Reflection on Humanities Essay

Art is very important in our lives. It constitutes one of the oldest form and most important means of expression developed by man. It is a language, which is charged with feelings and significance that has sprung up among men living together. For this, I am very glad to experience the beauty of arts, to meet arts within my body and soul. The teaching of the humanities is intended to make us students realize that the mere possession of knowledge is useless unless put to useful ends. Moreover, we would become aware that knowledge alone is meaningless unless it is accompanied by values, sentiments, priorities, insights, inter-relationships and other transcendent realities not subject to empirical proofs also form part of the person’s education. In the humanities, we, students are exposed to these, thus, the development of the whole person, which is the goal of humanities. The humanities are the stories, the ideas, and the words that help us make sense of our lives and our world. The humanities introduce us to people we have never met, places we have never visited, and ideas that may have never crossed our minds. By showing how others have lived and thought about life, the humanities help us decide what is important in our own lives and what we can do to make them better. By connecting us with other people, they point the way to answers about what is right or wrong, or what is true to our heritage and our history. The humanities help us address the challenges we face together in our families, our communities, and as a nation. I am blessed to have met Mr. Apas. I knew and realized the glaring importance and beauty of what he always tell us regarding culture and art in our humanities class. But I pray the effort for each of us to grasp at what he was aiming, might at the very least bring us to a better understanding of arts and culture.

Does Parole Work?

Does parole work? That is an important question as it relates to criminal justice and more specifically community corrections. How do we measure if parole is working? One way is to look at the recidivism rate of parolees. This policy paper will take an in depth look at this question. Also, this paper will study the current parole policy, my policy recommendations, and finally my conclusion of this problem. Parole is a very important tool for criminal justice in the United States of America. But does this tool work in reducing reoffending by released prisoners.Statement of the ProblemDoes parole work? One way to measure this by looking at recidivism rates by paroled prisoners who are released after serving their time. The proper question should be, does parole work in reducing recidivism rates? In the U.S. Justice System, parole is a thoughtfully used community correction option (Walker, 2015, p.288). One way to look at this is politically. The two sides are the right or Republicans and the left or Democrats. The right said that high-risk predators are let go into society and the left stated that release outcomes were based on less than scientific standards (Walker, 2015, p.288). The left's position was formed before sentencing guidelines were established (Walker, 2015, p.288). According to Samuel Walker, parole provided valuable tools to both inmates trying to get out and prison officials trying to get compliance from inmates. Parole was also a way to combat the ever-rising population in correction institutions (Walker, 2015, p.288). According to an Urban Institute study (2009) it queried, does parole work on reducing recidivism rates of released inmates? The answer after studying the statistics is it has little to no effect on re-offending or parole violations committed by former inmates (Walker, 2015, p.289). The Urban Institute study (2009) did not say the practice of releasing prisoners early or the idea of parole was a bad idea. However, they found there is no system of community corrections that performs better than another system (Walker, 2015, p.289). According to Christopher Zoukis (author and contributor for the Huffington Post), examining statistics of greater than 25,400 ex-prisoners released home-free or on community corrections during 2005 revealed 49.3% had been rearrested within eight years of release. The study included arrests for new crimes and for violating their conditions of parole. The ex-inmates that were released in 2005 included 31.7% that were convicted and 24.7% who were incarcerated again (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-zoukis/report-documents-us-recid_b_9542312.html). The re-arrest rates for released ex-inmates (52.5%) was greater than those released on probation (35.1%). According to the study, most released or paroled individuals committed new offenses within two years of their release at an average of 21 months (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-zoukis/report-documents-us-recid_b_9542312.html). Parole was meant to reintegrate prisoners back into society as productive members of society not as an opportunity to reoffend. This creates new victims and cost tax payers millions in the mechanizations of the criminal justice system (Zoukis, 2017).Current PolicyHere is the current United States Parole policy as follows: Federal prisoners serving a sentence of less than thirty years prior to November 1987 can apply for an initial parole hearing within 120 days of being incarcerated. This can happen through an application process for eligible prisoners (https://www.justice.gov/uspc/how-parole-works). According United States Department of Justice, D.C. Code offenders get a parole hearing sometime in the nine months before they become eligible for parole. The date is determined by the Bureau of Prisons. Inmates who get parole are given a date of release based on the parole release guidelines. These guidelines have been developed to make release decisions fair for all inmates giving credence to the system used (https://www.justice.gov/uspc/how-parole-works). Federal prisoners are entitled to interim hearings every eighteen to twenty-four months. The Parole Commission holds these hearings that are dependent upon the length of the prison term. During these hearings the Parole Commission must decide if there are enough positive or negative factors to legitimize changing the original release date (https://www.justice.gov/uspc/how-parole-works). D.C. A review is done before the release date of each inmate. This is done to assess the prisoner's record while incarcerated and they have met conditions of release (https://www.justice.gov/uspc/how-parole-works). Inmates are given a decision of their parole hearings by a Notice of Action. Federal inmates can appeal any parole decision if they feel that they have been treated unfairly by the Parole Commission. This appeal will trigger a subsequent review by the National Appeals Board (https://www.justice.gov/uspc/how-parole-works). According to the United States Department of Justice, prisoners of the federal system let out on parole or through mandatory release must report to their parole officer upon release. Paroled inmates must follow a set of rules set-up to aid in supervision and keep the public safe. D.C. offenders let go are supervised by the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (https://www.justice.gov/uspc/how-parole-works). If the parolee commits a new offense and/or violates the terms of their release, then the Parole Commission is contacted. The Parole Commission then puts out a warrant for the parolee's arrest and the parolee is picked up. Finally, a hearing is called to rule on the allegations and if the parolee is found in violation of their terms of parole, they may be returned to prison to serve out the rest of their prison sentence (https://www.justice.gov/uspc/how-parole-works). Why is the parole policy and procedures not alleviating the recidivism rates of offenders? The main problem is that parole makes certain assumptions or predictions when releasing offenders into community corrections. When it comes to parole, the United States Justice system has been trying to predict who will be successful on parole since the 1920's. Experts have tried out many formulas that attempt to predict what individuals will have success on parole. They hope these predicting formulas show who is ready to re-enter our society. These experts have had little success in predicting who is ready for release. The fact is that they are no closer today then they were in the 1920's (Walker, 2015, p.290). According to Samuel Walker, Martinson and McKenzie stated that only particular programs work for certain inmates. Matching these inmates to the program that works best for them is a shot in the dark. Even using risk prediction instruments, like in California, is no more efficient than other programs (Walker, 2015, p.290).Policy Recommendations/Action PlanMy policy recommendations are three-pronged. First, after the offender is released, the government should aid in employment. This would allow the offender to become a productive member of society and they would be able to earn a living. This would save the taxpayers millions by not having to pay for further incarceration. The next prong would be helping with housing for the first six months after release. Although this would cost the taxpayers, it would still be cheaper than housing them in prisons and the cost of all the procedures in the criminal justice system. Finally, therapy specific to an offender's needs would be beneficial for the offender and basically everyone in our society. This would help provide mental tools to aid in rehabilitation. The biggest hurdle to implementing my recommendations would be how do you pay for it? I believe this would also cause political problems. Providing funding for government programs usually does create political push back. I believe policy makers would be on board for employment and therapy. I do not believe they would support the housing.ConclusionDoes the United States parole policy work? When we release offenders on parole, is there a big difference in the recidivism rates versus that of offenders serving out their full term in prison? The answer is sadly no. The problem with all community corrections is that it creates a prediction problem. As we all know, predicting human behavior is at best fifty/fifty. I do believe the policy recommendations I made would help, but it is not one-hundred percent fool proof. It all comes down to free will and free choice.Works CitedUnited States Department of Justice. (2015). How Parole Works. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/uspc/how-parole- works.Walker, S. (2015). Sense and nonsense about crime, drugs and communities. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.Zoukis, C. (2017, December 6). Report Documents U.S. Recidivism Rates for Federal Prisoners. Huffington Post. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-zoukis/report-documents-us-recid_b_9542312.html.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the current jury system Essay

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the current jury system in the UK - Essay Example D submitted copies of these documents to an MP from the opposition camp so that the issue could be raised in parliament. D was charged in accordance with the Official Secrets Act. Despite the clear knowledge that D’s actions amounted to an offense, he was acquitted by the jury1. The case above presents convincing evidence that the jury system acts as a counter balance to politically motivated and other improper prosecutions. Although they do not reveal their reasons for acquitting or convicting, juries provide certainty of their actions and this increases public confidence. Juries can also act on their conscience in addition to relying on evidence. This has the advantage of delivering justice even where confident witnesses present biased evidence. Despite these advantages, the jury system as applied in the UK has several disadvantages. First, the jury system increases the costs incurred by courts. The group of jurors handling the case must be paid as well as the pool of jurors from which the jury has been selected. In addition, other court personnel are employed for the purposes of ministering to the jury during all stages of the case. Furthermore, the making of a verdict by one judge alone costs about  £1,000 per day while a jury’s verdict costs about  £7,400 per day, which is significantly more expensive. There is evidence of perverse verdicts in the UK jury system. This is where juries make decisions that are outright against the law. One case in point in relation to this is R v Owen. In this case, it was established that D fired a sawn off a gun at T because T had killed his son through careless driving. T had been sentenced to serve a term of 12 months. D felt this was not enough, the reason for his action. D was tried for intentional malicious wounding and attempted murder. However, he was acquitted by Maidstone

War 1812 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

War 1812 - Essay Example The issue of the war was multiple and mostly was concerning economic problems between the countries. Among them was economical restrictions for American merchants on British territory, complicity of trading conditions and eventually the main reason was aspiration of the United States to become free from dependency on Britain. As far as Britain was busy with paying attention to Napoleon and his actions British authorities had to give up on their fighting for American colonies and this laid the main fundamentals of the United States as a young independent country. Ever since then the economic growth of the US started increasing rapidly. First of all, the consequences of the war were quite ambivalent. On the one hand Americans had great losses and demolition on their territory but on the other hand they got huge economic compensation. Historical and economic researches stated that even though it is impossible to count certain cost of losses still the United States got great economic impulse as their market became independent from foreign colonialists (Hickey 1989). In addition, the US got the compensation from the United Kingdom which definitely increased national funds. With the opening of the boundaries between the USA and the rest of the world economic growth started increasing rapidly. American merchants increased the amount of their trading operations and it pushed the development of different industries. Thus, production of goods grew and national economy started to develop faster. Furthermore, except for the economic independence the United States got from the war, if to take a look at the consequences of the war broaden we can see some great social-economic changes. The war led to the start of the changes from feudal system with its slavery to more capitalistic formation of the state. Evidently the decrease of the

