Trade Gap Defies Expectations :: essays research papers

Abstract Most economist view trade as an integral part of the free market system. The United States economy is currently running a trade deficit, an excess of imports over exports. The U.S. trade deficit widened much more than expected in June. The whole topic of trade must be viewed from a total picture, not just a segment or portion of the issue. This paper will analyze the current position of the trade deficit and some of the factors that have caused the gap to expand. Trade Gap Defies Expectations Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most economist view trade as an integral part of the free market system. â€Å"Trade allows specialization and division of labor and thereby promotes technological growth† (Colander, 2004, p. 414). The United States economy is currently running a trade deficit, an excess of imports over exports. This shortage is currently being financed by the selling of assets such as stocks, bonds, and real estate. The balance of trade has been in a deficit position since the 1970s and will probably continue in this direction for quite some time, â€Å"since the assets of the United States total many trillions of dollars† (Colander, 2004, p. 416). This paper will analyze the current position of the trade deficit and some of the factors that have caused the gap to expand. Trade Deficit   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The U.S. trade deficit widened much more than expected in June† (Reuters, 2004). This increase was due to a large drop in exports, the largest in three years, and a record level of imports. In fact, exports fell 4.3% which represents the largest decline since September, 2001. During this same time period, imports climbed 3.3%. This increase is partly due to the run-up in oil prices – the highest since March, 1982. Not only did prices increase, but the quantity of crude imported rose as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The primary trading partners of the United States are Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and the Pacific Rim countries† (Colander, 2004, p. 415). The numbers from the June report showed that the U.S. trade gap with Mexico reached a new record and is on tract to break last year’s record numbers. Another country in which the trade gap has widened is China. The exports to China eased while imports climbed to an all-time high. This relationship is much more politically sensitive. In fact, â€Å"U.S. manufactures and labor groups complain that Beijing’s policy of holding the value of its currency steady against the dollar has given it an unfair trade advantage† (Reuters, 2004).

Osmosis: Potato and Blackcurrant Squash

In biology, osmosis Is defined as the diffusion of solvent molecules (usually water molecules) across a semi-permeable membrane from a region of lower solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration. Osmosis Is of great importance In biological processes where the solvent Is water. The transport of water and other molecules across biological membranes is ssential to many processes In living organisms.The pressure exerted by the molecules of the solvent on the membrane they pass through is called osmotic pressure. Osmotic pressure is the energy driving osmosis and is important for living organisms because It allows water and nutrients dissolved in water to pass through cell membranes. There are three types of condition that Involves osmosis which Is hypotonic, hypertonic and isotonic. In a hypotonic solution, the water will move into the cell due to the outside of the cell having a lower solute concentration than the inside of the ell.When an animal cell Is placed In a hypotonic surrounding (lower solute concentration), the water molecules will move into the cell causing the cell to burst and haemolysed. When plant cell Is placed In a hypotonic solution, water molecules diffuse into the cell and the plant cells remain turgid because the cell wall prevents bursting. In a hypertonic solution, water will move outside of the cell due to the outside of the cell is having a higher solute concentration than the Inside of the cell.When an animal cell, a red blood cells is exposed to a hypertonic surrounding (higher olute concentration) the water will leave the cell causing the cell to shrink and it Is said to undergoes crenation. If a plant cell is placed in a hypertonic surrounding, the cell wall cannot prevent the cell from losing water as the water moves out from the cells. It results in cell shrinking, plasmolysis occurs (cell becoming flaccid), In an isotonic solution, there is no net movement of water as the interior and exterior environment of the cell Is having the same solute concentration.RESEARCH QUESTION: How does the dfferent concentration of blackcurrant squash solution affects the ercentage change in mass of chipped potatoes after being immersed in solution for 15 minutes? HYPOTHESIS: The higher the concentration of blackcurrant squash solution, the lower the concentration of the solution getting bigger, water inside of the cells will move outside the cell and this is called hypertonic. The movement of water diffuse out of the cell causes the size of the potato to decrease and shrinking in size to crenate.VARIABLES: TYPE OF VARIABLES VARIABLES UNIT WAYS TO CONTROL INDEPENDENT Concentration of blackcurrant squash solution Use different concentration of blackcurrant squash solution which is 0%, 20%, 40%, 0%, and 100%. DEPENDENT Percentage change in mass of chipped potatoes Weigh the potato using a weighing balance to get the initial mass. Then, immersed the potatoes in the different concentration of the solution for 15 minutes. Find the final mass to get the average mass. Calculate the percentage using the formula: XIOO% CONTROLLED 1 . Volume of solution cm3 Use 30 cm3 of solution for each boiling tube measured by measuring cylinder. . Type of potato Use the same type of potato 3. Time taken to immersed the potato in the solution min Fixed the time taken for the potato to be immersed in the solution as 15 minutes by sing a stopwatch. 