Shouldice Hospital Ltd Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Shouldice Hospital Ltd - Case Study Example Due to the growing popularity of their program and the procedure, Shouldice has reached capacity and has recently been exploring ways in which to add to their customer base. Several options have been considered including the construction of new facilities, extended hours, and diversification. In addition, Shouldice Hospital is preparing for a change in senior management due to the impending retirement of Dr. Degani. The task that faces Shouldice Hospital is to facilitate growth, while maintaining the current levels of patient care and employee relations in the midst of management change. Problem: The biggest problem facing Shouldice is increasing the patient load, without impacting quality of care or employee relations. Operating on Saturday, or going to multiple shifts, could serve more patients by increasing the utilization of the existing facilities. However, the senior staff is opposed to Saturday hours and the issue seems to be irreconcilable in regards to employee relations. Previous experience has shown that opening a new facility, or expanding the current facility, will be met with an increased demand for treatment. However, the growth rate of 100 patients every six months through word of mouth advertising may not meet the financial demands of a significant expansion. However, Shouldice Hospital runs the risk of product piracy, or image problems when advertising directly to the public. Framework: Because many of the patients at Shouldice come fr

Causes and Consequences of the Great Depression Essay

Causes and Consequences of the Great Depression - Essay Example This write-up will discuss events which contributed to this economic crisis and its consequences. The events that resulted in this calamity include poor economic policies, malpractices and increased tariffs (Ross 1998, p. 183). In the late 1920s, there were no adequate regulations which governed trading in America’s stock exchanges. Consequently, traders exploited these shortcomings to their benefit. Overall, the investors’ funds were vulnerable to unscrupulous traders. Unscrupulous trading in the stock market was one of the triggers of stock market failure. Subsequently, the values of shares began to plunge. The decrease in the value set off events in other industries, which culminated in this economic calamity. However, historians and economists argue that the decrease in the value of stocks in the market was not the cause, but a symptom of an impending economic calamity. Decreased market confidence resulted from the general failure in entities, poor policies such as increased taxation and dismal performance of other industries. According to economists, the collapse of markets denotes the final symptom of an eminent economic calamity. Although the collapse of the stock market may be a symptom rather than a cause, the resultant panic caused rapid deterioration of the economy in both America and the globe (Robbins 1971, p. 90). It is vital to realize that the great depression was a culmination of the coupling of various factors. Such factors included unfavourable tariffs. There was a general rise in the tariffs to finance the governmental operations. However, the higher taxes resulted in the government having more funds. During this period, governments undertook rearmament programmes. Subsequently, vital industries did not receive appropriate funding to stimulate the economy. Despite the imperialist policies adopted by nations, there were positive attributes from nations spending massively on defence programmes. Government globally were able to em ploy additional workforce. The massive defence expenditure did not improve the economy. Therefore, it denied the economy vital resources that would have improved nations further. The military ambitions were realized at the expense of the global economy (Lied 2002, p. 234). During this era, the international trade was not properly developed. Additionally, the emergence of global alliances hindered trade further. Globalization was inexistent; hence, economic panic due to failure of stock markets in America resulted in an economic calamity. If international trade had been properly developed, it would have mitigated the impact of the Great Depression. It would have provided optimism in the economic sectors globally. However, the existing global alliances, which pitted Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) against each other, only made the situation dire (Smiley 2002, p.153). Countries only traded in their alliances; thus, there was minimal business among nations such as the UK and Germany , which represented the global economic forces. Such enmity hindered trade among nations that would have mitigated the depression. Global politics had massive implications on the depression. Proper politics would have enacted measures that would have encouraged economic improvements. However, the political stands during this era resulted in further degradation of the economy (Klein 1947, p.157). The Great Depression was global; hence, there were numerous factors which triggered its occurrence. While the collapse of the

Personal, learning & thinking skills Essay Example for Free

Personal, learning thinking skills Essay To provide the highest level of personal care (toileting, bathing etc) and attention to residents, following individual care plans carefully and ensuring that all contact is polite, friendly warm and supportive. To act as a key worker for a named group of residents, ensuring that these responsibilities are carried out in full (as defined in the training manual). To understand and comply with all statutory and legal requirements which are relevant such as Health safety, COSSH, all aspects of the health social care Act, to maintain a safe enviroment throughout the home. Understand and have an awareness of infection control. To always be alert to residents physical and mental well being, immediately reporting and changes in a residents condition to a senior person on duty, and to accurately maintain and update residents records as required. To respect and maintain confidentiality of residents personal information at all times, this includes residents behaviour and actions and any incidents that may occur in the course of day to day care. Be understanding and patient towards residents and their needs, and encourage, assist and support residents to  participate in lesiure activities as appropriate to the individual, ensuring their social and emotional needs are met. This also includes escorting residents to outside appoinments and leisure outings. Responsible for making and changing bed, tidying residents rooms (with the residents permission) undertaking light cleaning duties as needed and generally assisting in ensuring that the Home is kept clean, pleasant and wecoming at all times. Helping to serve meals and drinks at meal times and other times when required, taking care to present meals and refreshment in an attractive way, with polite and courteous service. Also, to provide the appropriate level of support and helping new team members as appropriate, ensuring that the Care Home is a friendly and supportive working enviroment.