Information Security Audit And Assurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Information Security Audit And Assurance - Essay Example Data is stored in a database that makes access, retrieval and manipulation easy and more secure (Chrisopher, 2012). The Department of information technology in the organization oversees the security of the information system and hardware that is used in running all the activities in the organization. Computer and information security entails the safeguarding of computer resources, limiting access to authorized users, ensuring data integrity, maintaining data confidentiality and enhancing accountability in the organization (Chrisopher, 2012). The effective security will therefore involve taking security measures to ensure hardware and media are not stolen or damaged. Developing back –up strategies to minimize loss of data and information, encryption of sensitive data files and appropriate user identification (Ruskwig, 2012). Audit checklist: INFORMATION SECURITY SYSTEM AUDIT AND ASSUARANCE CHECKLIST Personnel/ Human resources Check item Answer Responsibility Who has the respons ibility for ensuring system security? employee Do employees and other users of the system have the knowledge and training on how to handle security threats? Training Do the personnel and staff member with any responsibility of system security have adequate training and do they receive training to support their roles? Computer security policy Is there a documented security policy that is fully supported by the senior management , with associated operating systems Non – disclosure Agreements Is there confidentiality agreements to sensitive employee data and information and its disclosure to third parties Process Audit Are the installed systems in the company including security systems and firewalls installed in the company audited on a regular basis? Software patches Do mechanisms exist that are used to deploy software patches at the security systems in the company in a timely and audited manner? Data protection Are employee and company data well secured in the database? And co mply with the legislative frameworks such as data privacy Act. Authentication Are there reliable and effective authentication mechanisms in the organization? Technology External network security Are there security measures such as intrusion detectors, firewalls that are used to protect against external computer access such as internet. Are these safety measures authorized by the senior management. Content monitoring Is there proper monitoring of the content of emails, and internet to prevent virus infection, internet fraud, SPAM and also litigation from the improper use and improper content. Anti virus Is there an installed antivirus and is it up to date, are all users trained and educated on how to identify and avoid suspected files to avoid virus and malware infection. Physical security Are critical IT systems, equipment and servers, stored in a secure and protected area free from unauthorized access? Security policy. Policy statement: The department of information technology in t he organization is vested with the responsibility to provide the substantial data security and confidentiality of all the resources, data and information that are held in the organization which include local storage media, or remotely placed in order to ensure the continuous availability resources and data to the authorized users in the organization and also to provide integrity of these data and configuration controls (Ruskwig, 2012). Security policies: a) The data

Use of Facebook by Non-Profit Agencies Speech or Presentation

Use of Facebook by Non-Profit Agencies - Speech or Presentation Example Using Facebook for professional communication not only improves the efficiency of communications in the organizations but it also encourages it to maximize the impact of its presence within a particular community. According to Waters (2009), non profit organizations can significantly use Facebook and other similar social networking sites to advance their programs and missions. Although possessing a Facebook profile does not necessarily result in an influx of participation, it significantly increases the awareness and improves the relationship between the organization and its stakeholders. This presentation focuses on the various ways through which non profit organizations can effectively use Facebook for their professional communications.... Another important Facebook application that is significantly useful for professional communication for organizations is known as Group or Community pages. By creating Group/Community pages on their Facebook profiles, non profit agencies can enhance the popularity of their services and promote their programs. Christ (2005) argues that organizations can also open up discussion forums using their group pages to obtain suggestions regarded the changes they should make in the provision of their services and products. One of the ways through which our non profit organization can effectively use Facebook as a tool for professional communication is to increase transparency and openness in both our management functions and programs. The recent cases of corruption in various non profit sectors call for these organizations to use social networking sites such as Facebook in their official and professional communications. Consequently this will ensure increased transparency through the provision of a detailed description of the programs and activities of the organization as well as its history on its Facebook official web page. Creating a Facebook webpage can also help our organization to establish a closer relationship with its various stakeholders such as donors, target communities and government agencies (Hill and White, 2000). This is because an official web page at the social network site will improve our message dissemination through the use of the many Facebook applications such as posting of links to important new events in the organization, giving more information on the future causes of the organization as well as posting videos, photographs

Educational Leadership Scenario Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Educational Leadership Scenario - Essay Example (2001). Management pertains to the effort of utilizing resources towards the fulfillment of the organizational mission in an efficient, effective, and ethical manner. In contrast, school leadership is focused on the mission and the vision of the organization rather than its goal. The emphasis of management is on the management and accountability of school resources. In a sense, Effective leaders identify and understand their preferred and natural leadership style. These leaders have command of a variety of leadership styles and aptly match the correct style to the needs of a particular situation. In addition, effective leaders know that a high level of input and participation is sometimes necessary for decision-making and understand the skills, talents and styles of those who work for them. There are four main leadership models: Peters and Waterman's In Search of Excellence; Covey's-The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People; Wheatley's Leadership and the New Science and Deming's, Out of the Crisis. Peters and Waterman stated that leaders must focus on people and on the tasks of an organization. Peters and Waterman also feature the attributes of effective leaders: bias for action, staying close to the customer or the clientele, autonomy and entrepreneurship, productivity through people and hands-on and value driven. (Peters and Waterman, 1982). Covey (1989) posits that the success of an organization depends on the development of and commitment to a shared vision of the organization at its best. He stated seven principles of effective living: responsibility, integrity, respect, mutual understanding, patience and purpose. Proactivity, the first habit, refers to the ability to take charge of situations. The second habit is to begin with the end in mind. This means that one fulfills the goal. The third is putting "first things first". The fourth is that leaders think, "win-win." The fifth is that leaders seek first to understand. The sixth is that leaders create new alternatives to old and to static ways of knowing. The seventh is that leaders seek self-improvement consistently. (Covey, 1989) Wheatley (1989) believed that leaders should focus on order rather than control in organizations. He stated that leaders should recognize the ebb and flow or to the order and chaos in an organization. According to him, chaos in an organization is useful in that it stimulates growth and evolution. Leaders then should allow disequilibrium and discomfort in an organization to stimulate growth and evolution rather than exerting control to bring the organization back into equilibrium. Wheatley posits that order and chaos are both natural states of an organization, each with its own purpose. It is natural for organizations to have periods of chaos and periods of order.Deming (1984) had emphasized collaboration and teamwork among workers and managers. Each worker is focused on their appropriate role in the organization with productivity in mind. All the members of the organization have quality improvement as a goal. The Total Quality Management organization (TQM) improves quality, serves a nd satisfies the customer, encourages innovation, communicates information freely, addresses problems in the system, not the employees, takes pride in quality work, promotes

The use of isotopes in agriculture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The use of isotopes in agriculture - Essay Example The variations of protons content contained in the nuclei determine the type or kind of chemical atom element. Atoms such as carbon atoms contain the same number of protons and neutrons which have 6 protons and 6 neutrons in the nuclei. The elements which contain different number of neutrons in their nuclei are called isotopes (Greenblatt and Carroll, 2009). Hence, isotopes of an element are the different arrangements of neutrons (N) numbers for the same proton. In other words, isotopes can also be referred to as variations of a particular chemical element. An isotope therefore is differentiated from others by the number of neutrons it contains in its structure (NSAC, 2009). In addition, different isotopes contained in an element can have one or the same position on the periodic table (Wahid, 2001). For example, carbon has different isotopes which can have five seven or eight neutrons. Because carbon has six protons, the difference in the number of neutrons produces different isotope s such as carbon-11, carbon-13, and carbon-14. This means that isotopes of carbon have different mass numbers 11, 13 and 14 respectively which is calculated by adding the six protons with the five, seven, and eight neutrons. Greenblatt and Carroll highlight that same element isotopes have similar chemical characteristics, but they may have other differences in many ways such as their stability and radioactivity (11). Stable and Radioactive (Unstable) Isotopes Radioactive or stable are the terms used to refer to isotopes; scientifically, isotopes are said to decay by halflife, which is the difference in time half of the material further breaks down. Radioactive or unstable isotopes are also referred to as radioisotopes or radionuclides, and they are distinct from the stable isotopes (Greenblatt and Carroll, 2009). Greenblatt and Carroll highlight that radioactive isotopes have unstable nuclei which naturally disintegrate in a process which causes them to release energy to form other nuclear particles that are detectable by radioactive equipments (11). The process which the radioactive isotopes change so as to release energy is called radioactive decay. On the other hand, stable isotopes maintain constant structure of their nucleus without changing over time while on earth (NSAC, 2009). Therefore, stable isotopes are not capable of changing into isotopes of other or same elements. Instability of some isotopes makes them exist in varied times such as a second while others can live for many years in the same state. The radioisotope decays by producing an electron called the beta decay or by producing two protons and two neutrons called the alpha decay (Greenblatt and Carroll, 2009). Stable and radioactive isotopes are distinct in their production processes. Stable isotopes are produced by concentration of an isotope of interest from its natural source and mixing it with others. During this process, there is seperation of the different individual isotopes propertie s (Greenblatt and Carroll, 2009). On the other hand, radioisotopes are produced using artificial processes by a process of bombarding a stable isotope in a nuclear reactor with neurons or protons or by charging the particles in the accelerator (Sahoo and Sahoo, 2006). In this process, the accelerator is used to accelerate electrically charged particles to high speeds so that they can be induced to produce high radiation energy (Greenblatt and Carroll, 2009). The difference between the accelerator and a reactor is that the accelerator produces one type of

Business to Business Marketing & Supply Chain Management Essay

Business to Business Marketing & Supply Chain Management - Essay Example Significantly, the success of an organisation must be pegged on the supply chain as pasrt of the vital elements in the system structure. Observably, supply chain is often regarded as the process of integrating companies and their operations together with regard to the flow of products, services along with other aspects of modern businesses (Ellis, 2010). Basically, the supply chain process entails the contribution of a supplier, distributer along with an instantaneous customer, and this further incorporates the flow of gods and the services of an organisation. In modern business practices, the supply chain retains its critical importance as it is directly associated with the operational wellbeing of the business (Warkentin, 2003). Correspondingly, this particular discussion will primarily deal with analysing the importance as well as the role of supply chain management in the domain of business-to-business marketing. The paper will also conclude some of the major prevailing issues as sociated with the supply chain management with considerations of two different industries, which will include the Textile Manufacturing Industry of China and Chemical Industry in Singapore in a macro prospective. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is one of the most integral processes in the contemporary business environment. It will not be vague to depict that it is one of major elements, which can directly decide upon the success potentials or failure risks of a company, irrespective of its industrial positioning. SCM is often defined as the management of the flow of goods within any particular business context. It primarily involves the movement of materials or finished goods from one domain of the business to the other in a systematic manner, ensuring time effectiveness in each of the stages involved in the supply chain process. The process of supply chain in the modern day business context also involves the

