Destination Trends And Future Predictions

Destination Trends And Future Predictions Tourism takes place in the environment, which is made up of both human and natural features. The human environment comprises economic, social and cultural factors and processes. The natural environment is made up of plants and animals in their habitat. It is possible to make a distinction between the human environment and the natural environment and this is particularly useful when discussing the impacts of tourism. However, it is important to note that, in a real setting, the human environment and the natural environment are interwoven and human activity is both affected by and has effects on the natural environment. The main tourist destinations and generators of the world in terms of visitor numbers and income generation International travel, prior to the 1960s, was still largely the preserve of a wealthy minority who had the time as well as money to afford long distance sea or air travel. Major changes in the second half of the twentieth century led to the rapid and massive growth of the phenomenon known as modern tourism. For example, these changes contributed to the Pacific Region/South East Asia becoming the fastest growing area for international tourism in the last 30 years. In 1975, South East Asia and the Pacific Region accounted for only 4 percent of international tourist arrivals, but by 1995 the share of world arrivals had increased to almost 15 percent (Pearce, 1995) and by 2006 to 20 percent (WTO, 2007). It should be noted that this change has occurred at a time when tourist numbers were growing globally. Determination of tourism destination trends and future trends Not only have peoples motivations and expectations of holidays changed, but geography plays a major part. Where tourism experiences can be obtained is itself subject to variations in demand and, hence, supply. For instance, in the 1970s it was not sufficient just to get a suntan, but where one got it was vital (Prosser, 1994). In the early 1960s, in Britain getting a suntan in Brighton or Blackpool was sufficient, by the early 1970s to achieve the desired status the tan had to be brought back to Britain from Benidorm and by the 1980s it had to have been obtained in Belize. In Australia, Bondi Beach would have been good enough for most sun-seekers in the 1970s, but, by the 1980s, to really enhance ones status it was necessary to get the tan in Bali! However, the reference to Bali emphasizes the unpredictability of tourism. Visitor numbers and receipts of tourism destinations The increase in the share of international tourist arrivals in the Pacific Region, therefore, indicates a very significant increase in actual tourists between 1975 and 2006. There were approximately 78 million visitor arrivals in the Pacific Region/South East Asia in 1995 (Pearce, 1995). This compares with approximately 100 million in the combined area of North and South America and 305 million in Europe in 1995 (Pearce, 1995). With approximately 55 percent of international arrivals, Europe remained, in the early part of the twenty-first century, the single most important region for international travel arrivals (WTO, 2007). In fact, Europe had five countries in the top ten tourism destinations in 2006. France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany, with France and Spains combined totals accounting for 14 per cent of total international arrivals (WTO, 2007). Demonstration of creative thinking for tourism In the last 15 years or so of the twentieth century, changing attitudes also contributed to a re-evaluation of the nature of the tourist experience. Accompanying the growing realization that tourism takes place in finite geographical space, was the notion that it consumes environmental resources (McKercher, 1993). Increasingly, tourists became concerned about the effects their activities were having on the environment (Fennell, 1999). This led to the growth of what some consider as more environment-friendly forms of tourism, such as ecotourism (Wearing and Neil, 1999). Additionally, some tourists sought experiences that would give them more contact with the population in the destination region and potentially contribute more to the local economy. 2.1. Cultural, social and physical features of tourist destinations It has indicated that although tourism impacts tend to be multi-faceted, it is conventional to subdivide them under the following headings: economic, socio-cultural and environmental. It is also conventional to present tourism impacts as either positive or negative. This assignment has indicated that such categorization depends upon the value position of the observer. As impacts tend to be multi-faceted, often having a combination of economic, social and environmental dimensions, it may be not that straightforward to classify impacts at one particular tourism destination under the heading of either solely positive or negative. It is quite likely that there is a combination of impacts of tourism in relation to a destination and some of these impacts may be viewed as positive, while others are seen as negative. All factors discussed there are important in relation to socio-cultural impacts. Clearly, a key influence is who is involved and the activities engaged in will be significant. O f particular importance, in relation to socio-cultural impacts of tourism, is the nature of both visitors and host populations. 