English Hmework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English Hmework - Essay Example However, she does not state what a role model is, but we can suggest that a role model might not have a hero’s characteristics. Based on Singer’s views, role models are close to us, and they need to learn something from the heroes. (COLL) In addition, Singer believes we do not have as many heroes today as in the past. Nowadays, heroes are difficult to find. On the other hand, it is not hard to have a role model. Reading ‘Heroes and Role Models’ made me to reflect on my life and thought that my father had helped me grow as an individual. Father is the best example of what a hard worker is. (COLL#2) He told me that he started his business when he was 18 years. He took this step because his family was poor at that time, and he wanted to make life much better by working hard. He did what he thought would help him make money. He worked harder than others as a result his outcome was better. Furthermore, he has had many different jobs. Sometimes he did many jobs o n the same day. For example, in the morning he could go to his company that manufactured boxes and then dealt with the daily routine afterwards. After completing his work, he could go selling a box lunch on the roadside. (PART) During the afternoon, he could send goods. Moreover, he looked for a part-time job that he could do after dinner, in order to make more income. Because of the hard work, father’s family financial situation became much better than before. I have emulated my father by working hard. He worked hard, in order to provide for us. I have made some tremendous improvements in class in the past three semesters. In this semester, I am taking 21 units and I expect to do well by working hard. The fact that I am not a smart girl makes hard work very important. Staying at school to study is my priority because of the conducive learning environment. Making it to a top university will be a dream come true. Hard work is the

Organisational Site Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Organisational Site Assessment - Essay Example The great wealth of history and traditions can still be seen everywhere from its shore to the tops of its high and ragged mountains. Bait Al Zubair houses one of Oman's finest and most comprehensive collections of antiques from all over the Sultanate. Anyone interested in learning more about Omani culture will definitely want to add this museum to his or her itinerary. Its displays include traditional Omani weaponry, jewellery, costumes, domestic utensils and recreated urban and rural environments. There is a coffee shop and souvenir shop selling a unique range of items most of which are based on the museum collection. A library that can be used for reference only by appointment, it offers a chance for scholars and researchers to extend their knowledge of Oman. Friendly Omani guides are on hand to explain the exhibits and add a real sense of discovery to Oman's culture and traditions. When I arrived at Baiz Al Zubair Museum for the first time for placement, I was supplied a document containing an introduction to Bait Al Zubair, current roles Performed by Bait Al Zubair, my Job description, experience required, staff organization chart and general guidelines to working at Bait Al Zubair. Bait Al Zubair Museum is an exhibition of a private collection that uses the wealth of Oman's historical past to explain the collection rather than vice versa. It can be considered as the Al Zubair family's private tribute to Oman. Bait Al Zubair Museum is located in Al Saidiya Street in old Muscat. One goes through Muscat Gate and it's just after the bend on the right-hand side of the road (opposite Bait Muzna Gallery) and just before the HSBC Bank. This privately-run Museum also has a traditional Omani "town house" (tours 1730 hours daily) and a small gift/book shop. Exhibitions are sometimes held there from Saturdays to Thursdays at 0900-1300 hours and 1600-1900 hours but Closes on Fridays. Entrance fee are: RO1.000 (Foreigners); 500 baizas (Omanis) and 250 baizas (children). The Arts Advisor at Bait Al Zubair museum is a Brit called Sarah White. She studied fine arts at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of West England, Bristol and the Royal College of Art (RCA) respectively. After graduating, she worked as an artist, supporting herself through commissions, exhibitions and teaching. She also represented Britain in the Best of British Artists exhibition in Sweden as well as exhibiting in prominent London art galleries such as Flowers-East. While on visit to Oman where her father was working for a prominent family business, Sarah met Mohammad Zubair (advisor to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos for Economic Planning Affairs) who requested her to catalogue the Zubair family's private collection. This led to her being involved with the inception, development and execution of the concept of the Bait Al Zubair Museum, which exhibits the collection. Muscat is the capital of Oman since 1784 and has a great deal of charm and character and offers the combination of the relaxed atmosphere of an Indian Ocean town set amongst the well ordered life of a modern oil state. The original town of Muscat forms but a fraction of the

Effect of Simulation Based Education on Medical Knowledge

Effect of Simulation Based Education on Medical Knowledge EFFECT OF SIMULATION BASED EDUCATION ON KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICAL STUDENTS IN CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE Bogam Rahul R. Corresponding Author Dr Rahul Ramesh Bogam ABSTRACT Simulations are being increasingly used to train medical students in diverse clinical skills. Simulation is arguably the most prominent innovation in medical education over the past 15 years. Role play is a simulation technique which can potentially strengthen knowledge that will lead to improved expertise. The present study was undertaken to assess an effectiveness of simple intervention in the form of ‘Role Play Simulation’ on the knowledge of undergraduate MBBS medical students of one of randomly selected medical colleges in Maharashtra regarding ‘Epidemics Investigations.’ Methods: A cross-sectional study consisting of pre and post test intervention was conducted at one of the randomly selected medical colleges in Western Maharashtra. A structured pretested self administered questionnaire consisting of 15 close ended questions was distributed to all 144 participants. The present study attempted to incorporate simulation based role play which was based on epidemic/outbreak investigations for food poisoning. Immediately after this intervention, same questionnaire was distributed to participants as a post test and responses were collected. ‘Paired t-test’ was used to assess pre and post intervention knowledge of participants. Results: Present study revealed significant improvement in knowledge of participants about epidemic investigations from pre to post intervention as a result of ‘Role Play Simulation Based Education’ (t = 42.87, p Conclusion: A simple simulation form like role play can make significant change in knowledge of medical students about very important topic i.e. ‘Epidemic Investigation’ in Community Medicine subject. Key words: Simulations, Community Medicine, Knowledge, Medical students, Role play INTRODUCTION There have been burgeoning developments and changes in medical education.[1] The information and communication technology has revolutionized the teaching and learning process.[1] Various new teaching methodogies are being used to impart medical education to the students in more effective way. The basic reason to look for these methodologies is the dis-satisfaction with conventional mode of education, which is losing it’s relevance in this era of information explosion. [1] Simulations are being increasingly used to train medical students in diverse clinical skills. Simulation is arguably the most prominent innovation in medical education over the past 15 years. [2] They help us to replicate situations which may not possible to get in real settings or where it may be logistically difficult to work on real patients. [1] Role play is a simulation technique which can potentially strengthen knowledge that will lead to improved expertise. Despite of an effectiveness of role play in providing medical education, it’s use in educating medical students is limited. [3] ‘Epidemic Investigation’ is not only an essential aspect in Community Medicine subject but also it has public health relevance. Even though very few studies have been conducted so far in India to evaluate the knowledge of medical students pertaining to investigations of epidemic, some evidences have shown that ‘Simulation Based Education’ can be an effective teaching tool to educate medical students about emergency situation like epidemics. Clinical situations for teaching and learning purposes are created using various forms of simulation like mannequins, part-task trainers, simulated patients or computer-generated simulations. The present study was undertaken to assess an effectiveness of simple intervention in the form of ‘Role Play Simulation’ on the knowledge of undergraduate MBBS medical students of one of randomly selected medical colleges in Maharashtra regarding ‘Epidemics Investigations.’ OBJECTIVE To assess an effectiveness of ‘Role Play Simulation’ on knowledge of undergraduate MBBS medical students about ‘Epidemics Investigations.’ MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-sectional study consisting of pre and post test intervention was conducted at one of the randomly selected medical colleges in Western Maharashtra. The inclusion criteria were all 144 undergraduate medical students from 7th semester who were present on the day of an intervention. Those who did not attend the class on the day of an intervention were excluded from the study. Written permission was also obtained from participants after explaining the purpose of study to them. A structured pretested self administered questionnaire consisting of 15 close ended questions was distributed to all participants. They were allowed 15 minutes to complete questionnaire under strict supervision. A questionnaire consisted of questions based on various aspects of epidemic investigations like essential criteria for confirmation of existence of an epidemic, spot map, epidemiological case sheet etc. The present study attempted to incorporate simulation based role play which was based on epidemic/outbreak investigations for food poisoning. Few volunteer medical students were selected and trained to participate in simulation based role play. They were asked to focus on ten important steps in investigation of an epidemic i.e. verification of diagnosis, confirmation of an existence of an epidemic, defining the population at risk, rapid search for all cases and their characteristics, data analysis, formulation of hypothesis, testing of hypothesis, evaluation of ecological factors, further investigation of population at risk and writing the report (Table 1). Remaining students were asked to watch this simulation based role play. Total duration of role play was about 20 minutes. Immediately after this intervention, same questionnaire was distributed to participants as a post test and responses were collected. Data Analysis The scoring system for each complete question was assigned for pre and post intervention. Statistical analysis was done using Microsoft Office Excel Sheet. ‘Paired t-test’ was used to assess pre and post intervention knowledge of participants. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In present study, of 144 participants 78(54.16%) were males and 66 (45.83%) were females. All (100%) participants were in age bracket of 20-23 years. In contemporary medical education, there is strong emphasis on the use of innovative teaching methods like Problem Based Learning, One Minute Preceptor (OMP), Computer Assisted Learning, Flipped Teaching etc. Uses of these types of methods help students to learn various clinical skills in more effective way. The present study attempted to impart knowledge to undergraduate medical students about investigations of an epidemic by using ‘Role Play Method’ rather than using traditional teaching method. The present study showed that simple simulation form like role play made improvement in the knowledge of participants about ‘Epidemic Investigations.’ Similarly other Studies also reported that the use of simulations as a teaching tool increases student’s comprehension of complex theoretical concepts in relation to modules that are taught solely with the traditional lecture/seminar format. [4] Jennifer M Weller et al. [5] also recommended that ‘Simulation Based Education’ needs to be integrated into medical curricula at the development stage, with careful attention paid to transfer of skills learnt to the real clinical environment. In a Malaysian medical school, role plays have been used to teach communication skills in primary care medicine. [6] Table. 1. Pre and Post intervention questions with correct response (n = 144) Table. 2. Mean marks of participants (n = 144) Present study revealed significant improvement in knowledge of participants about epidemic investigations from pre to post intervention as a result of ‘Role Play Simulation Based Education’ (t = 42.87, p However prior to an intervention, poor level of knowledge was found amongst participants regarding certain aspects of epidemic investigations like Spot Map, criteria for confirmation of epidemic, period of investigation of an epidemic etc.( Table 2). The present study reiterates the need for incorporation of innovative methodologies like simulations along with traditional methods for better learning of students. At some places, methodology like ‘Role Play’ has been regular teaching method in medical colleges.[7]At the University of Heidelberg, Germany, introducing role plays augmented the realism of technical training and improved doctor-patient communication and to teach students to obtain a sexual history and discuss sexual health issues. [8] Role-play is simple form of simulation which can be a valuable teaching tool for medical education, requiring few resources and allowing students to look at the material they are learning in a new light. CONCLUSIONS Present study reported significant improvement in knowledge of undergraduate medical students pertaining to epidemic investigation from pre to post-intervention as a result of role play method. It shows that even a simple simulation form like role play can make significant change in knowledge of medical students about very important topic i.e. ‘Epidemic Investigation’ in Community Medicine subject. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We heartily acknowledge the cooperation and support of Dr. Shekhar M. Kumbhar for conduction of this study. DECLARATION OF INTEREST The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the article. REFERENCES Tejinder Singh, Piyush Gupta, Daljit Singh. Principles of Medical Education. Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd. 2013; 4th Edn, 1-14. Morgan Passiment Heather Sacks Grace Huang. Medical Simulation in Medical Education: Results of an AAMC Survey. 2011, Association of American Medical Colleges: 1-42. P.Ravi Shankar, Rano M.Piryani, Kundan K.Singh and Bal Man Karki. Student feedback about the use of role plays in Sparshanam, a medical humanities module. F 1000 research. 2012; 1 (65): 1-10. Govinda Clayton and Theodora-Ismene Gizelis. Learning through Simulation or Simulated Learning? An Investigation into the Effectiveness of Simulations as a Teaching Tool in Higher Education.1-25. Jennifer M Weller, Debra Nestel,Stuart D Marshall, Peter M Brooks, Jennifer J Conn. Simulation in clinical teaching and learning.MJA.2012; 196 (9):1-5. Sherina HN and Chia YC: Communication skills teaching in primary care medicine. Medical Journal of Malaysia. 2002; 57(Suppl E): 74–77. Manzoor I, Mukhtar F and Hashmi NR: Medical students’ perspective about role plays as a teaching strategy in community medicine. Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan. 2012; 22(4): 222–5. Nikendei C, Kraus B, Schrauth M, P.Weyrich, S.Zipfel, W.Herzogi et al.: Integration of role-playing into technical skills training: a randomized controlled trial. Medical Teacher. 2007; 29(9): 956–960. 1