4. Temperature Conduct the experiment in the same room using a thermometer. 5. Initial length of the potato chips cm each. Table 1: Table of variables and method to controls it. MATERIALS AND APPARATUS: MATERIALS APPARATUS 1. Blackcurrant squash at a concentration of 556 g dm-3 , 100 cm3 2. Distilled water, 100 crn3 3. Large baking potatoes 1. Boiling tube, 6 2. White tile, 6 3.Ruler, 1 4. Scalpel, 1 5. Measuring cylinder, 50 cm3 6. Cork borers, 1 7. Weighing balance, 1 Table 2: Table of Materials and Apparatus METHODOLOGY: PROCEDURE: 1. boiling tube is prepared and labelled as A, B, C, D, E and F. 2. 30 cm3 of distilled water is measured using a measuring cylinder and poured into test tube A. For test tube A, volume of blackcurrant squash is O cm3. For the rest of other test tubes, the volume of blackcurrant squash and volume of distilled water is measured as shown in column 4 and 5 in the table respectively using a measuring cylinder. 3.The potato is cut up using a cork borer making it into small pieces to fit in the boiling tube. The potato skin is cut off and trimmed. 4. The potato chips are dried on a towel paper. . The potato chips are weighed using a weighing balance and the mass is recorded in a table as initial mass. 6. The chips are placed in the blackcurrant squash solution and leave it for 15 minutes. 7. Make sure the solution covered the chips completely so that the process of osmosis can occur efficiently. 8. After 15 minutes, the chips are taken out and dried using a paper towel. 9.The potato chips are weighed using a weighing ba lance and the final mass is recorded in a table. 10. The change in mass of potato chips and the percentage change in mass of potato chips are calculated. 11. Steps 2 – 10 are repeated 3 times. 12. The graph of concentration of blackcurrant squash solution against percentage change in mass is plotted.Graph above shows that as the concentration of the solution increases, the percentage change in mass of the potato will decreases. This is because at the highest concentration, less amount of water is present in the solution than the concentration of the sucrose. Based on the raph above, we can see that the graph of concentration of blackcurrant squash solution against percentages changes in mass is inversely proportional to each other. The percentage change in mass is constant throughout the experiment as the slope or the steepness of the graph wasn't extreme and it decreases in a consistent manner. 3.At 0%, the percentage change in mass is in a positive value showing a hypotonic condition but as the concentration increases to 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%, the percentage change in mass has become a negative value. This shows that it is in a hypertonic condition. 4. As we can see on the graph, at 0% the lowest concentration it gives the highest value of percentage change in mass of 7. 60%. In this situation, hypotonic occurs as the concentration of water outside the potato chips is higher than inside the cell. Hypotonic solution is a solution with a lower solute concentration but high water concentration.This causes the movement of water to diffuse into the sap of potato cells following the concentration gradient. The rate of water moves inside the cell is higher than the water moves outside the cell and this result to the increase of size of the potato. The potato cell had become turgid and firm. 5. While, at the highest concentration 100%, the percentage change in mass is -33. 30 is the lowest value. In this situation, the potato cells are in hypertonic sol ution which is a solution with a higher solute concentration but lower concentration of water.Thus, water will move outside of the cell to the solution following the concentration gradient. The rate of water moves outside the cell is higher than the water moves inside the cell. As a result, the cell shrinks in sizes and become plasmolysed due to the water loss inside the cell. 6. At 20%, the graph loping downwards is showing a negative percentage changes in mass due to the difference than the 0%. But at 40%, the difference of percentage change in mass is bigger than the previous one with a value of -23. 20%.This is because as the concentration is getting higher, the water will moves out more than it will moves into the cells. At 60%, the percentage change in mass is -28. 00%. At 80%, the value is -31. 40% and the difference with 100% is quite small. 