2.2. Comparison of the features of top contrasting tourist destinations In addition to this data, is the projection that jobs in tourism are likely to increase steadily during the early part of this century, unlike jobs in other economic sectors. These macro-level figures, however, hide the unbalanced nature of global tourism. One continent alone, South East Asia, was the single most important tourist destination with over half of all international visitor arrivals in the early part of the twenty-first century and most international arrivals of tourists in Asia were visits from the European countries. 2.3. Comparison and contrast between the features of one developing and one leading tourist destination However, the public sector in many developed countries has what may appear at face value to be contradictory roles. Governments may not only attempt to regulate tourism, but they also have a role in marketing tourism (Mason and Mowforth, 1995; Seaton and Bennett, 1996). Marketing is usually associated with promoting tourism, hence not controlling or regulating it. However, there are examples when marketing is used as a controlling measure. Such an example is that employed by the government agency, English Heritage and the NGO and the National Trust of England. These organizations work together in the marketing and management of two prehistoric sites in England. Stonehenge is the most visited prehistoric stone circle site in the United Kingdom 2.4. Identification of cultural, social and physical features One of the more significant socio-cultural impacts of tourism is referred to as the demonstration effect. This depends on there being visible differences between tourists and hosts. Such a situation arises in many developing countries. In the demonstration effect, it is theorized, that simply observing to action adopted by an agency, such as a government body. Public policy is, therefore, what governments decide to do or not to do (Dye, 1992). However, it is important to note that planning is not just a process conducted by the government. Private sector organizations, (in tourism this would include, for example, tour operators and airlines), prepare careful plans and usually have a number of policies through which they operation these plans. 3.1. Evaluation of the appeal of a current leading tourist destination Some of the more beneficial impacts of tourism on society include the following: the creation of employment; the revitalization of poor or non-industrialized regions; the rebirth of local arts and crafts and traditional cultural activities; the revival of social and cultural life of the local population; the renewal of local architectural traditions; and the promotion of the need to conserve areas of outstanding beauty which have aesthetic and cultural value (Mason, 1995). In developing countries, in particular, tourism can encourage greater social mobility through changes in employment from traditional agriculture to service industries and may result in higher wages and better job prospects. 3.2. The effect of the characteristics of a tourist destination It is clear that the resources for tourism, particularly the natural and semi-natural environmental features, but also man-made components of the environment that have become attractions, are actually finite. This has led to calls to make these resources in particular, but also the field of tourism generally, more sustainable. With reference to specific destinations, a complete halt to tourism development may be considered desirable by some members of the community, and in a number of cases this may be a majority view, but it is unlikely that tourism growth will be stopped. 3.3. Evaluation and justification for the current leading and developing tourist destinations The fact that tourism impacts are multi-faceted contributes to them being difficult to plan for and manage. There are a number of different organizations, groups, and individuals that have an important role to play in tourism planning and management. These key players, in the form of tourists, host community members, industry members, government representatives, and to a lesser extent the media and voluntary organizations, are involved in the day-to-day problems of tourism. In most democratic countries, at least, these individuals, groups, and organizations are in a position to play an active part in tourism planning and management. 4.1. The issues that affect the popularity of tourist destinations The future of tourism in Bali is far from clear after the terrorist bombings at Kuta in October 2002 and the second bombings in almost the same area in October 2005. Bali has become heavily dependent on tourism and what happens after these events may indicate whether the island, in the longer term has become economically over-dependent on tourism. Similar issues to those of Bali in its early stages of tourism development can be found in the Himalayan country, Nepal. As in Bali, tourism was relatively unimportant until the second half of the twentieth century, but more recently has come to be very significant to the economy of Nepal. Nepal, the fourth poorest country in the world, is a landlocked Himalayan kingdom relying on access to imports via India. Throughout the period of European global exploration, dating from about 1400 until as recently as the 1950s, Nepal was almost inaccessible and hence it holds attractions for significant numbers of potential tourists. Tourism began in the early 1960s but took off in the 1970s. 4.2. The potential for responsible tourism to enhance the host community at worldwide tourist destinations International visitors generally demand easy access to facilities, and these need to be of a relatively high standard, particularly toilets and washing facilities. International visitors also demand good signage, clear notice boards, good maps and sufficiently well-serviced campsites. International visitor numbers are likely to increase significantly in the next 10-15 years, while domestic visitors will remain almost constant. Hence the pressure will be to improve and increase facilities for the international visitor, but this is likely to be opposed by domestic visitors. 