Interpersonal Communication Essay

In the healthiest of environments, people advance from ‘relationship’ to ‘engaged’ status because two people have mutually acknowledged each other, have common understandings, and act with the other person’s concerns in mind. A relationship, be it for marriage, friends or business, requires a domain of actions and an assessment that your partner is worth trust because they act with the intention to take care and not betray shared concerns. One of those elements is the interpersonal communication between the people in the relationship. When communicating effectively, there is a behavioral coordination that results from the coupling between two people in such a way that the relationship can limit the drift of day-to-day life, and move with effective communication practices that will address fundamental concerns. The bedrock of effective interpersonal communication is to first know who ‘you’ are. Review and understanding of your self-concept, self-image, self-esteem, and personality will allow for greater spaces for possibility to understand the same elements of your partner. Interpersonal communication involves both verbal and nonverbal communication and both of these communication types can be expressed in a variety of different ways. One aspect to clearly understand is that communication is complex because it involves two or more people to be in a dance of coordinated action that will take care of concerns and/or fulfill the narrative of the future. Communication is also continuous; to be most effective in the domain of interpersonal communication there is a requirement of recurrence, recursion  and reciprocation. Communication is also dynamic in that the action requires the embodiment of practices that allow you to transform between public, private and behavioral queues with your significant other. Equally important to remember is the misconception that communication cannot transform interpretation. Languaging is a linguistic coordination of linguistic coordination’s, a domain of descriptions of descriptions that refer back to themselves for meaning. Our classroom text asserts that we cannot exactly repeat something we have said in the past. Even if our words are the same – the tome of voice and other characteristics such as posturing and tone will differ- and the listener will also have a different impression (sole, K. 2011). Communication is also irreversible in that we cannot take back our words once spoken. This is why it is very important to be conscious of what you are saying in moments of anger when you might say something that you may later regret. The harmonious combination of two different points of view can certainly be viewed as a barrier to effective interpersonal communication because balance between the two is not always achieved. Common communication problems in relationships are assessed as: 1) Silence or refusal to speak; 2) giving into the other person at a cost of self or the relationship (also known as placating); and 3) psychological requests or reports – which is essentially the announcement of a feeling, emotion, or state of being without any commitment to act from the assessment produced an/or speaking without regard for the truth to fulfill a concealed agenda. Let’s face it – the silent treatment is more often than not a way of inflicting pain on the other person, or to get them as angry or disappointed as you are. Either way, there are no good outcomes possible for effectiveness to be achieved. Giving in to your significant others demands can defuse a negative situation, however, over the long term you can loose who your ‘self’ is and the foundation of the relationship can begin to become eroded. Visions of virtues, what is a good life, beliefs, and what is important for being taken care of can be lost subconsciously without you even knowing it when you give into placating. The last of the three barriers mentioned is psychological warfare. This could be sabotage born out of feelings of resignation, despair, boredom, resentment, distrust, confusion, being overwhelmed, and skepticism. It is important to try and be a third party observer of your moods because they color your outlook about your relationship and the world over extended periods of time. Moments of perturbation should be discussed with your partner in the moment or soon after so that bottled up aggression does not have the opportunity to morph into something much worse in the future such as ‘playing games’. As reviewed in chapter three of our classroom text, what you perceive in the world depends on what you pay attention to (Sole, K. 2011). With acceptance of this assertion then it is easier to understand how you organize and interpret what you perceive, and the framework of your emotions take place. Always remember that emotions are specific ungrounded assessments that live in our bodies for only a short period of time as feelings and thoughts. The perception of your partner may differ from your own; in fact, it most likely does because you both have had two different journeys throughout life from birth to the present moment. It is important to remember that emotions are the result of perturbations of our nervous system and provide automatic and ungrounded assessments about the world because as reviewed earlier, our individual ‘worlds’ are made up of only what we are paying attention to. Some emotions are inherited genetically and some are learned. Emotions though, only tell us how we ‘feel’; not the ‘truth’. With this in mind we can begin to understand then to be careful to know the difference between stating a ‘truth’ to our partner and making an ‘assertion’. With interpersonal relationships it is important to be aware of our emotions and how they affect the people around us, including our significant others. Non-verbal communication is defined as communication of a message without words, which means that it encompasses a wide range of vocal and visual signs and behaviors (Sole, K. 2011). Throughout your relationship you will  express yourself not only with your voice or with a pen, but also with eyes, facial expressions and body posturing. When listening to your significant other it is recommended to be aware of your body posture; the technical term for this is called kinesics. For example, sometimes there is no greater expression of affection for someone than the embrace of a hug or putting your arm around them (Burgoon, Buller, Woodall, 1996). As time goes on most partners begin to pick up on what the other is thinking without even speaking through non-verbal communication habits. For example, my fiancà ©e figured out that whenever I rub my eye with my index finger by putting pressure in corner of eye, I am in a mood of frustration or anger; and I never realized I did that till she pointed it out to me! Emotional Intelligence, also known as EI, is a reference to the capacity that someone has to understand, communicate, and manage emotions; and further the ability to understand and respond to the feelings of others (Sole, K. 2011). This is an especially powerful element to successful relationships because it expands the different possibilities for thinking and actions that a couple can take throughout a lifetime together. EI is a reference that someone has a background of listening taking place where future possibilities are being listened to, even while declarations for thinking or acting have taken, or are taking place. Take the various moods of yourself and your significant other for example. The understanding of moods can help in managing conflicts with one another. Moods color a persons point of view about life for periods of time and have body postures associated with it. If you see your significant other standing with their arms crossed and eyebrows bent while eyes are starring at you like daggers, then you may not need them to say that they are frustrated because you can interpret that with your level of emotional intelligence. A submission from my own meandering experience on like is to recognize the difference between the things you can, and the things you cannot change in life. Do your best to let go of negative thoughts and change negative interpretations. If your significant other is not able to spend a lot of time with you because of the amount of time you work for example, then  instead of ‘getting down’ on it be thankful that you get to end the day with him or her, and that they are ambitious instead of lazy. Another broad suggestion that does not encompass a specific situation would be to stay away from â€Å"I† statements. Our text for the class uses a great example for this. Instead of â€Å"you make me so angry sometimes† TRY: â€Å"I am so angry with you sometimes†. It shows that you are taking ownership for your own emotions and are describing a behavior instead of simply acting on it without thinking the situation through. CLOSING: The bedrock of effective interpersonal communication is to first know who ‘you’ are. Review and understanding of your self-concept, self-image, self-esteem, and personality will allow for greater spaces for possibility to understand the same elements of your partner. References Bower, B. (2010, November). Shared talking styles herald new and lasting romance. U.S. News & World Report, 1. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global on July 22, 2011. Document ID:2223940991 NARA SCHOENBERG. (2011, February 6). Can we talk? Researcher talks about the role of communication in marriages. Houston Chronicle,p. 7. Retrieved July 28, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2260839481). Nathan Miczo, Chris Segrin, & Lisa E Allspach. (2001). Relationship between nonverbal sensitivity, encoding, and relational satisfaction. Communication Reports, 14(1), 39-48. Retrieved July 25, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 72022836). Preston, P. (2005). Nonverbal communication: Do you reallynsay what you mean? Journal of Healthcare Management, 50(2), 83-6. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global. Document ID: 814698921 Sole, K. (2011). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (https://content.ashford.edu)

Gobi Fund Essay

Why is it difficult to establish a new fund? Why is track record so important in fund raising? The main concern is to convince the investors to invest their money in Gobi. Therefore, it is necessary to raise a rational-sized fund. To raise a new fund is not an easy thing to do as everything including the fund structure, team, approach, LP base, and amount of capital have to be defined appropriately. The general partners also need to contribute their own money in order to convince the investors to invest together with them. The track record is very important in fund raising because if Gobi has a good track record, more investors will be interested to invest in it. Q2. Prepare a SWOT analysis for Gobi Fund II proposal in the context of venture capital fundraising. Gobi operates in an area where there is a lot of pent up demand (IT and digital media). * Gobi can acts like a bridge for western LPs to invest in Chinese companies. It is difficult to raise a new fund and if Gobi do not really have a good track record, it will become harder to gain the investors trust in order to raise the new funds. May have the advantage in acquiring a higher return from investment in the IT and media market since they already invest in that industry during the early stage. Meaning that they already have the experiences in investing in IT industry, therefore, may not become a problem to earn a high return. What are the keys to raising the second fund and how large should it be? There is no definite answer in this question as they could be changing depends on the situations. The planning horizons may take between 7 to 10 years or maybe longer than that because of a lack of infrastructure and development in the industry. The fund size may be between $100 million to $200 million allowing around $2 million to $5 million for each company. The subsequent funds should be of similar size or larger as the industry grows. Gobi wants the first close at $75 million. The key is whether to include more financial LPs or not. Q4. From the perspective of a potential LP, what are your choices when funding international focused VC funds? Would you fund Gobi? Gobi has never exited from an investment before, and there is high level of risks involved in the development of early stage IT companies as well as huge risks that may impede company development and growth. However, Gobi operates in an area where there is a lot of pent up demand (IT and digital media) and Gobi can acts like a bridge for western LPs to invest in Chinese companies. It may be a good choice to invest in it if it offers a rational return considerate with the level of high risks involved.