Mbo In Russia :: essays research papers fc

Introduction  «The emphasis (of MBO) is on trying to predict and influence the future rather than on responding and reacting by the seat of the pants. It is also a ‘results-oriented’ philosophy of management, one of which emphasizes accomplishments and results. The focus is generally on change and on improving both individual and organizational effectiveness. » A successful implementation of MBO in any country requires a narrow examination of such elements as customs and traditions of that country, which give support to the application of MBO. History These elemets are higly influenced by the history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Starting from the early centuries, Russian people got accustomed to live under the central rule when the tsar was the only decision-making body in the country. The communication between the rulers and ruled was flowing only one-way. The landlords, owning the farmers, set quotes to farmers without thinking whether they would be able to achieve them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Afterwards, when the bolshewiks came to rule instead of the monarchy, the same thing happened. Working for a state enterprise, the employees didn’t have a chance to set objectives for their work they performed. The central planning department set quotes, by which all the organizations had to obey even if those planks were set too high to reach. Workers were responsible for reaching organizational goals no matter for at what costs, but on the other side the means by which they had to reach the organizational goals were predetermined by the central planning department. So, we can see that the word  «central », which  «disables » MBO, was quite common and used heavily thrughout the whole history of Russia. Nevertheless, I would say, there were some elements of MBO such as rewarding the employees when they exceeded the quotes set by the central department. Reward was very seldom material. Usually, you would have received a red flag for an excellent work, and your photo would have been printed in the organization’s newspaper. In addition to the rewards, people were working for a common purpose: to reach the communism. And each piece they had produced contributed to this goal. Anyway, this system of rewards worked; it was a good source of motivation although it was resting solely in the willigness of the employees to contribute to the process. Factors that influence management in Russia After we had examined the historical factors that influence the application of MBO, let’s come down to determine factors that influence overall management in Russia now.

How Can We Say Environment Essay

The world is getting worse day by day. The most significant reasons contributing this non-grata situation are increased CO2 emission ratio, water and soil pollution and so on. Concerned people are always accusing the administers, governments and big companies of destroying nature. To some extent this argument is true; however, every single individual has to recognize the importance of the environment and bear certain responsibilities. We can be the trigger factor of a remarkable change by making small changes in our daily life. The initial step is reducing our energy consumption. Owing the fact that a considerable amount of the electricity need is met by hydroelectric and thermal power plants, the more we use the electricity, the worse the environment is affected. The thermal power plants is mainly run by fossil fuels which make an irrevocable impact on nature by rising the CO2 emissions to dramatic levels. As a concrete instance, since the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide concentration on air has doubled. Hence, by taking small steps like switching off the lights, plugging off the devices instead of keeping them on stand-by; we can decrease the energy consumption. 70% of the human body consists of water. This fact explains how crucial is the water for our existence. Due to the fact that only 2.5% of all water in the world is fresh water, water pollution threatens not only the wild life but also the human nature. In addition, if we add the water scarcity issue, the water will cause the conflicts in the future. Thus, this case must be taken into consideration more seriously by governments, companies and people. For example we can contribute to water conversation by doing small things in our houses such as installing environmental-friendly showerheads, using efficient dishwasher instead of washing the dishes by hand and running it when it’s full. These may seem very tiny but who knows, a snowflake may turn into an avalanche. In my point of view, the most important phase is to create a chance for this snowflake to evolve into an avalanche. But how? I think it can be done by informing people. As an outcome of Industrial Revolution, companies and governments has become more greedy. Earning money and protect their reputation have been their only mission and for the sake of these ends, they are killing the environment. Dramatically, there isn’t adequate protest against these circumstances. Furthermore, the existing protests are suppressed or censored. That’s why I support this argument. If we inform people about the seriousness of this issue and encourage them to take responsibility, the hardest part will be passed. Shortly, two are more powerful than one. If this can be achieved, an enormous step will be taken towards a bright future. When one thinks about how huge is the environment and notices the smallness of himself, he may think that â€Å"What I do is already meaningless.† When everyone do some thing for both themselves and nature, it gains a critical meaning. As Neil Armstrong said: â€Å"This is one small step for me but one giant leap for the humankind†. Whatever we do about saving and protecting the nature as individuals, these all have positive effect on better tomorrows, surely.

AIR ASIA Essay

Sadanand Maiya Talking to TWB on receiving the Honorary Doctorate, he expressed his happiness and gratitude to the people of Karnataka and said that coming from a Brahmin family he was supposed to offer free food to poor and needy people, but in business he was helpless, and as an alternative, he had now decided to help the people in the field of Education under the banner of his own trust namely â€Å"Sadananda Maiya Charitable Trust†. The PU Block consisting of 6 floors will be named after him at Jayanagar National College campus at an estimated cost of Rs. 6 crore sponsored by him with latest hi end technologies, and will start functioning shortly. For MCA from next academic year, four floors will be almost ready by June and the remaining 2 floors will be ready by October he said. Besides this, he has donated 40 computers to his home town school and constructed PU Block at Kotta Viveka School and a well stocked library at Sneha Sagar School. Belonging to a reputed hotelier family which had established the Mavalli Tiffin Room restaurant at Bangalore in 1924, Mr. Maiya imbibed the innate ability to â€Å"CREATE† foods with lasting taste and flavour even when he was studying in the school/college. While most of the boys at his age were more enamored by various extracurricular activities, Mr. Maiya chose to spend his leisure time to observe and learn the intricate art/skill of making new/innovative foods from his forefathers at MTR restaurant. It was this informal exposure, which had made him a real practitioner of art and science of cooking many traditional foods of South India. Mr. Maiya was born at Parampaalli in Dakshina Kannada district (presently Udupi district) on July 13, 1949. After a brilliant school career in his native place, he completed the Bachelor of Engineering course in Electrical engineering at BMS College of Engineering, University of Bangalore in the year 1973. Mr. Maiya, as a partner launched MTR Foods in 1976 and by 1978 established a small-scale facility to manufacture a host of ready mix products for many popular foods, which became instant hits in the market From a small-scale ready mix unit Mr. Maiya raised the status of his organisation to a major player in the industrial landscape of the country with high visibility and consumer goodwill. MTR Foods Ltd., as seen today, was incorporated in 1997 with Mr. Maiya as Chairman and Managing Director and growth of the organization ever since has been phenomenal, with the annual turnover of registering more than Rs. 1000 million during 2002-2003. Mr. Maiya was instrumental in transforming the status of his company from a small-scale unit to an ISO 9000 company with HACCP certification. Adoption of the internationally acclaimed -System Application Product in data processing, popularly known as â€Å"SAP†, by MTR Foods Ltd, for bringing up the management efficiency to be on par with