4.3. Methods to control issues affecting popularity of tourist destination Visitor management has been used by a number of different agencies and organizations, at different scales and in a variety of locations. In some countries, it has become a major tool in an attempting to control visitor flows. In the United Kingdom, for example, a government task force produced a tourism report that had visitor management as a key strategy. This report, maintaining the Balance, from the UK Ministry of Environment/Department of Employment and published in 1991, focused on the relationship between the environment and the visitor and suggested that there are three main ways of managing visitors. These are as follows: controlling the number of visitors either by limiting numbers to match capacity, or spreading the number throughout the year, rather than having them concentrated in time in a focused tourist season; modifying visitor behavior; Adapting the resource in ways to enable it to cope with the volume of visitors, and hence become less damaged. In relation to the first of these three methods, that of controlling the numbers of visitors, the report suggested that the initial task is to determine the carrying capacity. 4.4. Managing and organizing activities to enhance potential for responsible tourism Managing visitors is one of the important ways of managing the impacts of tourism, particularly impacts on the environment, but in addition managing socio-cultural and economic impacts. Visitor management has been viewed in the past 25 years or so as a significant way to attempt to reduce the negative impacts of tourism. Often, this has been through attempts to divert tourists from areas with large volumes of tourists, the so-called honey pots. Another approach has been to minimize the negative impacts at popular site by hardening (e.g. resurfacing paths and footpaths), or by schemes such as park and ride which keep cars out of the immediate environment of a popular attraction. Conclusion: Impacts in terms of visitor numbers were geographically patchy, as Southeast Asia and urban areas appear to have been far less affected during the summer of 2001 than rural areas, and may even have benefited from the restrictions on access to rural areas. The government made reassuring promises that it would not close down the countryside and therefore negatively affect leisure and tourism pursuits.

What Is Petroleum Engineering Biology Essay

What Is Petroleum Engineering Biology Essay Petroleum engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons which can be either crude oil or natural gas and there is subsurface activities that presume to fall within the upstream sector of oil and gas industry which are activities of finding and producing hydrocarbons(refining and distribution to a marked are referred to as the downstream sector)explored by earth scientists and petroleum engineering are the oil and gas industrys two main subsurface disciplines in which focus on maximizing economic recovery of hydrocarbons from petroleum of engineering focuses on estimation of the recoverable volume of the recourses using a detailed understanding of the physical behavior of oil , water and gas within a porous rock within a very high pressure and The combined efforts of geologists and petroleum engineers throughout the life of a hydrocarbon accumulation determine the way in which a reservoir is developed and depleted, and usually they have the highest impact on field economics. Petroleum engineering requires a good knowledge of many other related disciplines, such as geophysics, petroleum geology( drilling, economics, reservoir simulation,well engineering, artificial lift systems) The Drill is a machine which creates holes (usually called boreholes) and shafts in the ground. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person.[citation needed] They sample sub-surface mineral deposits, test rock, soil and groundwater physical properties. Drilling fluid: A drilling fluid is any fluid which circulates through a well in order to remove cuttings from a wellbore. This section will discuss fluids which have water or oil as their continuous phase. Air, mist and foam, which can be used as drilling fluids, will not be discussed at this time and drilling fluid must fulfill many functions in order to drill a well successfully, safely, and economically. The most important functions are: 1. Remove drilled cuttings from under the bit. (2) Carry those cuttings out of the hole. (3) Suspend cuttings in the fluid when circulation is stopped. (4) Release cuttings when processed by surface equipment . (5) Allow cuttings to settle out at the surface. 6. Provide enough hydrostatic pressure to balance formation pore pressures. 7. Prevent the bore hole from collapsing or caving in. 8. Protect producing formations from damage which could impair production. 