetic field to reverse (Humphreys). Most young earth scientists believe that most of the reversals occurred during a global flood which occur in Genesis. Dr. John Baumgardner proposed that the Genesis Flood was caused by the plunging of tectonic plates (Sarfati). This would have made the outer parts of the liquid core to cool rapidly which would have sped up the process of convection. In this model reversals would have occurred once every week or two. The most stunning piece of evidence for this is a very thin layer of lava that was found that most have cooled within a few days weeks and the magnetite of the outside of the layer is aligned in opposite direction as the inside (Sarfati). Origins of the field Scientists that believe in the old-earth model have said that there’s is about 300,000 years in between magnetic field reversals and that each reversal takes around 10,000 years to complete (Roach). The electrical current which makes the field has been said to be generated through convection. The liquid of the outer core which conducts the electrical current is constantly moving (Richard). This movement is caused by the heating of the molten liquid by the inner core which causes it to rise and as soon as the liquid cools it will sink. This process is called convection (Richard). This idea that this process can generate an electric current is called the geodynamo model. Young earth scientists strongly disagree with this. The first point that they make is that the geodynamo model has no significant evidence even after decades of research (Humphreys). One proposed idea is that during creation God made atomic nuclei spin in the same direction (Humphreys). The spin of atomic nuclei creates a tiny magnetic field and if the spin of the atomic nulcei were aligned it would add up to a much larger field. Dr. Russell Humphreys who has a Ph.D. in physics says â€Å"as thermal collisions disoriented the nuclear spins, the laws of electricity predict a startup of an electric current within the core of the earth to sustain the field.† Genesis flood model of earth’s magnetic field decay and reversals (Humphreys) Field fluctuations As stated before, the magnetic field prevents some of the production of carbon 14. This also can be used to see the past of the field. This is a process called radiocarbon dating (Humphreys). Using this scientists have seen that the field has been increasing and decreasing in strength over time. These fluctuations are what most old earth scientists use to say that the current decrease is no more than just a fluctuation and that it is not a steady decrease (Richard). The young earth rebuttal for this again goes back to the Genesis flood. In a summary of Dr. Russell Humphrey’s paper on the magnetic field fluctuations of states that because the liquid of the outer core disrupted the electrical current during the flood there would have been what he called higher-order components (Humphreys). This means that there four poles or eight poles, etc, and these poles would die away faster than the two main poles. â€Å"The higher-order components can have either polarity, the strength of the field would fluctuate up and down, as different components died away at different rates.† If the young earth scientists proposed idea of the exponential decay of the magnetic earth of the field is correct then the earth cannot be more than 10,000 years old (Sarfati). At the rate that the field is currently decreasing, which has been calculated with the formula i = Ie-t/Ï„, the field would have been strong enough to melt the earth if it had been in existence longer than 10,000 years (sarfati). Conclusion Both of these groups of scientists have evidence that supports their main points. The earth’s magnetic field a very complicated system that has been around since the beginning of the earth. There has been much that scientists have learned from it and there are still many things that they have to learn about it.