Copyright Notice and the Use of the Copyright Symbol

Copyright Notice and the Use of the Copyright Symbol A copyright notice or copyright symbol is an identifier placed on copies of the work to inform the world of copyright ownership. While the use of a copyright notice was once required as a condition of copyright protection, it is now optional. Use of the copyright notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission from, or registration with the Copyright Office. Because prior law did contain such a requirement, however, the use of a copyright notice or copyright symbol is still relevant to the copyright status of older works. The copyright notice was required under the 1976 Copyright Act. This requirement was eliminated when the United States adhered to the Berne Convention, effective March 1, 1989. Although works published without copyright notice before that date could have entered the public domain in the United States, the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) restores copyright in certain foreign works originally published without copyright notice. How Is a Copyright Symbol Useful Use of the copyright notice may be important because it informs the public that the work is protected by copyright, identifies the copyright owner, and shows the year of first publication. Furthermore, in the event that a work is infringed, if a proper notice of copyright appears on the published copy or copies to which a defendant in a copyright infringement suit had access, then no weight shall be given to such a defendants defense based on innocent infringement. Innocent infringement occurs when the infringer did not realize that the work was protected. The use of the copyright notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission from, or registration with, the Copyright Office. Correct Form for the Copyright Symbol The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all the following three elements: The copyright symbol  © (the letter C in a circle), or the word Copyright, or the abbreviation Copr.The year of first publication of the work. In the case of compilations or derivative works incorporating previously published material, the year date of first publication of the compilation or derivative work is sufficient. The year date may be omitted where a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, with accompanying textual matter, if any, is reproduced in or on greeting cards, postcards, stationery, jewelry, dolls, toys, or any useful article.The name of the owner of copyright in the work, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner. Example: copyright  © 2002 John Doe The  © or C in a circle notice or symbol is used only on visually perceptible copies. Phonorecords Certain kinds of works, for example, musical, dramatic, and literary works may be fixed not in copies but by means of sound in an audio recording. Since audio recordings such as audio tapes and phonograph disks are phonorecords and not copies, the C in a circle notice is not used to indicate protection of the underlying musical, dramatic, or literary work that is recorded. Copyright Symbol for Phonorecords of Sound Recordings Sound recordings are defined in the law as works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work. Common examples include recordings of music, drama, or lectures. A sound recording is not the same as a phonorecord. A phonorecord is a physical object in which works of authorship are embodied. The word phonorecord includes cassette tapes, CDs, records, as well as other formats. The notice for phonorecords embodying a sound recording should contain all the following three elements: The copyright symbol (the letter P in a circle)The year of first publication of the sound recordingThe name of the owner of copyright in the sound recording, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner. If the producer of the sound recording is named on the phonorecord label or container and if no other name appears in conjunction with the notice, the producers name shall be considered a part of the notice. Position of Notice The copyright notice should be affixed to copies or phonorecords in such a way as to give reasonable notice of the claim of copyright. The three elements of the notice should ordinarily appear together on the copies or phonorecords or on the phonorecord label or container. Since questions may arise from the use of variant forms of the notice, you may wish to seek legal advice before using any other form of the notice. The 1976 Copyright Act overturned the strict consequences of failure to include copyright notice under prior law. It contained provisions that set out specific corrective steps to cure omissions or certain errors in the copyright notice. Under these provisions, an applicant had 5 years after publication to cure omission of notice or certain errors. Although these provisions are technically still in the law, their impact has been limited by the amendment making notice optional for all works published on and after March 1, 1989. Publications Incorporating United States Government Works Works by the U. S. Government are not eligible for U.S. copyright protection. For works published on and after March 1, 1989, the previous notice requirement for works consisting primarily of one or more U. S. Government works has been eliminated. However, use of a notice on such a work will defeat a claim of innocent infringement as previously described provided the copyright notice also includes a statement that identifies either those portions of the work in which copyright is claimed or those portions that constitute U. S. Government material. Example: copyright  © 2000 Jane Brown.Copyright claimed in Chapters 7-10, exclusive of U. S. Government maps Copies of works published before March 1, 1989, that consist primarily of one or more works of the U. S. Government should have a notice and the identifying statement. Unpublished Works The author or copyright owner may wish to place a copyright notice on any unpublished copies or phonorecords that leave his or her control. Example: Unpublished work  © 1999 Jane Doe

The Warsaw Pact essays

The Warsaw Pact essays The Warsaw Pact was a treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland in June of 1955. The Countries involved in signing the pact were Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. The pact was a Communist equivalent to the, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The pact was made necessary because of the remilitarization of West Germany (Paris pacts of 1954). The Warsaw pact was binding for twenty years but was badly scarred after the, European collective security treaty. The 1989 collapse of communist governments in Eastern Europe, made the treaty superfluous, as new governments began to dominate their former ally, the Soviet Union. The Pact ...

Topics for a Research Paper

Topics for a Research Paper Topics for a Research Paper Topics for a Research Paper Of course, you need to start your research paper writing with the choice of the topic. While choosing research paper topics you should take into account the following recommendations. Research paper topic should be of interest to you. Research paper writing on the completely uninteresting topic turns into forced work and, as a result, does not lead to good grade. You can use college research paper topics available at any faculty to choose your own research paper topic. Nowadays, in an attempt to solve the problem of rampant research paper plagiarism, some advisers give students the topic or specific problem for the study in their own wording. It is a very good solution because among those research paper topics you can easily find the one you are interested the most. Eventually, in "adult" life you have to do what you need, not what you want. For example, members of university faculties periodically write research papers on different topics, so, you can always find something for your own research paper writing among their works. There should be sufficient literature on the chosen topic. Therefore, it is the best to take the first few attractive to you research paper topics, and then examine the library catalogs, and finally choose the one that suits you the most. The available literature on the topic should be sufficiently comprehensible to you - it should not be written in too "featured" language. Sure, it depends on your intelligence; you might be able to read complex texts. This ability is formed by research paper writers in the process of education. Research Paper Ideas In formulating the topic, you make an application for a specific result. If you will not give the desired content of "stuffing", your work will be totally in vain. Thus, while writing research paper, it is important to avoid too broad or too narrow topics. In the first case, you will be expected to assume an unbearable task, risking not to meet the due date and standard text sizes. In the second case, you will probably not be able to find a necessary number of sources (there should be at least ten sources in the bibliography). However, a narrower wording of the college research paper topic is still preferable to a broad one, because the quality of the content of the English research paper is valued significantly higher than the number of pages filled with text. .com Feel lost in topics for a research paper? Do not panic, we are here to help you with research paper writing. We deliver only custom written research papers and we are never late with essay delivery. It is much easier to become a good student with our help. Do not hesitate to contact us to get professional custom essay writing help.

How to Make a C-Clamp Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

How to Make a C-Clamp - Essay Example This improved and more efficient device is there since it is able to handle the operations required efficiently. Progress To date, we have identified the points of the c clamp that need improvement to ensure that the device is more effective and meets the needs put upon it with minimal change on the structure of the tool at an affordable rate. Some technical upheavals encountered in the restructuring of the parts as the bore made on the head and the efficient threading which are cumbersome to effect. However, the improvement made the device meet the required standards of the quality products. Additional Work There are two sets of tasks for completion in the coming weeks to ensure the perfection of the device quality. We will ensure that the product is a creation of a model tool that meets the need of the current competitive market and the demanding job descriptions. Expected Results Out of the project, we expect a result of an effective product. The assembly of the device will ensure a better screw head and a more efficient clamping plate. A C- clamp is a clamping device that is used for the holding of materials either wood or metal and in some instances the holding or clamping of materials of plastics or glasswares. It has a shape like the letter C, however, or a G clamp; because when the screw is added, it looks similar to the uppercase letter G. The clamp is made of