9. Clean, cool, and lubricate the drill bit Occasionally, these functions require the drilling fluid to act in conflicting ways. You can see that items #1-3 are best served if the drilling fluid has a high viscosity, whereas items #4-5 are best accomplished with a low viscosity. In its most basic form a drilling fluid is composed of a liquid (either water or oil). If nothing else is added, whenever the hydrostatic pressure is greater than the formation pore pressure (and the formation is porous and permeable) a portion of the fluid will be flushed into the formation. Since excessive filtrate can cause borehole problems, some sort of filtration control additive is generally added. In order to provide enough hydrostatic pressure to balance abnormal pore pressures, the density of the drilling fluid is increased by adding a weight material (generally barite). Preparation: The oil drilling process starts with finding the land to drill on. After selection, there are normally environmental studies to ensure no damage is done. The mineral rights will need to be acquired as well. A water source will have to be established, if one isnt nearby, and the site will need to be cleared of debris, trees and other objects. A hole is then dug where the main drilling will be. The Base Liquid: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Water fresh or saline à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Oil diesel or crude à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Mineral Oil or other synthetic fluids Dispersed Solids: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Colloidal particles, which are suspended particles of various sizes. Dissolved Solids: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Usually salts, and their effects on colloids most is important and all drilling fluids have essentially the same properties, only the magnitude varies. These properties include density, viscosity, gel strength, filter cake, water loss, and electrical resistance. Though this type of drilling fluid is easy to describe, it is hard to define and even more difficult to find. In the field, a normal fluid generally means that there is a little effort expended to control the range of properties. General rules include: 1. It is used where no unexpected conditions occur. 2. The mud will stabilize, so its properties are in the range required to control the hole conditions. 3. The chief problem is viscosity control Formations usually drilled with this type of mud mainly sands. Since viscosity is the major problem, the amount and condition of the colloidal clay is important. To do this, two general types of treatment are used: 1. Water soluble polyphosphates: (a) They reduce viscosity (b) You should use it alone or with tannins 2. Caustic Soda and Tannins: (a) They also reduce viscosity. (b) You have to use it under more severe conditions than phosphate treatment. The drilling fluids are made to combat particular abnormal hole conditions or to accomplish specific objectives. These are: 1. Special Objectives: (a) Faster penetration rates. (b) Greater protection to producing zones. 2. Abnormal Hole Conditions: (a) Long salt sections. (b) High formation pressures. Lime Base Muds: 1. Water base mud. 2. Treated with large amounts of caustic soda, que-bracho, and lime. 3. Ratio of 2 lb caustic soda, 1.5 lb quebracho and 5 lb lime per 1 barrel of mud. 4. Will go through a highly viscous stage, but will become stable at a low viscosity. 5. Good points: (a) Can tolerate large amounts of contaminating salts. (b) Remains fluid when solids content gets high. 6. Weakness it has a tendency to solidify when subjected to high bottom-hole temperatures. Lime-Treated Muds: 1. Similar to lime based mud differ only in degree. 2. A compromise attempt at overcoming the high temperature gelation problem. (a) Use less lime than lime-base mud. (b) Not nearly so resistant to salt contamination. Emulsion Muds Oil in Water: 1. Oil can be added to any of the normal or special mud with good results 2. No special properties necessary 3. Natural or special emulsifying agents hold oil in tight suspension after mixing. 4. Oils used are: (a) Crude oils. (b) Diesel. (c) Any oil with API gravity between 25 and 50. 5. Oil content in mud may be 1% to 40%. 6. Advantages are: (a) Very stable properties. (b) Easily maintained. (c) Low filtration and thin filter cake. (d) Faster penetration rates. (e) Reduces down-hole friction. 7. Major objection is that the oil in the mud may mask any oil from the formation. Includes muds: 1. Mud with inhibited filtrates. 2. Large amounts of dissolved salts added to the mud. 3. High pH usually necessary for best results. 4. Designed to reduce the amount of formation swelling caused by filtrate inhibit clay hydration. 5. Disadvantages: (A) Needs specialized electric logs. (B) Requires much special attention. (C) Low mud weights cannot be maintained without oil. (D) Hard to increase viscosity. (E) Salt destroys natural filter cake building properties of clays. Gypsum Base Muds: 1. A specialized inhibited mud: (a) Contains large amounts of calcium sulfate. (b) Add 2 lb/bbl gypsum to mud system. (c) Filtration controlled by organic colloids. 2. Advantages: (a) Mud is stable. (b) Economical to maintain. (c) Filtrate does not hydrate clays. (d) High gel strength. 3. Disadvantages: (a) fine abrasives remain in mud. (b) Retains gas in mud. Oil Based Muds: 1. Oil instead of water used as the dispersant. 2. Additives must be oil soluble. 