Perceptions Of Risk And Travel Intentions Tourism Essay

Perceptions Of Risk And Travel Intentions Tourism Essay Despite its resilience, tourism is also seen as a fragile industry as it is vulnerable towards various attacks and crises events, such as wars, incidents of terrorism, outbreak of diseases, political instability, and so on. Boniface and Cooper (2005) noticed that in recent years, the global tourism industry has suffered an increasing number of serious disasters and crises. The impact of globalization of the tourism market means that events occurring in one part of the world can have a significant impact on other parts of the world. Tourism is an important economic sector for many countries. However, as the tourism industry is highly prone to risk from external factors and pressures in the operating environment, planners in charge of tourism have to develop strategies to manage the impact of crises and disasters so as to protect society in general and tourism business in particular. Against this background, this chapter offers a better understanding of the type of travel risks, touris ts perceptions of travel risks, the impact of perceptions of risk on travellers travel intentions and travel risks associated with Thailand. TRAVEL RISKS Risk is defined as the uncertainty a person would face when they cannot foresee the consequences of a decision made (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). It has become an important factor when it comes to considering global tourism because safety, calm and peace are the fundamentals in attracting potential tourists to a destination (Sonmez, 1998). Travel risk is defined as the possibility of meeting a danger while engaging in travel (Fischhoff et al. 1984) or the consciousness of security and awareness of the likelihood of damage during travel (Wogalter et al. 1999). Tourists will experience travel risk during the process of consuming and purchasing travel services (Tsaur et al. 1997). Perceived travel risk is often referred to travellers perception of negative results of buying travel products (Murray 1991; Dowling and Staelin 1994; Zeithaml and Bitner 2003) or the unclear travel decision outcome (MacCrimmons and Wehrung 1986). Perceptions of travel risk vary according to different types of travel risk (Reisinger and Mavondo 2005). In the tourism literature, there are several types of travel risk listed out by tourism scholars such as cultural risk, equipment or functional risk, crime risk, health risk, financial risk, physical risk, natural disaster risk, psychological risk, political risk, social risk, terrorism risk and time risk (Reisinger and Mavondo 2006a, 2006b). Reisinger and Mavondo (2006a, 2006b) offer definitions of these various risks: Cultural risk: refers to the possibility of facing cultural misunderstanding, difficulties in communicating with foreigners, inability to adjust to the life and living standards in the foreign land. Equipment or functional risk: is the likelihood of equipment, mechanical, organizational problems that may occur during travel or at a destination (accommodation, attractions and transportation). Roehl and Fesenmaier (1992) found out from their research result that the respondents mentioned equipment risk as the highest perceived risk factor among the others. Crime risk: refers to the possibility of victim being robbed or becoming the subject of a murder or rape. Health risk: is the possibility of getting sick and unwell while travelling or at a destination. It was stated by Richter (2003) that health organisation such as World Health Organization (WHO) was not successful in performing its original duty of reporting and preventing the outbreak of new and serious disease. However, there is an increasing number of individuals awareness towards the seriousness of heath risk they may face while travelling abroad. Health diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the Asia-Pacific region and Mad Cow Disease in Europe have caused a significant impact towards travel flows (Richter, 2003). Financial risk: refers to the possibility of travellers not being able to obtain value for money, lost or waste money if the expectation for the trip is not fulfilled. In tourism, price was a major demand factor. Hsieh et al. (1994) found that both non-package and package tourists have the common view of getting the value for the amount that they have paid for their vacation. Physical risk: refers to the possibility of getting injured physically; it includes danger and injury that are harmful to health (accidents). It was also defined as the possibility that there is a probability that ones health will be exposed to risk, sickness and injury due to the factors like weather, law and hygiene problems found during the tour (Tsuar, Tzeng and Wang, 1997). Natural disaster risk: refers to the possibility of being affected by a natural disaster event such as eruptions of volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, tsunamis, wildfires and droughts. Psychological risk: imply that there may be a possibility of damaging self-image as the travel experience may not reflect the tourists personality or self-image. Political risk: means that tourists may get involved in the political chaos of the destination being visited. Social risk: refers to the possibility of disapproval from friends, associates or family with regards to the vacation choices. Tourist may suffer a lower social and personal status or emerge as being unfashionable. Also, as according to Reimer (1990), he argued that the style of vacation such as the number of places visited, distance travelled, regularity of travelling and destinations unusual nature may impress a travellers peers. Or that with the existence of peer pressure, it can act as a strong motivation for people to purchase upscale trips. Terrorism risk: relates to the possibility of being caught in a terrorist