Business and Support Systems Essay

The following paper answers questions on three different case studies. The case studies are Reality Gets Better, The Flash Crash: Machines Gone Wild and Piloting Valero with Real-Time Management. Case Study 1: Reality Gets Better The difference between virtual reality and augmented reality is perception. Virtual reality is when a user totally enters a different reality visually. This reality is completely computer generated. Augmented reality users enter a mixed world of computer generated and real life images. (Laudon & Laudon, 2012) The reason augmented reality is so appealing to marketers is because it offers them a different way to present their products. The goal of marketers is to present their product in such a way that people will remember it, be impressed with it, and ultimately purchase it. Augmented reality offers this through a series of interactive ads that can be used to impress and involve the consumer. (Laudon & Laudon, 2012) The reason augmented reality is useful for real estate shopping applications is it offers the buyer the opportunity to have an interactive view of a property that is up for sale without the hassle of making an appointment with a realty company. The ability to use a phone to get pricing information, and pictures of the interior of a property is a major time savor and very convenient. (Laudon & Laudon, 2012) Based on what has been learned by this case study the applications for augmented reality are far reaching. A manufacturing company could use augmented reality to teach employees and to direct employees. Simply have the employee wear a helmet and they would not have to do much thinking on the job as they could be led to every correct decision. Augmented reality such as the real estate application could be used at the humane society to give clear pictures and understandings of the animals they have up for adoption. Case Study 2: The Flash Crash: Machines Gone Wild? The conditions that preceded the flash crash were a market that was already low and moving lower, concerns by investors over the debt in Europe and current worries over the economy. (Laudon & Laudon, 2012) Some of the benefits of electronic trading include; far faster trading than a human being could do, ability to analyze the market trends quickly and change what is being traded, lower cost and the ability to have a more liquid market. (Laudon & Laudon, 2012) The features that contributed to the crash would be the automated selling put into place to sell regardless of time or price. The other feature would be the high frequency traders designed to purchase what was being sold and then sold when the price was lowered. Finally the automated systems put in low offers that are so low they are not very likely to ever to be accepted. In the conditions created by the electronic trading, those stocks sold. (Laudon & Laudon, 2012) Due to the programming of the automated systems this crash could have easily been prevented if humans were in control of the decisions that were made. (Laudon & Laudon, 2012) They would have been able to set a better selling time and set the amount being sold. By doing the previous, none of the other events would have taken place. Case Study 3: Piloting Valero with Real-Time Management. When developing the new dashboard the issues that needed to be addressed would be making sure the dashboard was set to measure the appropriate items, making sure the system was able to send real time data and making sure executives, those at the refinery level and those at the individual level could view performance. (Laudon & Laudon, 2012) The measures of performance that the dashboards display include; inventory management, safety, plant and equipment reliability and energy consumption. (Laudon & Laudon, 2012) Some of the management decisions that could be made by using these displays would include whether or not to purchase new equipment, whether a plant needs to change its energy consumption, whether or not a plant needs to have more safety training, and whether or not a plant needs more inventories. Valero currently uses a group decision support systems designed to link systems to corporate headquarters and each of the fifteen plants. Valero’s dashboards are very effective in piloting the company. As of 2009 a Valero executive said they were saving an estimated 140 million dollars a year in the seven plants that had the dashboard. He further said that they could estimate a savings of up to 240 million dollars once the dashboard was put into all sixteen of their plants. (Henschen, 2009) There would be no real point in developing a dashboard with information outside the company’s control. You cannot monitor events that you have no control over.

Industrial Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Industrial Revolution - Essay Example Though it is hard to pinpoint, but most historians agree that the Industrialization basically originated in England with a series of social and technological innovations. But the oldest disagreement among historians is how the ordinary people were affected by it. While Landes (1987), seems to approve of the Industrial Revolution by stressing its positive consequences; such as the increased political equality and improvement in the material conditions. It was between 1760 and 1860, that the progress in technology and education; and an increasing capital stock; transformed England and the rest of Western Europe into the workshop of the world. This essay will try to look into the different factors that contributed towards Western Europe to industrialize first, in comparison to the rest of the world. The industrial revolution was driven not only by technology but also by profound social changes. Europe rapidly moved from primarily a rural and agricultural economy to an urban and capitalist economy and from a household, family based economy to an industry based economy. This required the need to rethink social obligations and the structure of the family. Abandoning the family economy was the most dramatic change the Western Europe had ever undergone, and Europeans still seem to be struggling with these changes. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the European economy had become a global economy. The Western European, manufacture and trade stretched to every continent except Antarctica. Why the other nations did not initially join this revolution is based on multiple factors. Causes of Occurrence in Western Europe A question that really interests economic historians is that why did the eighteenth century industrial revolution start in Europe rather than in any other part of the world, like France and China or India. Though numerous factors like ecology, government and culture have been suggested but some historian argue that as China and Europe were similar in the 1700s, the crucial difference which resulted in the Industrial Revolution in Europe were the sources of coal and other raw material near the manufacturing centers. This enabled the ordinary people to find increased employment opportunities in the new factories and mills (Hartwell, 1971). Moreover, it also allowed Europe to economically expand in a way China could not. Though some 20th century historians argue that the process of social and economic change took place gradually, therefore, the term revolution is not a true description of what took place (Berg & Hudson, 1992). Climatic and Geographical Factors The geographical factor has played a vital role in Western European industrialization. The countries situated in tropical and semi-tropical zones like China and India, have a severe handicap because of the climatic and weather patterns of these areas. Hot climates are mainly responsible for the spread of viral and other incapacitating diseases (Landes, 1998). Moreover, these areas are either dominated by deserts or the weather there is such, that it suffers from drought or torrential downpours that are detrimental for farming. To completely overcome these natural handicaps is undoubtedly a major problem which drains a lot of government resources. Europe on the other hand

Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

Personal Statement Example Currently, I work as an administrative assistant at a non-profit organization. Despite the challenges I face bringing up my three children, I have excelled at my place of work. This opportunity has enabled me learn management operations of a non-profit organization through handling of communications for the management. I have also acquired skills on other business operations that ensure an organization’s success, including record keeping, book keeping and general office operations. In line with my careers goals, I now seek to rise to management level in a public organization. Pursuing Master of Public Administration would equip me with the necessary skills in management and operations, law and human resources management. John Jay College is my best choice because it would provide me with education in liberal arts and criminal justice, in addition to professional studies. This, according to John Jay College of Criminal Justice (n.d.), enables its students to transform ideas into leadership and social action. Additionally, the location of the college within the locality of my birth makes adaptation to the learning environment

Learning Models and Business Training Coursework

Learning Models and Business Training - Coursework Example 143, 1986). The separate course model incorporates a course focused specifically on issues related to slow learners. This model requires that room for a separate course be made in a curriculum that may be full. In addition, the needs of all students may not be met by including a single course (Myers & Blake, p. 143, 1986). The area of concentration model includes several courses taught in the counsellor education department and generally integrates an applied experience in a geriatric setting (Myers & Blake, p. 143, 1986). Few programs, however, are likely to have the necessary resources to implement this model. The interdisciplinary model utilizes courses from other departments, and thus decreases the need for counsellor educator involvement. In this last educational model, a minimum of one course in training teaching would be necessary to draw together students who are interested in training and teaching to "bridge the gap between subject matter and teaching" (Myers & Blake, p. 143, 1986). A cognitive learning theorist would believe that the integrative model would be effective because information is presented over an extended period of time and in relation to similar material. This extended learning period would promote effective storage and retrieval of the information. The separate course model promotes learning in a compacted period of time and out of context from information to which it is closely related. Hence, the learning process involved in the separate course model is not as likely to be as effective as the integrative model. (Felder, pp674-681, 1988)Moreover, information presented in a singular course may not be relevant to the needs of each student. (Oxford Brookes University)Therefore, he/she is less likely to attend to and learn this information. The area of concentration model would be effective from the standpoint that it does involve both cognitive learning (obtaining knowledge) and improving skills (behavioural practice). Yet, the increasing of awar eness is lacking The interdisciplinary model provides a broad foundation of information for students, and it provides the opportunity to integrate information about learning with teaching methods. For this last model to be more effective, a practicum or internship component would be necessary. The professional who is providing services to slow learners must take into account the multitude of problems with which they present (Lewinsohn et al., pp. 187-202, 1984).