7. The standard deviation is calculated and it is shown in the graph as error bars. The error bars in the graph is small and cannot be seen clearly. Based on the results, he error bars show that the data that had been collected is reliable as it is very small and it indicates less variable and closer to the mean.The smaller the error bars gives you the more reliable data and accurate results. Limitation and Suggestions LIMITATIONS SUGGESTIONS 1 . When we do the dilution for the solution, the blackcurrant squash and the distilled water might not mix well. The apparatus we used here is measuring cylinder which cannot be turn upside down to get the homogenous mixture. – Volumetric flask can be used to replace measuring cylinder as it is the best apparatus to get the accurate esult. It has the most fixed values and it definitely can be turned upside down in order to mix the solution well. . The initial length of potato chips to be cut before we put it into the solution is measured using a measuring cylinder. This could affect the result because measuring cylinder has a big uncertainty which is 0. 05cm. – Instead, we can use vernier calliper that has a smaller uncertainty which is 0. 01 cm. This could give better and accurate result. 3. The volume of blackcurrant squash solution is measured using a measuring cylinder that has a bigger uncertainty of 1. cm and this could affect the result to be less accurate. To improve the results obtained, burette is used to replaced measuring cylinder as it has much more smaller uncertainty of 0. 05cm 4. The time for the potatoes left to immerse in the solution is too short which is 15 minutes. Such a short time is not sufficient for the osmosis to occur efficiently. – The duration of time should be longer to get the most accurate values. The potatoes should be left in the solution for at least 30 minutes so that the process of osmosis could happen efficiently giving out the best results. 5.When the potato chips is taken out from the solution, it must be dabbed and dried by using a paper towel to remove any liquid from the surface before wei ghing it to get the final mass. But the process might not have done the same way for every potato chip as maybe more liquid is removed from one of the potato chips but not the other. – We should at least try to dry the potato chips using the same paper towel and dried it carefully so all the liquid is removed of the potato chips so as the result will came out better. 6. The excess potatoes skin which wasn't taken out properly could give a slightly less

Project: Data Warehouse and Hotel Management Reservation

This acknowledgment transcends the reality of formality when I would like to express deep gratitude and respect to all those people behind the screen who guided, inspired and helped me for the completion of my project work. I consider myself lucky enough to get such a good project. This project would add as an asset o my academic profile. I express my sincere gratitude to our respectful for enabling me to make use of laboratory and library facilities liberally, that helped me a long way in carrying out my project work successfully.I would like to express my thankfulness to my project guide, Mr.. Wallabies Albert for his constant to my parents who have encouraged me with their blessings to do this project successfully. Finally I would like to thank to all my friends, all the teaching and non- teaching staff members of the IT Department, for all the timely help, ideas and encouragement which helped throughout in the completion of project. Hotel management reservation systems have becom e a common trend in today's business organizations. With the coming of the internet/intranet everything is Just a click away.As the Hotel began its quest for the development of Hotel management reservation system that would be used to serve the whole of England, it becomes every web developers ‘and programmers responsibility to tackle the challenge and this challenge still goes on. As pioneers took on the task, it created a platform for others and it's from those existing system that new development are based. The new Hotel management reservation system should be designed in a way that guarantees the security of the users' data and it should be designed in the most user friendly way possible, putting in consideration all the accessibility requirements.A hotel booking system has been developed with enhancements that cover some of the loopholes discovered in the existing hotel management reservation systems. The objective of this project is to create a hotel management reservati on system where customers can request for services and accommodation on specified dates. They can et information regarding time, cost, room and other services offered all at the same time and place. The system displays all the available services, and room reservation.This system would help the hotels to better serve its customers by catering to their needs. The system would use a Database to hold this information as well as the price of the rooms and availability information for the hotel. Hotel reservation system plays a great role and has a potential effect on day to day performance measures, this type of system have highly evolved from decades due to sigh demand for their use, effective and efficiency in any given institutions and Hotel industries.Due to the rapid change of technology the use of such management system has become a necessity to any given high learning institution for better performance and is used with quite a large number of users at the same time but it can save time, resources and creates awareness of the evolving technology. Therefore a Hotel Management Reservation System will be developed to provide simple and fast online solution for Customers, Workers, Hotel administrators and Managers in managing orders and reservation made by customers.It will allow interaction of hotel organizations and customers on single platform, allowing customer booking and validation with the simple system. The system will be developed to ease the manual process which involves a lot of paper work and it occupies a lot of space and it's tiresome to employees. The researchers believe that the knowledge gained in the development of the system will be an effective tool in providing the needed IT skills of the students in the hotel industries. It will be beneficial to the Hotels since the use of the system as a working tool will improve the delivery of instruction and prove to be cost-efficient. 