Julius Caesar play Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Julius Caesar play - Essay Example Julius Caesar is one of the most popular Shakespearean tragedies and is also one of the strongest political plays written by Shakespeare.It is a play that depicts the political conditions of Rome during the rein of Julius Caesar. Bloom and Loos also state, ‘Platter notes that he witnessed an ‘excellent performance of the tragedy of the first Emperor Julius Caesar’ suggesting that he realized the significance of the play as a work about the death of the republic and the rise of imperial Rome’(281). The play is a very pertinent portrayal of a political system and the rules that curtail in order to become a good ruler or to be able to acquire the throne. Shakespeare highlights some of very negative aspects of human nature in this play and these aspects also act as major themes of this play which includes deception, jealousy, ambitiousness, revenge and fickle moral and ethical values. The word play in this drama is very strong as Shakespeare through his use of s imple words has been able to deliver all the strong emotions like anger, hatred and love very effectively to his readers and audience. 2. Scene 2 Act 3 This scene commences with Brutus’s speech that he delivers in front of the crowd of the common citizens of Rome in which he makes an attempt to justify his actions i.e. Caesar’s murder. Scene 2 of act 3 holds a lot of importance in the play as it is an anti climax to Caesar’s death as this scene leads to the avenging of Caesar’s murder... 2.1. Crowd and Readers/Audience a Single Entity One of the unique qualities of Shakespeare’s play is that any scene that involves a crowd or mass public in such scenes readers or the audience is also become a part of that crowd. It is through the delivery of the dialogues and the gestures of the characters or actors that give a feeling of oneness to the readers with the crowd in the play. Shakespeare uses his words in such a manner that it keeps the audience or the readers enthralled with all the action taking place in the play and the spectators can actually feel and live the emotions that a particular scene projects as is also true in the case scene 2 of Julius Caesar. 2.2. Purpose This scene is important to the play because it acts as an anti thesis to the negativity that Brutus had instigated about Caesar. Although Caesar dies midway through the play but the character traits of Caesar that are unveiled in Antony’s speech in this scene act as an instigator that keeps his memory alive through out the play and his existence is felt through the rest of the acts even in his absence. Moreover figuratively it also makes the reader or audience realize the importance of words in general because basically in this scene it is Brutus’s word against Antony however the power of diction is reiterated in this scene as it is observed that earlier the crowd agreed with Brutus that Caesar was the villain as stated in the text, ‘This Caesar was a tyrant.’ Also ‘We are blessed that Rome is rid of him’ (75, 76). However when Antony takes the stage his speech is more full of grief and anger and hence the crowd is swayed and the agree that actually Brutus is the culprit as also mentioned in the text,

Bioterrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bioterrorism - Essay Example Not only were soda bottle with fruit juices, carbonated drinks or colas attacked, but also bottled mineral water, beer bottles and even cans. The terrorist had a few units where the botulism toxin was manufactured on a large scale and just a few milliliters of the toxin had to be introduced into each bottle of soda. Even milk was supposed to be attacked and milk bottles were found to be infected (Wein 2005). People across the US feel sick on consuming the contaminated food product. Some of the common symptoms that were noted included double vision, slurring of the speech, drooping of the eyelids, difficulty in swallowing, muscle weakness, berating difficulties, dry mouth, general body weakness, etc (CDC 2012). Young children and adolescents who especially consume high amounts of these drinks were the targets and required immediate hospitalization. Many of the patients with serious respiratory problems need admission to the ICU and ventilator support. The mortality rates were also hig h. In total, there were about 3200 cases of botulism reported throughout the US within the first 5 days, about 2300 people required admission to the hospital, 450 were critically ill and required ventilator support and 400 had mortalities. ... It may strongly be suspected that the people involved in these attacks may have introduced certain toxic substances into dairy animals across the US in order to demonstrate that the contamination of food and other products were linked to the animal deaths due to infections. However, the biggest evidence to demonstrate that the outbreak of botulism was a suspected terrorist attacks was the contamination of soda drinks and sodas. The water being used for manufacture and drinking water was also suspected. However, a majority of the US cities and soft drink manufacturers used chlorinated water and there are no chances that botulism contaminates naturally. 2. Describe how the outbreak characteristics would have been different in the above scenario, if the outbreak had been natural, rather than intentional. A natural outbreak of botulism already has mechanisms by which ultimately the people who consume the products are not infected. For example, water that may be contaminated would be trea ted with chlorine. Soft drinks are prepared using chlorinated water and milk is pasteurized before being packaged. Even some of the foods are disinfected before reaching the ultimate consumer (Medinet 2012). The second most startling fact that the outbreak was intentional was that it occurred through various cities in the US simultaneously. More than 10 major cities in the US were attacked and most of these cities were high consumers of soft drinks and dairy products. The last fact that suggested that this was an intentional outbreak was through various molecular laboratory tests conducted on the contaminated food product, the microorganism isolated was one particular strain, and this strain was one of the most virulent strains that produced large quantities of the

Kraft Foods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Kraft Foods - Essay Example The effectiveness of using this website as a marketing tool depends on the extent to which it achieves the desired goals and objectives set by the company. The ultimate objective of designing and hosting a website is to ensure that the company profile reaches out to as many people as possible. The fall of new and improved technologies has enhanced the company’s use of this website. The company reaches to its potential markets at the click of a button. This enhances consumer awareness, which is a fundamental aspect in marketing. The company acknowledges that markets within and without the United States are diverse and dynamic. In this respect, the Kraft Foods’ website offers a variety of product and service packages that suit specific markets in and out of the United States. Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the United States are some of the regions that enjoy customized product and service packages (http://www.kraft.com/). However, this does not imply that markets outside these regions are irrelevant to the company. The website is actually open to the global population, and most importantly the global market. An effective marketing tool has to account for the variations in buyer behavior, tastes, and preferences. Considering these aspects influences the performance of any given marketing tool. Kraft Foods’ website highlights the company’s product base and all the services factored in the company’s operations. This allows the consumers to enjoy a wide range of products and services that the company offers. On the same note, the website provides a platform where the user can directly engage and interact with the company, thereby allowing the company to foster functional relations with the target markets. A positive impact on the company’s marketing pursuit is realized in the process. Amid the effective use of the website by Kraft Foods, the customer service aspect could be done better. The direct interaction between

Different Sources of English Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Different Sources of English Law - Essay Example North Ireland operates a system that is similar to that of England, but which is autonomous. Legislation as a main source of English law entails the formulation of laws by the parliament, commonly known as the primary legislation. In this case, Bills are developed and debated upon in the house of commons. While they are approved, they are passed on to the house of Lords for approval and later to the Queen for royal assent, after which they become fully fledged laws of the UK (Hughes, 2002 p18). There is secondary legislation that entails the formulation of laws by other bodies, mandated by the parliament to make such laws. This includes bodies such as government ministries and the local authorities (Dicey, 1993 p51). Legislations by parliament do vary, based on the geographical locations, companies, or persons. The ordinary laws that applies universally to all people in all regions are called the public general acts. There is however a change in the traditional ways of legislation, w ith some modern legislations being undertaken by the government ministries, even without being approved first by the parliament (Barnett, 2008 p17). This is a form of delegated or secondary legislations, which has some reasoning behind. ... igned for specialized areas with unique professional needs that the parliamentarians cannot meet, the opportunity is provided for, under delegated legislation, where the expert opinions and skills are crafted and incorporate into laws (Barnett, 2008 p23). Further, delegated legislation allows for flexibility in law making, in that it becomes possible to address emergent issues that need legal backing through such statutory instruments or orders provided by the ministries for enactment. This serves to ensure that the law making process can adopted to urgent need of a situation, which would otherwise not be possible if the issue had to go through the normal parliamentary legislation (Hughes, 2002 p32). Thus, legislation as a source of law entails the rigid and the flexible avenues. This serves to ensure that the nature of both complex and simple issues are accorded the right avenues, with complex legislations being handled by the parliament and the simple flexible legislations being un dertaken by such delegated bodies as the ministries. The legislations done by the local authorities are called by-laws. The doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty provides for the amendment of common laws by acts of parliament, while the laws formed through parliamentary legislation cannot be changed by the statutes of common laws (Slapper, 2001 p133). Case law is another source of English laws. This refers to the reference made to judicial decisions that were made in the past, considering the ruling that was given by the then judges, in the case a legal suit of the similar nature arises in present day (Hughes, 2002 p55). A statement that was made by a judge during a certain ruling can become legally binding, and thus affect the subsequent judgments made, due to the requirement to observe

The Features And Problems Of The Educational Process Essay

The Features And Problems Of The Educational Process - Essay Example He insists that education is on the level of psychological and sociological, these two are combined to mold an individual in the society to be their own person in the civilized society that is and continues to be, it trains them to have use of all their capabilities. He purposes school as a social institution that should be used to simplify life for the young minds so that they do not become confused or have their capabilities develop prematurely (Dewey 463). It expounds and forms the social life that is installed at home, the information imparted in schools and lessons learned is a preparation for the future. The teachers in the school should not control or command the kids rather see influences that will positively affect the child’s future and examinations that test the child’s fitness for social life. The social life of a child is based on their social activities, thus the subject matter of the education taught in schools should progress civilization (Dewey 464). It should not be objective but help interpret past experiences and develop new attitudes and interests. The author tries to inform us that when a child is involved in a passive and absorbing attitude rather than active and experimental the result is waste and friction (Dewey 465). Laws and regulations should not be imposed because education is the moral duty of any society in order to shape itself in its own direction. John Dewey uses repetition and examples in his essay My Pedagogic Creed to convince his audience that is mainly the educators, parents of young students, and the community that instant education reform is of utmost importance for the proper social and psychological growth of children. He uses strong emotion and opinions on how the subject matter of the education should be and what he thinks is the duty of the teachers and the society in instilling education in a  child.