Return of Hong Kong to China Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 26

Return of Hong Kong to China - Assignment Example Because of this, generous reforms were implemented that proved to be economically successful. Later, younger leaders copied his economic model that earned the criticism of hardcore communists. First, the cities become overpopulated by rural migrants which becomes a housing problem. Household registration is a big concern since the government is trying to control the influx of migrants through the hukou system. Most of the migrants are considered as temporary migrants who would return to their villages one day. There’s also the problem of discrimination since people in the city look down on these migrants. Migrants are often blamed for crimes or any misdemeanor in a community which shows how ethnocentric urban dwellers are in China. First of all, it is hard to control the environmental pollution because this is the price for China’s success. As the country consumes more natural resources to manufacture more goods, it has also to chew out tons of pollution. Health concerns are just one matter as children get sick from different industrial waste. Algal red tide problems along the coastline is another environmental disaster that would be hard to correct. Another issue is Basically, north and south China differ in many ways, namely: geography, climate, and even culture. The northern part of China is mainly characterized by flat plains and grasslands which is suitable for growing wheat. On the other hand, the southern part has mountains and valleys which are conducive to planting rice. Also, irrigation is not a problem in southern China due to the rainy weather. The Yangtze river plays an important role in rice cultivation in southern China. The origins of Japan’s economic success began during the Meiji period when the leaders during that period accepted the concept of free market economy.  

Essay1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Essay1 - Essay Example Take for instance the birth of a newborn baby in this world. Unlike wild animals, which learn how to survive on their own without their mother’s nursing and attention, human babies, require full attention of their mothers in order to survive. Take for instance a waterbuck calf. Once born, the calf learns how to walk in the first few hours. At the end of the first 24 hours, it knows how to jump and run about. The mother suckles it only for a few days before it begins to eat grass and other green vegetation for survival. One week later, the calf can entirely survive on its own without the help of the mother. The newborn calf will have to fend for itself. Contrary to this case, a human child cannot survive on its own without the mother’s milk, warmth and tender care a week after birth. This would be like a death sentence to the new child. In case of inevitable circumstances where the mother has to abandon the child, such as dying during childbirth, then the community has to take the sole responsibility of ensuring the well-being and development of the newborn baby until it is mature enough to survive on its own. Most human babies learn how to eat solid food in six months, learn how to move or walk in 8 to 12 months, and learn how to speak in 10 to 15 months. During this period, the child’s brain remains underdeveloped in such a way that he or she cannot make a cognitive decision on their own, and as such, require the assistance of their mothers, guardians, or the community around them to guess and provide the child what they might be needing. In his article â€Å"Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?† Stephen Marche surveys the recent research assessing our connectedness. According to Stephen, when suffering from loneliness, â€Å"Still, loneliness is slippery, a difficult state to define or diagnose†¦how often do you feel you lack companionship?† (18). this data creates an undisputed display of our instinctual need for connectedness.

How Successful was the American and Chinese Alliance in the WWII and Essay

How Successful was the American and Chinese Alliance in the WWII and Why - Essay Example China did not participate in the First World War, but Japan did. In their participation, Japan posed a great threat to western countries. Further, Japan sought dominance in the East Asian region and intervened china taking up Chinese territories (Rocky 186). It was during this war that America and China formed alliance with a view of achieving their objective. This paper gives a detailed analysis of the success attributed to the American and Chinese alliance in the World War II, and the reasons behind the success. An understanding of the prevailing conditions in China enable a clearer understanding of the situations under which the alliance between America and China started. After the First World War, Japan intruded into china’s territories. Previously, China respected all the treaties it had signed. In the international picture, China lacked a good reputation in international relations. China had internal issues, which it sought to get over first. China had the habit of not r esponding to foreign intrusions into its territories. However, after japans’ intrusion in 1930’, china responded as a nation to the imperialism. This marked China’s turning point in international interests and especially the East Asian region (Gallicchio 187). On the other hand, America was an emerging threat to all nations to take over the global economy. America participated in the First World War and realized that Japan was a potential threat to its interests. This realization prompted America to seek an alliance with the weak China. The two countries shared nothing in common in terms of relations and interests. However, America realized that strengthening China to stand up, as a unified nation against Japan would alter situations. The altered situations would be in America’s favor. Unified China would probably defeat Japan and America would no longer be under any threat. America was prepared to pay the price to unify China and enable it to stand again st Japan (Liu 71). China’s entry into an alliance with America was a pursuit for its needs to gain stability nationally, regionally and internationally. China pictured that by the end of the war, the resulting policies would enable it to compete in the international front effectively. China hoped that America would help it overcome its internal differences and stand up as unified force in East Asia. In addition, China had a quest to conquer Japan and regain its lost territories. The alliance looked promising for both nations. China belonged to the Big Four in the United Nations but at that time, it did not compete effectively (Hing 55). Therefore, Chinese leaders reasoned that the alliance and post war events would leave it in a better position. These circumstances led to leaders in Washington and Chongqing to decide to lay down a different structure in China’s international relations. The alliance was China’s best opportunity to be empowered internally and exte rnally. Their alliance came about after Japans’ Pearl Harbor attack masterminding. Shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack, Chiang, the then Chinese leader had expressed his confidence in America’s leadership and promised to that China would adopt that form of leadership after the war. He presented China as a potential center and this won the favor of Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the president of America in that era. Chiang promised America that they would serve as a market for America’

Darwinism versus Creationism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Darwinism versus Creationism - Research Paper Example Darwinism versus Creationism Introduction The significant difference between Darwinism and Creationism is that Darwinism is based on data while Creationism is based on human belief (Scott, 2005). Darwinism is a theory of the original perpetuation of new species of plants and animals which offspring from a certain organism. According to Darwinism, natural selection favors the survival of some species which makes new species arise with time forming divergent variety and groups of plants and animals (Scott, 2005). Darwinism is based on the concept of biological evolution whereby DNA strands cause differences in plants such as color and height of plants and animals (Young & Largent, 2007). On the other hand, Creationism is a doctrine which holds that the world and various forms of life were created by God out of nothing (Scott, 2005). Unlike Darwinism, creationism is not a scientific theory but is based on religious beliefs and doctrines. Charles Darwin theory of origin of species that w as published in 1859 demonstrated that organisms produce offspring that is capable of living and that variations occur in every species population (Young & Largent, 2007). ... Darwinism theory is based on the idea that species change over time and space. Populations in different geographical areas will differ in behavior and physical make up like the fossil deposits (Young & Largent, 2007). According to Darwinism, all species share a common ancestor like human beings share a common ancestor with Chimpanzees some eight million years ago and with Kangaroos some one hundred million years ago (Witham, 2005). According to natural selection process which forms the basis of Darwinism, organisms will exhibit variations in their behavior and physical appearance like voice variations and facial marks. Such traits are passed from the ancestor to offspring but some traits may be influenced by the environmental conditions (Witham, 2005). A trait must pass an advantage to the offspring in order to survive during the struggle for limited resources. The gradual change of the population takes many years like 100,000 rather than creation of new species which is the creation ism belief. Darwinism theory is evident since industrial melanism phenomenon which was experienced during industrial revolution caused tree trunks to darken while light colored moths diminished while black colored moths became abundant. The organisms also transfer genetics to the offspring. Due to competition for the limited resources, the organisms with advantageous traits will survive the competition and continue reproduction. Darwinism theory has been proved by the DNA evidence since parents pass some genes to the offspring (Scott, 2005). On the other hand, Creationism asserts that natural selection doctrine by Darwinism has not been proved scientifically. According

Afghanistan culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Afghanistan culture - Essay Example Even though Muslims constitute the majority of population in Afghanistan, it doesn’t mean that all Afghanis have same customs, traits and beliefs. It should be noted that Afghan Muslims are divided into different groups based on their belongingness in different tribes and ethnic groups. Perhaps Afghan Muslims are the most fundamentalist religious group in the world which is evident from the incidents happened in Afghanistan under Taliban regime. The story of a teenage girl called Ayesha Bibi was caught the attention of the media in recent times because of the atrocities committed to her by the Taliban leaders. Muslims in other parts of the world follow comparatively more civilized life than the Muslims in Afghanistan. This paper analyses Afghan culture from the views of two prominent authors; Thomas Barfield and John Esposito. The living condition of women in Afghanistan is worst in the world. Barfield (2010) pointed out that â€Å"Afghan women cannot attend any public functi ons and they have a strict code of conduct in public places. Moreover, they are banned from getting proper education† (Barfield, p.262). Esposito (2002) also expressed similar opinions about the pathetic life of Afghan women. He has mentioned that while women in most societies have access to education, Afghan women were not able to get education under Taliban regime (Esposito, p.100). Afghan culture treats women as second class citizens. It never allows Afghan women to come out form home take part in social activities as do by the men. In other words, the status of men and women in Afghan culture holds huge differences. Because of the adherences to religion, Afghan Muslims believe that girls must stay home and it is right to men to beat women if they disobey them. The story of a teenage Afghan girl called Bibi Ayesha, aged only 18, is relevant here. â€Å"At the age of 18, Aisha had her nose and ears hacked off by her husband as a punishment for trying to flee the arranged ma rriage, before being dragged to a mountainside to die† (Brave Bibi: The Time cover girl whose nose was cut off by the Taliban takes the New York subway). Stoning of adulteresses and the amputations of the hands and feet of thieves was part of Afghan culture under Taliban regime (Esposito, p.149). Stoning of criminals was an uncivilized punishment in the ancient period. However, it is practiced in Afghanistan even in the twenty first century. It should be noted that men who commit adultery may not get any punishment in Afghanistan whereas women who establish relationship with males other than their husband may get cruel punishments. Afghan Tribes are type of ethnic groups that defines its membership through the unilineal descent from a common ancestor, real or assumed. In Afghanistan, such descent is through male line (Barfield, p.22). It should be noted that a family with no male children has no significance in Afghan culture. In other words, Afghan people like to know their s uccessors in the name of their father rather than that of their mother. Male dominance is visible in every aspect of Afghan culture. Esposito also expressed similar opinions. He has pointed out that â€Å"In Afghanistan, crimes are punished at the discretion of a male Muslim judge or qadi† (Esposito, p.187). In other words, it is impossible to see a woman judge in Afghan courts. Afghan people believe that only the males have the abilities and intelligence to segregate between good and evil. Because of the above perception, only the male candidates are appointed in Afghan courts. Unlike other parts of the world, no groups in Afghanistan make mythical claims of having always been on the same plot of lands since creation. Instead one listens gravely to the stories of how the ancestors of one group conquered the land