3. Generally pre-mixed and taken to the well-site. 4. To increase aniline value, blown asphalt and un-slaked lime may be added. 5. Advantages: (a) Will not hydrate clays. (b) Good lubricating properties . (c) Normally higher drill rate. 6. Disadvantages: (a) Expensive. (b) Dirty to work with. (c) Requires special electric logs. (d) Viscosity varies with temperature. Inverted Emulsions: 1. Water in oil emulsion. Oil largest component, then water added. Order of addition is important 2. Have some of the advantages of oil muds, but cheaper. Oil-Based Mud Systems: There are two types of systems: 1) invert emulsion, where water is the dispersed phase and oil the continuous phase (water-in-oil mud), and 2) emulsion mud, where oil is the dispersed phase and water is the continuous phase (oil-in-water mud). Emulsifiers are added to control the rheological properties (water increases viscosity, oil decreases viscosity). Air, Mist, Foam-Based Mud Systems: These lower than hydrostatic pressure systems are of four types: dry air or gas is injected into the borehole to remove cuttings and can be used until appreciable amounts of water are encountered, mist drilling is then used, which involves injecting a foaming agent into the air stream, foam drilling is used when large amounts of water is encountered, which uses chemical detergents and polymers to form the foam, and aerated fluids is a mud system injected with air to reduce the hydrostatic pressure. Workover Mud Systems: Also called completion fluids, these are specialized systems designed to minimize the damage formation, be compatible with acidizing and fracturing fluids and reduce clay/shale hydration and They are usually highly treated brines and blended salt fluid. Set Up and Drilling: The main hole is dug wide at the top and is drilled down with just a basic small drill. Two other holes are also dug to store equipment and dirt. Next the main rig is brought in and set up over the main drilling hole. The basic rig is made up of a drill bit and piping that sends the drill further and further down, scaffolding with cable and pulley to bring the drill up and an engine to turn the drill. The drill is sent down, where it chews up the earth. The mud is moved up the piping into a hole built for storage. As the drill goes down, more piping is added, and when a drill wears out, it is pulled up and replaced. Finding Oil: Once mud, being pulled up from the drill site, shows signs of oil residue, the drill is removed and testing is done. Core samples are taken as well as pressure and gas tests. When it is confirmed that the oil has been found, an explosive charge is sent down in the form of a perforating gun. This will crack the rock so that oil can flow into the drill area. After the rock is cracked, a pipe is lowered down for the oil to be collected. The hole is then capped off to avoid spillage and a pump is set up to pull the oil out of the ground.

swatch :: essays research papers

Competitive Environment One main competitor was Timex They designed a simple low cost cheap watch that was made up of new alloy bearings. By having this new material it made automated production easier. The Timex watches were priced at a low rate and were marketed to be disposable. The were priced to low and they were made so that they couldn’t be opened they made for not aftermarket repair or sales of parts. At the end of the 50’s one out of three watches bought in the US were a Timex.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1970 with the introduction of the Quartz technology changed the market place once again. The quartz watches had some advantages over the Swiss, they were based on electronics, it made it easier to add the date or the day to the watch. It also became significantly cheaper to manufacture, because the cost of the chips were being driven down by chip manufactures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Out of this wave and leading the way were manufacturers like Hattori-Seiko and Citizen. The two companies made huge investments in fully automated facilities around the world. They were soon joined by Casio, which was specializing in a low cost multifunctional, plastic watch that was incorporating features such as timers and calculators.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By 1979 Hattori-Seiko had become the world’s largest watch company in terms of revenues; they were producing 22 million watches annually. By the end of 1986 Citizen had become the overall global leader in both movement and finished watch production volumes. With the rise in quartz technology hastened the decline of the Swiss watch industry. The Japanese watch makes saturated the global market with the quartz watch at rock bottom prices. In the early 1980’s the Swiss market place in the watches below $100. their market share was 0%. Watches between $100 and $350 they had a market share of about 3%. But in the market place of $350 and above they carried a share of 97% of the market.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some of the strengths were that they were making watches that were at a low cost high volume. The factories were placed all over the world and were able to ship to all the different market places with great eases. Also by using the quartz technology they were again able to cut cost to offer a cheaper watch to the consumer. The customers like the fact that they could buy a cheap great looking watch that would take a licking and keep on ticking.