act, for example hijacked plane, biochemical attack or bomb explosion. Time risk: refers to the possibility of wasting too much time on travel experience, as the tourist waste time doing unnecessary stuff or that the product did not perform on time. Perceptions of Risk and Travel IntentionS One of the factors affecting a tourists decision-making process is perception of risk. In this sense, it acts as a deciding factor (Freyer and Schroder, 2007, p. 136), and has significant impact on tourism demand. For example, studies have illustrated that perceptions of high risk in a destination are associated with a decrease in the demand of tourism (Prideaux and Laws, 2007; Sonmez, Apostolopoulos and Tarlow, 1999). This could be due to the fact that tourists buying behaviour is influenced by destination image and that with the freedom to choose from a wide range of destinations, most tourists are not likely to travel to places associated with risks (Pechlaner et al. 2007, p. 158). Destination image affects not only the travel decision of potential travellers but also acts as an influential factor towards the perceptions and holiday activities of tourists at a particular location. Therefore, when a destination is linked to negative images, there will be a probability that the tour ists will choose a safer substitute destination (Freyer and Schroder, 2007, p. 136; Gurtner, 2007, p. 82). It is useful to understand how individuals are influenced by perceived risk while making the decision. In general, perceptions of individuals may be affected by external factors that are a problem for local tourism business and destination management to influence (Kozak, Crotts and Law, 2007). There are uncontrollable factors such as natural disasters (Faulkner and Vikulov, 2001; Huang and Min, 2002; Huan et al. 2004), outbreaks of diseases (MacLaurin, 2004) and terrorism attacks. These types of factors may cause a lasting effect in the perceptions of tourists when they happen. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the nature of these incidents and disasters so as to foresee the potential impacts they have on the industry and to control their consequences. Recognizing human basic needs for safety and security is needed to make potential tourists feel safe prior or during their trips. However, it is unfortunate to know that safety and security problems are often destination depende nt (Kozak, Crotts and Law, 2007). Sonmez and Graefe (1998b) identified two types of decision makers, risk averse individuals and risk seekers. Risk averse decision makers would prefer to choose a destination of lower risk and are willing to forgo some expected return in order to reduce differences in possible outcomes. On the other hand, risk seekers are likely to show less concern regarding safety factors towards the choice of destination and are most willing to sacrifice some expected return. Clearly, information about the factors influencing perceptions of risk would allow tourism and destination managers to develop a better understanding of what may potentially scare off tourism market segments as well as what they can do to attract them (Dolnicar, 2007, p. 107). Reisinger and Mavondo (2006) stated that each and every individual perceive and react to travel risk differently. It is said that tourists perceptions towards travel risk differ depending on gender (Darley and Smith 1995; Loker-Murphy and Pearce 1995; Carr 2001; Lepp and Gibson 2003). However, Sonmez and Graefe (1998) argued that there is no relationship between gender and travel risk whereas Mattila et al. (2001) identify some gender differences in health risk behaviour during travel period. It is also said that females have restrictions in their choice of travel due to their gender (Lynch and Atkins, 1998). This could be due to the fact that females generally perceive higher travel risks than men. For example, women are more concerned about food and health related risks and that experienced male travellers are less likely to change their travel plans when it comes to facing potential terrorism, natural disaster and health related risks (Kozak et al. 2007). In addition, other than g ender, personality might be influential on individuals perception of travel risk as well (Carr, 2001). Tourists perceptions of travel risk also differ depending on age as younger tourists tend to perceive higher travel risk than older tourists. This also means that travel-related risk actually declines as individuals grow older (Gibson and Yiannakis, 2002). It is said that older individuals can be more or less risk averse than young individuals depending on their wide personal and observational learning experiences, experimentations and abstract conceptualisation. However, Sonmez and Graefe (1998b) argued that there is no relationship between age and travel risk. In this case, the relationship between age and perception of travel risk remains unclear. Reisinger and Movondo (2006a, 2006b) argue that, different nationalities and cultures are differentiating factors with respect to perceptions of travel risk. Bontempo et al. (1997) found that risk perception of tourists from western countries differs significantly from that of Chinese tourists. Kozak et al. (2007) used Hofstedes (2010) concept of Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) theory to observe international perceptions of related travel risk in terms of ambiguity and uncertainty; it shows the residents comfort level in terms of low, medium and high risk avoidance. Travellers from high UAI cultures, tend to perceive higher risks when compared to travellers from low UAI cultures (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005). Typically, travellers coming from high UAI (risk-avoiding) cultures do not feel at ease in environment listed as unstructured, risky and unclear as they feel threatened by the ambiguous and unknown. Whereas tourists