The War on Iraq Essay Example for Free

The War on Iraq Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If there’s one country that you would want to go to, the country Iraq would be on your list. Iraq is a country of heritage and historical value. It has been known to the world for housing numbers of archaeological sites and art pieces. It is acknowledged for having one thousand archaeological sites including ruins of their past wars. Iraq has been the place for the oldest churches in the world and the first city of the world. The country’s archaeological sites can be dated back even before Christ was born; the mainland for the Old Testament. Scholars and curators fear the possibility that the civil war in Iraq might destroy the archaeological sites of the country (Guardian, April 2, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The United States and Iraq conflict began on the twentieth of March of the year Two-Thousand and Three. The main reason for the development of the war is that His Excellence, President George W. Bush along with British Prime Minister Tony Blairand their fellow allies was threatened by the speculations that the Iraq government was developing weapons of mass destruction; nuclear bombs and the likes. The war went on until the defeat of the Iraqi terrorist Saddam Hussein. The war deteriorated this year, two thousand and seven, but the war between Sunni and Shia Muslims continued up to this date (A timeline of the Iraq War,) Shia vs. Sunni Muslim   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sunni and Shia Muslims are only two among the subgroups of the Muslim religion. Sunni and Shia have the same culture, it is homogenous. Although both share the common Islamic beliefs they do not share common beliefs when it comes to political issues and practices. There is diversity within the Islamic groups regionally. The division between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam started when the prophet Muhammad died, leadership of the Muslim was then a big question. Who would take the place of Muhammad was at stake, whether it should be a relative or it is just okay for a capable leader to take his place. The Sunni Muslims agreed upon the election of a new leader among the capable ones. On the contrary, the Shia Muslims believed that the leadership should have been passed to Muhammad’s relatives, particularly to his cousin Ali. All throughout the Muslims’ history, the Shia subgroup never have recognized the authority of their elected leaders. From this initial political issue of leadership, the two subgroups’ spiritual beliefs were divided.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are theological or spiritual differences between the Shia and Sunni Muslims. The Shia subgroups believe that their Imam or leader is a sinless leader since it was appointed by God. They often make shrines for their Imams because they believe that they are saints. On the contrary, Sunni Muslims contradicted the Shia beliefs; they say that there’s no basis for the veneration of saints and that there’s no such thing as the hereditary succession of spiritual leaders (Huda, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the practical differences between Sunni and Shia is through praying. Shia Muslims pray three times a day wherein they combine their prayers; their prayers can be identified by a tablet of clay from what they call Karbala or a holy place, on which their foreheads are pressed against. On the contrary, Sunni Muslims pray five times a day without combining their prayers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Temporary marriage or what Muslims call Muttah marriage is legal to Shia but the Sunni Muslims do not consider it. Sunni Muslims believe that Muttah marriage is a forbidden act, thus, believing that the Prophet forbid the act (Hourani, 1991).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are also differences in the kind of government the Sunnis and Shias wanted to have; the political culture differences. Shias are rebellious and always contradict the tyrannical rulers and are against Sunni injustices. They believed in the modern world democracy, in which avoidance of accountability and tyranny is stressed. They are anti-authoritarians and it is known to be an inherent culture of the Shias; they believed in the justification of fair rulers and that justice is fair and without any bias. On the contrary, Sunnis uphold any kind of government, be it democratic or not for as long as it maintains the order and the stability of the Muslim community. Not to mention that it should also protect the Muslim communities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gender relations among the Sunni Islam and Shia Islam have differences also. Shias’ allow a fairer gender relation than the Sunnis. The presence of sexual inequality for them is the absence of democracy; this is what the Shias believed in. On the other hand, Sunni Islam communities believed that women should be a subordinate of men; wives should obey their husbands. Thus, it shows that their differences are completely extreme, because one opposes the other (Chaulia,February 16, 2007) Conclusion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚     Like other religions, Muslims also have differences, be it political, cultural and regional diversity. The fact is that they are all the same when it comes to spiritual concerns. The most important thing is to be united with God despite of the differences. Holy war is not supposed to be an issue because we are all the same in the eyes of our creator. Our fellow Muslim should unite instead of continuously building up the wall between them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Iraq should be a sanctuary and not a place for war and conflict. Shias’ and Sunnis’ differences should not hinder them from being united for the sake of peace for the fact that they are both Muslims. References Chaulia, S. (February 16, 2007 ). Shia Democracy:Myth or Reality?   [Electronic Version] from http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/2677.cfm. Guardian, T. (April 2, 2003). The end of civilization [Electronic Version] from http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,927788,00.html. Hourani, A. (1991). A History of the Arab Peoples [Electronic Version] from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/subdivisions/sunnishia_4.shtml. Huda. (2007). Whats the Difference Between Shia and Sunni Muslims? [Electronic Version] from http://islam.about.com/cs/divisions/f/shia_sunni.htm. A timeline of the Iraq War [Electronic ( ). Version]. Retrieved 2005-2007 from http://thinkprogress.org/iraq-timeline.