Different Sources of English Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Different Sources of English Law - Essay Example North Ireland operates a system that is similar to that of England, but which is autonomous. Legislation as a main source of English law entails the formulation of laws by the parliament, commonly known as the primary legislation. In this case, Bills are developed and debated upon in the house of commons. While they are approved, they are passed on to the house of Lords for approval and later to the Queen for royal assent, after which they become fully fledged laws of the UK (Hughes, 2002 p18). There is secondary legislation that entails the formulation of laws by other bodies, mandated by the parliament to make such laws. This includes bodies such as government ministries and the local authorities (Dicey, 1993 p51). Legislations by parliament do vary, based on the geographical locations, companies, or persons. The ordinary laws that applies universally to all people in all regions are called the public general acts. There is however a change in the traditional ways of legislation, w ith some modern legislations being undertaken by the government ministries, even without being approved first by the parliament (Barnett, 2008 p17). This is a form of delegated or secondary legislations, which has some reasoning behind. ... igned for specialized areas with unique professional needs that the parliamentarians cannot meet, the opportunity is provided for, under delegated legislation, where the expert opinions and skills are crafted and incorporate into laws (Barnett, 2008 p23). Further, delegated legislation allows for flexibility in law making, in that it becomes possible to address emergent issues that need legal backing through such statutory instruments or orders provided by the ministries for enactment. This serves to ensure that the law making process can adopted to urgent need of a situation, which would otherwise not be possible if the issue had to go through the normal parliamentary legislation (Hughes, 2002 p32). Thus, legislation as a source of law entails the rigid and the flexible avenues. This serves to ensure that the nature of both complex and simple issues are accorded the right avenues, with complex legislations being handled by the parliament and the simple flexible legislations being un dertaken by such delegated bodies as the ministries. The legislations done by the local authorities are called by-laws. The doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty provides for the amendment of common laws by acts of parliament, while the laws formed through parliamentary legislation cannot be changed by the statutes of common laws (Slapper, 2001 p133). Case law is another source of English laws. This refers to the reference made to judicial decisions that were made in the past, considering the ruling that was given by the then judges, in the case a legal suit of the similar nature arises in present day (Hughes, 2002 p55). A statement that was made by a judge during a certain ruling can become legally binding, and thus affect the subsequent judgments made, due to the requirement to observe

The Counseling of God Essay Example for Free

The Counseling of God Essay In the book Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling, Mark McMinn emphasizes the importance of involving Christianity in counseling activities. In this book he stresses the importance of assimilating Psychology and Christianity by citing numerous examples. McMinn highlights the importance of using the Scripture in counseling since not many in the population of counselors make use of such for the application in this profession. McMinn accentuates all the positive effects that the use of the Scripture, prayer, study of the Biblical texts and sacraments have in counseling and that everybody who lives to counsel other people should embrace this practice with their profession. Mostly, counselors try to avoid the inclusion of religion in what they do and McMinn argues that this could be dangerous since most emotional disturbances may be related to sin. According to McMinn confessing the sins in the seclusion of a counseling office is a vital part of the healing process of the client or the student. McMinn argues that integrating the notion of sin and the process of confession into the counseling process can help clients grow spiritually. McMinn also touched the subject on forgiveness and redemption. As McMinn has discussed, forgiveness may not be described only as an emotional relief. In contrast to psychotherapy, forgiveness and redemption involves understanding, self-awareness and humility and further, redemption is a way of healing or recuperation. Thus, from this claim, the restoration of meaning and worth in the client’s life may be realized through God. Psychology and Christianity are two disciplines that are very complex and are not very simple to simultaneously give meaning to, but by having a solid foundation in both fields could help the counseling profession to more conveniently assist their clients in recognizing it. Concrete Responses I was not a part of the best looking lot back in elementary school and high school. I was overweight, my nose is way too crooked and my teeth just decided to settle on top of each other. To make up with that, I would say that I talked a lot and I craved for a lot of attention. Every time somebody is showing off their new stuff like some neat shoes or a nice and expensive bag, I had a problem of severe jealousy and desire to have the same things. So I usually bug my parents to buy me one even if it is completely unnecessary. I only managed to ponder over these facts now that I am an adult. I know and I have realized that everything I was before only rooted from my almost brutal superficial nature. Unfortunately, I think I was not able to get over it. I think it was a bit inevitable to take that part with me as I grew older. Though I don’t get jealous over shoes anymore, I have shifted to things that are a bit more appropriate for my age. Most people have moments wherein they would feel inadequate and incompetent. However, my method in coping with that is to fulfill my â€Å"meagerness† by making up stories to the point of doing it at the expense of other people. I think the foulest thing that I have ever done is when I simultaneously came up with my own â€Å"fairy-tales† just to make myself look good and superior. I told people that my father was someone who has a really good status in our city, although my dad is just this normal guy. I told people that I owned coffee shops and that I did part-time work for a very reputable employer, I made a fake faculty I. D just so that I can have access to books without deadlines, I cheat my way towards so many ends and the worst is, I also have very controversial photos that I believe was going around online within the group that I belong to. That incident woke me up at some point and made me contemplate a lot on how I have been behaving. I believe that some people who knew me well are just staying silent about all the rotten actions that I have been plotting for my own benefit. They are staying silent because they don’t even attempt to rekindle our friendship and I know how much they hate me because of their utter indifference. By now, since we belong to the same University, the tales that I have started may have reached their knowledge at this point but I am thankful that they never gave me away. And right now all I feel is fear and guilt. What bothers me about this book is the permanent dread it is causing me. Ironically, I am fairly religious and I do believe in God. Since I feel that what I have been doing is nearing a very embarrassing publicity, I am kind of more worried by the fact that other people finding out about this would validate the fact that I really did it. I felt at first that it could just be a dream that I created. A dream of a life that I want to have, something that I have tried to put into actuality but with much pretense and deception. Now it will pretty much turn into a nightmare if worse comes to worst How can I deal with the truth behind the falsity I created when I would feel that God will be reprimanding me for it? I think that it would be less painful for me if people would judge me for what I have done rather that something telling to my face that I have violated so many aspects of the Bible in which I strongly believe in. On the other hand, how would this affect me if I were agnostic? Would I even care? Would I feel less guilty? I may feel terrible about how it would reflect me as a person and how other people would think of me. But that is just about it. If that is the case then I think I would be more vulnerable to doing it again, to new sets of people that will be introduced in my life. I guess, the baggage will indeed be less heavy but it would be very similar to needless shrubs that would be growing again and again if I don’t pull the roots out. I think the fact that I know I have failed God would make it a lot more difficult for me to once again do whatever sick things that I have done just to get ahead. As a strong believer I didn’t really think that this is just what I have been waiting for, just something that would rest each and every lie that I have told others right in front of me, just to get back to me with a dagger that is ready to stab me right in the heart. I know that it would be difficult to regain the trust of the people that I have so successfully fooled. But all I can actually do now is face it and start anew. I wouldn’t really have much of a choice because this is my life and thinking about â€Å"bright† ideas like leaving and starting a new life somewhere else with a new identity would just definitely make everything worse and is rather stupid by the way. I would just have to step into the limelight of shame and prove that I wouldn’t want to be in this kind of situation ever again. I wouldn’t promise or say anything but I would try my hardest and hope that everything would just go away. Even if it would take a lot of time to go back to how I was, I am willing to wait. I would move on, live life the way I should, prepare myself for all the consequences but I assure that these consequences will be accepted but it would never ever defeat me.