coming from low UAI (risk-tolerant) cultures are typically more comf ortable with environments involving uncertainty and risk. Low UAI countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and China tend to be more sensitive towards terrorist attack, infectious disease and natural disaster risks (Kozak et al. 2007). Travellers from high UAI countries, such as Germany, perceive higher travel risks and anxiety as compared to Singaporean tourists (Reisinger and Movondo, 2006a). With anxiety, there will be a significant impact on travel intention and perceptions of safety (Reisinger and Movondo, 2005). Past experiences and familiarity with a destination are also factors that affect tourists perceptions of travel risks. Tourists who are more experienced in travelling may perceive lower risks, due to the confidence in the destination gained from previous positive visits (Sonmez and Graefe, 1998b; Lepp and Gibson, 2003; Kozak et al. 2007). However, if the last visit to the destination turns out to be negative, it may cause potential tourists to be nervous about future options. Also, individuals who have travelled to the destination before are more likely to return to the place as they are familiar with the location and that increases their sense of safety in the destination. Relevant research also indicates that tourists who travel with friends/family/partner (collectivists) perceive lower travel risk than tourists who travel alone (individualists). Travel activities involving group activities help act as a cushion against potential risks whereas travelling alone expose individuals to numerous potential risks (Weber and Hsee, 1998). Lastly, tourists perception of travel risk differs according to their education background as well (Sonmez and Graefe, 1998). Better educated tourists are better informed and aware of real travel risks through information obtained from reliable sources. They do not engage, therefore, in misunderstanding of the real situation, hence perceiving lower risks than lower-educated tourists (Laver et al. 2001). Also, according to Park and Reisinger (2010), high income tourists perceive a lower influence of travel risks than low income tourists. It could be due to the availability of finances that lead to a lower concern in travel risks as they have the money to sacrifice if there is a need to pay for damages. It is important to understand the importance of safety and security concerns of potential travellers over a destination, as according to Buttle and Bok (1996) travellers are generally affected by their own perception of risk while making travel decisions. For example, it is highly possible that when travellers perceive higher potential risks as compared to the benefits they might acquire from travelling to a destination, there will be a tendency of cancelling the trip to the destination. This is clearly supported by Sonmez and Graefe (1998a), who state that there is a high probability that tourists would avoid travelling to a destination if they associate the destination with the existence of high levels of risk. As judging from past incidents, there was an indication of an increasing demand in cancellation of trips or holiday plans just right after the attack of 9/11 (Chen and Noriega, 2004; Floyd et al. 2004; Kingsbury and Brunn, 2004). SINGAPOREAN TOURISTS AND RISK PERCEPTIONS As a small country with limited choices of entertainment and natural sceneries for the locals to enjoy, many Singaporeans tend to find the opportunity to travel out of Singapore (Lim and Lui, 2009). There has been an increase in the total number of Singaporeans travelling outbound. With the data extracted from Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA, 2009), it indicates an increase of 804,234 outbound Singapore residents in year 2008 to 6,828,362 as compared to 6,024,128 in 2007. It was also reported that there are an increasing trend among Singaporeans within the age range of 18 to 65 years old to travel to nearby countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and Hong Kong (Lim and Lui, 2009). This could be due to the living lifestyle of Singapore residents as employed Singaporeans generally earn a decent amount of income, and fresh universities graduates receive a good starting pay from their first official job. Which shows a society that is willing to spend on leisu re and recreational activities as travel is considered as part of their lifestyle. According to Lim and Lui (2009) findings, wide spread of swine flu in America and Mexico did stirred up fear among Singaporeans who are intending to travel within Asia Pacific. However, it was not confirmed or known if any risk or crisis would affect Singaporeans plans towards international travelling. ABOUT THAILAND AND TRAVEL RISKS The discussion now turns to Thailand, the research context of this study. Thailand is a country the economy of which depends heavily on its tourism industry. Tourism is the major export service of Thailand, actually accounting to about 6-7 percent of the countrys national Gross Domestic Product (EIU ViewsWire, 2003). From a tourism perspective, over the years Thailand has been branded as a friendly, exotic, exciting and natural destination. It is considered to be a popular travel destination among tourists as it is considered to be a hospitable country towards visitors as well as a country rich in cultural heritage, historical tourist destinations and natural attractions (Koumelis 2004; National Identity Board, 2000). Tourists generally have many choices on attractions and activities in Thailand as there is a wide selection such as: the beautiful beaches located in the South, rainforests and mountains in the North, huge shopping malls or market located in the city, etc. According to Rogers (2003, p. 276), the most important factor attracting tourists would have to be the value for money. Staying in Thailand is cheap because