Importance of Risk Management in Banking

Importance of Risk Management in Banking The fall of Lehman Brothers and Bean Stearns triggered the financial crisis from 2007 to 2008. In the case of Lehman Brothers, which was one of the largest investment banks with old history in United States, illustrated the importance of appropriate internal risk management with control. Self-interview threat occurred and was leading to the bankruptcy. In the event of lacking enough bank reserve for withdrawal, Bank of East Asia (BEA) chose to enter mass of capital and welcome the public to take freely from the account balance. It would like to increase the stakeholder confidence and is finally success and solve the problem. It is obvious that risk management plays an important role in the financial institutions. Risk management is the management of identification, assessment and prioritization of risks to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the internal control system and reduce the impact of unexpected events. (ISO 31000, 2009) Without proper risk management, banks are diffi cult to operate with financial difficulties and survive during the financial crisis. An effective risk management also improves Corporate Governance procedures that help to increase investor confidence, transparency and accountability that helps institutions operate efficiently. If any error or missing occurs in the process of risk management, it causes a failure of corporate governance and may result in operating difficulty. In United Kingdom (UK), the Financial Services Authority (FSA) provides framework of risk management (Arrow), risk assessment framework and financial risk outlook (FRO) for financial institutions to understand the major risks. In addition, Turnbull provides a guidance of good internal control with implication of UK corporate governance code that focuses on the quality and extent of risk management disclosures in an organization and thus reduces the impacts. Combined Code (1998) requires the board of director (BoD) to maintain a good internal control system that includes risk management that safeguarding the tangible and intangible asset and ensure the effectiveness of system. In United States (US), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) 2002 requires that both management and auditor to maintain a sound internal control system. Section 302 requires management to certify the periodic financial reports and disclose significant internal control deficiencies and section 404 requires management to provide assessment of the internal control and auditors to provide opinion on that assessment. And the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) set accounting rules that corporations need to follow, i.e. they need to prepare, present and report the financial statements. In Hong Kong, the international banking regulation Basel III is applicable to banks. And HKMA regulates the economic stability in banking industry. Many large banks, like the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), also implement the SOX act, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) corporate governance rules and USA PATRIOT act of the other countries in the Hong Kong. Internal control plays an important role in enterprise risk management (COSO, 2004 Pagano, 2001) Woods (2008) states the relationship between an effective and efficiently internal control linking with enterprise risk management (ERM). It also claims that management-based internal control includes conflicts of interest for internal auditors, is extremely risky for the financial institution. Harker and Stvros (1998) shows the efficiency of risk management significantly affect financial performance of financial institutions. Without effective risk management, auditing of financial statement and expense of audit may be affected and cause unreliable reports. In the financial crisis from 2007 to 2009, many corporations include banks liquated due to a weak internal control system without an effective risk management. Therefore, a good risk management programme is important to the firm in the Hong Kong banking industry. Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) is one of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s largest financial institutions and thus its risk management will be identified, analyzed and compared with its competitors. Banking regulations and frameworks will be reviewed and key elements of risk management will be identified and compared. The debates will be reviewed and the strength and weakness of internal control of HSBC will be identified. In addition, recommendations for future improvement in effective risk management will be drawn. Aim and objectives of study The aims of the study are to illustrate the importance of maintaining a good risk management programme in the Hong Kong banks and to draw recommendations for the improvement of weaken risk management. To achieve this aim, the objectives have been established: To review banking regulations and framework (Basel III) apply to Hong Kong banking industry To compare and examine the risk management of internal control systems in HSBC and its competitors To review different comments given by its stakeholders during financial crisis (2008) and era To identify the strengths and weakness of an HSBCà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s risk management To provide conclusions and recommendations for future improvement in effective risk management in financial institutions 1.3 Proposed Chapter Headings: Introduction Importance of Risk management Background The aim and objectives of the study Structure of the dissertation Literature Review Introduction of risk management Kinds of bank risks Credit risk Liquidity riskà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  funding risk Interest rate risk Mismatch risk Market liquidityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  market price risk Market risk Foreign exchange risk Regulations framework Benefit of risk management Weaknesses of risk management Causes of business failure Stress Testing Example of banks: Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), Bank of China (BOC) Government and authority intervention Conclusion An effective internal audit function of an successful case in Hong Kong The weakness of internal control system cause influence and failure of business performance Research Methods Statistical analysis of annual reports of different corporations to compare their differences with internal control systems Data findings Profile of respondents Data analysis Conclusion Recommendation Research direction Recommendations and Conclusions Summary of the actual findings Recommendations for an effective internal control system and risk management Limitations of Corporate Governance Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Introduction of risk management The uncertainty environment leads to financial services products have become more complex and also increase the accountability of regulation. (Collier, 2009) Doyle (2007) shows that there are common material weaknesses in the risk management of complex and rapidly growing. Krishnan (2005) states limited scope of research leads to insufficient disclosure of internal control. Internal control plays an important role in enterprise risk management (COSO, 2004 Pagano, 2001) It includes 4 stages: risk identification, quantitative or qualitative assessment of risks, risk prioritization and response planning. Role of risk management Collier (2009) ALARM 2.2 Kinds of bank risks COSO (2004) defines enterprise risk management as a process applied with strategies to identify and manage potential risks and thus providing reasonable assurance of achieving corporate objectives. Basel I (1999) states banks should use measurement techniques based on robust data. Eccles et al (2001) reviews the US GAAP and SEC and illustrates 4 major risks: market risk, credit risk, operational risk and accounting risk. Then, Fell Devine (2003) demonstrate operational risk should be separated as liquidity risk, insurance risk and group risk. Further, De Wit (2007) recognizes that risks also include legal risk, concentration risk and reputation risk in financial institutions. There is legal risk of possibility of court cases. If they are well-known of providing good service about criminal, more companies would like to create financial relationship them that concentration risk arises. Also, negative publicity, which is uncontrollable and unpredictable, often lead to reputation risk in money laundering case. Collier (2009) states there are many ways of classification of risks. Recently, Besis (2010) states there are 7 major types of risks in banks: credit risk; liquidity risk (funding risk); interest rate risk; mismatch risk; market liquidity (market price risk ) and foreign exchange risk. 2.2.1 Credit risk Credit risk, which is risk of financial loss that creditors fail to execute their obligation of payment, is the main risk in banking industry that potential loss due to counterparty fail to execute payment obligation. (Besis, 2010) Collier (2009) mentioned that credit risk increases the impact of default as it can be transferred to third parties by using securitization. 2.2.2 Liquidity riskà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  funding risk 2.2.3 Interest rate risk 2.2.4 Mismatch risk 2.2.5 Market liquidityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  market price risk 2.2.6 Market risk 2.2.7 Foreign exchange risk 2.3 Role of governing bodies in risk management and control International Federation of Accountants Committee (IFAC) concludes the role of governing bodies in risk management and control in public sector. (International Federation of Accountants, 2001, cited in Collier, 2009, p.37) They should ensure to establish an effective risk management in the framework of control. Also, ensuring effective internal audit function includes in that framework. Moreover, they should ensure a framework of internal control is well established with practice and the statement of effectiveness is included in the annual report. Lastly, they should form an audit committee that involves non-executive independent members to provide independent review of the framework of control and external audit process. 2.3 Regulations framework 2.3.1 Basel Basel III is a set of international banking regulations developed by the Basel Committee on banking supervision. It revises Basel I and II that requires a higher level of capital. Basel II, which improves the weakness of Basel I, considers regulatory capital with risks. (Glantz Mun, 2008) Basel II provides three approaches for calculation of risk. A standardized approach is commonly used that requires banks to use standard risk assessment to calculate the risk weightings. Next, internal ratings-based (IRB) foundation approach that is based on internal assessment in probability of default from counterparty (PD), quantified estimates of exposure at default (EAD) and loss given default (LGD) can be applicable. And the third approach is called IRB advanced approach, which is based on own internal assessment in PD, EAD and LGD. 2.3.2 Benefit of risk management Weaknesses of risk management Causes of business failure Fight (2004) states that many industry surveys analysed 5 top causes of business failure. First of all, it states cyclical decline in demand is at the top of the five causes. Recession is not the main factor of failure but the element that helps to show the weakness of risk management in firms. It mentions some examples of weakness, such as poor competitive position, problem in internal control of quality and financial and weak capital and liquidity ratios. With these weaknesses, firms lost competitive advantages and cannot fulfill customer needs and also lead to decline in demand. Next, poor top management is followed. Thirdly, lacking of centralized financial control Fourthly, bad acquisition or inadequate integration strategy. The fifth is inappropriate product or market strategy Except the cyclical decline in demand, the other four causes are related to management. It is showed that management of firms plays an important role of survival in economic downturns. Regarding to the case of Lehman Brothers, the creditor fail to execute their obligation of payment that the demand of mortgage or loan was dropped. 2.5 Stress Test 2.6 Example of banks 2.6.1 Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) is a world-wide diversified banking group that involves in different business and activities since 2005. It takes conventional strategy in its entities in different areas, such as Europe, Hong Kong, Rest of Asia Pacific, Middle East, North America and Latin America. HSBC Holdings plc (2009) mentions that there are many factors vary the risks in HSBC, such as environment change. vary the degrees, measurement, evaluation of its risk management. mentions there are 4 main types of risks: credit risk, counterparty credit risk, market risk and operational risk in its business. Its credit risks arise from failure of receiving payment by customers or counterparties in its business, such as direct lending, trade finance, leasing business, guarantees, derivatives and debt securities. It applies 3 approaches in Basel international banking regulations to calculate the counterparty credit risk and determine exposure values. The three approaches are standardized, mark-to-market and internal model method (IMM). HSBC adopt the standardized approach and mainly adopt the IRB advanced approach to eliminate the credit risk. In addition, counterparty credit risk is risk of economic loss that counterparty may default in transactions arises from offer-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and securities financing transactions. HSBC uses the mark-to-market and IMM approaches to reduce the counterparty credit risk. Market risk is the risk of lower income or portfolio value with market risk factors, including foreign exchange rates and commodity prices, interest rates, credit spreads and equity prices. To get rid of it, HSBC applied standard rules of financial services authority (FSA) and value at risk (VAR) models. Lastly, operational risk is a risk of potential loss by imperfect internal processes and systems or external events. Actually, it also includes technological and legal risks. HSBC employed the standardized approach to determine its operational risk in group. To control risks in the IT area, 3 ways is implemented. First, it uses risk bases project management (RBPM) and a global HSBC tool that is called clarity tool to control the software development life cycle and ensure the consistency and efficiency of management. Second, a disaster recovery plan (DRP) is implemented. For example, it is used to recover system in the case of disasters to ensure the continuity of system. Third, it maintains a secure and reliable governance structure to control and response to the technological risk in different departments. For instance, senior management committees are responsible for managing the risk. The committees consist of HTS Steering Committee, Risk Management Committee (RMC), Operational Risk and Internal Control Committee (ORICC). In the way of managing legal risk, HSBC concerns with contractual, litigation, legislative or regulatory, reputation and non-contractual rights. In addition, it established policies and procedures, estimates potential losses from the judicial or administrative resolutions, disclose the relevant information. Moreover, it established policies and procedures for the identification, measurement of legal risk to eliminate or reduce the possible loss due to the non-performance of the norms and avoid adverse resolutions. 