Value configuration of argos Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Value configuration of argos - Research Paper Example shopping very accessible to their clients with the accessibility of sets for surfing earlier to visiting the stores ,the collections are accessible as hard copies for example, the low price DVDs and CDs.This suitability of shopping with the Argos lengthens to the establishment of home distribution for mobile orders and online acquisitions at lowered prices. The clients who are registered to Argos website benefits from 5% discounts on the complete Argos variety and some monies to use in Argos and site stores obtainable on their loyalty cards. Argos deals in merchandises care to the client such as breakdown care, equipment care and replacement produce care. For easy admittance of the company’s features and produces, Argos has established beta Widget which delivers a quicker and easier access to the main features of Argos.co.uk which comprised the pursuit of their up-to-date offers, costs and the wide merchandise range. To advance rates of exchange, drive produces sales and progress their enactments, Argos linked with the Zoocha to cultivate the customer proficient design. Argos has capitalized meaningfully in digital contribution and establish new ways to influence its vast store collection in a retail atmosphere, this is due to the just launched five-year revolution plan which marks Argos as a digital front-runner in the corporate market. This has led to the improvement of Argos products purchase since clients could visit the Argos website through mobile devices and surf for products and conducts purchase .It appeals to the clients because of the endowment of 16% discount of the general purchases directed through the phones. , Argos announces a digital version of its Christmas gift guide that exploits new expertise and rich content to deliver collaborating ways of spending for its customers (www.argos.co.uk ,2014). In addition, the catalogue type of the gift controller is using augmented reality to lift arrangement stages further.Interms of expertise Argos

Introduction to Terrorism Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Terrorism Essay The paper would analyze the definitions for terrorism proposed by some authors deeply along with criticizing them and proposing a global definition of terrorism. Secondly, â€Å"the concept of ‘just war theory’ would also be evaluated by highlighting its limitations. And finally, just war theory concept would be applied on the recent military action in Afghanistan, whether it fits the scenario or not. Answer -1 There are hundreds of definitions of terrorism defined by many authors, journalists, and politicians. But the problem is that the idea or concept of what terrorism actually is, is vague and not perceived globally as a single concept. The definition proposed by Lawless revolves around three key words; violence political purpose, and non-state actor. It goes this way, â€Å"the unlawful threat or act of violence committed for a political purpose by a non-state actor† (Lawless, 2007). This definition seems to be quite rigid and inflexible because it says that terrorism happens only because of political purposes by the non-state actors. In fact, terrorism does not always take place due to political purposes; for instance, these days, countries themselves want to get rid of terrorism that is overwhelming them and worsening their relationships with other countries. There is no doubt that non-state actors are mostly involved in terrorism, but they usually do so for purposes such as, smuggling, harassing the legal authorities who try to resist them, and certain mafias or groups who want to take revenge of any injustice done to them before or being done. Secondly, the definition does not highlight the idea about the innocent people or victims. Terrorism for political purposes means that riots or revenges are taken for their own sake, purpose, and benefit. The global definition that I propose is that ‘any unlawful or illegal act done to hurt, damage, or overwhelm the party who is innocent and was not involved in any conspiracy or threatening act against the party who is hurting them’. See more: introduction paragraph example Answer – 2 Just war theory proposes the idea that lies between permissivism and pacifism. Permissivism suggests using arms as many as wanted and as the way the armed forces want to; whereas, pacifism says not to use arms against civilians or innocent people but to kill those who deserve to be killed. Therefore, just war theory says that war must be fought when it is fair or when there is a reason to be fought with the enemies or for a legitimate cause (Wilson, 2006). There are certain limitations of this theory such as, it does not define what a ‘legitimate’ cause actually is and when is it just or fair to attack the enemy (mtholyoke.edu, n.d). Therefore, countries or parties always think of their own interest and consider their cause as a legitimate one and considerable to attack the enemy, even they may be wrong at their side. Moreover, not killing civilians is just a saying; armed forces often kill and harass the civilians such as, kidnapping them, and smuggling them, etc. So, f rom here, the desire to take revenge arises in the other party and the issue never resolves, in fact it goes on. I think the idea of just war theory must be reconceptualized. Answer – 3 The recent military action against Afghanistan does not fit on the concept of just war theory because the American started the raid against them without having solid evidence against them. Moreover, they did not only killed the Afghan terrorists, but also took lives of thousands of innocent people including children, women, and aged ones. They brutally destroyed their houses, properties, lands, lives, and everything.