of the availability of cheap accommodation and food. Engaging in activities does not cost much, which is why the destination attracts many young tourists as it is affordable. Thus, with a combination of all these favorable factors, Thailand emerges as an attractive tourism destination. However, according to Campiranon, K. (2008), there has been a rise in the number of the occurrence of crises events in Thailand has caused worries regarding their impact on the image of the country. For example, towards the end of 2004, disasters such as the Tsunami, SARS epidemic, bird flu or avian flu had caused a significant drop in international arrivals to the country. In addition, the serious worldwide recession emerging in mid 2008, caused a decrease in the desire of tourists to travel. Furthermore, Thailand was suffering from political instability crises, whereby the Suvarnabhumi Airport was closed down on 26 November 2008 by the yellow shirt or Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters, which mainly consists of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class who are the opposition of the former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies. On 11 April 2009, Thailand was assigned to hold the East Asia Summit in Pattaya, but this resulted in an attack by the Red shirt mob, which mainly consists by a large proportion of rural-based and working-class Thais who are the supporters of Thaksin and his policies. This caused the significant delay of the summit and the evacuation of world leaders to safety. Following the cancellation of the East Asian summit was the uprising of violent riots and the declaration of emergency by the prime minister the very next day. The graph below illustrates the international tourist arrivals to Thailand between years 2007 to 2010. Source: www.ThaiWebsites.com According to the data extracted from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT, 2010), there have been a decrease in international arrivals from 3.64 million in the first quarter to 2.96 million in the second quarter of 2009. As compared to the previous first two quarters of 2007 and 2008, the figures appeared to be lower. However, despite all the serious commotions that had happen in April, tourism arrivals increased towards the end of 2009. In the last quarter of 2009, it was reported to have a higher arrival rate as compared to 2007 and 2008. It was then brought forward to the first quarter of 2010, whereby there was a significant increase in tourist arrivals. However, just when hopes of returning to healthy levels of industry growth were up, serious demonstrations held by the Red shirts during the month of April negatively affected tourist arrivals in the second quarter of 2010. From here, we can see that with the negative factors affecting Thailands tourism, the influence of it act ually seems to last just a few months each time it happen, and that tourists will resume their interest in Thailand as their selected tourist destination thereafter (ThaiWebsites, 2010). CONCLUSIONS Following the analysis presented in this chapter, the main conclusion is that a negative destination image leads to negative tourists perceptions of risk. This in turn affects tourists intention to visit the destination if there are other options to choose. Also of particular relevance to this study is the conclusion that tourists perceptions of risk is associated with factors such as socio-demographic variables (e.g. age, gender), previous travel experience, travel party size, education level and nationality. Travelling has been part of Singaporeans lifestyle as Singapore lacks the leisure activities and natural sceneries to entertain the locals in long run. Therefore, travelling to nearby countries like Thailand is an attractive destination choice as it is affordable and suitable for short holiday trips. There is however, no known data on how Singaporeans are affected by risk or crisis towards their holiday planning. In recent years, Thailand has been vulnerable towards risks such as the outbreak of diseases, natural disasters as well as political instability. Visitor arrivals were seen to have decreased during the occurrence of crises events, and various businesses were affected as a result. Thus, this study aims to study the following three researched question: Singaporeans have a low perception of risk with regards to travel to Thailand. Socio-demographic has a positive relationship with the perceptions of risk. Intention to travel has a positive relationship with the perception of risk.

Salmon Farming Essay -- essays research papers

Salmon Farming If you recently ordered salmon off the menu of your favorite restaurant, or purchased it from your local grocery store, chances are it was farmed. According to â€Å"Salmon of the Americas, an organization of salmon-producing companies in Canada, Chile and the United States, 70 percent of the salmon produced in British Columbia and Washington comes from salmon farms. If it weren’t for these farms, we would not have the luxury and abundance of this delicious and healthy food available to us year round. Salmon farming represents one very important way to feed the world and people want to eat more salmon and seafood- more than can be caught. Salmon farming began over 30 years ago and has become a huge industry. Experts say it’s the fastest growing segment of agriculture. Salmon farming plays an important role in the economies of many areas as well. Jobs and other economic benefits contribute to the value of salmon as much its role in good nutrition. Salmon is an oily fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a substance that almost certainly helps protect against heart disease and may also reduce the risk of cancer and Alzheimer's. There is one species of Atlantic salmon and five species of Pacific. Atlantic salmon account for almost 95 percent of the farmed salmon produced, and