2.6.2 Bank of China (BOC) Bank of China applied the stress testing. 2.7 Government and authority intervention Woods et al (2009) states without perfect credit risk management, the survival of numerous financial institutions in the financial crisis relies on financial support or taking-over by government. In United States, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch collapsed because of no financial support to continue the business. On the contrary, United Kingdom mortgage providers, Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley, survive in financial crisis as had been taken over by government. In addition, Derbyshire Building Society and the Cheshire Building Society faced substantial problems and then survived as it had been taken over by the Nationwide, a large mortgage lender with a stronger capital base. Starting from summer 2007, accumulating losses on sub-prime mortgage triggered financial tsunami in the global financial system. The paper analyzes that banks and mortgage providers using special purpose entities (SPE), collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) or collateralised debt oblig ations (CDOs) and illiquidity as the problems Financial Services Authority (FSA) provides operating framework (Arrow II), risk assessment framework and regulations for financial institutions. 2.8 Conclusion Chapter 3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ Research method The research is mainly based on quantitative research by obtaining statistical data, such as complaints or commercial crimes, and related to annual reports and financial statement. Reports from Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will be a part of source to analyze the data as it is easily assessed and convenient in obtaining data. In addition, the risk management system of 10-15 limited companies will be examined and compared. It helps to define the strength and weakness between different risk management systems under sudden events. It supplements questionnaires collection and theoretical research. Questionnaires collection is also used as an instrument in obtaining useful information. To obtain relevant information from stakeholders, questionnaires about satisfaction of financial institutions will be collected and some samples will be further conducted by face-to-face survey. And theoretical research is taken place on reviewing information of theories and practices about an effective internal control system with suitable risk management from academic journals and textbooks. 3.2Limitation: It is difficult to assess information because the internal information is not related to the operation that source is limited and limited samples are not be sufficient to conclude subject to risk management. In other words, recommendations are not be sufficient for the whole banking industry. In addition, the online questionnaires do not have a large number of respondents as the respondent rate is limited due to many reasons. For example, some people do not interest in filling questionnaire and some people feel trouble to complete the questionnaire. Chapter 4 Profile of the respondents A survey was conducted in late 2010, from October to November. Online questionnaires were collected from 30 respondents to understand their confidence level of banks in Hong Kong whether it is influenced by the occurrence of financial crisis and also obtain recommendations of risk management in Hong Kong banks for improvement. There are 25 questions in a questionnaire (see appendix) and it is formed as 3 parts: Personal Details; Before Financial Crisis (2007 -2008); After Financial Crisis (2007 -2008). The first 5 questions are about à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“personal detailsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. For question 6 to 8, questions are part of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“before financial crisisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. And questions 9 to 25 are focused on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“after financial crisisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? that shows present. The major findings drew from the questionnaires are concluded as below. Personal Details Question 1: What is your gender? Female Male Total 16 14 30 In the online questionnaires, there were 30 respondents that slightly more than half of them are Female while slightly less than half of them are male. Question 2: What is the range of your age? From the questionnaires, it was found that the respondents are mainly youngsters which are most (26 in 30 respondents) in the range of 18 to 29 years old. And there are a small number of respondents (2 in 30 respondents) in the range 30 to 39 years old and (2 in 30 respondents) the range of 40 to 49 years old. Question 3: What is your education level? According to results of questionnaires, no respondents are educated under primary level. Three fifths of respondents achieve the degree education whereas the minority of them, 2 in 30 respondents, reach the master or above education level. And the other two sixths of respondents completed secondary to diploma education. Question 4: What is the range of your monthly salary? It is showed that half of the respondents have monthly income less than $5000 while one fifth of them have over $5000 but lower than $10000 and the other one fifth have monthly income between $10000 and $19999. The minority of respondents got income more than $20000 each month that one respondent got more than $20000 but less than $30000 and two respondents got more than $30000. Question 5: What is your role in bank? The respondents are mainly customers in banks that there are over 90% of them, 28 in 30 respondents, as the role of customers and less than 10%, 2 in 30 respondents, of them as the role of employees in bank. Before Financial Crisis(2007-2008) Question 6: Before financial crisis (2007 2008), what was the percentage of your salary you spend on saving in a bank each month? Before financial crisis (2007 2008), almost two fifth (37%) of respondents expressed that they had habit of saving. Only a few of them spent their salaries mostly on saving while a minority spent much more on saving every month. And one in six respondents spent almost half of salary on saving. In the meanwhile, three fifths of them spent fewer while a few respondents spent slightly fewer or none on saving. Question 7: Before financial crisis (2007-2008), did you invest in stock of Hong Kong banks, such as HSBC? Over 70% of respondents, 73%, said that they had habit of investment in Hong Kong stock before financial crisis (2007-2008) while slightly less than 30%, 27%, had not invested. Question 8: Before financial crisis (2007-2008), what was the percentage of your salary you spend on investment each month? Before financial crisis (2007-2008), most of respondents had habit of investment. Three fifths of respondents had spent much more and majority or all of salary on investments each month. For example, less than half of them, 43%, had spent the majority and almost all of salary (80% 100%) on investment while one sixth had spent 60% to nearly 80% of salary. And a small number of them, 10%, had spent almost half of salary (40% 59.99%) on investment while nearly one quarter (23%) of them had spent fewer (25% 39.99) on investment. But, few respondents, 7%, said that they had not invested or spent slightly fewer on investment. Question 9: Did you have habit of checking your balance in your current accounts /investment accounts in banks? And how often did you check your balance each month? Before financial crisis (2007-2008), none of the respondents never check their current account or investment account balance. One in three respondents showed that they seldom (1 to 7 times per month) checked their balance in accounts while half of them often checked their accounts over once a week and nearly once per two days (8-15 times per month). And one in five respondents usually checked their accounts (16-30 times per month). After Financial Crisis (Present) Question 10: Do you own any current accounts for saving in banks? How many banks do you own current account? All respondents have current accounts for saving in banks in Hong Kong. One-fifth of respondents reported that they only owned current account in one bank while almost most of them, 77%, said that they owned current accounts in from two to four banks. In addition, only one respondent responded that hold current accounts in more than five banks. Question 11: What is the percentage of your salary you spend in saving each month? It is showed that most of the respondents have habit of saving. Almost a quarter of them, 23%, spend much more on saving while about two fifths of them, 41%, spent majority or almost all on it. Also, no respondents spend almost half of salary (40%-59.99%) while a minority of them reported they spent fewer and nearly a quarter of them reported they spent slightly fewer and almost none on saving. Question 12: Do you invest in stock Hong Kong banks, such as HSBC? After financial crisis (2007-2008), three fifths of respondents said that they had habit of investment in stock of Hong Kong banks while two fifths did not invest. Question 13: Do you own any investment accounts in banks? How many banks do you own current account? Most of the respondents own investment accounts in Hong Kong banks. For illustrate, more than half of respondents, 73%, only own investment accounts in a bank while 1 in 10 respondents own an investment account in two to four banks. And one-sixth of them, 17%, do not own any investment account and. However, no respondent hold investment accounts in more than five banks. Question 14: What is the percentage of your salary you spend on investment each month? More than half of respondents reported that they spent their salaries less on investment. One third of them spent slightly few and almost none of their salary on investment while one fifth spent fewer as well as the other one fifth almost spent half of it on investment. On the other hand, a small number of them, 10%, responded that they spent much more while 1 in 6 respondents spent most and almost all on investment. Question 15: Do you have habit of checking your balance in your current accounts/ investment accounts in banks? And how often do you check your balance each month? After financial crisis, none of the respondents never check their current account balance. Nearly three fifths of respondents,57%, reported that they seldom (1 to 7 times per month) checked their balance in account while one fifth of them often checked their accounts over once a week and nearly once per two days (8-15 times per month). In addition, about a quarter of them checked their accounts frequently (16-30 times per month). Question 16: After financial crisis (2007-2008), what do you pay attention to the bank before investment in it? (Answers can be chosen more than one.) The table shows the issues about bank whether respondents pay attention to before investment or not. After financial crisis (2007-2008), the respondents mainly pay attention to the news about the bank and also the banking industry before investment. Nearly three quarters of them, 73%, pay attention to the news about the bank and banking industry to concern about their investment. In addition, one-fifth of them pay attention to the risk management of the bank to concern whether risks are minimized and properly controlled. And the other one fifth also pay attention to relevant court cases while three in ten respondents focus on the changes in its share price. However, only a minority pay attention to the big issues, such as big loss or financial difficulties. Question 17: What element(s) do you think it is important in risk management? The table illustrates that importance of elements in risk management respondents revealed. Regarding to questionnaires, almost two fifths of the respondents thought identification of risk was important in risk management while about two thirds of them did not. About assessment of risks, nearly third fifths (57%) of them agreed it was an important element while more than two fifths of them (43%) disagreed. In addition one third of respondents expressed that internal control is an important element in risk management. However, only a minority of respondents, 4%, totally agreed that identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks and the internal control are important in risk management. Question 18: Do you trust the risk management of bank can ensure steadily operation with lower risks to prevent bankruptcy? Two thirds of respondents reflected they trusted the risk management of bank that can ensure it operating steadily with lower risks and prevent bankruptcy while one third said that they did not trust it. Question 19: What is the level you rely on the risk management of bank? After financial crisis (2007-2008), a small number (10%) of respondents reflected that they extremely relied on the risk management of bank while one fifth said that they more relied on it. Half of them remained neutral whereas a minority less relied and a few respondent never rely on the risk management of the bank. Question 20: After financial crisis (2007-2008), have your confidence in bank been cracked? About two fifths of respondents, 37%, thought their confidence in bank had not be cracked after financial crisis (2007- 2008). Nevertheless, half of them reflected their confidence were partly impaired while a minority (13%) revealed that their confidence were mostly damaged. Question 21: What is (are) the issue(s) that impair your confidence in the bank and make you think that it has weak risk management? The chart illustrates the issues whether it can impair their confidence of respondents and affect their investment decision in the bank. According to the responds, a majority of respondents, 90%, thought occurring liquidity problem and big loss can impair their confidence in the bank. And 70% of them expressed that weaken defense of risks and without experience of facing financial crisis can lead to bank have a weak risk management and also impair their confidence. Besides, slightly more than a quarter of them, 27%, considered human resources problem was one of the elements of weak risk management. For example, improper authorization and delegation policies lead to conflict of interest exists in the bank. Moreover, nearly one-fifth thought operating without following regulation, such as Basel framework, is more likely to maintain weak risk management. Finally, only a few of them, 7%, responded that involving in court case impair their confidence in bank and they might think it had we ak risk management Question 22: Do you read the annual report of bank to understand its risk management before investment? The above chart shows that one third of respondents responded that they saw annual report of the bank before investment to understand its risk management. However, two thirds of them expressed that they did not. Question 23: Do you think these banks have good risk management? In five Hong Kong banks, respondents expressed which banks they think have good risk management. As a result, most of them commented HSBC had a good risk management while only one third thought Bank of China had a good risk management. Also, half of them expressed that Hangseng Bank had good risk management while the other half disagreed that. Concerning to standard chartered bank, only one fifth thought its risk management was good. Moreover, slightly less than twenty percent of them reflected that Citibank had good risk management. Question 24: What rank do you give for the risk management of HSBC? (Please rank from 1to 5: 1 is weakest; 5 is best) Rank of HSBC Number of respondents