Comparison of Goldman Sachs and Close Brothers Annual Report

Comparison of Goldman Sachs and Close Brothers Annual Report International Financial Accounting – Comparison of the Annual Reports 2005 of Goldman Sachs and Close Brothers Description of activities and source and type of revenues Goldman Sachs has three main types of activities Investment banking. This covers services like merger and acquisition advice, helping clients raise debt. Trading and principal investments. This covers trading and investing in fixed income and equity products, currencies and commodities. This is the largest division in terms of net revenues and generated 66% of net revenues in 2005. Asset management and security services. This division provides advisory and financial planning services including brokerage and advisory services to wide range of clients like pension fund and hedge funds. Table 1 shows the net income of the above three divisions in 2005. Table 1 – Goldman Sachs: Net income in the year ended November 2005[1] Division Net revenues, $ billion Revenue as % of total Investment banking 3.67 15% Trading and principal investments 16.36 66% Asset management and security services 4.75 19% Total 24.78 100% Close Brothers provides following main activities Investment banking. Close Brothers has three main divisions under investment banking: Asset management. This division manages assets of private clients, trust funds and offshore funds. Corporate finance provides merger and acquisition, financial restructuring and debt advisory services to corporate clients. Market-making division specialises in providing liquidity to the London retail market-making markets in UK and many international shares. Banking division normal banking services like deposits and foreign exchange facilities to personal and professional clients. Table 2 shows the distribution of operating income, as a measure of revenues, of different divisions Table 2 – Close Brothers: Operating income in the year ended 31 July 2005[2] Division Operating income as % of total Asset management 21% Corporate Finance 7% Market-making 24% Investment banking 52% Banking 48% Total 100% Profitability of the two companies from the company and shareholders perspectives The table 3 shows the profitability of Goldman Sachs in the years ended November 2004 and 2005 Table 3 – Goldman Sachs: Profitability[3] 2005 2004 % change Net revenues, $ billion 24.78 20.55 20.6% Pre-tax earnings, $ billion 8.27 6.68 23.8% % of revenues 33.4% 32.5% Net earnings, $ billion 5.63 4.55 23.7% % of revenues 22.7% 22.1% Diluted earnings per common share, $ 11.21 8.92 25.7% Return on average common shareholders equity 21.80% 19.80% 10.1% Goldman Sachs increased its net revenues by 20.6 % in 2005 whereas pre-tax earnings increased by 23.8 % in the corresponding period. This shows that the company achieved not only higher profits in 2005 but also increased the profitability by limiting growth in expenses. This is supported by the fact that pre-tax earnings as a percent of net revenues were 33.4 % in 2005 compared to 32.5 % in 2004. Net earnings also increased by 23.7 % in the year 2005 in line with growth in pre-tax earnings. The higher growth in net earnings compared to net revenues shows that higher sales were not achieved at the expense of lower margins. Profitability for shareholders is measured in terms of diluted earnings per share. The growth in diluted earnings per share was 25.7 % in 2005. This was even higher than the growth in net-earnings. Shareholders’ profitability is also measured in terms of return on shareholders equity which is net earnings divided by the shareholders equity. This increased by 10% from 19.8 % in 2004 to 21.8 % in 2005. Higher return indicates Goldman Sachs is using equity to earn higher profits. The table 4 shows the profitability of Close Brothers for the years ended July 2004 and 2005 Table 4 – Close Brothers: Profitability[4] 2005 2004 % change Operating income,  £ m 448 401.2 11.7% Pre-tax profit,  £ m 108.62 101.34 7.2% % of operating income 24.2% 25.3% Profit after tax,  £ m 70.75 67.42 4.9% % of operating income 15.8% 16.8% Diluted earnings per common share,  £ 0.47 0.45 4.4% Profit attributable to shareholders,  £ m 68.58 65.21 Shareholders equity,  £ m 540.32 509.26 Return on average common shareholders equity 12.69% 12.80% -0.9% Close Brothers increased its operating income by 11.7 % in 2005 whereas pre-tax earnings increased by 7.2 % only in the corresponding period. This shows that the increase in pre-tax profits was countered by a much higher increase in expenses. The operating margin dropped by 1% from 25.3 % in 2004 to 24.2 % in 2005. Operating margins of Close Brother were about 9 % lower than that of Goldman Sachs indicating that Close Brothers operates in a more competitive environment. Similarly profit after tax as a percent of revenues were 7 % lower in case of Close Brothers – 15.8 % for Close Brothers compared to 22.7 % for Goldman Sachs. The growth in diluted earnings per share was only 4.4 % in 2005. This is much lower than the growth in Goldman Sachs earning per share. The return on common shareholder equity was only 12.70 % in case of Close Brother which means that from shareholders point of view return in Goldman Sachs is higher than Close Brothers. Long-term financial structure of two companies Table 5 shows the financial structure of Goldman Sachs looking at its short and long-term borrowings along with shareholders equity. Table 5 – Financial structure of Goldman Sachs[5] 2005 2004 $ billion % $ billion % Short term borrowings 55.22 36% 54.96 41% Long term borrowings Secured 15.67 10% 12.09 9% Unsecured 84.34 54% 68.61 51% 100.01 64% 80.7 59% Total borrowings 155.23 100% 135.66 100% Cash and cash equivalent 10.26 4.36 Net debt 144.97 131.30 Shareholders equity 28.00 25.08 Long term debt to equity 78% 76% Net debt / (net debt + equity) 84% 84% The % of long-term borrowings has increased from 59 % to 64 % in the year 2005. This has mainly come from the increase in unsecured long-term borrowings. The company is highly geared and its net debt to total capital ratio is 84 %. As of November 2005, 84 % of Goldman Sachs was financed through net debt, i.e., out of every $1 of its capital, 84 cents came from debt. The table 6 shows the financial structure of Close Brothers. Table 6 – Financial Structure of Close Brothers[6] 2005 2004  £ m %  £ m % Short term borrowings 132.22 15% 287.36 40% Long term borrowings 729.28 85% 434.00 60% Total borrowings 861.5 100% 721.36 100% Cash and cash equivalent 1.25 0.85 Net debt 860.25 720.51 Shareholders equity 540.32 509.26 Long term debt to equity 57% 46% Net debt / (net debt + equity) 61% 59% Company’s long-term borrowings have increased significantly from 60 % to 85 % in the year 2005. Close Brothers gearing are more on long-term borrowings as compared to Goldman Sachs. The net debt to total capital ratio is 61 % which means that Close Brothers is less geared compared to Goldman Sachs. Because of higher equity percent in Close Brothers, the long-term debt to equity ratio of Close Brothers is only 57 % in 2005 as compared to 78 % of Goldman Sachs. Analysis of difference in cash flow from profit Cash flows differ from profits because of the following major items: Inclusion of non-cash items like depreciation and amortisation in net profits Cash inflow and outflow in purchase and sale of property and businesses. In case of purchase, no impact is on profit and loss. In case of a sale, only profit or loss over the cost price is included in the profits and not the full amount of sale. Cash inflow or outflow from the financing activities like raising or retiring loan, issue of equity. This impacts cash flow but is not included in the profit and loss statement. We now look at the above sources of difference for both Goldman Sachs and Close Brothers. Table 7 shows the cash flow calculation from net profits of Goldman Sachs for the year 2005. Table 7 – Comparison of cash flow and profits of Goldman Sachs[7] $ bln Net profits 5.63 Cash flow Net profits 5.63 Non-cash items in net earnings 2.16 Cash used in assets and liabilities -20.203 Cash used in operating activities -12.413 Cash from investing activities -1.06 Cash from financing activities 19.37 Change in cash 5.90 Goldman used $12.4 billion of cash in operating activities in 2005 and this includes $20.20 billion of cash used in assets and liabilities. Operating activities also include $2.16 billion of non-cash items like depreciation and amortisation, deferred income tax and stock options. Another $ 1 billion of cash was used in purchase of businesses, property and leases. The cash outflow from operating activities was compensated by cash inflow from financing of $19.37 billion. This was mainly made up of cash inflow of $43 billion from long-term borrowings. Table 8 shows the cash flow calculation of Close Brothers for the year 2005. Table 8 – Comparison of cash flow and profits of Close Brothers for the year ended 31 July 2005[8]  £ m Profit after tax 70.75 Cash flow Cash flow from operating 521.52 Tax -37.82 Net cash flow from operating activities 483.70 Cash from investing activities -171.23 Cash from financing activities -67.98 Change in cash 244.49 While the profit after tax was only  £70.75 million, cash increased by  £244.49 million in the year 2005. This was mainly due to net cash inflow from operating activities of  £483 million. The differences in the sources of cash generation arise between Goldman Sachs and Close Brothers arise from the way they include cash items under different categories. Close Brother was able to show high cash inflow from operating activities because of classification of reduction in loan advances of  £190 million and loan notes issuance of  £260 million under trading activities. If we take out the above two ash inflows form operating activities, then net cash inflow from operating activities would be only  £33.7 million (483.7 – 190 – 260). Also then the cash flow form financing activities would change from - £68 million to  £382 million. Examples of accounting transactions subject to different GAAP Goodwill amortisation and impairment. Goldman Sachs is listed at New York Stock Exchange and subject to US GAAP. Under US accounting SFAS No. 142 â€Å"Goodwill and Other Intangible Asset†, Goldman Sachs tests goodwill each year for impairment[9]. It amortises intangible assets over the useful life which was on average 16 years in 2005[10]. Close Brothers follows Financial Reporting Standard No. 10 and amortised the goodwill over 20 years[11]. Where Goldman Sachs has an option to choose the useful life, companies in UK normally follow the option of 20 years. The change in amortisation years results in difference in profits even though this is a non-cash item. Share based compensation. Goldman Sachs followed US accounting principles SFAS 123 and SFAS 148 under which the compensation expense is recognised over the relevant service period[12]. Close Brother didn’t expense the share based compensation in the year 2005 and expects that future alignment with International Financial Reporting Standards on expensing of share based award will reduce profits by  £ 4 million[13]. Summary of non-numeric information in the annual report and importance to the shareholders Summary of information for Goldman Sachs Investment banking backlog increased in 2005 over 2004[14]. This means that the company was expecting more business to materialise in fees in 2005 and also shows the healthy environment in financial markets. The company increased its market risk in equities and interest rate products in the second half of 2005 assuming that market conditions will remain favourable[15]. If market conditions turn against Goldman Sachs assumption, the riskier investments would lead to higher losses. The business is very prone to financial market conditions and hence it is difficult to predict future earnings[16]. Investors with good knowledge of financial markets – mainly sophisticated institutional investors – can predict with some reasonability future earnings of a company like Goldman Sachs. It would be difficult for individual investors to do the same and hence they have to rely on credible sources for future earning potential of Goldman Sachs. Summary of information for Close Brothers The business performance is subject to economic conditions in UK[17]. Bad debt charge was low in 2005 due to low interest rate and full employment. Increase in interest rate and low employment would increase bad debt charge and reduce profitability. Reputation risk is the most importance and any public failure can lead to significant reduction in income[18]. Implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards could have a material impact on income because of issues like recognition of share based awards[19]. BIBLIOGRAPHY Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005, http://www2.goldmansachs.com/our_firm/investor_relations/financial_reports/annual_reports/2005/ Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005, http://www.closebrothers.co.uk/uploads/cbg2005full.pdf Footnotes [1] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005 [2] Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005 [3] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005 [4] Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005 [5] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005 [6] Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005 [7] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005 [8] Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005 [9] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 74 [10] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 89 [11] Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 31 [12] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 73 [13] Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 8 [14] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 24 [15] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 25 [16] Goldman Sachs, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 25 [17] Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 5 [18] Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 6 [19] Close Brothers, Annual Report 2005, Pg. 8