2 Background of the Study The project on â€Å"Hotel Management Rese rvation System† is one of the interactive This system can handle almost the entire task required in the Hotel Management being one of the key to raise the organization prestige and status as it saves processing time and help to provide better management system. Using this system one can make their managerial aspect of hotel strong and fast. Mainly the program is divided into three aspects, one for administration, staff and another for customer.Hotel Management Reservation System is broadcasted throughout in the hotel local outwork during working hours so that all customers receding can know in detail about hotel and can reserve through the computer found in their rooms. This system facilitates the manager to keep details rate of any items and services and also edit them as per requirement. It also enables to calculate all the daily financial transaction which includes reservation and booking, billing, restaurant billing, and other accounting module. Using this system one can k eep detail on check in and checkout time of every customer visiting the hotel.This system also keeps record of joking the hotel services by the customer so that manager can easily handle such task in less time. Hotel Management Reservation System will be designed aiming to keep good interaction between manager and customers, through the graphical presentation so that both parties will be benefited. The system is developed for easy management of the following types of accommodation like Hotels, Guesthouses, Conference rooms, Villas, resorts and any other room booking which is to be managed on a day-to-day basis.One of the most important skills of Hotel Management Reservation System researcher will have the knowledge of using an on- nine hotel reservation system. Hotel reservation system will be designed to simplify the task of on-line booking and to enable hotel to compete in today's demanding and competitive market. The system will provide the customers and clients with a unique, in novative and easy to use interface that improves the way people use the system today. Online users will have to compare prices and facilities in the hotel.Throughout this Project Proposal on Hotel Reservation Management System we will be describing about objectives of this project, functions of the program, flowchart, algorithm, budget and schedule for the project. . 2 Problem statement This system is intended to automate the activities of hotel including transactions and service delivery. Most hotels currently use manual and paper work systems to deliver services to their customers. This requires intending customer to physically appear at the Hotel reception desk avail the data required to prepare his or her accommodation in the hotel rooms.Some of this services provided in hotel are absolutely tedious and indeed involve a lot of writing and recording. Consequently this leads to wastage of resources in terms of papers, ink and time. The paper work has been associated with a lot of errors, redundancy of data, and misapplication of rooms and lose of funds. Also the records are subjected to theft and catastrophes like fire, earthquakes and hence the need for a system to cater for all these problems. As well as hospitality services such as accommodation.Bearing in mind that the most critical and necessary activity in any service delivering institution is quality of service in which is relative to the time spent in delivering it. Then the system will absolutely quicken and optimize these processes in hotels. Furthermore, from the management perspective, the managers will be in a position to control, monitor and manage the business in the shortest time possible, accurately and in efficient manner. Therefore, there is a need of an automated system which will enable them to administrate and monitor all the services in the hotel. . 4 Objectives The main objectives of the project will be concentrated towards the development of such project that will help in reduce the problems encountered with the customer's record keeping method and reservation facilities for the costumers in hotel. This yester will be focused on both hotel staff and customer who can manages all hotel tasks in reliable way, saving the precious time. The objectives of this system can be divided into two categories, which are being explained as follow: I.Specific Objectives 0 To develop a Hotel management and Reservation system 0 To provide interaction between both the both hotel staffs and customer. To keep the details record of hotel. 0 To keep the detail record of customers. 0 To provide easy way to view details rate of each room in the hotel's and reservation for customer. To provide reliable and easy way of booking facilities to customer. TOT manage and edit the different rates of services. 