most of them are farm-raised on the pacific coast. Pacific species account for all of the wild salmon caught in the Americas and some of them are also farm-raised. No wild Atlantic salmon are fished commercially in North America, as they are an endangered species. Atlantic salmon have become the species of choice to raise on farms because they are more adaptable to the farming techniques and make better use of feed so they produce more salmon with less feed. Not everybody agrees however, that farmed salmon raised in net pens are healthy for the environment or for you to eat. Over the years, there have been numerous stories in the media that have pointed out the negatives of farm raised salmon. These arguments have ranged from wastes from salmon farms, the spreading of disease from farmed to wild fish, the negative impacts of farm raised fish escapes and interacting with native fish, and recently, the effects of farmed salmon consumption on human health. The latest issue that the media got there hands on and consequently got the public concerned, was a report that polychlorinated... ...sk for cancer. There is no need to be alarmed with high levels of contaminants when it comes to consuming any kind of salmon. What we do need to be alarmed about is the media reporting and their level of contaminants! Ronad A. Hites, Jeffery A. Foran, David O. Carpenter, M. Coreen Hamilton, Barbara A. Knuth, Steven J. Schwager (2004) study: Global assessment of organic contaminants in farmed salmon, Science 303:226-229. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health Health Studies Branch Kevin Amos, National Aquatic Animal Health Coordinator, NOAA Fisheries Salmon of the Americas SOTA is an organization of salmon-producing companies in Canada, Chile and the United States whose mission is to improve health, awareness and dining enjoyment of consumers in North America by providing timely, complete, accurate and insightful information about salmon on behalf of the member companies. Ashley Dean, Shwartz,.Mark 2003. Salmon farms pose significant threat to salmon fisheries in the Pacific Northwest, researchers find. Stanford University American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2002, 76:608-613. Pediatric Research, 1998, 44(2):201-209. Salmon Farming Essay -- essays research papers Salmon Farming If you recently ordered salmon off the menu of your favorite restaurant, or purchased it from your local grocery store, chances are it was farmed. According to â€Å"Salmon of the Americas, an organization of salmon-producing companies in Canada, Chile and the United States, 70 percent of the salmon produced in British Columbia and Washington comes from salmon farms. If it weren’t for these farms, we would not have the luxury and abundance of this delicious and healthy food available to us year round. Salmon farming represents one very important way to feed the world and people want to eat more salmon and seafood- more than can be caught. Salmon farming began over 30 years ago and has become a huge industry. Experts say it’s the fastest growing segment of agriculture. Salmon farming plays an important role in the economies of many areas as well. Jobs and other economic benefits contribute to the value of salmon as much its role in good nutrition. Salmon is an oily fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a substance that almost certainly helps protect against heart disease and may also reduce the risk of cancer and Alzheimer's. There is one species of Atlantic salmon and five species of Pacific. Atlantic salmon account for almost 95 percent of the farmed salmon produced, and most of them are farm-raised on the pacific coast. Pacific species account for all of the wild salmon caught in the Americas and some of them are also farm-raised. No wild Atlantic salmon are fished commercially in North America, as they are an endangered species. Atlantic salmon have become the species of choice to raise on farms because they are more adaptable to the farming techniques and make better use of feed so they produce more salmon with less feed. Not everybody agrees however, that farmed salmon raised in net pens are healthy for the environment or for you to eat. Over the years, there have been numerous stories in the media that have pointed out the negatives of farm raised salmon. These arguments have ranged from wastes from salmon farms, the spreading of disease from farmed to wild fish, the negative impacts of farm raised fish escapes and interacting with native fish, and recently, the effects of farmed salmon consumption on human health. The latest issue that the media got there hands on and consequently got the public concerned, was a report that polychlorinated... ...sk for cancer. There is no need to be alarmed with high levels of contaminants when it comes to consuming any kind of salmon. What we do need to be alarmed about is the media reporting and their level of contaminants! Ronad A. Hites, Jeffery A. Foran, David O. Carpenter, M. Coreen Hamilton, Barbara A. Knuth, Steven J. Schwager (2004) study: Global assessment of organic contaminants in farmed salmon, Science 303:226-229. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health Health Studies Branch Kevin Amos, National Aquatic Animal Health Coordinator, NOAA Fisheries Salmon of the Americas SOTA is an organization of salmon-producing companies in Canada, Chile and the United States whose mission is to improve health, awareness and dining enjoyment of consumers in North America by providing timely, complete, accurate and insightful information about salmon on behalf of the member companies. Ashley Dean, Shwartz,.Mark 2003. Salmon farms pose significant threat to salmon fisheries in the Pacific Northwest, researchers find. Stanford University American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2002, 76:608-613. Pediatric Research, 1998, 44(2):201-209.