The Street Child Report Children And Young People Essay

The Street Child Report Children And Young People Essay Street children want the freedom o being abused by parents; nevertheless, their lives seem not so easy. They want working in some odd jobs; if they have no job, for them its normal to steal to eat, and if they have extra money, they buy drugs. In general, street childrens lives are rather short. They are in bad health, because of their abuse of drugs, venereal disease. First, street child is a term used to describe those kids who live and work in streets. There are more street children around the world than the whole populations in Egypt and United States, there are currently 100 million children living on streets. In turn this sector population it is increasing through the years, because of the economic crisis, family disintegration. Wherefore they are more inclined to drugs, not only bringing troubles to the society, also problems to their health. When we talk about street children, we are talking about young people who face poverty, hunger, disease, violence and homelessness. We are talking about children who have resorted to all sorts of drugs because they think this is the only way they can remain happy under their difficult circumstances. These children that have been allowed to live on the streets are on a daily basis exposed to diseases of all sorts. We have seen some of these children on the streets a result of poor people since access to food is another problem for them. These children live in the street because they do not have anything to call a home.Street child are children between five and seventeen years old who live in parks, or light stop sign. In the same way they are deprived of family protection. Children on the street divide themselves into groups who can sell things to people and who can steal money from people car. The street kids do whatever they can to earn money. Whereas that more than 20 million of kids are living on the streets, we can see the, drugs as a normal activity in the streets. The reality begins talking about food, because they only eat what they find in the garbage or what they can steal. Likewise they steal money or drugs to forget hunger. Those kids do all of these activities in order to forget about street troubles, but they feel that these activities are necessarily to survive, so it makes them more inclined to drugs. In addition to that, Street child commit illegal in America. It means if a childs get in the street without any reason the police have to take them. That called breaking the law because its not legal to do it. Each child in America have chance to work and get more also they can learn in the school without any more. United states havedrug policy and Alcohol too. If the police saw any one who drink and child fewer than 18 they will take this child to the police station. But in Egypt child cant go to school without pay more for their books Because of the high cost of services many street children are unable to go to school .Even in countries where schools are free they are unable to buy books, uniforms and shoes that are required to attend., also they do not have any chance to work to get money. The money is an important factor in their lives that can determinate important things in their daily life like eating or not. Likewise, the drugs affect not only their thoughts but also affect their health. A street kid, they cannot imagine their daily live in the streets without using drugs. In the other hand the main problem is that most of types of substance consume by street kids are legal, so they can find it easily. The drug abuse is the worst problem for them and it brings them health problems. Those kids do all of these activities in order to forget about street troubles. Therefore, a lot of country have this problem too, The problem of street children in Vietnam, a country rapidly growing and integrating with the world, arises from the interaction of traditional causes such as the loss or divorce of parents and new causes such as economic incentive. We then propose a new typology of street children based on causes and situations. Causes are classified into broken family, mindset problem, and economic migration. Situations are divided into current protection and future investment. It is shown that the broken family group is most difficult to assist while the economic migration group often shows strong desire for study and better life. Since street children are not a homogenous group, intervention must also be diversified according to the needs of each type of children. Also, there is a lot of country that effected by street child such as; Russia consists of two million street children. Officially, the number of Russian children without supervision is more than 7 million. Also china the number of street children population continues to grow at 15 million and India is home to 4 million-8 million street children. The republic of India is the seventh largest populated country in the world. Due to the economic growth has appeared. Consequently, Vietnam is the country that has from 21 thousand in 2003 to 8 thousand in 2007 street child. Not just these countries had effected by the population of street children there are more and more had effected by this population. Which is going to affect all people life and future and countries future too? In a poor developing country, a child will have disabilities to learn how come he will learn without any money and when the children think about their future, they will find out that there are no work no future and they cant connect with their family too. Poor country gives children scary future. Moreover, Children who drop out of school due to the wrong attitude of the parents are less deprived, relatively speaking, in the current situation than the first group since their parents can look after them. They are relatively well fed and protected. It is rare to see them severely by street joining them. The biggest problem with this group, however, is the strong opposition of the parents when someone (teacher, social worker, or the children themselves) proposes an education for them. There are many causes of there being street children: Poverty, Neglect, Disease, War, Famine, Social, and Family Breakups. From another of perspective on the word causes, the causes they or others on their behalf fight for are the reasons that they become street children in the first instance and to provide ways out of their problems through things like providing shelter and education them with their families.so they find the way to get themselves freedom from home and school. Do whatever they want to do. The causes of children to the street can be divided into two main groups which we shall call broken family and mindset problem. First, children with extremely difficult family situations such as being abandoned as a result of the death. This is the traditional cause of street children which exists in any developing country with or without economic growth. Also the parents continue to take care of them. Children abandoned as a result of parents divorce have to undergo an even greater emotional shock. Being left with relatives or grandparents, such children are easily discouraged from study and lured by bad friends. Most of the street children who have left home because of domestic violence are spiritually and emotionally impaired. Second causes where the family enjoys relatively unbroken relations and an average or at least not so destitute standard of living but still sends children to work in the street due to the wrong attitude of the parents or the children themselves. Some children leave home because they are lured by friends or because they want to freedom instead of going to school. Seemingly exciting life in big cities and friends who already know the street life are the pulling force. For such children, earning money is not the main purpose. However, the mindset problem most often arises on the parent side. Some parents think that cash income is more important than childrens education. How we solve the problem for the street children with their home and family? For the children and their families, being on the street is not a problem. It is their solution to a number of problems. Crowded living conditions are a problem. A young lad, who shares a single-room with his mother and two grown-up sisters with children of their own, solves a problem by finding somewhere to sleep with his friends. He remains attached to his family and visits them regularly. He is integrated with them and does not need to be reintegrated. But it is better for him to sleep out than to stay at home. When he finds a group of friends with whom he can stay at night, his situation has improved. He becomes visible as a street child and part of our problem, but for him, being on the streets solves the problem of sharing an overcrowded room. For the families and the children, it is the solution to the problem of not having enough money to feed and clothe the children. Child can be a problem. If a child is forced to work all day for an adult who takes most of the childs earnings as sometimes happens with refugee children who are afraid .It may be a problem for children to have to do hours of manual at school, or to spend much of their day in misery learning useless and boring information. Somehow, we always accept child if it is enforced in the respectable environment of the school. But spending a few hours earning a bit of extra money for himself or the family can be quite fun. Sometimes the children have to adopt the tough culture of the streets. When they are with their friends from the street, they have to act and speak as if they enjoy street life. All children should have security. They should be able to play games and have fun. They should be improving themselves at school. Children should not have to earn their own living. They should be clean and wash regularly. They should be healthy, and get help immediately when they are sick. These we regard as the fundamental rights of children and street children appear to all of these rights. This is there life and they should enjoy it. What happen to todays street children when they grow older. Are they going to affect their countries or they are going to affect us. These children can grow up and constitute nuisance in the society. They will make governments project fail. They wont do these because they enjoy it, but because that is all they have grown to know and love. At the end, nothing will work because they will fight back because we had a chance to give them good lives but we failed to do it. All children should have security. They should be able to play games and have fun. They should be improving themselves at school. Children should not have to earn their own living. They should be clean and wash regularly. They should be healthy, and get help immediately when they are sick. These we regard as the fundamental rights of children and street children appear to all of these rights. This is there life and they should enjoy it. Lastly, street children problem always cause a lot of terrible to people who walk in the street and they cant be save from street child also this children they need a future to be better people and they can help their country. If we help these children they can help us in the future. For example if a child from the street get a good job in the future and he got a lot of money that give his country a better future and his family too and himself. He will be better than anyone who lives in the street. Inside of steal money from people and ate from the street , he can now eat a health food and get a good family that carry his name and his good future. Overall, streets children are poor and as a result they are untaught. As a result, they have bad food and unhealthy body system. The street children are kids who live and work in streets and homeless people. Furthermore, they use drugs as a way to forget about their harsh reality. Lastly, they steal money in order to get food and survive. Although, they can be educated children with the government help, but they got used to their life as a children streets. We now move to How can we contain those street children, first of all Ms. Agnelli (April 24, 1922 May 15, 2009) was an Italian politician, businesswoman and writer. She was the only woman to have been Minister of Foreign Affairs in Italy neither underestimates nor dramatizes her topic, but rather carefully explains the complexity of how children arrive on the street, how they do or do not survive and what has or has not worked to improve their lives. There is no mistaking the understated prose for detachment. As Ms. Agnelli states in her prologue, Let their plight be known to all: let the conscience of humanity revolt. Ms. Agnelli has prepared this report for the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI). ICIHI, organized in 1983 and recognized by the United Nations, is composed of private individuals dedicated to informing policy makers and the public about neglected humanitarian issues. The report focuses on street children, a highly vulnerable social group, described simply as children who exist on the street or in abandoned buildings and lack adult protection. The United Nations Childrens Fund places the global total of street children at over 30 million. This estimate, acknowledged as conservative, varies considerably. By definition these are children whose existence is not recorded on school, employment or prison registers. Some of these children are totally abandoned, others know of their families and may maintain sporadic contact. Critical is the recognition that whatever the count is today, the trends towards increasing global urbanization and younger populations portend far greater numbers of threatened children. The report provides brief descriptions of the lives of individual street children. Some are abandoned, and some are trained and left to perform or beg to contribute to their familys survival. For others the street represents an escape from an abusive family or situation. Their work is part of an underground economy and includes cleaning windshields, carrying bags, reselling items bought or stolen, and scrounging, as well as prostitution and drug-related acts. As their stories differ so do their attitudes about their situation and their hopes for the future. What is overwhelmingly similar is that on the street these children are vulnerable to exploitation, and survival means learning how to cope with physical danger and terror. A major means of ensuring survival is the formation of gangs. These groups develop highly complex organizations which offer structure, information and safety to each member in exchange for stiff obedience and obligation. Ms. Agnelli describes the various forces that result in dispossessing the most vulnerable societal groups, in this case children, from full participation in the community. She draws a parallel to the past when groups were dislocated by social upheaval, whether by drought, famine or the process of industrialization. In the present this is compounded by the lack of urban jobs and the subsequent pressures on family structure. There are obvious differences between countries. Developing countries, with their waves of migration to cities, are likely to have the most severe problems with limited solutions. Those with largely rural populations are just beginning to experience the phenomenon. In industrialized countries, the immediate availability of social services provides for unprotected younger children. Street children in these countries are generally over the age of 15. With the full presentation of multiple causes on both the micro- and macro-levels, the reader is aware that a simple solution is not in the offing. Rather, Ms. Agnelli presents a detailed discussion of various programs, generally small in scale and close to children, that have provided support for these youngsters. Never giving up on the potential effects of general social programs, i.e., employment, elimination of poverty, and support for women and families, Ms. Agnelli calls for the currently possible- support for programs with demonstrated success. In many ways the young street child is similar to other children. He(they are becoming males at this age) wishes for a bike, seeks affection, wants to belong. However, he has achieved some independence and cannot reasonably be expected to discount his experience and relinquish control over his lifes decisions. Generally, paternalistic programs have not been successful. Approaches advocated by this report suggest finding the means to locate and contact the child, respecting his perceptions and offering support. One of the programs described is the Bosconia/La Florida in Bogotà ¡ which has successfully moved children, in phases, from the street to a self-governing community with its own business. Programs that sort out youth in positive community service, such as New Yorks Guardian Angels or Californias Conservation Corps are cited as opportunities for the development of personal strength and self-worth for the participants. Examples of ways that the problem has been ameliorated in different cities suggest that as the situation of street children becomes ever more apparent in cities, usual bureaucratic solutions will not be sufficient to help either the children or the community. This report calls for a grassroots lobbying effort to promote public awareness and governmental policies that support community efforts and within which on-governmental national agencies can operate. This approach recognizes that just as important as government support is implementation by people whose life experiences have prepared them to recognize street children as citizens with a right to be included in their community.