Supply chain management at zara fast fachion

Supply chain management at zara fast fachion Zara, a clothing manufacturer in Spain was launched in 1975 as a local store. Today, it is the third largest manufacturing company in the world (Chemawat Nueno, 2006). The company, Inditex, has over twenty manufacturing plants in Spain and more than 1,000 stores in over 30 countries in the world. The highly applauded manufacturing strategy was envisaged by owner Amancio Ortega Gaona. He demonstrated that lean inventories and flexibility may be even more crucial than cheap labor, a notion that just revolutionizes the exodus of manufacturing jobs from the west. His insight was successful because the company is now a case study at business teaching institutions from Wharton to Harvard and the IESE in Spain. This paper is going to discuss how Zara uses technology to improve operational responsiveness to customer expectations, and at the same time to cut down costs in certain areas and also the factors Zara bases on determining the price of her products. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Use of technology Identification of fashion trend at Zara is part of the culture. A point-of sale (POS) system is used in the stores and the information gathered is sent to Inditex. Also, the POS technology has allowed to tight up the links between vendors and led to improvements in the ordering process, in deliveries and in the distribution system as a whole, thus contributing to increase the level of responsiveness of ZARA. Moreover, managers consult personal digital assistant on daily basis to check the availability of new designs and to place their orders to what they think will be much appreciated by their customers. By so doing, the store managers assist shape designs (Innovels, 2008). Information and communication protocols at Zara are radically different from its competitors. The company spends less than 0.5 percent of total revenue on information technology and employees in the IT department account for only 0.5 percent of the companys total workforce (Chemawat Nueno, 2006). This differs from their competitors who spend about 2 percent of their total revenue on information technology and have 2.5 percent of their total workforce dedicated to IT (Ferdows, 2004). Zara makes use of human intelligence and information technology such as their PDA devices to come up with a hybrid model for flow of information from stores to the headquarters. For instance, the companys managers utilizes handheld devices to send formalized information concerning feedback from customers and ordering needs straight to in-house designers. Apart from keeping Zaras designers informed on fast-changing demand and trends, this technique also provides the company with imminent on less-desirable products. Unlike Zaras hybrid model (which combines IT application and human intelligence), competitors rely mostly on information technology. The hybrid model results into well managed inventories, reduced costs from obsolete products, linkages between supply and demand, nevertheless, there is still room for upgrading in their IT processes to realize more reliable management of inventory levels. Therefore, this unique approach of human astuteness assisted IT solution provides cost advantages to the companys operations and assists Zara to abide by her primary principle to be in a position to quickly respond to changes in consumer demand (Chemawat Nueno, 2006). The SKU system allows the gathering of data to help identifying and producing garments sought by customers, and in the right quantities, thus improving the ordering system at the distribution center. ZARA, then, successfully maintain control of its inventory while keeping inventory costs at a lower level. Zara also made considerable investments to improve its logistics system and to develop its IT infrastructures. ZARA chose to implement a Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing system as well as to invest in a sophisticated telecommunication system, thus improving the information flow between headquarters and supply, production and sales sites and thus avoiding any type of bureaucratic structure. Furthermore, this system allows ZARA to take appropriate and quicker decisions due thanks to the information flow being very fluent. The JIT system allows ZARA to improve quality, to diminish manufacturing time, to eliminate waste, to increase productivity and to have better relationships between suppliers, thus improving its overall responsiveness. The use of a consumption information system linking together the merchandising and the back-end processes is an original technique used by ZARA that permits designing teams to possess relevant information about customers preferences. This technology contributes without doubt to ameliorate the responsiveness of ZARA: indeed, the data gathered by this system allow teams to propose new designs that match consumers expectations, and in a timely manner. A high-tech mobile tracking system speeds up the distribution system by proceeding high numbers of garments in a short period of time, thus minimizing intervention of labor force while increasing productivity. As garments did not stay for a long time in the warehouse, the company is able to cut down storage costs. Zaras capabilities, concepts and strategic planning as demonstrated through their business model, tend to be heading in the right direction (Chemawat Nueno, 2006). Their concentration on core operation as well as production capabilities, resistance to outsourcing, and focus on the fashion pulse have made this company one of the most victorious clothing retails. Technology is present in all four crucial steps that makes ZARAs responsiveness so fast. (Illustration taken from Devangshu, D., 2002) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ From what you see in the case, does ZARA price on the marked or based on other factors? Zara utilizes market-based pricing. In this method, the process is arrived at by bargaining among many sellers and many buyers in a competitive market. For market-based pricing, the fundamental question is: how can a product be valued by the market? The answer to this question is contextual and conceptually based; that is, it depends on a particular product category and a set product of reference. In some product categories such as clothing, Zara expresses value as monetized costs and benefits, and in purely economic terms. The fundamental concept is economic value to the customer. In real sense, rational customers add up the expected benefits, relate them to the coupled costs, and buy the companys products if it provides enough benefits to justify the price, and the most complimentary relative to other spending alternatives. Managers at Zara try as much as possible to monetize all the costs and benefits and with economically rational customers, this pricing analysis is fundamentally straightforward. That is, the customers make decisions basing on a multitude of factors that are crucial to them. Their decision may be a combination of both non-economic and economic factors that can be subjective or objective (Ferdows, 2004). In this more obvious case, during the starting point for deciding a price Zaras managers first calibrate the implied importance of the acquired benefits and relate them with the price of the product in a competitive market (Chemawat Nueno, 2006). They use an analytical technique called value mapping for framing the price benefits relationship. Nevertheless, if a decision was taken to enter a specific market, buyers effectively turn off the extra expenses of supplying it from Spain. Prices were moderate, 40 percent higher in many other European countries than in Spain, 70 percent higher in the Americas, and in Japan the prices were 100 percent higher (Chemawat Nueno, 2006). Zara had analytically marked local currency prices for all nations in which it has branches, on each clothings price tag, calling the latter atlas with the expansion of its footprint. As major markets in Western Europe started using the euro at the beginning of 2002, the company simplified its price tags to list only the price in the local markets in which a specific clothing can be sold, even though logistics were complicated by this (Chemawat Nueno, 2006). Zara made use of joint ventures in bigger and more crucial markets where there were hindrances to direct entry, in many cases those related to the difficulty of getting enough retail space within the cities. At the beginning of 2002, many Zara stores abroad were managed through joint ventures. Interests in all joint venture were equally shared between Zara and their partners. With much lower prices in Spain and the information available to the public, a large percentage of Spain citizens afford Zara products. In a country such as Mexico, there is a narrower targeted customer base. This is due to informational and cultural reasons. Only the middle and upper class in Mexico can afford Zara. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ For an apparel retailer what are the advantages and disadvantages of online distribution? Can Zara make it work? Responding to increased competition in the industry, to changing customers preferences and habits, as well as to a decline in High Street spending (BBC NEWS Business, 2010), it was crucial for ZARA to offer an online, e-retail distribution service. In an article published by the BBC NEWS Business (2010), Julia Caesar wrote that consumer confidence is waning and many fear a further economic slowdown. Online fashion sales, meanwhile, are proving resilient. Online shopping has experienced a dramatic growth, as more and more people are being equipped with Internet connections. It has been widely acknowledged that contrary to traditional retail stores, online retailers benefit from more regular and stable revenues even in period of crisis. According to Forrester consulting group, shopping on the net is expected to see sales grow to  £94bn ($144 bn) in Western Europe by 2014, from  £56bn in 2009. Therefore the Internet presents great opportunities for the future. An online store is also a good way to complement existing traditional stores, because customers generally have access to a greater choice of products rather than when going to their local store. Thus, it can be perceived as being more convenient. An online retail store w ill offer the opportunity for people who do not have time such as business people to obtain the product they want before the next ZARA collection is brought to the market. Indeed, with ZARAs rapid product turnover, introducing new collections twice a week, these people may not have time to get the product they want before the collection ends. An online retail store allows remedying to this problem. Moreover, an online retail store gives opportunity for ZARA to reach new markets without physically opening stores in these markets, thus saving real estate costs. It can also be used as an online market entry strategy to expand worldwide or to test the possibilities of doing commerce in a particular country. Moreover, E-retail distribution may satisfy customers who did not have positive customer service experience when shopping in-store and it may help reaching new customers who do not have easy access to physical stores. To finish, e-retail will give the opportunity to ZARA for gatherin g more information about customers and to develop personalized marketing tools, such as online relationship marketing, using diversified channels. Conversely, online retailing involves several disadvantages. The most apparent disadvantage, particularly in the apparel/fashion industry, is that customers cannot try the product and in case if the product does not fit, customers would have to send the product back to ZARA and make a new order or wait to get reimbursed. Even if this process can be shortened, this still takes time. A reporter from Fox Business News (2010) analyzed that one of the snags of Inditexs fast-fashion business model could be the difficulty of reselling the typically large number of goods returned by online buyers because those goods could already be out of date, thus adding another disadvantage to the choice of retailing online. There might be a dilemma concerning returns for Inditex: the e-retailing accounts for an important amount of them. Also, this would hardly match with their fast fashion selling strategy which involves getting rid of the stock and selling the products very rapidly. ZARA may face a problem if stocks re-emerge weeks later thus affecting the sales flow of the company. Another problematic is that ZARA may fail to attract different customers than youth in their 18-34, eager to proceed to online shopping contrary to older populations. Even so the launch of a website makes it virtually possible for anybody in the world to access it; ZARA would have to do extra efforts to attract both its existing customers who are presently shopping at physical stores, but also to attract new customers. This is not an easy task considering the vast choice of competitors who are only a click away from ZARA on the Internet and who have entered the Web much earlier. An interactive, attractive website, easy to use, would be the correct manner to adopt. There are more general drawbacks linked to online retailing. Depending on the number of virtual shoppers, the website may be slow to load, thus frustrating customers. An e-retail store involves maintenance costs and may require hiring technical staff such as computer engineers. Because of the required maintenance, sections of the website or the website as a whole may not be available at certain moments. Privacy as well as security and protection of data may prevent customers from buying online. Indeed, Hoffman et al. (1999) have emphasized that 95% of Internet users have, at one time or another, refused to give personal information. To make it work, Inditex would need to accompany the launch of the ZARA website with appropriate marketing campaign in order to ensure that customers are aware of such initiative. ZARA would also need to optimize its image on the Net, by investing in search engine optimization systems for example. ZARA would have to make sure that its customer service team is capable of providing adequate support to e-customers such as providing them with technical help. Another challenge for ZARA will be the integration of its e-business and online operations within its current supply chain. This might require reorganizing part of the supply chain by modifying existing machinery (to properly route online orders) or investing in new equipment in order to integrate this new e-shopping process. To finish, despite the fact that ZARA has invested in effective, high-tech IT systems, it seems that the company lacks of skills and experience in the field of the Internet, social networks and new technologies such as Smartphones, even so the company is present on all these media. By now, ZARAs visibility and popularity on the Web testify from its success. However, ZARA, after having launched its website in September 2010, has been criticized because it was not compatible with all web browsers; also ZARA recently launched an application for Iphone that has been perceived as pretty disappointing by users, as price of products was not displayed, no contact information was provided, a store locator was absent, thus making the application rather obsolete. Therefore, as a key actor of the apparel industry, but also because of increased competition and of the opportunities it offers, ZARA had no choice but to be present on the Internet. However, ZARA might need consulting advice in order to sustain and develop its presence on the online platform and to develop new innovative tools, as well as to create a buzz in social networks and online communities that are booming nowadays. Iphone application from ZARA Conclusion The best way for Zara to increase their sustainable growth is to look for new opportunities in the apparel market. With ever changing consumer trends that are due to globalization, there are growth chances for companies such as Zara to increase their growth. Even though they use both information technology and human intelligence they still need to invest much in technology. Their pricing strategy which is market based seems to be successful as it bases on consumer satisfaction, and is ever dynamic and changes with change in consumer behaviour.

Equality :: essays research papers

Equality In 1890, less then one half of one percent of women were employed gainfully outside of the home. Over the next hundred years, women have not only gained access to jobs outside of the home, but also fought for equality in the work place. These struggles have not been easy by any means. Women have overcome many obstacles in there journey into the work force, none grater then the views of their male piers. Many males thought and continue to think that there is no place for women in the work place. Women made there strides into the work force by not only following examples of their courageous pioneers, but also by banding together to show their strength. During the mid 1800's a small number of women begin their assault on, what were at the time considered, male-only jobs. Fields such as teaching, preaching, medicine, and law were all jobs domenated by men. Women had made some progress in the work force before the 1850's. In the mid nineteenth century women were the majority for grade school teachers, up from the ten percent of elementary teachers, that were teachers in the colonial period. This can be largely attributed not to the fact that men were more accepting of the idea that women belonged in the work place, but rather men were drown to the higher paying and more socially appreciated managerial jobs brought on by the industrial revolution. School boards did not mind these talented leaving because they could higher a "less qualified women" for as low as one fifth of males salary for the same job. Susan B. Anthony was the first women to publicly speak out against this gross injustice towards women. After being fired to "replace a male teacher fired for incompetence,she was paid one third of the salary he had received,"(Reifert 74)she went to the state teachers convention of 1853 to register a protest. After being hushed once and a half hour of debate she was finally allowed to speak her peace. Although nothing became of her first encounter with the women's movement, she quit teaching and went on to become one of the great leaders of the women's movement. Antoinette Brown was anther women that was not happy with the status quo of women in society. She started, in 1846, by attending Oberlin college, which only nine years before had become the first co-educational college. Oberlin, although being very receptive of women in their women's department, they did not let women take any courses besides the ones offered in the women department. This lead to a conflict when Brown made her intentions of obtaining

General Motors Asian Alliances :: Market Global Essays

General Motors' Asian Alliances General Motors, an American-based automotive manufacturer with a large global presence, has long held a large share of the worldwide automotive market. Despite its market position and reputation for quality, the company has recently begun to struggle with new competitors in the Asian Pacific region, which has pushed their needs to develop new manufacturing technologies, as well as to better control costs and quality in its American manufacturing facilities. Beginning in the 1970s, several nations of the Asian Pacific region, most notably Japan and South Korea, emerged as economic powerhouses. As their manufacturing bases matured, they entered the automotive industry and began to present new challenges as well as new opportunities for General Motors. GM would need to find a successful formula for doing business in this region, as well as develop and adopt innovations that would help it improve its manufacturing operations elsewhere. In this Case Study, we will examine the facts, the problems, identify the core problems in how General Motors has managed its business alliances in with Asian partner companies, and offer our recommendations how General Motors can best master the challenges of doing business in the East and fully benefit from its joint ventures. I. THE FACTS Toyota and NUMMI: In Japan, Toyota was the heavyweight of the automotive industry, controlling over fifty percent of the entire Japanese auto market, and eight percent of the total world market, making it the world’s third largest automotive manufacturer, behind only Ford and General Motors. Toyota presided over a tight confederation of companies, known as a keiretsu where a major manufacturer, such as Toyota, presides over a â€Å"pyramid† with the primary manufacturer on top, and several tiers of suppliers below. Unlike General Motors, who held seventy percent vertical integration with its global network of partnerships, alliances, and joint ventures, Toyota only had thirty percent vertical integration in its affiliations, but still managed to have many long-lasting and stable partnerships with its suppliers. Keiretsus were vast and closely-allied corporate partnerships which evolved from the pre-World War II zaibatsus, giant industrial conglomerates that dominated the nation’s pre-war economy and politics, but were broken up during by the post-war United States-run Occupation authority. These networks were bound by complex and long-lasting arrangements, often minority equity ownership by the company at the top of the keiretsu.