Customer Behaviour Analysis in Sportswear Industry

Customer Behaviour Analysis in Sportswear Industry In the world we live today, businesses and top companies have to understand what their companies have to offer to their customer and they have to understand the needs of the consumers in their markets. Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations. The way customer buys their product and the ways they select their particular products in Singapore. (Customer behavior, 2010) Sportswear market is one of the leading markets in the world and the biggest players in the sports wear are Nike and Adidas these are the biggest market leaders in the world for the creativity and the sports equipments they have to offer to the people. Singapore is a very diverse country with different ethnic backgrounds from places live in Singapore as this is sports loving country as the Youth Olympics were held in Singapore in August 2010, as is the one of the biggest target market for the sports equipments as the people of Singapore are sports loving people. Singapore is one of the famous tourist destinations in the world famous for shopping, tourist destination, Santosa beach, and two newly opened Casinos The Customer behavior of visitors on sportswear in Singapore is mostly influenced by social, cultural, personal and Psychological factors. (Kotler, Armstrong, Yau Hon Ming, 2009) Consumer behavior is affected by many diverse factors for example, what influences you before you buy a product or service? Your friends, your raising, your culture, the media, a role model or influences from certain groups. (Learn Marketing, 2010) On a more personal level, I have always had a deep interest in trying to understand how other people think and what makes them behave in the way that they do. I feel that in doing this we come more rapidly to understand our own individual ways and patterns of thought and ways of behavior. Singapore market is growing rapidly as they have recovered from the economic crisis and the people of Singapore are purchasing the products as they are being influenced as their spending power is more than before as the economy of the country is recovered and Singapore is attracting lots of visitors to Singapore for shopping, Casinos, Travel and leisure. This gives the opportunity to the sports accessories companies a better target market to occupy and generate ways of attracting their target customer. 1.1 Objectives of the Research The main objectives of this research is to understand the factors that are affecting the customer behavior and the way they act while purchasing the product and these factors helps the sportswear companies to know and to understand and predict buying behavior of consumers in the market place and what are the trends, behavior of the customer and the way they buy products in the market, from a sporting wear like Manchester United Jersey to a Football shoes or jogging shoes, it is concerned not only with what consumers buy, but also with why they buy it, when and where and how they buy it. (Himansu. S. M, 2008) Sportswear market is growing in Singapore as the tourism industry is growing rapidly as it is attracting lots of visitors to Singapore. However, a sporting culture in Singapore and the passion for sports excellence and a vast business plan have the potential to produce results well beyond our dreams. The timing is excellent as it has never been before and for the customers and companies active in Singapores sports scene. (Kotler and keller, 2009). The sports market in Asia Pacific is booming. The total value of the market should reach $17 billion in 2009, according to a global study by an independent management consulting firm. (Sports Industry, 2009) The factors that influence the customer behavior are Role, Status and Age Lifestyle Personality and attitude We have to understand how these factors play an important role in influencing the customer buying behavior towards buying sports equipments in Singapore. There is big change in the number of visitors coming to Singapore from couple of years and the Singapore market is booming as the figures show there is vast change in the number of visitors coming to Singapore from the year 2007 to 2010. Figure 1,2,3 Visitor arrive in Singapore 2007 to 2010C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag itVisitordec 07,dec08.pngC:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag itVisitor10-23-2010 2-22-36 PM.png C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag itjuly 2010 visitors.png Source: STB, 2010 Research focus The focus of this research is to understand how Role, Status, Age, Lifestyle and Personality and Attitude of an individual and how it plays an important role on buyer mood, conditions that affect the customer behavior when they are purchasing a sportswear product. The reason for coming out with a model is that this gives us an understanding how the visitors in Singapore behave when they are buying sportswear and this will help us to understand the customers better and how they react and what are the factors that influence the consumer behavior of visitors on sportswear in Singapore. According to the research we have derived on this that most of the visitors coming to Singapore are for shopping purpose and travelling purpose. As shown below for several years. Fig 4, (Major Expenditure Items for 2008) Fig 5 Major Expenditure Items for 2004-08) For the year 2008 Source: STB, 2010 Fig 1C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag it2008expenses.png For the year 2004-08 Source: STB, 2010 Fig 2 C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag it20082004.2008.png Fig: 6 Major Expenditure Items for 2007 Source: (STB, 2010) C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag it2007 travelling ppl.png Figure 7 Shopping items purchased. Source: (STB 2010) C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag it2006.2007 shopping lists.pngC:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag itshopping.png Research questions In this report we have to invest the characteristics that affect the consumer behavior when they are buying a sports accessories product and how these characteristics play the important role in consumer behavior. How the role, status and age of an individual affect on consumer behavior. How does lifestyle of an individual affect on consumer behavior. How does personality and attitude of an individual affect on consumer behavior. Value of the research This research will give us the understanding how the consumer behave when they are buying a sportswear product and this will help the practitioner to understand how the consumer reacts and what are the factors that influences him to buy a product. The study of consumer behavior is the study where are going to learn how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources. Chapter 2 Literature review The purpose of literature review is to make sure that we analyze all the characteristics that play an important role in affecting the consumer behavior. The purpose of the literature review is to select promising measure, methods (Mamchak and Mamchak, 1994). Identify and highlight the important variables and document the significant results of earlier research that will serve as the basis on which the theoretical framework of the investigation can be built and the hypothesis developed (Sekaran, 2003). Based on the research objectives, the researcher will provide relevant concepts in the review of current literature in this chapter. Consumer behavior is the way a person reacts to purchase products and there are several factors that affect the consumer behavior they are 2.1 Role, status and age All of us hold positions within groups, organizations and institutions. Associated with each position there is an important role to play, there are set of activities a person in particular position is supposed to perform based on expectations of both individual and surrounding people, because a person can occupy different roles for example role of a son, husband, father, mother, church priest, employee, and student. There are multiple set of expectations which are placed on an individual person so this affects the consumer behavior. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) An individual role influences the buying behavior, the demand of a persons many roles may be diverse and inconsistent. Considering the various types of sports accessories that may an individual buy and wear will be depending on whether you are sporting which type of sports or what type of sports accessories an individual may like, and others involved in these types of setting and environment has expectations what is acceptable accessories for the purpose. The expectations of those consumers may affect the purchase of those sports accessories and products. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) Consumers usually choose sportswear products appropriate to their roles and status. Considering the various roles a working mother plays. In her company she plays an important role of a brand manager of Nike or Adidas she would be wearing mostly sportswear but on the other hand a working mother working in a bank she would be wearing uniform. So we have to understand the role and status of an individual and these factors play a vast role in consumer behavior. As she may be fan of a sporting event as she would be wearing her favorite sports accessories as she plays a role of avid fan. As a brand manager of Sports Company she will buy the kind of clothes that reflects her role and status in her company. People buy different goods and services over their lifetime. They wear different kinds of clothes and eat different food in the early years, most. Peoples taste in clothes is age related the youngster nowadays like to wear sportswear clothes as they prefer to have sporting looks. Age plays an important role on consumer behavior as consumer needs and wants change with age. Sportswear companies offer different types of clothes for all ages and they are also youth oriented. Such as Michael Jordan shoes and jersey will attract young kids in the market who would like to relate themselves as Michael Jordan fans. The taste for sportswear items is different between the youngsters and the mature people. Mature people tend to buy less sporty looking wear and more comfortable clothes. 2.2 Lifestyle Lifestyle is a popular concept for understanding consumer behavior because its more contemporary than personality and values and lifestyle is a persons pattern of living as expressed in her or his psychographics. It involves measuring consumers major activities which an individual do such as hobbies, sports, shopping, social events, interests, fashion, family and opinions about themselves. Lifestyle captures something more than a consumers social class or personality. It helps a persons whole pattern of acting and interacting in the world. (Kotler, Armstrong, Ang, Leong, Tan, 2009) Lifestyles have a strong impact on many aspects of consumer behavior process, from problem recognition to purchase stage. Lifestyle influences consumers product needs, brand preferences, type of media used and how, when and where they shop. Lifestyle of an individual person plays a vast role in consumer behavior. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) As we have understand that lifestyle refers to the pattern of consumption reflecting to a person choice on how he or she will spend money, but in some cases it refers to the attitude and values attached to these pattern. Every consumer has a different lifestyle and they all behave according to their lifestyle and this affects on the consumer behavior. Ones choice on sporting accessories would identify a person lifestyle and what are his preferences and the sports accessories an individual wears makes a statement about who the one is and the type of people he wishes to be identified as and the other people who are keeping some distance. (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard Hogg, 2006) 2.3 Personality and Attitude Personality is a set of internal traits and different behavioral tendencies that result in consistent pattern of behavior in certain situations. An individual personality comes from hereditary characteristics and personal experience that makes a person unique. Personality is described to be having one or more characteristics such as ambition, authoritarianism, competitiveness and dogmatism. Personality of an individual person plays a major role in consumer behavior as he or she has its own ambition or characteristics. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) Everyone is different just look at fingerprint, so every individual personality is different, personality has many meaning, according to consumer behavior it is defined as a rapid response to environmental stimuli, it is an individual unique psychological makeup, which consistently influences how a person responds to his environment. For example why do some people like to go movies and other people love buying sports accessories or attend sports event it all depends upon an individual personality. (Blackwell, Souza, Teghian, Miniard Engel, 2006) Every person has personality as every personality reflects individual differences, enduring and a personality can change. Under certain circumstances a personality changes such as childs birth, Nike withdraw the sponsorship that may change your personality to buy Adidas sports accessories, career promotion all such kind of things can change a human personality and this significantly affects the consumer behavior. (Schiffman, Lazarkamk, Hasan, 2007) Personality is considered the main force behind consumer decision making. Personality refers to a persons behavior or reply to recurring situations. Personality plays an important role when it comes to consumer behavior of any sorts, especially if it involves consumer buying process. An individuals personality has become very significant now days when it comes to making decisions while buying. It holds different meaning accordingly to the consumers tastes, preferences and personality. (Knight, 2009) An attitude is an individual enduring evaluation, feeling about and behavioral tendencies towards a product or idea. For example he have attitude for politics, music, sports and sports accessories we wear, football team we support. Although attitudes can change, they tend to remain stable and not vary from moment to moment. As attitudes put people into frame work of mind of liking or disliking things, as attitude is difficult to change. Person attitudes fit into the pattern and to change one attitude may require difficult adjustments in many others. However all of a persons attitudes do not have equal impact at one time, some are stronger than other and this plays an important when they are buying a sports accessories product. Individuals acquire attitudes through experience and interaction with other people. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) Attitude of an individual people or group of people always affect the consumer behavior and for example one group of individual with same attitude are diehard fan of a football team and they are highly committed to their team and they have love for the game and if the sponsoring company are providing the sportswear of that team, the people with all the same attitude will buy the same product as the players are wearing. This will affect the consumer behavior and the sports companies should provide better sports accessories for the diehard fans as they all have the same attitude towards a same idea. (Solomon, Dann, Susan Bennett, 2009) So far the consumer attitude has big influence on consumer behavior such as whether you like a product or dislike a product such as do u like Coca Cola or not, do u like Nike and Adidas sports accessories or not. Theoretical framework Based on the theoretical framework the theoretical framework is there to test the validity of an existing theory. It is easier t understand the theoretical framework if it is viewed as the answers to the collected interrelated concepts. Role, Status Age Consumer Behavior Lifestyle Personality Attitude Independent Variable Dependent Variable Hypothesis Development Hypothesis development is necessary as it shows a relationship between two or more variables expressed in the form of testable statement. (Sekaran, 2003: pg 103). Based on the research topic the final indepdent variable and dependant variable are as follows. First Independent variable is Role, Status and Age which is IV1 Second Independent variable is Lifestyle which is IV2 Third Independent variable is Personality and Attitude which is IV3 Consumer Behavior is Dependent Variable which is addressed as DV Hypothesis development is there by confirming or rejecting hypothesis, it is expected that solutions can be found to correct the problem encountered. (Theoretical-Framework-and-Hypothesis-Development, 2010) Null Hypothesis Addressed by: = 0 Finding: There is no relationship between the IVs and DV The null hypotheses represent that the independent variable (IVs) and do not have any effect on the outcome of Dependent Variable DV. Table of Null Hypotheses H1 = Hypothesis 1. Role and Status H2 = Hypothesis 2. Lifestyle H3 = Hypothesis 3. Personality and Attitude = 0 => = Ho H1= Ho There is no significant effect of Role and Status on Consumer Behavior H2= Ho There is no significant effect of Lifestyle on Consumer Behavior H3= Ho There is no significant effect of Personality and Attitude on Consumer Behavior Alternative Hypothesis Addressed by: à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   0 meaning that à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho In hypothesis testing, the null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis are put forward. If the data are sufficiently strong to reject the null hypothesis, then the null hypothesis is rejected in favor of an alternative hypothesis. Alternative hypothesis is a constructed hypothesis which the results are examined against the prediction of null hypothesis. In general the null statement is expressed as no relationship between two variables or no difference between two groups.  The alternate hypothesis  which is the opposite of the null is a statement expressing a relationship between two variables or indicating differences between groups. (Sekaran Bougie, 2003) Procedure: There is either negative or positive relationship between the IVs and DV. The alternative hypotheses represent that the outcomes are different from zero; in particular, it could be positive or negative. As a result, IVs positively relate to the DV if alternative hypotheses greater than zero and negatively relate to the DV if alternative hypotheses lesser than zero. To find out how significant IVs positively or negatively relate to DV, Alternative Hypotheses are measured. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   0 => à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho H1à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho There is either positive or negative effect of Role and status on Consumer Behavior H2à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho There is either positive or negative effect of Lifestyle on Consumer Behavior H3à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho There is either positive or negative effect of Personality and Attitude on Consumer Behavior Research Design The main aim of this research is to conduct a descriptive study and a correlation study. Descriptive research is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena to describe what exists with respect to variables or conditions in a situation. The methods involved range from the survey which describes the status, the correlation study which investigates the relationship between variables, to developmental studies which seek to determine changes over time. (Key, 1997) In this research the researcher wants to relate the independent variables and the dependent variables. Descriptive study and a correlation study would help in identifying the information, design a procedure to gather the information and analyze the information with the help of the IVs and DV. 3.1 Research Methodologies In order to collect the data for my research it is necessary to get an understanding of the data collection methods. There are many research methods but according to the topic nature we are doing a qualitative study. Qualitative research is unstructured exploratory in nature based on small samples and may utilize popular qualitative techniques such as group interviews, word association asking respondents to indicate their first responses to stimulus words and interviews (Malhotra, 2007) 3.2 Data Collection Methods According to the research design we are going to the following methods Secondary Data: Secondary data are the existing sources which were produced by earlier researchers for some specific purposes. According to the research topic we are using secondary data collections ways as it is from existing sources. (Blaxter et al, 2001) Primary Data: Primary data are original information collected by researchers to fulfill numerous purposes of research. The investigators could collect primary data by using various methods such as direct interviews, interviews through telephone, questionnaires, observations and others. (Macneill and Chapman, 2005) In this research, secondary data will be collected through magazines, journals, newspaper reports, company manuals, and brochures. 3.3 Data Collection Methods In this research, the researcher uses a questionnaire to gather data due to questionnaire is an effective data collection mechanism when the researcher knows exactly what is required and how to measure the variables of interest (Sekaran, 2003). Data would be collected through magazines, journals, newspaper reports, and brochures. To capture data, questionnaires are designed accordingly to specific information needed. In order to be precise, the question will be set as simple as possible. The number of question is small and the words are simplified. Before the questionnaire is practiced, they should be pre-tested to see how it works and improved if there is any mistake. 3.4 Data analysis The researcher needs an effective data analysis tool to examine the chosen hypothesis at the beginning step. SPSS which stands for Statistics Package of Social Science is considered the best method in statistical analysis. This software allows researchers to enhance their perception of the data and interpretation of the output. (Weinberg and Abramowitz, 2002) The main jobs of researcher are to decide the needed variables before entering the input to the software, to select correct statistical tests to analyze data and to interpret the final output results. (Bryman and Bell, 2007) 3.5 Pilot-Testing The purpose of doing pilot testing is to detect weaknesses in design and content in the instrument before it is reach final steps. (Fink, 2003), 12 peoples are required to be tested. The pilot tested should monitor the ease with which respondents complete the questionnaire, and also the ease with respondents to complete the questionnaire (Fink, 2003). 4 Ethical issues While conducting survey and interview for the research, the researcher should consider the code of ethical issue. The major responsibility of the researcher is to inform clearly and accurately the surveys purpose and content to respondents so that they can make decision whether they wish to participate. The researcher should also show the respect to the participants by keeping their answers confidential based on the guidelines of the university. Furthermore researcher need to guarantee the data must be used only for this particular report. Schedule No Content Month Oct Nov 2010 Dec Jan 2010 Feb Mar 2010 Week 1,2 3,4 1,2 1,2 1,2 3,4 1,2 3,4 1,2 3,4 1,2 1 Problem Identification 2 Literature Review 3 Research Design 4 Choice of Methodology 5 Data Sources 6 Data Collection 7 Data Analysis 8 Writing up Draft 9 Editing 10 Final Document 11 Binding of Document Table 1 below presents a detailed dissertation schedule to ensure that the research work