0 To keep the proper accountancy record of the hotel. 0 To provide proper billing system for customer. To test and validate the system after it has been developed. TOT evaluate the system and highlight the benefits the system can provide to the hotels and its workers. 1. 3 Aim Considering today's need in the field of Hotel Management System and other Reservation System, I as the student of DID have planned to developed a system named â€Å"Hotel Management and Reservation System† which will meet almost all the demands required in the field of hotel. This is the system which is mainly made to be in the management of a Hotel and Reservation of Hotel.To achieve this goal of preparation of the system it is very necessary to choose appropriate programming language which meets the goal in given time and budget. Taking all this in mind I database of the system. Access is one of the most widely used programming languages used in creating database all time. As it provides low-level access to memory, it required minimal run-time support. Through the use of Microsoft access it's going to divide whole complex program into a number of function which make ark simpler.My sys tem will provide lots of services to user like viewing info, editing info, reserving, accounting etc. All these things can be divided into sub-routine which has clearly defined purpose. Microsoft Access is also going to provide file handling system which will be main key to develop my system. My system is the comprehensive system which is going to be consisting of an integrated module for various aspects of Hotel Management and reservation System. As entire modules necessary to hotel are integrated tightly at no additional cost, it saves both time and money for the user.Through this system, the Hotel administration can easily manage their loyalty programs in an effective way. The project Hotel management and Reservation will manage and maintain the records of customers, room in hotels, booking information and other financial transaction of hotel on a database which will be used to store information. The system will provide high security on the data stored on the data base will not b e manipulated. The administrator will have the authority to make any change on the data base.The fore strong password will be used to protect the data. Thebe. Et script language will be used in front-end while Access language will be used use in the back-end. In this system, the researcher is going to create a user friendly interface, so that normal persons can add, delete and edit the entries of customers and handle all the transaction easily. 1. 5 Scope of the project The main aim of the researcher coming up with this project is to create a database management system that will be more efficient and easy to use in the hotel.The researcher will focus the study at â€Å"A-hero Beach Resort†, and other related different hotels located within Kampala and Entente town. The system will be implemented by use of different method of research such as questionnaires and survey in order to interact with workers and customers to get the required information about my area of study. The re searcher wills also Interviews on workers and the customers to facilitate my research on this project. Also direct observation will be used in this case and also have an access to the store documents and records found in the hotels.

Computers In The Workplace essays

Computers In The Workplace essays In today society, it is a must that there is some kind of computerized technology within the typical workplace. It is obvious that the need for computers in our daily lives is increasing at a very rapid pace. There is no way to avoid the use of computers if you plan to survive in the 20th century. Although many people think that computer use is a gigantic hassle and it should be limited in the workplace. As of September 2001, about 65 million of the 115 million adults who were employed and age 25 and over use a computer at work. (www.ntia.doc.gov) And it is the voices of these workers that have developed the detestation for computers in the workplace. Unlike my generation, these workers did not grow up basically with the education of computers and its uses. Computers hamper the workplace. This statement is the issue at hand. With the development of new and improved computers and computerized equipment, the workplace to some individuals has become a problematical place to work. Computers or technology should become of less importance in the workplace when weigh against the workers themselves, or the workers should become more educated about this type of technology to manipulate it and make it work better for them. The use of computers in the workplace can become a benefit or a setback. The ethical issues that arise from these two statements are now on top of the discussions of computers in the workplace. CPSR (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility) started the project of computers in the workplace in 1988. There have been issues with this project since 1992. (www.cpsr.org) Issues such as will the computer take over my position at my job, the computer has made it difficult to work because it is a difficult machine to understand. Also on the flip side of the argument some issues are, why cant people educate themselves enough in order to manipulate computers to their satisfaction? Studies sh...