Music and Religion in African-American Slave Culture

The buying, selling, and trading of human beings for personal labor, slavery, Is often thought to be singlehandedly the most atrocious thing that mankind as a whole has created. The horrors these innocent men, women, and children faced on a day to day basis was parallelled perhaps only by the soldiers fighting the war over their freedom. Though slavery was full of negatives, it also blossomed with positives as a means to cope.African-American slaves used several aspects of their native African ulture to cope, two primary components being music and religion. Slaves worked under constant watch by their owners, constantly fearing punishment for a slip-up. Enslaved African-Americans obviously resented the way they were being treated, end devised ways to rebel against their owners right under their noses.Reaching back to their African roots, slaves sang seemingly harmless songs to one another as they worked under the sweltering sum Little did their owners know that the slaves had eaved in tricate secret messages into their lyrical pieces, such as metaphors intended to ridicule their masters or to send signals to other slaves. Their music was a mix of tribal African rhythms and American religious music, as they relied heavily on their religion to cope from day to day.Even though their outlook was bleak, Slaves stayed positive in the face of sheer adversity through their faith. The most common faith emong slaves was that of christlanlty. he christlan doctrine being passed down from fathers to sons and so on, Initially, some slaves were not chrlstlan. and held fast to their old polytheistic beliefs from their home, Africa. Asslmllatlon was inevitable however, and nearly all negro slaves were converted Their native religion did not cease to exist, but rather lived on through a stylized take on christianity.They incorporated several aspects of the African religion with christianity, such as rituals and vocalization. Sometimes both religion and music came hand in hand to t he slaves, who praised their Lord through song and dance. Slaves kept their heads high in hopes of being freed someday. Even today, the Influences of slave music and religion can be seen In modern religion, gospel music, hip-hop, rap. and the like. Even though slavery Is a memory many try to forget, It can still be remembered positively through the culture that emerged through the confinement

How important is the role of complementary therapies and medicines within a modern health service?

Illustrate your answer with examples and, where possible, consider the impact that the growth of such remedies has had on attitudes within both the general public and the medical profession. Over the last decade peoples opinions towards medicine have changed, this has made a lot of people consider alternative treatment for illnesses, which before hand they would have been seen as witch craft. Nowadays it is more socially acceptable and is used more widely to treat illnesses or used just as a relaxation method. When investigating any form of medical treatment, whether that be CAM or scientific medicine we need to be asking questions; Is it effective? Is it safe? How is it regulated? People still make assumptions about complementary therapies, that it is outside the NHS so there is no regulating body to protect the clients or the practitioners, this is true for many areas but with continuing research and the need for more funding I believe that it will gain the recognition that it deserves, and this will open the door for more regulatory bodies to become mandatory. When people say that it is outside â€Å"conventional† medical training, this can be true but many practitioners of complementary therapy train for many years degree level, and there are 20 universities which offer degrees in Complementary Medicine, however there are some people who just decide to practice without any form of training and I believe that these are the people who misuse and harm the ideology of complementary therapies. Is it safe? I believe it is safe as long as you go to a reputable practitioner, who would normally have been trained to degree level and has taken out insurance for their clinic. One good point to argue is that it is natural, and with GP's not wanting to continually prescribe for example antibiotics this is a natural way to treat illnesses without chemical use of tablets. Is it effective?, this has got to be the most crucial question that needs to be answered, practitioners of Complementary Medicine believe that when using therapeutic intervention is effective if it influences the course of a disease in a patient in a beneficial way. When assessing if it effective in treating disease then you would need to compare without any other treatment, as this is very rarely possible then it is hard to gain evidence to support this question fully. Within are lessons we conducted a survey which asked people if they had used Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), we also asked them whether they considered it to work and if they was referred by their GP or went privately and had to pay themselves. Every person took 10 copies to be filled in by their families and friends then all the data totalling 114 people was collated together, the results indicated that very few people were referred by their GP, but many people said that it worked successfully. The results of this survey are attached to this essay. The most commonly used CAM therapies are: * Acupuncture * Chiropractic * Osteopathy * Homeopathy * Herbal medicine * Massage Therapy There are also many other CAM therapies available, examples of these are, Reflexology, Hypnotherapy, Aromatherapy, Reiki, and Faith or spiritual healing. All of these methods people can find easy access to, if however, they are willing to pay, due to the lack of GP's who have the funding or believe that it will work, I will talk about this more later. Acupuncture originates from the Far Eastern countries and has been practised there for thousands of years, although many practitioners provide a Western form of medical Acupuncture, which is based on modern understanding involving the body's nervous system. Osteopathy and Chiropractic are both highly recommended therapies and seem to be the only two who have their own regulatory councils and gives the name ‘primary care practitioners' to those who carry out the service. Osteopathy is used to treat any age group and it uses soft tissue massage, stretching and manipulation separation techniques, which helps to treat spinal pain, mus cle or joint pain or sports related injuries. Chiropractors treat the nervous system and improving skeletal movement, they also use spinal manipulation to help sufferers of migraines, repetitive strain and sciatica. The Royal Family and 1 in 5 of the population, regularly use homeopathy, it treats people by using the method that whatever can make ill you can also make you well, it is more commonly used to treat eczema, arthritis, asthma and PMS. Herbal Medicine is the oldest method of medicine and is used all over the world with sales topping à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½126 million every year from over the counter therapies. The most common illnesses which it treats are migraines, arthritis, depression, insomnia and lung, stomach, blood and skin disorders. Massage Therapy, is the manipulation of soft tissue for therapeutic purposes, and is commonly used along side cancer therapy and is also popular amongst athletes. In 1995, Kate J Thomas, J P Nicholl and Margaret Fall, conducted a survey of how many GP's were referring their patients to CAM. They sent out their questionnaires via the post to 1226 individual GP's in a random cluster sample or GP partnerships in England, this was 1 in 8 GP partnerships in England in 1995. The method set by them was to assess estimates of the number of practices offering ‘in-house' access to any form of complementary therapies or if this was not available were they making referrals outside the practice, and if there was any funding available for CAM. The total number of returned questionnaires was 964 (78.6%). Out of those, 760 also gave detailed information. The results showed that an estimated 39.5% of GP partnerships offered some form of access to CAM for their NHS patients. An estimated 21.4% offered it via a member of the primary health care team, 6.1% had employed andindependent' CAM therapist, and an estimated 24.6% made referrals for CAM. The volume of CAM available within any individual service seemed to be low; acupuncture and homoeopathy are the most commonly available therapies. The number of patients who had to pay for the services of CAM, which were recommended by their GP's, was 25%. The survey found that fund holding practices were more likely to offer CAM compared to non-fund holding practices, these figures are 45% versus 36%. This proved that fund holding practices had more scope to offer CAM at the primary care level, evidence was also available to show that unless the primary care groups and primary care trusts help to support the provision of CAM to all practices then the level of which it is available will decline w ithin time. There is always going to be doctors who are opposed to CAM, it was easy to find evidence of this, on the BBC website I found two articles straight away, the first headlined as, ‘Doctors attack bogus therapies'. The article goes on to describe how some of Britain's leading doctors are urging the NHS to stop using CAM and to only pay for medicine which has been proven with solid evidence that it is successful, there are concerned about the amount of money that the NHS is spending on â€Å"unproven or disapproved treatments†, like those used by practitioners of CAM. They talk about Herceptin being of high cost so the NHS don't regularly fund it, but these ‘bogus' therapies are being funded. Prince Charles advocates CAM and wants the funding to continue, he also wants it to be integrated with conventional medicine, he told the World Health Assembly in Geneva: â€Å"The proper mix of proven complementary, traditional and modern remedies, which emphasises the active participation of the patient, can Help to create a powerful healing force in the world.† (Prince Charles, BBC News, 2006) This statement is criticised by doctors as ‘Implausible treatment', meaning that more than 12 reviews done off CAM have failed to produce any evidence of the effectiveness of CAM. Dr Peter Fisher, of the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital, says that these doctors opposing CAM seem to be causing a â€Å"Medical apartheid† within the NHS. Evidence in this article says that about half of GPs are thought to refer patients to CAM. My conclusion is that all the evidence points to the fact that general practitioners are just not ready for the change, they have trained at medical school for 5 years learning to use chemical drugs, and have been taught to trust them, which is good, but I feel that they need to be more open to the fact that the methods that CAM offer is beneficial to complement chemical drugs, and sometimes can eliminate the use of chemical drugs where relaxation is more beneficial. Take for example someone with stress, which can lead to depression, in this case anti depressants would be the most common form of chemical drugs, but say however the patient was offered massage therapy or aromatherapy to relax them, this may in the long run be more beneficial to the patients health. The implications of long time chemical drug use has been publicised many of times, yet there is no evidence to suggest that the services that CAM offer would harm with long term use. So why is the funding not available for more research to be done to help gain peoples confidence in CAM? I agree that times are hard with the NHS, but really in the majority of matters with the government it always comes down to funding or rather lack of funding. If we take funding/money out of the equation then is another problem area for CAM that people have closed minds, in that they do not want to try something new? It would be interesting if the ages of the General Practitioners were available who readily refer patients on to organisations that use CAM, because as people get older they become less accustomed to change, and are the new generation of doctors more open to change, whereas the older generation of doctors are more prone to not changing from chemical drugs. I will be interested to see what happens with the introduction of more CAM services within the NHS, will time change things? We can only wait and see, but personally I would like to see more of CAM introduced in the NHS.