The Global Ethical Perspective of Peer-to-peer File-sharing Essay

The Global Ethical Perspective of Peer-to-peer File-sharing Introduction This paper is an analytical essay on global ethical issues on peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing. A history and background of peer-to-peer file-sharing will be given, as well as how it became an issue. This paper will explore what aspects of file-sharing are ethical and at what point it becomes unethical. An explanation of the laws will be described and whether the laws different from region-to-region around the world. The paper will include personal experiences with file sharing, as well as an in-depth analysis on the topic with high-quality industry and academic references to defend a particular moral/ethical position. Background The Internet is a shared resource, a cooperative network built out of millions of hosts all over the world. In the year 2000, the network model that survived the enormous growth of the previous five years had been turned on its head. Through the music-sharing application called Napster, and the larger movement dubbed â€Å"peer-to-peer,† the millions of users connecting to the Internet began connecting to each other directly, forming groups and collaborating to become user-created search engineers, virtual supercomputers, and file systems. The original Internet was fundamentally designed as a peer-to-peer system. Over time it became increasingly client/server, with millions of consumer clients communicating with a relatively privileged set of servers. Current peer-to-peer applications are using the Internet much as it was originally designed: as a medium for communication for machines that share resources with each other as equals. The Internet was originally conceived in the late 1960s as a peer-to-peer system. The goal of ... ...erspace: Dealing with Law Enforcement and the Courts. November 1999 in Proceedings of the 27th annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User services: Mile High expectations. [8] D. K. Mulligan, J. Han, A. J. Burstein: Copyrights and Access-Rights: How DRM-based Content Delivery Systems Disrupt Expectations of †Personal Use†. October 2003 in Proceedings of the 2003 ACM workshop on Digital rights management. [9] D. Clark: Future of intellectual property: How Copyright became controversial. April 2002 in Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy. [10] N. Garnett: Digital Rights Management, Copyright, and Napster. March 2001 in ACM SIGecom Exchanges, Volume 2 Issue 2. [11] J. Evers: File Swapping Fight Goes Global: Recording industry says P-to-P users in Canada and Europe could face legal action. March 30, 2004 in IDG News Service.

Bill Gates :: William H. Gates III Biography Essays

Bill Gates Bill Gates, cofounder of the Microsoft corporation, holds 30.7 percent of its stock making him one of the richest people in the United States. He was the marketing and sales strategist behind many of Microsoft's software deals. Their software became the industry standard in the early 1980s and has just increased in distribution as the company has grown, so much that the Federal government is suggesting that Microsoft has violated Sherman and Clayton antitrust acts. Bill Gates' first interest in computers began at Lakeside, a private school in Seattle that Gates attended. There he wrote his "first software program when I was thirteen years old. It was for playing tic-tac-toe"(Gates 1). It was at Lakeside that Gates met Paul Allen, who later became cofounder with Gates of Microsoft. There they became friends and "began to mess around with the computer"(Gates 2). Back in the sixties and early seventies computer time was expensive. "This is what drove me to the commercial side of the software business"(Gates 12). Gates, Allen and a few others from Lakeside got entry-level software programming jobs. One of Gates early programs that he likes to brag about was written at this time. It was a program that scheduled classes for students. "I surreptitiously added a few instructions and found myself nearly the only guy in a class full of girls"(Gates 12). In 1972 Intel released their first microprocessor chip: the 8008. Gates attempted to write a version of BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) for the new Intel chip, but the chip did not contain enough transistors to handle it. Gates and Allen found a way to use the 8008 and "started Traf-O-Data, a computer traffic analysis company"(Clayton 452) It worked well however, marketing their new machine proved to be impossible. "No one actually wanted to buy the machine, at least not from a couple teenagers"(Gates 14). Gates and Allen had more less successful endeavors in starting a software company. In 1974 Intel announced their new chip: the 8080. The two college students sent off letters "to all the big computer companies, offering to write them a version of BASIC for the new Intel chip. We got no takers"(Gates 15). While at Harvard, the cool thing to do was to slack off on classes for most of the semester and try and see how well the student could do at the end. Steve Ballmer and Gates "took a tough graduate- level economics course together- Economics 2010.