Essay --

At the age of two years old, Hannah Warren has been through multiple medical treatments. Hannah was born without a windpipe and currently has a new one developed from her own stem cells. Hannah is known as the youngest individual in the entire world to have this particular stem cell treatment. From birth, Hannah could not eat or drink, breathe, or swallow anything due to being born without a windpipe. Hannah has spent her whole life in the hospital. Various physicians informed Hannah’s parents that there was little hope for her to live. Hannah’s parents heard of Doctor Paolo Macchiarini and his work with stem cell developed tracheas. Yet, due to Macchiarini’s institution being located in Stockholm, Sweden; they could not afford to go. The Children’s Clinic prearranged for Doctor Macchiarini to travel to Peoria, Illinois to make the stem cell operation. The stem cells used in this process were from Hannah’s bone marrow. In less than a week, plent y of cells reproduced to create a new windpipe. Throughout the nine-hour procedure, Dr. Macchiarini successfully inserted a three-inch pi...

Warming Up :: Personal Narrative Papers

Warming Up "Why is it always so cold in here?" I said, aiming my voice in the direction of my parents. "It's only 68," was the invariable response from one of them. "That's room temperature." I couldn't understand why they kept the house so cold in the winter, 68 degrees during the day, 66 at night. "It's more economical to keep the house at this temperature," my dad would tell me. How much money could it cost to heat the house a few degrees more? Even though I was sure our finances would not suffer if we used more heat, I never thought of my family as rich. Rather, by comparing my family with some of my friends' families, I thought we were comparatively poor. We never had many luxuries; even our house was spartan. A few years ago, my dad and stepmom bought a plot of land in a new subdivision and designed a house. After it was built, it was obvious that we had the plainest house in the cul-de-sac. It was a one-story house with conservative beige siding and absolutely nothing fancy to make it stand out. All the other houses had two stories or decorative rows of brickwork or beautiful gables on the roof. I knew that these kinds of decorations did not come cheap, and I thought that all our neighbors must be very rich to be able to build such fancy houses. If our house was not ornate, it was certainly well kept. My dad or I mowed the yard frequently so the grass wouldn't look ragged. Neat flowerbeds encircled the house, giving it the proper, orderly look that convention demanded. Most adults I knew looked down on houses that did not meet this standard. "It's too bad they couldn't fix that siding; it would be a nice house otherwise," I would hear while passing a run-down home. Or someone else would say, "Can't that family mow their lawn? Look how bad the neighborhood looks because of that one yard." My world was clean and tidy, organized and proper. I had spent all of my 16 years in the same town, raised with a standard of propriety. I knew, in an abstract sense, that there was poverty in the world. Even so, I thought my family was, if not poor, at least poorer than most families. But I rarely thought about poverty or living conditions at all.