Life in Mars Essay

For centuries people have speculated about the possibility of life on Mars owing to the planet’s proximity and similarity to Earth. Serious searches for evidence of life began in the 19th century, and continue via telescopic investigations and landed missions. While early work focused on phenomenology and bordered on fantasy, modern scientific inquiry has emphasized the search for chemical biosignatures of life in the soil and rocks at the planet’s surface, and the search for biomarker gases in the atmosphere. Fictional Martians have been a recurring feature of popular entertainment of the 20th and 21st centuries, and it remains an open question whether life currently exists on Mars, or has existed there in the past. Early speculation Mars’ polar ice caps were observed as early as the mid-17th century, and they were first proven to grow and shrink alternately, in the summer and winter of each hemisphere, by William Herschel in the latter part of the 18th century. By the mid-19th century, astronomers knew that Mars had certain other similarities to Earth, for example that the length of a day on Mars was almost the same as a day on Earth. They also knew that its axial tilt was similar to Earth’s, which meant it experienced seasons just as Earth does — but of nearly double the length owing to its much longer year. These observations led to the increase in speculation that the darker albedo features were water, and brighter ones were land. It was therefore natural to suppose that Mars may be inhabited by some form of life. In 1854, William Whewell, a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, who popularized the word scientist, theorized that Mars had seas, land and possibly life forms. Speculation about life on Mars exploded in the late 19th century, following telescopic observation by some observers of apparent Martian canals — which were however soon found to be optical illusions. Despite this, in 1895, American astronomer Percival Lowell published his book Mars, followed by Mars and its Canals in 1906, proposing that the canals were the work of a long-gone civilization. [2] This idea led British writer H. G. Wells to write The War of the Worlds in 1897, telling of an invasion by aliens from Mars who were fleeing the planet’s desiccation. Spectroscopic analysis of Mars’ atmosphere began in earnest in 1894, when U. S. astronomer William Wallace Campbell showed that neither water nor oxygen were present in the Martian atmosphere. [3] By 1909 better telescopes and the best perihelic opposition of Mars since 1877 conclusively put an end to the canal theory. Missions Mariner 4 Mariner 4 probe performed the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first pictures of the Martian surface in 1965. The photographs showed an arid Mars without rivers, oceans, or any signs of life. Further, it revealed that the surface (at least the parts that it photographed) was covered in craters, indicating a lack of plate tectonics and weathering of any kind for the last 4 billion years. The probe also found that Mars has no global magnetic field that would protect the planet from potentially life-threatening cosmic rays. The probe was able to calculate the atmospheric pressure on the planet to be about 0. 6 kPa (compared to Earth’s 101. 3 kPa), meaning that liquid water could not exist on the planet’s surface. 3] After Mariner 4, the search for life on Mars changed to a search for bacteria-like living organisms rather than for multicellular organisms, as the environment was clearly too harsh for these. Viking orbiters Liquid water is necessary for known life and metabolism, so if water was present on Mars, the chances of it having supported life may have been determinant. The Viking orbiters found evidence of possible river valleys in many areas, erosion and , in the southern hemisphere, branched streams. Viking experiments The primary mission of the Viking probes of the mid-1970s was to carry out experiments designed to detect microorganisms in Martian soil because the favorable conditions for the evolution of multicellular organisms ceased some four billion years ago on Mars. The tests were formulated to look for microbial life similar to that found on Earth. Of the four experiments, only the Labeled Release (LR) experiment returned a positive result, showing increased 14CO2 production on first exposure of soil to water and nutrients. All scientists agree on two points from the Viking missions: that radiolabeled 14CO2 was evolved in the Labeled Release experiment, and that the GC-MS detected no organic molecules. However, there are vastly different interpretations of what those results imply. The image taken by Viking probes resembling a human face caused many to speculate that it was the work of an extraterrestrial civilization. One of the designers of the Labeled Release experiment, Gilbert Levin, believes his results are a definitive diagnostic for life on Mars. However, this result is disputed by many scientists, who argue that superoxidant chemicals in the soil could have produced this effect without life being present. An almost general consensus discarded the Labeled Release data as evidence of life, because the gas chromatograph & mass spectrometer, designed to identify natural organic matter, did not detect organic molecules. The results of the Viking mission concerning life are considered by the general expert community, at best, as inconclusive. In 2007, during a Seminar of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution (Washington, D. C. , USA), Gilbert Levin’s investigation was assessed once more. Levin still maintains that his original data were correct, as the positive and negative control experiments were in order. Moreover, Levin’s team, on 12 April 2012, reported a statistical speculation, based on old data —reinterpreted mathematically through complexity analysis— of the Labeled Release experiments, that may suggest evidence of â€Å"extant microbial life on Mars. Critics counter that the method has not yet been proven effective for differentiating between biological and non-biological processes on Earth so it is premature to draw any conclusions. Ronald Paepe, an edaphologist (soil scientist), communicated to the European Geosciences Union Congress that the discovery of the recent detection of silicate minerals on Mars may indicate pedogenesis, or soil development processes, extended over the entire surface of Mars. Paepe’s interpretation views most of Mars surface as active soil, colored red by eons of widespread wearing by water, vegetation and microbial activity. A research team from the National Autonomous University of Mexico headed by Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez, concluded that the equipment (TV-GC-MS) used by the Viking program to search for organic molecules, may not be sensitive enough to detect low levels of organics. Because of the simplicity of sample handling, TV–GC–MS is still considered the standard method for organic detection on future Mars missions, so Navarro-Gonzalez suggests that the design of future organic instruments for Mars should include other methods of detection. Gillevinia straata The claim for life on Mars, in the form of Gillevinia straata, is based on old data reinterpreted as sufficient evidence of life, mainly by professors Gilbert Levin, Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez and Ronalds Paepe. The evidence supporting the existence of Gillevinia straata microorganisms relies on the data collected by the two Mars Viking landers that searched for biosignatures of life, but the analytical results were, officially, inconclusive. In 2006, Mario Crocco, a neurobiologist at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital Borda in Buenos Aires, Argentina, proposed the creation of a new nomenclatural rank that classified the Viking landers’ results as ‘metabolic’ and therefore belonging to a form of life. Crocco proposed to create new biological ranking categories (taxa), in the new kingdom system of life, in order to be able to accommodate the genus of Martian microorganisms. Crocco proposed the following taxonomical entry: * Organic life system: Solaria * Biosphere: Marciana Kingdom: Jakobia (named after neurobiologist Christfried Jakob) * Genus et species: Gillevinia straata As a result, the hypothetical Gillevinia straata would not be a bacterium (which rather is a terrestrial taxon), but a member of the kingdom ‘Jakobia’ in the biosphere ‘Marciana’ of the ‘Solaria’ system. The intended effect of the new nomenclature was to reverse the burden of proof concerning the life issue, but the taxonomy proposed by Crocco has not been accepted by the scientific community and is considered a single nomen nudum. Further, no Mars mission has found traces of biomolecules. Phoenix lander, 2008 The Phoenix mission landed a robotic spacecraft in the polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008 and it operated until November 10, 2008. One of the mission’s two primary objectives was to search for a â€Å"habitable zone† in the Martian regolith where microbial life could exist, the other main goal being to study the geological history of water on Mars. The lander has a 2. 5 meter robotic arm that was capable of digging shallow trenches in the regolith. There was an electrochemistry experiment which analysed the ions in the regolith and the amount and type of antioxidants on Mars. The Viking program data indicate that oxidants on Mars may vary with latitude, noting that Viking 2 saw fewer oxidants than Viking 1 in its more northerly position. Phoenix landed further north still. Phoenix’s preliminary data revealed that Mars soil contains perchlorate, and thus may not be as life-friendly as thought earlier. The pH and salinity level were viewed as benign from the standpoint of biology. The analysers also indicated the presence of bound water and CO2. Mars Science Laboratory Main articles: Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity rover The Mars Science Laboratory mission is a NASA spacecraft launched on November 26, 2011 that deployed the Curiosity rover, a nuclear-powered robot bearing instruments designed to look for past or present conditions relevant to biological activity (planetary habitability). The Curiosity rover landed on Mars on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater, near Aeolis Mons (a. k. a. Mount Sharp), on August 6, 2012. Future missions * ExoMars is a European-led multi-spacecraft programme currently under development by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA for launch in 2016 and 2018. Its primary scientific mission will be to search for possible biosignatures on Mars, past or present. Two rovers with a 2 m core drill each will be used to sample various depths beneath the surface where liquid water may be found and where microorganisms might survive cosmic radiation. * Mars Sample Return Mission — The best life detection experiment proposed is the examination on Earth of a soil sample from Mars. However, the difficulty of providing and maintaining life support over the months of transit from Mars to Earth remains to be solved. Providing for still unknown environmental and nutritional requirements is daunting. Should dead organisms be found in a sample, it would be difficult to conclude that those organisms were alive when obtained. Meteorites NASA maintains a catalog of 34 Mars meteorites. These assets are highly valuable since they are the only physical samples available of Mars. Studies conducted by NASA’s Johnson Space Center show that at least three of the meteorites contain potential evidence of past life on Mars, in the form of microscopic structures resembling fossilized bacteria (so-called biomorphs). Although the scientific evidence collected is reliable, its interpretation varies. To date, none of the original lines of scientific evidence for the hypothesis that the biomorphs are of exobiological origin (the so-called biogenic hypothesis) have been either discredited or positively ascribed to non-biological explanations. Over the past few decades, seven criteria have been established for the recognition of past life within terrestrial geologic samples. Those criteria are: 1. Is the geologic context of the sample compatible with past life? 2. Is the age of the sample and its stratigraphic location compatible with possible life? 3. Does the sample contain evidence of cellular morphology and colonies? 4.  Is there any evidence of biominerals showing chemical or mineral disequilibria? 5. Is there any evidence of stable isotope patterns unique to biology? 6. Are there any organic biomarkers present? 7. Are the features indigenous to the sample? For general acceptance of past life in a geologic sample, essentially most or all of these criteria must be met. All seven criteria have not yet been met for any of the Martian samples, but continued investigations are in progress. As of 2010, reexaminations of the biomorphs found in the three Martian meteorites are underway with more advanced analytical instruments than previously available. The scientists conducting the study at Johnson Space Center believed that before the end of the year they would find in the meteorites definitive evidence for past life on Mars. ALH84001 meteorite The ALH84001 meteorite was found in December 1984 in Antarctica, by members of the ANSMET project; the meteorite weighs 1. 93 kilograms (4. 