Importance of Teachers Essay

A REFLECTION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHER’S INVOLVEMENT IN CURRICULUM PLANNING Recent studies in the United States shown that curriculum implementation can only be successful if teachers and communities are involved in the development and implementation of curriculum and structural changes.(Arend Carl, 2005) While addressing the need of the learners which is the primary concern of the curriculum, teachers should be one of the principal role-players in the process of addressing these challenges. The question is: Are they allowed to participate in the process, and if they do participate, what is the nature of their involvement? Within the context of the curriculum changes in education cited in the text, stringent demands are being made on teachers. This process of continuous change has not yet stabilized however and therefore it is imperative that there should be dialogue about what is expected of teachers when it is suggested that they should be â€Å"more involved in curriculum development†. More often, teachers, especially in the public school system in our country indicated that they, for the most part excluded from participation in curriculum development at curriculum levels outside the classroom. Their perception was that, although they were the subject and/or learning area specialists, little attention, if any, was given to their â€Å"voice† — they were only involved in the implementation of the new curriculum. And this is also what is indicated in the context of the situation in the story that was presented the previous meeting. This has created the impression that teachers operate solely within the context of the school and the classroom, making this seem the only place where they can make a contribution to the curriculum. Contributions from the teachers are seldom acknowledged just like in the situation cited, so that, a perception often held by teachers is that the curriculum is developed â€Å"elsewhere† so that they simply need some guidance for the†¦

Mtv’s 16 & Pregnant Glorifies Teen Pregnancy Essay

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 86 percent of mothers who give birth out-of-wedlock are teenagers. MTV’s show â€Å"16 & Pregnant,† which has only been on air since June 2009, is already reflecting the rapid boom in teenage pregnancy across various cities in America. Since the early eighties MTV has been considered somewhat of a cultural phenomenon for American adolescents and its depiction of gender has a strong impact that continues to this day (Holtzman 2000). Created by Morgan J.  Freeman (director of teen shows Dawson’s Creek and Laguna Beach), the show â€Å"16 & Pregnant† has been said to be guilty of exacerbating, normalizing and even glorifying teen pregnancy. Perhaps, it’s just reflecting a current social dilemma occurring amongst female youth. Each week a new episode revolves around a different girl struggling with the challenges of teenage pregnancy. The network presents these characters as â€Å"real†, plucked from the grips of reality, validated and â€Å"chosen† to represent some sort of normalized or otherwise glamorized middle-class identity of teenage motherhood. The show depicts women’s roles that are often typified to include traditional gendered norms of heterosexual relationships, marriage, motherhood and femininity. â€Å"16 & Pregnant† serves as a platform to broadcast what is seen as a stereotypical American culture that is now engulfing teen girls everywhere. The social identities MTV presents reinforces those of traditional female roles and gender norms and attempts to establish a new model for pregnant teens in a modern age. Just by airing the show, MTV is assimilating new ideas of teen pregnancy into American society. Historically, there has always been some sort of unspoken Christian tradition that has governed American women’s birth rights; that one should not get pregnant out-of-wedlock. Today, however, teenage pregnancy is so rampant that families are forced to deal with the situation in a positive manner, often honoring the decision the child has made in regards to keeping and raising the newborn child (Gallagher 2009). In a 2004 survey, the Parents Television Council reported that MTV is the most watched program for those between the ages of 12 and 19. Studies showed watching MTV created a more liberal attitude toward pre-martial sex. Teenagers who watch MTV receive messages about sex that are likely to sway their own behavior. MTV is shaping the identity of the â€Å"teenage mom,† a pregnant 16 year old high school student whose uncertainty about motherhood is due to the fact that she views her pregnancy as the consequence of a selfish action that was ultimately unavoidable. 