Success Essay -- essays research papers

The most important thing in life is thought to be happiness. In order to achieve success you must adjust to every situation with ease. When we use the term successful it does not mean the same as the conventional definition. The definition we are referring to is to be able to overcome hardships, nothing relating to business. Today the world is something of a giant melting pot of people. Communities everywhere are interblended with people from different places and of different backgrounds. Inside these communities there are also many different mental/physical/physiological disorders and/or many people with family problems and work problems. Needless to say today’s society is one that requires a great many different and specialized doctors and therapists to help with the variety of problems which people face.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We are not going to go into every problem facing people today, however we will discuss some of the major problems that are faced by the many instead of disorders that affect the few. The first problem that affects everyone at times is stress. Many people do not know that there is good and bad kinds of stress. Good stress is referred to eustress. A very good example of this is when you get a promotion at work. You are happy that you got the better job, however with the job comes new stress, because of the new duties you have to fulfill for that position.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The type of stress, which is bad stress, is referred to as distress. People experience this more often then they experience eustress. A good example of distress is when someone you love passes dies. The stress, which you experience, is bad for you. Stress causes many unhealthy effects on the body, such as high blood pressure, increased likelihood of stroke and/or a heart attack.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Everyday stress is a big problem for many. Most people believe that a little bit of stress daily would be better then a lot of stress all at once. They are very wrong. Little bits of stress everyday build up and end up hurting people much worse than people who experience a lot of stress at once. The only way to describe this would be to use an analogy. If someone was to leave their laundry outside during a storm for one day it would probably be ok when they went back to get it, but if they left their laundry outside more then two weeks the w... ...n this situation will most likely never tell anyone about their plan to do away with themselves. The one’s that are seriously going to commit suicide wont tell anyone for fear that their plan will be foiled and they will still be trapped in their own personal world of hell. It’s an unfortunate thing but you cannot know what another person is thinking if you could you would be able to save many lives but since you cannot you have to look for warning signs. Once you are aware of the warning signs you will be able to adjust to the situation and deal with it rationally. When people are able to improve their coping skills and learn what resources are available to help them feel better emotional and physically depending on the problem. People need to realize that good mental health is a necessity for a person to be successful at other aspects of their lives. There are many disorders that affect people, which prevent them from doing normal things. It would be necessary for some people to see a professional to help them to overcome their disorder and lead them on their way to better mental health and it will help them to be successful throughout their lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

The Blood Lust :: Personal Narrative Vegetarians Papers

The Blood Lust My parents met at a party in September, 1975. A month later they left Rhode Island and drove cross-country together in the Volkswagen bus that my mom had bought for the trip. They brought along my mom's dog Sagebrush and two of her friends. Actually, the two friends, the dog, and my mom brought my dad. He wanted a ride out to his friend's place in Ohio, but ended up staying with them all the way to California. My mom's two friends left in California, and my mom and dad ended up driving home together. They didn't have much money. By the time they got to Santa Barbara, they were so poor that they stood wearing sandwich boards advertising a soup and sandwich special at the Bluebird Cafà © in exchange for a free lunch, which they split. They also worked as telemarketers and house cleaners. They ate very cheaply. Lots of cheese, my dad says, and crackers. For two weeks, my mom didn't eat; she drank only apple juice -not because they were starving poor, but because she wanted to cleanse her body. Mostly they slept in the bus, but they had friends to visit across the country, and for a while, they stayed in Virginia with my mom's father's cousin, whom they barely knew. The only times they ever ate meat were when it was served to them at people's houses, for it was far too expensive for them to buy on their own. They began to find, as they made their way across the country, that it felt heavy and unhealthy, especially red meat and pork. When they got back east three months later, they moved into a small house in Narragansett, Rhode Island, with rotting kitchen walls so soft that you could stick a finger through. One day, my mom thought back and realized, slightly revolted, that the last piece of meat she had eaten was a hotdog with sauerkraut and mustard at the Oak Hill Tavern, months ago. Right then and there, she decided that if she couldn't kill something herself, she wouldn't eat it. I was born five years later, and my mom and dad began their parental journey with the inten tion of raising a family of vegetarians. I was five years old, and pale. My parents were concerned. At about the same time they noticed I was paler than my fellow kindergarteners, my dad came down with pneumonia, from working with the insulation in our unfinished attic.