3 lb). The sample was ejected from Mars about 17 million years ago and spent 11,000 years in or on the Antarctic ice sheets. Composition analysis by NASA revealed a kind of magnetite that on Earth, is only found in association with certain microorganisms. Then, in August 2002, another NASA team led by Thomas-Keptra published a study indicating that 25% of the magnetite in ALH 84001 occurs as small, uniform-sized crystals that, on Earth, is associated only with biologic activity, and that the remainder of the material appears to be normal inorganic magnetite. The extraction technique did not permit determination as to whether the possibly biological magnetite was organized into chains as would be expected. The meteorite displays indication of relatively low temperature secondary mineralization by water and shows evidence of preterrestrial aqueous alteration. Evidence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been identified with the levels increasing away from the surface. Some structures resembling the mineralized casts of terrestrial bacteria and their appendages (fibrils) or by-products (extracellular polymeric substances) occur in the rims of carbonate globules and preterrestrial aqueous alteration regions. The size and shape of the objects is consistent with Earthly fossilized nanobacteria, but the existence of nanobacteria itself is controversial. In November 2009, NASA scientists said that a recent, more detailed analysis showed that the meteorite â€Å"contains strong evidence that life may have existed on ancient Mars†. Nakhla Meteorite The Nakhla meteorite fell on Earth on June 28, 1911 on the locality of Nakhla, Alexandria, Egypt. In 1998, a team from NASA’s Johnson Space Center obtained a small sample for analysis. Researchers found preterrestrial aqueous alteration phases and objects of the size and shape consistent with Earthly fossilized nanobacteria, but the existence of nanobacteria itself is controversial. Analysis with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) studied its high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in 2000, and NASA scientists concluded that as much as 75% of the organic matter in Nakhla â€Å"may not be recent terrestrial contamination†. This caused additional interest in this meteorite, so in 2006, NASA managed to obtain an additional and larger sample from the London Natural History Museum. On this second sample, a large dendritic carbon content was observed. When the results and evidence were published on 2006, some independent researchers claimed that the carbon deposits are of biologic origin. However, it was remarked that since carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the Universe, finding it in curious patterns is not indicative or suggestive of biological origin. Shergotty meteorite The Shergotty meteorite, a 4 kg Martian meteorite, fell on Earth on Shergotty, India on August 25, 1865 and was retrieved by witnesses almost immediately. [45] This meteorite is relatively young, calculated to have been formed on Mars only 165 million years ago from volcanic origin. It is composed mostly of pyroxene and thought to have undergone preterrestrial aqueous alteration for several centuries. Certain features in its interior suggest to be remnants of biofilm and their associated microbial communities. [33] Work is in progress on searching for magnetites within alteration phases. Liquid water No Mars probe since Viking has tested the Martian regolith specifically for metabolism which is the ultimate sign of current life. NASA’s recent missions have focused on another question: whether Mars held lakes or oceans of liquid water on its surface in the ancient past. Scientists have found hematite, a mineral that forms in the presence of water. Thus, the mission of the Mars Exploration Rovers of 2004 was not to look for present or past life, but for evidence of liquid water on the surface of Mars in the planet’s ancient past. Liquid water, necessary for Earth life and for metabolism as generally conducted by species on Earth, cannot exist on the surface of Mars under its present low atmospheric pressure and temperature, except at the lowest shaded elevations for short periods and liquid water does not appear at the surface itself. In June 2000, evidence for water currently under the surface of Mars was discovered in the form of flood-like gullies. Deep subsurface water deposits near the planet’s liquid core might form a present-day habitat for life. However, in March 2006, astronomers announced the discovery of similar gullies on the Moon, which is believed never to have had liquid water on its surface. The astronomers suggest that the gullies could be the result of micrometeorite impacts. In March 2004, NASA announced that its rover Opportunity had discovered evidence that Mars was, in the ancient past, a wet planet. This had raised hopes that evidence of past life might be found on the planet today. ESA confirmed that the Mars Express orbiter had directly detected huge reserves of water ice at Mars’ south pole in January 2004. On July 28, 2005, ESA announced that they had recorded photographic evidence of surface water ice near Mars’ North pole. In December 2006, NASA showed images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor that suggested that water occasionally flows on the surface of Mars. The images did not actually show flowing water. Rather, they showed changes in craters and sediment deposits, providing the strongest evidence yet that water oursed through them as recently as several years ago, and is perhaps doing so even now. Some researchers were skeptical that liquid water was responsible for the surface feature changes seen by the spacecraft. They said other materials such as sand or dust can flow like a liquid and produce similar results. Recent analysis of Martian sandstones, using data obtained from orbital spectrometry, suggests that the waters that previously existed on the surface of Mars would have had too high a salinity to support most Earth-like life. Tosca et al. found that the Martian water in the locations they studied all had water activity, aw ? . 78 to 0. 86—a level fatal to most Terrestrial life. Haloarchaea, however, are able to live in hypersaline solutions, up to the saturation point. The Phoenix Mars lander from NASA, which landed in the Mars Arctic plain in May 2008, confirmed the presence of frozen water near the surface. This was confirmed when bright material, exposed by the digging arm of the lander, was found to have vaporized and disappeared in 3 to 4 days. This has been attributed to sub-surface ice, exposed by the digging and sublimated on exposure to the atmosphere. Methane Trace amounts of methane in the atmosphere of Mars were discovered in 2003 and verified in 2004. As methane is an unstable gas, its presence indicates that there must be an active source on the planet in order to keep such levels in the atmosphere. It is estimated that Mars must produce 270 ton/year of methane, but asteroid impacts account for only 0. 8% of the total methane production. Although geologic sources of methane such as serpentinization are possible, the lack of current volcanism, hydrothermal activity or hotspots are not favorable for geologic methane. It has been suggested that the methane was produced by chemical reactions in meteorites, driven by the intense heat during entry through the atmosphere. Although research published in December 2009 ruled out this possibility, research published in 2012 suggest that a source may be organic compounds on meteorites that are converted to methane by ultraviolet radiation. The existence of life in the form of microorganisms such as methanogens is among possible, but as yet unproven sources. If microscopic Martian life is producing the methane, it likely resides far below the surface, where it is still warm enough for liquid water to exist. Since the 2003 discovery of methane in the atmosphere, some scientists have been designing models and in vitro experiments testing growth of methanogenic bacteria on simulated Martian soil, where all four methanogen strains tested produced substantial levels of methane, even in the presence of 1. 0wt% perchlorate salt. The results reported indicate that the perchlorates discovered by the Phoenix Lander would not rule out the possible presence of methanogens on Mars. A team led by Levin suggested that both phenomena—methane production and degradation—could be accounted for by an ecology of methane-producing and methane-consuming microorganisms. In June 2012, scientists reported that measuring the ratio of hydrogen and methane levels on Mars may help determine the likelihood of life on Mars. According to the scientists, â€Å"†¦ low H2/CH4 ratios (less than approximately 40) indicate that life is likely present and active. † Other scientists have recently reported methods of detecting hydrogen and methane in extraterrestrial atmospheres. Formaldehyde In February 2005, it was announced that the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Orbiter, detected traces of formaldehyde in the atmosphere of Mars. Vittorio Formisano, the director of the PFS, has speculated that the formaldehyde could be the byproduct of the oxidation of methane, and according to him, would provide evidence that Mars is either extremely geologically active, or harbouring colonies of microbial life. NASA scientists consider the preliminary findings are well worth a follow-up, but have also rejected the claims of life. Silica In May 2007, the Spirit rover disturbed a patch of ground with its inoperative wheel, uncovering an area extremely rich in silica (90%). The feature is reminiscent of the effect of hot spring water or steam coming into contact with volcanic rocks. Scientists consider this as evidence of a past environment that may have been favorable for microbial life, and theorize that one possible origin for the silica may have been produced by the interaction of soil with acid vapors produced by volcanic activity in the presence of water. Another possible origin could have been from water in a hot spring environment. Based on Earth analogs, hydrothermal systems on Mars would be highly attractive for their potential for preserving organic and inorganic biosignatures. For example, iron oxidizing bacteria are abundant in marine and terrestrial hydrothermal systems, where they often display distinctive cell morphologies and are commonly encrusted by minerals, especially bacteriogenic iron oxides and silica. Microfossils of iron oxidizing bacteria have been found in ancient Si-Fe deposits and iron oxidation may be an ancient and widespread metabolic pathway. 83] If possible, future rover missions will target extinct hydrothermal vent systems on Mars. Geysers on Mars The seasonal frosting and defrosting of the southern ice cap results in the formation of spider-like radial channels carved on 1 meter thick ice by sunlight. Then, sublimed CO2 – and probably water –increase pressure in their interior producing geyser-like eruptions of cold fluids often mixed with dark basaltic sand or mud. This process is rapid, observed happening in the space of a few days, weeks or months, a growth rate rather unusual in geology – especially for Mars. A team of Hungarian scientists proposes that the geysers’ most visible features, dark dune spots and spider channels, may be colonies of photosynthetic Martian microorganisms, which over-winter beneath the ice cap, and as the sunlight returns to the pole during early spring, light penetrates the ice, the microorganisms photosynthesize and heat their immediate surroundings. A pocket of liquid water, which would normally evaporate instantly in the thin Martian atmosphere, is trapped around them by the overlying ice. As this ice layer thins, the microorganisms show through grey. When the layer has completely melted, the microorganisms rapidly desiccate and turn black, surrounded by a grey aureole. The Hungarian scientists believe that even a complex sublimation process is insufficient to explain the formation and evolution of the dark dune spots in space and time. Since their discovery, fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke promoted these formations as deserving of study from an astrobiological perspective. A multinational European team suggests that if liquid water is present in the spiders’ channels during their annual defrost cycle, they might provide a niche where certain microscopic life forms could have retreated and adapted while sheltered from solar radiation. A British team also considers the possibility that organic matter, microbes, or even simple plants might co-exist with these inorganic formations, especially if the mechanism includes liquid water and a geothermal energy source. However, they also remark that the majority of geological structures may be accounted for without invoking any organic â€Å"life on Mars† hypothesis. It has been proposed to develop the Mars Geyser Hopper lander to study the geysers up close. Cosmic radiation In 1965, the Mariner 4 probe discovered that Mars had no global magnetic field that would protect the planet from potentially life-threatening cosmic radiation and solar radiation; observations made in the late 1990s by the Mars Global Surveyor confirmed this discovery. Scientists speculate that the lack of magnetic shielding helped the solar wind blow away much of Mars’s atmosphere over the course of several billion years. After mapping cosmic radiation levels at various depths on Mars, researchers have concluded that any life within the first several meters of the planet’s surface would be killed by lethal doses of cosmic radiation. In 2007, it was calculated that DNA and RNA damage by cosmic radiation would limit life on Mars to depths greater than 7. 5 metres below the planet’s surface. Therefore, the best potential locations for discovering life on Mars may be at subsurface environments that have not been studied yet.