16 & Pregnant† normalizes sexual behavior that eventually forces teenage girls into the traditional gender role of the â€Å"grieving mother†, one who is forced to take care of a baby while struggling to support herself (Schmidt 2009). The first episode of â€Å"16 & Pregnant† takes place in Chattanooga, Tennessee and documents the life of Maci who gets pregnant by her first boyfriend, Ryan. For Maci, adoption and abortion were never an option, she figured she made the decision to have unprotected sex so now she must deal with the consequences. At one point during an argument in the show, Ryan yells out, â€Å"If we didn‘t have a kid, we wouldn’t be together,† and it’s clear from watching the that the two are still just teens. Maci struggles to take care of her newborn child, who, once born, requires constant attention and deals with the turmoil of trying to get Ryan involved in the relationship of fatherhood. The â€Å"teen mom† is now a stable identity offered up on the MTV network to heterosexual female youth; a child who is forced to mature and deal with adult realities as an accepted way of life. The show is sending a message that it is normal for teenage girls to deal with such serious issues as: birth control, adoption, abortion, marriage, and finances, further cementing these issues into the female identity at a young age. Maci symbolizes that it is now acceptable for a sixteen year old girl to be a dedicated mother in America. Episode two introduces Farrah, a cheerleader from Council Bluffs, Iowa who juggles school, work and cheer practice. Her life becomes a lot more complicated when she finds out she is pregnant. Farrah’s best friend turns on her spreading nasty rumors, forcing Farrah to finish school online. Farrah’s ex-boyfriend, also the baby’s father, begins to harass her after he finds out she is pregnant which leads her to change her number. â€Å"I would have never lost my virginity to someone I believed would treat me like this,† Farrah exclaims about her ex-boyfriend. Farrah struggles with single motherhood and has to deal with a judgmental parent who looks down upon her decisions. Episode two again reinforces traditional American cultural eliefs of female gender roles by portraying the woman as the single mother, ultimately responsible for the child, showing the girl dealing with emotional problems while trying to hold the family together, tasks and situations often associated with femininity. These images become engrained on a young viewers minds and being sixteen and pregnant becomes just another fad for young girls to consider. â€Å"MTV has a long history of reflecting the lives of our viewers with compelling reality stories,† says Tony DiSanto, MTV’s president of programming. The program’s featured girls come from rural Mid-Western or Southern states, usually from small, working-class towns, in attempt to appeal to teenage girls of the same background. The implicit message at the center of the series’ class prejudice implies that working-class girls from middle America, should opt to have a child because it’s as good a road to character development as working on the high school yearbook (Bellafante 2009). The show reinforces the stereotype that a woman is at least a good mother, if not anything else and displaces the identity of â€Å"teen mom† onto middle American teenage girls. 16 and Pregnant† seems to, above all, incite viewers to working-class voyeurism, given how many cliches of lower-income American life are exploited. It could be possible that other MTV shows, are themselves, responsible for increases in teenage pregnancy. Shows such as â€Å"The Hills† and â€Å"The Real World† both portray the loose sexual morals of a younger generation, which eventually leads to an adoption of those ideals from the show’s younger viewers. Researchers at the Rand Corp. say they have documented for the first time how such exposure to sexual content on TV can influence teen pregnancy rates. They found that teens exposed to the most sexual content on TV are twice as likely as teens watching less of this material to become pregnant before they reach age twenty. This means that if teenagers think having sex is the â€Å"norm† they will continue to engage in it. â€Å"The relationship between exposure of this kind of content on TV and the risk of later pregnancy is fairly strong,† says Anita Chandra, a behavioral scientist. â€Å"Even if it were diminished by other contributing factors, the association still holds† (Bellafante 2009). So, is it in fact MTV who is esponsible for the abundance of pregnant teens it is helping to exploit? One thing for sure is that such a program like â€Å"16 & Pregnant† is endorsing and sanctioning teenage girls as hyper-sexed individuals. So, why does a television show have such an immense impact on the female identity? Sociologist Chris Barker’s study of British Asian girls’ television viewing practices in the U. K. suggest that soap operas provide young women with resources to discuss issues that may not be sanctioned within some of the religious and cultural spaces they inhabit (N&K 2008). Nayak and Kehily, authors of Gender Youth & Culture (2008), would argue that this theory could be applied to teenage girls and reality television shows in the U. S. By watching these shows the conceptualization of â€Å"appropriate femininities† are derived. These shows allow young girls to make moral and ethical judgments about what they see and refashion gender values to suit their own identities (N&K 2008). The girls in â€Å"16 & Pregnant† largely conform to the values of normative femininity in their search for romance, marriage, and long term happiness with a male partner In the end, MTV is glamorizing the life of a teen mother and cementing its identity in a society where sex at a younger and younger age is already becoming the norm. â€Å"16 & Pregnant† is perpetuating the normalization of traditional gender roles by portraying young girls who have already been forced to take on such general notions of femininity and female identity. The young, unwed mom has now become a new identity for young girls to aspire to. Popular culture and the ways in which it is consumed forms a key site for the learning of gender identities, and MTV is the designated teacher.