Immortal Life vs. Immortal Name: Gilgamesh and Beowulf Essay -- Englis

Immortal Life vs. Immortal Name: Gilgamesh and Beowulf Death. Fate. Immortality. Destiny. All are subjects that we tend to avoid. While most of us hope for life after death, we tend not to dwell on this subject because we are uncomfortable with the unknown. On those rare occasions when we allow ourselves to think about the fact that our days are numbered, we wonder if death can be cheated and immortality gained. Some have suggested that being remembered is just as enduring as living forever. Thoughts of destiny and the here after are not new. They have engaged the hearts and minds of men for ages. Two ancient stories that deal with this subject matter are The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf. In these texts, the main characters, Gilgamesh and Beowulf, are obsessed with their fate. To the degree that these epics accurately reflect the society and culture of their own eras, one can see that men of these ancient times were as concerned about their ultimate destiny as we are. The epic stories of Gilgamesh and Beowulf illustrate that men and wom en throughout the ages have been keenly aware of their own mortality and that they long to live on eternally, if only in the memory of others. In the beginning of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, the ruler of ancient Uruk, is blessed with the gift of foresight. He has numerous dreams about his destiny and is very accepting of the fate that the gods have given him. The gods give Gilgamesh a dream and Enkidu interprets Gilgamesh’s vision concerning his fate. Enkidu says that Enlil, father of the gods â€Å"has given you kingship, such is your destiny, everlasting life is not your destiny† (Sandars 70). With this revelation Gilgamesh knows his destiny very early in his journey. Rather than becoming angry at the gods, Gilgamesh accepts the gods’ choice to not give him eternal life. Instead, Gilgamesh wants to â€Å"set up his name in the place where the names of famous men are written, and where no man’s name is written yet he will raise a monument to the gods† (70-1). Gilgamesh succeeds in his plan for making himself famous by first defeating the guardian of the forest, Humbaba, and shortly after, the bull of heaven. During these battles Gilgamesh declares that there is â€Å"nothing to fear! †¦ if I fall I leave behind me a name that endures† (71). Having reconciled himself to the fact that fate has indeed determined when he will die, h... ...O, Gilgamesh†¦great is thy praise† (119). The narrator is saying that the admiration of others is and will be great. This clearly shows that the people of Uruk will keep Gilgamesh alive in their minds. Beowulf will at some level attain everlasting life through the memory of his people as well. In Beowulf and Gilgamesh, both heroes desire to gain everlasting life. At one point, Gilgamesh believes that he can actually gain eternal life and change his destiny. Beowulf, and eventually Gilgamesh, end up gaining everlasting life through their monuments and the good deeds that their people will remember them by. The ancient societies depicted in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf are no doubt representative of the actual societies that existed during those time periods. These ancient people were greatly concerned with issues such as death, fate, and destiny. People of ancient times and modern realize that even though one cannot escape death, one can to some degree achieve immortality, if only in the memories of those left behind. Works Cited Liuzza, Roy M., trans. Beowulf. Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 1999. Sandars, N. K., trans. The Epic of Gilgamesh. New York: Penguin, 1972.

Compare the Wars and All Quiet on the Western Front Essay

During World War I, many soldiers were impacted by the mental and physical effects that have changed their lives in positive, but mostly negative ways. There are two novels that talk about two men in World War I, however each tells a different story on their struggles on the battlefield. On one of the books, The Wars by Timothy Findley, focuses on the protagonist Robert Ross, a Canadian soldier that joined the war. Robert Ross mainly joined to war because it was his way of isolating himself after his sister’s death, while on the other book, All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, in which the story is about a teenager named Paul Baumer. Paul Baumer is a German soldier who was influenced from his teacher that going to war was a courageous decision. War focuses us to sacrifice our humanity in exchange for survival, which leads us to our self-destruction, where we become like animals for the sake of our survival. The meaning behind this is that wars take our feelings and human instincts thus replacing them to animal instincts to survive. In the end, life becomes difficult to come back to which leads to our own destruction. The aspect from both novels is about â€Å"men who were destroyed by war† (Remarque 12) even when they have escaped the horrors of the war. Both authors express that they do not want to tell us about the experiences in the war, at least not just the war, but rather the destructive impact on the soldier; such as the inability of young people to go back to their life exactly like before the war. There is no doubt that the entire generation has been ruined by war and were unable to function afterwards. Paul Baumer returns home on his seven day leave, and describes those seven days as unhappy personal experiences. He fails to see an old major on the street, he is forced by another officer to go back to the major and salute him according to the etiquette of military soldiers. Paul feels as though it is petty harassment. For Paul it’s already embarrassing for his father to tell him to wear his uniform so that he could proudly show it to all his acquaintances. Just to show his uniform to all his father’s acquaintances, Baumer finds it as though as they are getting the wrong idea of what the reality of war was. Paul’s father wants him to use his experiences of the war as a demonstration but insists that it is to â€Å"dangerous† to remind him of the war because he cannot manage as though he was on the front-lines like before. This goes the same as for The Wars; many soldiers were destroyed after seeing how the war was like. †¦frozen fingers of nameless rivers, heralded by stream and whirling snow, the train returned him to his heritage of farms†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Findley 46) The steam from the train could have signified the anger from all the soldiers after witnessing the death from all their fellow troops and just leaving their corpse unburied, while