Natural Law and Sexual Ethics by Janet Smith Essay

I am honored to be among the lecturers in this series on natural law. Many of the speakers are among my heroes and friends. One of my heroes, Alasdair MacIntyre, used one of his favorite terms in his talk: he spoke of â€Å"plain persons† and their grasp of morality and natural law in contradistinction to the experts and professional philosophers and their grasp of these matters. A few years ago in Dallas he gave a talk entitled â€Å"Do plain persons need to be moral philosophers? † When I was asked to give the response to his talk, I was most honored because I considered Prof. MacIntyre one of the foremost moral philosophers in the world and it was a thrill to comment on his work. I felt dreadfully underqualified — I felt like some high school kid going up against Larry Bird — until I realized that I need not respond as an expert, as a moral philosopher of his caliber, but that I could respond as the quintessential plain person — for that is what I am. After all, I am Janet Smith, daughter of John and Anne Smith; I grew up at 5 Hill Street and went to Home Street School — I could go on but it is all very plain. The point I am making here is not merely a flip one — designed to ease us into more serious matters through an attempt at humor. There is a serious point here — natural law, is the â€Å"plain person’s† morality — in a sense it is simply plain old common sense. There are profound and sophisticated ways at explaining natural law, but the practiceof reasoning in accord with natural law principals, according to the theory itself, is natural to plain persons — that is, natural to all mankind for natural law holds that many of the most fundamental principles of moral reasoning are obvious, that is easily known by all. Yet, in spite of the plain commonsensicalness of natural law, it can seem shocking and provocative in many ways, for like natural law, plain old common sense does not command a lot of followers these days and can be shocking when juxtaposed to the values of our times. My talk is going to be very basic in several respects. It will review some of the basic principles that other speakers have covered, some in depth, some more in passing. It will also be very basic in being the one talk that attempts to make an application of natural law to concrete moral issues; issues in the realm of sexual ethics. My job is not to justify natural law ethics but to explain it and apply it. As did many of the earlier speakers I will largely be following the thought of Thomas Aquinas on these matters and of Aristotle from whom Aquinas learned many of the principles that informed his teaching on natural law. I shall also incorporate into my arguments the thought of another stellar natural law theorist, still alive and well: I shall make use of the work of Karol Wojtyla, now known as Pope John Paul II. I will refer to him as Wojtyla simply because I do not want to be thought to be invoking his authority as Holy Father; I cite him simply as a philosopher who has made great advances of our understanding of natural law, particularly in regard to sexual ethics. So let me begin with a review of the principles of natural law. As several other speakers have noted, Aquinas maintains that the first principle of natural law is â€Å"do good, avoid evil†. As he notes, that is a self-evident principle and obvious to all; if we want to be moral we should do good and avoid evil. No controversy here. The question is, of course, what is good and what is evil and how to we come to know which is which? Some think we can’t know what is good and evil so the best we can do is live by the conventions of our times. Others think it best to let our passions be our guide to whatever we want to do. Others think only revealed religion can give us absolutes. These three positions capture the predominant views of our times. Aquinas holds none of these positions. He argues that reason should be our guide to morality. Not only does he hold that the first principle of natural law, â€Å"do good, avoid evil† is self-evident, he argues that there are other self-evident first principles, such as â€Å"harm no man†. These he says are imprinted in the minds of all by God; I believe other precepts such as â€Å"provide responsibly for your offspring†, â€Å"give to each man his due† and â€Å"seek knowledge† would qualify as precepts that Aquinas thinks all men know. Men (and I use the term generically here and throughout) may act against these precepts out of passion or because ignorance of some fact operative in a situation, but all would agree that such principles are moral truths. Aquinas goes on to say that what he calls primary precepts of natural law are naturally and immediately known by man; he cites the 10 commandments as examples of these types of precepts. These precepts are justified by the primary principles. From the most general principle â€Å"give to each man his due†, from an understanding of what one owes to one’s mother and father, it is clear that one â€Å"should honor one’s father and mother. â€Å"Now this is not to say that one discovers the moral law by discovering these precepts in a deductive manner moving from the most general to the more particular. Rather, it seems that often moral discovery, as the discovery of other general truths, moves from the particular to the universal. That is, an individual could witness or participate in a transaction and quite immediately make the moral judgment that the act is good or bad. That is, for instance, an individual could witness someone honoring or dishonoring his parents and judge the action to be good or bad; from this action and others of the same sort one may come to formulate the â€Å"law† that one should give