The Black Dahlia Murder Case

The Black Dahlia Murder Case The Black Dahlia Murder case remains one of Hollywoods long-running mysteries and one of the most gruesome of the 1940s. A pretty young woman, Elizabeth Short, was found cut in half and posed in a sexually explicit manner in a vacant lot. It would be sensationalized in the media as the Black Dahlia murder. In the media frenzy that followed, rumors and speculation were published as fact, and inaccuracies and exaggerations continue to plague accounts of the crime until this day. Here are the few real facts that are known about the life and death of Elizabeth Short. Elizabeth Shorts Childhood Years Elizabeth Short was born on July 29, 1924, in Hyde Park, Massachusetts to parents Cleo and Phoebe Short. Cleo made a good living building miniature golf courses until the Depression took its toll on the business. In 1930, with his business suffering, Cleo decided to fake his suicide and abandoned Phoebe and their five daughters. He parked his car by a bridge and took off to California. Authorities and Phoebe believed Cleo committed suicide. Later, Cleo decided he made a mistake, contacted Phoebe and apologized for what he had done. He asked to come home. Phoebe, who had faced bankruptcy, worked part-time jobs, stood in lines to get public assistance and raised the five children alone, wanted no part of Cleo and refused to reconcile. Her High School Years Elizabeth was not academically inclined earning average grades in high school. She left high school in her freshman year because of asthma which she suffered with since childhood. It was decided that it would be best for her health if she left New England during the winter months. Arrangements were made for her to go to Florida and stay with family friends, returning to Medford during the spring and summer. Despite her parents difficulties, Elizabeth continued to correspond with her father. She was growing up to be an attractive young girl and like many teenagers enjoyed going to the movies. Like many young pretty girls, Elizabeth developed an interest in modeling and the movie industry and set her goals to someday work in Hollywood. A Short-Lived Reunion At the age of 19, Elizabeths father sent her money to join him in Vallejo, California. The reunion was short-lived, and Cleo soon grew tired of Elizabeths lifestyle of sleeping during the day and going out on dates until late at night. Cleo told Elizabeth to leave, and she moved out on her own to Santa Barbara. The Next Three Years There is much debate about where Elizabeth spent her remaining years. It is known that in Santa Barbara she was arrested for underage drinking and was packed up and returned to Medford. According to reports up until 1946, she spent time in Boston and Miami. In 1944, she fell in love with Major Matt Gordon, a Flying Tiger, and the two discussed marriage, but he was killed on his way home from the war. In July 1946, she moved to Long Beach, California to be with an old boyfriend, Gordon Fickling, who she dated in Florida before her relationship with Matt Gordon. The relationship ended shortly after her arrival and Elizabeth floundered around for the next few months. A Soft Spoken Beauty Friends described Elizabeth as being soft-spoken, courteous, a non-drinker, or smoker, but somewhat of a loafer. Her habit of sleeping late in the day and staying out at night continued to be her lifestyle. She was pretty, enjoyed dressing stylishly and turned heads because of her pale skin contrasting against her dark hair and her translucent blue-green eyes. She wrote to her mother weekly, ensuring her that her life was going well. Some speculate that the letters were Elizabeths attempt to keep her mother from worrying. Those around her know it that over the next few months she moved often, was well liked, but elusive and not well known. During October and November of 1946, she lived in the home of Mark Hansen, owner of the Florentine Gardens. The Florentine Gardens had a reputation as being a rather shoddy strip joint in Hollywood. According to reports, Hansen was said to have various attractive women rooming together at his home, which was located behind the club. Elizabeths last known address in Hollywood was the Chancellor Apartments at 1842 N. Cherokee, where she and four other girls roomed together. In December, Elizabeth boarded a bus and left Hollywood for San Diego. She met Dorothy French, who felt sorry for her and offered her a place to stay. She stayed with the French family until January when she was finally asked to leave. Robert Manley Robert Manley was 25 years old and married, working as a salesman. According to reports, Manley first met Elizabeth in San Diego and offered her a ride to the French house where she was staying. When she was asked to leave, it was Manley who came and drove her back to the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles where she was supposed to be meeting her sister. According to Manley, she was planning to go live with her sister Berkeley. Manley walked Elizabeth to the hotel lobby where he left her at around 6:30 p.m. and drove back to his home San Diego. Where Elizabeth Short went after saying goodbye to Manley is unknown. The Murder Scene On January 15, 1947, Elizabeth Short was found murdered, her body left in a vacant lot on South Norton Avenue between 39th Street and Coliseum. Homemaker Betty Bersinger was running an errand with her three-year-old daughter when she realized that what she was looking at was not a mannequin but an actual body in the lot along the street where she was walking. She went to a nearby house, made an anonymous call to police, and reported the body. When police arrived on the scene, they found the body of a young woman who had been bisected, displayed face-up on the ground with her arms over her head and her lower half placed a foot away from her torso. Her legs were wide open in a vulgar position, and her mouth had three-inch slashes on each side. Rope burns were found on her wrists and ankles. Her head face and body was bruised and cut. There was little blood at the scene, indicating whoever left her, washed the body before bringing it in the lot. The  crime scene  quickly filled with police, bystanders, and reporters. It was later described as being out of control, with people trampling on any evidence investigators hoped to find. Through fingerprints, the body was soon identified as 22-year-old Elizabeth Short or as the press called her, The Black Dahlia. A massive investigation into finding her murderer was launched. Because of the brutality of the murder and Elizabeths sometimes sketchy lifestyle, rumors and speculation were rampant, often being incorrectly reported as fact in newspapers. Suspects Close to 200 suspects were interviewed, sometimes polygraphed, but all eventually released. Exhausted efforts were made to run down any leads or any of  the several false confessions  to the killing of Elizabeth by both men and women. Despite efforts made by investigators, the case has remained one of the most famous unsolved cases in Californias history.