they move on to the hopes of winning the war. The topic of destruction in the novels is also caused by the older generation. The younger generations believed that the eld er ones had greater insight and wisdom but was later on destroyed by the first sight of the war casualties. The sight of how they have been betrayed, the soldiers also notice that it is the older generation that declares war and never physically fight in it; however it is the younger soldiers that are risking their own lives for them. An example of betrayal is also seen in The Wars, when Robert is betrayed by Taffler, whom was seen as a manly strong soldier to follow; however after the incident, Roberts view of him immediately shattered. Robert states that all the soldiers have been raped by their so called leaders. It has to be there because it is my belief that Robert Ross and his generation of young men were raped, in effect, by the people who made the war. Basically, their fathers did it to them. † (Findley 150-151) â€Å"Fathers† would be the people that are in powers who controlled the younger generation but who were also told to slaughter their so called enemy. All Quiet on the Western Front also contradicts the older generation because Paul feels as though he was betra yed by his own teacher. â€Å"For us lads of eighteen they ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity†¦ to the future†¦ in our hearts we trusted them. The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds with a greater insight and a more humane wisdom. But the first death we saw shattered this belief. We had to recognize that our generation was more to be trusted than theirs†¦ The first bombardment showed us our mistake, and under it the world as they had taught it to us broke in pieces. † (Remarque 78) In this quote Paul learns that the educators who were supposed to guide the younger generation to the â€Å"right† direction into the world have failed miserably. The older generation that is constantly mocking the younger generations for cowardice signs but even the older generation hasn’t actually experienced the reality of war and what the feeling of fighting is actually like. The younger generation need to make their own choices instead of always relying on the older ones between whether something is right or wrong whilst the older generation has been proved incapable of doing so. In the midst of wars many soldiers strive to survive and will do anything just for the sake of survival. Robert Ross does a good job on surviving the war on the battlefront; however, it is ironic to see the very same allies he fought with end up killing him. Robert doesn’t die in action but dies in a burning barn. He continuously sees destruction all around him wherever he goes and is always afraid that he may not live â€Å"On the far side he could see that the men and the wagons and the rest of the convoy were drawn up near fires and he just kept thinking: warm, I am going to be warm. † (Findley 82) This is desperation in order to remain alive. Similarly to The Wars, Paul and his friends also strive just to survive the war. In the first chapter Remarque jumps into the war action: â€Å"We were at rest five miles behind the front† (Remarque 3) He does not clearly specify whether or not the German army or Paul’s friends. Unlike The Wars where the main characters are athletic, strong like Robert and Taffler, Remarque doesn’t describe his characters as complete developed characters. Each of them is described as people who have regular human qualities. An example would be Tjaden who is the biggest eater and Westhus who continuously thinks about women. They feel as though, to survive they need to form a brotherhood that strives as much as possible to survive an arena of death. All other expressions they may show are unable to be shown as the only thing that you’re able to show is the sake for surviving the war. Hunger is a part of survival in All Quiet on The Western Front. Many soldiers that don’t come back to the camp receive the dead ones share of food from the first chapter. Because the soldiers were really happy to see the extra food and wasn’t sad or angry about the death of their comrades means that food was very uncommon. Dehumanizing is a necessary tool in order to survive the war. Dehumanizing is depicted in both The Wars and All Quiet on the Western Front, however, Robert is having trouble going to the stage of being dehumanized through the book, and isn’t until later he is to his limits and snaps making him do awful things; like shooting Captain Leather in the face. Referring back to All Quiet on The Western Front, Paul describes the psychological transformations that soldiers have when going into battle such as this quote. â€Å"We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men that we fling our bombs, what so we know of men in this moment when Death with hands and helmets is hunting us down†¦ We feel a mad anger. No longer do we lie helpless, waiting on the scaffold, we can destroy and kill, to save ourselves, to save ourselves and be revenged† (Remarque 113). The soldiers stop being good people and become beasts later on, so they may survive. It is necessary to sacrifice the thoughtful and logical part of their minds in order for them to become like animals to survive. However for Robert dehumanization becomes a problem. He is too sensitive for these sorts of things and this is seen through his thoughtfulness of the animals. Robert tries to find a role model to become manlier but doesn’t happen until he sees the horses being bombed, in which changes him. Robert has held in such anger to the point where he kills captain leather but the interesting thing is that Robert went to the point of becoming an animal himself in order to save animals. â€Å"His anger rose to such a pitch that he feared he was going to go over into madness. He stood where the gate has been and thought: ‘If an animal had done this – we would call it mad and shoot it’ and at that precise moment Captain Leather rose to his knees and began to struggle to his feet. Robert shot between the eyes. † (Findley 178) Wars had a huge impact to the younger generations and the physical involvement of war changes a person immediately. â€Å"I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. (Remarque 267) Soldiers such as Robert and Paul realize that they themselves have changed from the impact of the war experience, they are alienated, a feeling of no belonging, an inability to connect to the past. And feel as though they need to go back to the trenches because nothing else connects to them anymore. And so the broken soldiers, Paul and Robert, return to the frontlines and become an animal again, only this time, survival is short live d.