each man his due. But it is because we already naturally know — in an unexpressed and unformulated way — that one should give each man his due, that we are able to see readily that honoring one’s parents is good. Much in the same way that we, without musical training, can judge certain tones to be off pitch, we have moral â€Å"perceptions† that some actions are good and some bad, without having any explicit training about such kinds of actions. I speak of these as moral â€Å"perceptions† not because they are equivalent to sense perceptions, but because of their immediacy and their unformulated quality; indeed, I believe them to be rational in several important respects, not least because they are cognitive acts and they are in accord with reality. Let me speak now about rationality and the Thomistic claim that â€Å"one should act rationally. † Indeed, one could formulate the first principle of natural law not only in the most basic formula â€Å"do good, avoid evil†; in Thomistic terms, several formulas serve to express the same truth: for Aquinas, the following phrases are synonymous: â€Å"act in accord with nature†; â€Å"act in accord with reason† or â€Å"act rationally†; â€Å"act in accord with virtue†; â€Å"act in accord with the dignity of the human person†; â€Å"act in accord with a well formed conscience†; indeed, â€Å"act in a loving way†, properly understood, serves as well. While it would be of great profit to elaborate how each of these phrases is synonymous with the other, I want to devote most of my efforts here to explaining how â€Å"act in accord with nature† and â€Å"act in accord with reason† are synonymous and worthy guides to moral behavior. First we must try to get as clear as we can what it means to say â€Å"act in accord with reason† or â€Å"act rationally†. In our day, reason often gets a bum rap. This is a fault not of Aristotle or Aquinas but of Descartes and Kant and their followers. Since they retreated into the mind and abandoned the senses and emotions and nature as guides to truth, they made reason seem like something coldly logical, impersonal, abstract and completely devoid of experiential and emotional content. In their view, mathematics and geometry are seen as the quintessential rational acts; to be rational is to operate totally within one’s mind and to be completely unemotional. Another view of rationality that dominates modern times is the view that only that which can be measured scientifically deserves any recognition as objective truth. No truths other than those substantiated by scientific proofs — truths that can be quantified largely in the laboratory — count as truth. No proof other than scientific proofs count as truth; only science and that which approximates to scientific truth is truly rational. Neither view is the view of reason and rationality held by the ancients and medievalists — those who defined the view of natural law I am defending here. The ancients and medievalists did not think rationality was possible without the senses and the emotions for both are tools to reading reality; they provide the intellect with the material needed to make a good judgment. The etymology of the word â€Å"rational† is rooted in the word â€Å"ratio† which means â€Å"measure or â€Å"proportion†. One is being rational when one’s thought and action are measured to, are proportionate with, or when one’s thought and action correspond with reality (which itself is measured or governed by discernable laws; more about this momentarily). The thought that leads to acting in accord with reality is called rational. Now this thought need not be and perhaps only rarely will be the kind of abstract, cold, logical reasoning of a Descartes, Kant, or research scientist. This thought can be intuitive, creative, poetic, inductive, deductive, indeed, whatever human thought can be. It is all called rational thought not because it proceeds by syllogism or because it is subject to certain scientific tests; it is called rational because it corresponds with reality — and this includes all of reality, the spiritual and the transcendental as well as the logically provable and the scientifically measurable reality. Such thought cannot proceed without abundant data from our senses and our emotions. The intellect processes such data and orders it; it determines what values are important in the data and decides on the appropriate response. If one acts rationally, one then acts in accord with the ordering done by the intellect. While the intellect should govern the emotions, it is not a natural law teaching that all rational behavior will be devoid of emotion. Again, the emotions can provide essential data to the intellect. Emotions that are well-habituated may lead one quite spontaneously to respond correctly to situations. One may spontaneously get angry at witnessing some act of injustice and, if one knows one’s emotions to be well-ordered, one could respond quite immediately and correctly to the situation — and even angrily to the situation. Indeed, at times it may be an appropriate response to reality to rant and rave. One doing so, is properly called rational, in spite of our common parlance. This talk of the mind and of rationality as something that is measured to reality suggests, as mentioned above, that reality is a thing that can be grasped. Natural law depends upon such. It rests upon the claim that things have natures and essences that we can know and correspond our actions to. There are many reasons for making this claim. One is the fact that things act in a predictable fashion; when we learn the properties of oil and water, for instance, we can predict certain things about their behavior. The fact that we build bridges which stand, that we make artificial hearts that work, that