Conventional Supermarkets Essay

Retail Branding Strategy Retailer branding strategy can be defined as an approach planned by the organisation to achieve the organisation’s missions and goals. Retail branding strategies also facilitates in their competitive advantage in the industry. With strategies applied, companies can be viewed as a distinctive store as compared to other companies. There are various strategies that retail companies can adapt and one of the retailing strategies consists of seven factors; operating procedures, location, merchandising customer services, consumers, pricing, and promotion factors. (cite book) Conventional Supermarket An industry that we would also touch upon is conventional supermarket. Conventional supermarket is a departmentalized food store with a wide range of food and related products. The supermarkets are usually differentiated by their sizes e.g. a conventional supermarket is between 500 and 2000m2. (cite pdf) Supermarket Strategy Goods Conventional supermarkets should have a basic retailing strategy that they can adapt globally. Firstly, what goods do conventional supermarkets want to offer? A conventional supermarket typically offers a wide range of products and assortment and their merchandises would include both private and generic labels. Private labels are also known as house brands in food retailing. House brands were introduced to promote brand loyalty and are usually priced at affordable prices as compared to other brands that the supermarket takes in. Prices Prices are generally competitive in conventional supermarkets due to high competition within many firms for the same consumer with homogeneous product offerings (Dolan and Simon, 1996; Kotler, 2003; Lucas et al., 1994) Competitive price is defined as price of a product is based on what other competitors are charging thus it is not relatively as low as the old-fashioned neighbourhood convenience stores that are also locally known as ‘Indian Mama Shops’. Consumers Secondly, a supermarket has to decide on the target consumers in order to proceed with the location of the supermarket. Since conventional supermarkets offer largely food and related household products, they aim mainly on families that come from middle to low income. In addition, it targets working or non-working adults that are aged above 30 years. Location Since conventional supermarkets target on families, these supermarkets are located in the neighbourhood area with large trading area. The supermarkets are situated in residential areas as it is highly accessible and gives convenience for consumers. Their location might also be influenced due to location of competitors as it would enhance their trading areas. Operating procedures The operating procedure of supermarkets starts with Supermarket Licence which is mandated by the Environmental Public Health Act. Every business owners has to comply with cleanliness and food safety guidelines to prevent any food-borne diseases. The basic operating procedures that supermarkets have to follow are Hazard Analysis and Critical Control point (HACCP) system, cleaning and sanitation programs, pest control programs, waste management, transportation of finished products and maintenance program (Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore 2012). Store Atmosphere & Customer Services Conventional supermarkets have average store atmosphere whereby it is neither isolated nor too crowded. A good strategy that supermarkets do is categorizing the items for shoppers’ convenience in searching for goods. Customer services should be good as staffs play important role in assisting customers at the counters and shelves. Promotion Conventional supermarkets are one of the market players in the industry that invest highly in their promotions. Promotions include heavy use of newspaper, flyers and TV advertisements. These promotions have to be kept in line with the customers that supermarkets are targeting e.g. if the supermarket aims to attract younger customers, online promotions would be  preferred. Sheng Siong Supermarket Sheng Siong is one of Singapore’s largest retailers with over S$578.4 million in revenue for year 2011. Sheng Siong supermarket provides customers with both â€Å"wet and dry† shopping experience and their merchandises include a wide assortment of seafood, meat and vegetables, processed, packaged and/or preserved food products as well as general merchandise such as toiletries and essential household products. Sheng Siong Strategy Sheng Siong has complied with most of the strategies stated in the above. Firstly, the supermarket offers wide variety of food products and general merchandise. They also provide both generic and house brands products. The Housebrands stated in the image below are owned by Sheng Siong supermarket. (Sheng Siong 2012) These house brands allow bigger savings for consumers as they are priced lower than other generic products. Prices at Sheng Siong are generally low but competitive as we are able to find same products at other supermarkets at the same price. Sheng Siong supermarkets are located strategically in the heartlands of Singapore. With 33 stores located in the North, South, East, West and Central parts of Singapore, it shows that Sheng Siong aims to targets on every family in Singapore regardless of income status or age. Photo of Sheng Siong supermarket at Bedok Reservoir Road Photo of Neighbourhood opposite Sheng Siong supermarket @ Bedok Reservoir Road In complying with the operational procedures that are set by government bodies e.g. National Environmental Agency, Singapore Civil Defence Force and AVA, Sheng Siong has acquired licenses, permits, approvals and certifications for the business operations in Singapore (Sheng Siong 2012). Sheng Siong is also strategically categorized their merchandise for shoppers’ ease of identifying and convenience. Sheng Siong also provides consumers with a unique ‘push-basket’ for customers to shop at ease. Row 7 – Snacks/TidbitsWheeled basket Customer service is not really emphasized in Sheng Siong’s values but the supermarket offers weighing services for customers and they have many staffs in the supermarket to assist customers. Lastly, Sheng Siong has come up with promotion strategy using flyers and newspapers. One of their current promotions is lucky draw and winners are announced on the Sheng Siong Show. Weighing Service Sheng Siong Lucky Draw promotion 2012 NTUC Fairprice Supermarket One of the largest competitors of Sheng Siong is NTUC Fairprice. NTUC Fairprice is Singapore’s largest retailer with a network of over 230 outlets comprising FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra, FairPrice Xpress and Cheers convenience stores. NTUC Fairprice Strategy Fairprice supermarket offers a wide range of foods products and household merchandise as well. Similarly, they provide house brand which is named after the company’s name i.e. Fairprice. NTUC Fairprice supermarket has come up with a strategy of having discounts on their specific house brand in order to attract customers to patronize their private brands instead. The image below shows the differences of the prices between their generic and house brand products. Also, Fairprice supermarket has also strategically located itself in the heartlands within walking distance from housing estates and competitors. They currently have over 90 stores of Fairprice supermarkets located across Singapore to cater to varied needs of consumers. This strategy is to gather more consumers as competitors would increase the trading area for Fairprice supermarket. Fairprice supermarket located nearby Guardian and 7-11 convenience stores Fairprice supermarkets have also complied with the licenses and regulations of supermarket in Singapore. In fairprice, customer service is emphasized as a key value in order to serve customers better. They also provide self-service methods for the consumers to have a freedom in their goods’ choice. Their promotions are similar to Sheng Siong’s such as newspapers and flyers. Fairprice supermarket also offers festive promotions such as discounts in Christmas period. Pros & Cons of Conventional Supermarkets Conventional supermarkets serve both advantages and disadvantages to both retailer and customer. Firstly, supermarkets have the advantage of low cost of operations thus being able to sell goods at lower price. Due to low cost of purchasing products from suppliers, it enables customers to purchase products at discounted prices as compared to convenient stores which mark up prices of the products. Conventional supermarket definitely offers the freedom of selection to customers due to wide variety and ease of shopping. They also have high degree of efficiency due to elimination of service such as packing. It is also an advantage to customers as the shelves are easily reached out and the size of the shopping experience is neither too big nor small e.g. convenient stores offers limited products and hypermarkets offer too wide of variety for customers who do daily shopping. However, there are downsides regarding conventional supermarkets. References Genessa M. Fratto, Michelle R. Jones, Nancy L. Cassill, (2006),†An investigation of competitive pricing among apparel retailers and brands†, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 10 Iss: 4 pp. 387 – 404 Barry Berman and Joel R. Evans. 2012. Retail Management, A Strategic Approach. http://www.fairprice.com.sg http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/9407/1/sp07be06.pdf http://singaporesupermarketrecipes.com/fairprice-ntuc-weekly-promotions-week-37/ (ntuc promo pic) http://www.sgsaleinfo.com/v2.0/tagsearch/Sheng%20Shiong/1 (sheng siong promo pic) http://www.guidemesingapore.com/industry-guides/retail/setting-up-a-retail-outlet-in-singapore http://www.ava.gov.sg/FoodSector/FoodTradersAndEst/LicOtherFoodProcessEst/ http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BStraits%2BTimes/Story/A1Story20080205-48245.html http://singaporesupermarketrecipes.com/category/shopping-guide/supermarkets/sheng-siong/ (supermarket)

Indonesian Culture Essay

Indonesia has about 300 ethnic groups, each with cultural identities developed over centuries, and influenced by Indian, Arabic, Chinese, and European sources. Traditional Javanese and Balinese dances, for example, contain aspects of Hindu culture and mythology, as do wayang kulit(shadow puppet) performances. Textiles such as batik, ikat, ulos and songket are created across Indonesia in styles that vary by region. The most dominant influences on Indonesian architecture have traditionally been Indian; however, Chinese, Arab, and European architectural influences have been significant. Sports in Indonesia are generally male-orientated and spectator sports are often associated with illegal gambling. The most popular sports are badminton and football. Indonesian players have won the Thomas Cup (the world team championship of men’s badminton) thirteen of the twenty-six times that it has been held since 1949, as well as numerous Olympic medals since the sport gained full Olympic status in 1992. Its women have won the Uber Cup, the female equivalent of the Thomas Cup, twice, in 1994 and 1996. Liga Indonesia is the country’s premier football club league. Traditional sports include sepak takraw, and bull racing in Madura. In areas with a history of tribal warfare, mock fighting contests are held, such as, caci in Flores, and pasola in Sumba. Pencak Silat is an Indonesian martial art. Indonesian cuisine varies by region and is based on Chinese, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian precedents. Rice is the main staple food and is served with side dishes of meat and vegetables. Spices (notably chili), coconut milk, fish and chicken are fundamental ingredients. Indonesian traditional music includes gamelan and keroncong. The Indonesian film industry’s popularity peaked in the 1980s and dominated cinemas in Indonesia, although it declined significantly in the early 1990s. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of Indonesian films released each year has steadily increased. The oldest evidence of writing in Indonesia is a series of Sanskrit inscriptions dated to the 5th century. Important figures in modern Indonesian literature include: Dutch author Multatuli, who criticized treatment of the Indonesians under Dutch colonial rule; Sumatrans Muhammad Yamin and Hamka, who were influential pre-independence nationalist writers and politicians; and proletarian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia’s most famous novelist. Many of Indonesia’s peoples have strongly rooted oral traditions, which help to define and preserve their cultural identities. Media freedom in Indonesia increased considerably after the end of President Suharto’s rule, during which the now-defunct Ministry of Information monitored and controlled domestic media, and restricted foreign media. The TV market includes ten national commercial networks, and provincial networks that compete with public TVRI. Private radio stations carry their own news bulletins and foreign broadcasters supply programs. At a reported 25 million users in 2008, Internet usage was estimated at 12.5% in September 2009. More than 30 million cell phones are sold in Indonesia each year, and 27 percent of them are local brands.