we put men on the moon, also indicates we are able to measure our thoughts to the external world and to act in accord with it. Moreover, natural law operates on the premise that nature is good; that is, that the way things naturally are is good for them to be; it holds that the operations of things and parts of things contribute to the good of the whole. The wings of different birds are shaped in certain fashions because of the sort of flying that they must do to survive; different digestive systems work in different ways because of what is being digested. Indeed, natural law holds that the natural instincts of natural things are good; they lead them to do what helps those things function well and helps them survive. Since natural things have an order there is said to be a ratio or order to them; not one of which they are conscious but one that is written into their functioning. Natural law holds that we live in a universe of things that have a ratio to them and that we shall get the best out of these things if we act in accord with the ratio or nature that is written into them. Now, man is a natural thing. He, too, has parts and operations and instincts that enable him to function well and to survive. Man differs from other creatures in that he has free will; that is, he can either cooperate with his nature or act against his nature, whereas other natural things have no such freedom. What enables man to be free is his reason, his rationality; he is able to weigh and measure different courses of action and to determine which actions are good or bad. According to natural law, those actions are good which accord with his nature and with the nature of other things. Since man is by nature a rational animal, it is good for him to act in accord with his reason. By acting rationally he is acting in accord with his own nature and with a reality that is also ordered. When he acts rationally, he acts in accord with his own nature and reality and in accord with the nature and reality of other things. Now, let’s get concrete. Let’s talk about acting in accord with the nature of a few specific things. Take tomato plants, for instance. Tomato plants have a certain nature. In order to have good tomato plants one must act towards these plants in accord with their nature; one must water them, give them sunlight and good soil if one wants to produce good tomato plants. Such is acting in accord with nature in respect to tomato plants, such is rational behavior in respect to tomato plants. If one’s tomato plants fail to produce tomatoes, one knows that one is doing something wrong; if one’s tomato plants produce good tomatoes, one knows one is doing something right. Prof. Charlie Rice, whose book Fifty Questions on Natural Law that I understand several of you are reading, speaks of the rationality of putting oil and not molasses in the engine of a car. One needs to act in accord with the nature of things if one wishes them to perform well. So now let us, moving quickly, move to human nature. If a human being wishes to function and perform well, what does his nature require of him? Let us begin with his physical nature. There is a considerable consensus about what makes for physical health and what is conducive to physical health. Those who don’t get sick, who are able to function well in their daily activities, who are not overweight, we call healthy. We know how to produce such individuals. We are regularly and rightly advised to eat well, exercise regularly, and to get plenty of sleep. Those who do so generally flourish physically — because they are acting in accord with nature, with reason, and with reality. Psychological health is also understood to some extent; we know we need friends and rest and interests to sustain our psychological health; that is our nature; that is reality. Nor are we in the dark about what makes for moral health or moral goodness. We recognize the goodness of the various virtues such as self-discipline, reliability, justice and fairness, kindness, truthfulness, loyalty, etc. those who exhibit these qualities we generally recognize to be good — that is morally good — human beings. Parents who have children who display such qualities are rightly proud of them; their â€Å"tomato plants† turned out well. So, in regard to sexual behavior, to sexual moral health, so to speak, what qualifies as acting in accord with nature, with reason? How do we determine what it is? Now, for Aquinas, these are not difficult questions, though, apparently, they are extremely difficult questions for modern times. We are terribly confused about what proper sexual behavior is. College newspapers are filled with news of campuses that are devising codes of moral sexual behavior — codes that are designed primarily to stop or reduce the incidence of date rape on campus. These codes suggest, mandate, require — I am not certain what is the correct word — that in sexual activity neither individual proceed to the next level of sexual activity without obtaining the permission of the other individual. These codes reflect what has been the principle governing sexual behavior in modern times for sometime — whatever one feels comfortable with and whatever one agrees to is morally o. . This is basically what we are teaching to our young people and they are doing much what one would expect given that teaching. As long as it feels good, and they have consented to it, there is no reason for them not to do â€Å"it†. Is this working; is this principle leading to moral health or moral sickness? What can we say about the moral sexual health of our society? What does the fact that 68% of African-American babies are born out of wedlock suggest? The figure is now 22% in the white community and rapidly growing.