Marriage, the Motherhood Penalty and the Gender Wage Gap

Marriage, the Motherhood Penalty and the Gender Wage Gap The gender wage  gap is well-established in societies around the world. Social scientists have documented through research spanning decades that the gender wage  gap- wherein women, all else being equal, earn less than men for the same work- cannot be explained away by differences in education, type of job or role within an organization, or by the number of hours worked in a week or weeks worked in a year. Pew Research Center reports that in 2015- the year for which most recent data are available- the gender wage  gap in the United States as measured by median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers was 17 percent. This means that women earned roughly 83 cents to the mans dollar. This is actually good news, in terms of historical trends, because it means that the  gap has shrunk considerably over time. Back in 1979, women earned just 61 cents to the mans dollar in terms of median weekly earnings, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics  (BLS) reported by sociologist Michelle J. Budig. Yet, social scientists are cautious about this overall improvement because the rate at which the gap is shrinking has declined significantly in recent years. The encouraging nature of the overall shrinking gender wage  gap also eclipses the continuing harmful effect of racism on a persons earnings. When Pew Research Center looked at historical trends by race and gender, they found that, in 2015, while white women earned 82 cents to the white mans dollar, Black women earned just 65 cents relative to white men, and Hispanic women, just 58. These data also show that the increase in earnings of Black and Hispanic women relative to white men has been far less than that for white women. Between 1980 and 2015, the gap for Black women shrunk by just 9 percentage points and that for Hispanic women by just 5. Meanwhile, the gap for white women shrunk by 22 points. This means that the closing of the gender wage gap over recent decades has primarily benefitted white women. There are other hidden but important aspects of the gender wage  gap. Research shows that the gap is tiny to non-existent when people start their working careers around age 25 but it widens quickly and steeply during the next five to ten years. Social scientists argue that research proves that much of the widening of the gap is attributable to the wage penalty suffered by married women and by those who have children- what they call the motherhood penalty. The Lifecycle Effect and the Gender Wage  Gap Many social scientists have documented that the gender wage  gap widens with age. Budig, taking a sociological view on the problem, has demonstrated using BLS data that the wage  gap in 2012 as measured by median weekly earnings was just 10 percent for those aged 25 to 34 but was more than double that for those aged 35 to 44. Economists, using different data, have found the same result. Analyzing a combination of quantitative data from the  Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) database and the 2000 Census  long-form survey, a team of economists led by Claudia Goldin, a professor of economics at Harvard University, found that the gender wage gap widens considerably during the first decade and a half after schooling ends. In conducting their analysis, Goldins team used statistical methods to rule out the possibility that the gap widens over time due to an increase in discrimination. They found, conclusively, that the gender wage gap increases with age- especially among the college educated who work in higher-earning jobs than those not requiring a college degree. In fact, among the college educated, the economists found that 80 percent of the increase in the gap occurs between the ages of 26 and 32. Put differently, the wage gap between college-educated men and women is just 10 percent when they are 25 years old but has widened massively to 55 percent by the time they reach the age of 45. This means that college-educated women lose out on the most earnings, relative to men with the same degrees and qualifications. Budig argues that the widening of the gender wage gap as people age is due to what sociologists call the lifecycle effect. Within sociology, life cycle is used to refer to the different stages of development that a person moves through during their life, which includes reproduction, and are normatively synced with key social institutions of  family and education. Per Budig, the lifecycle effect on the gender wage gap is the effect that certain events and processes that are part of the life cycle have on a persons earnings: namely, marriage and childbirth. Research Shows that Marriage Hurts the Earnings of Women Budig and other social scientists see a link between marriage, motherhood and the gender wage gap because there is clear evidence that both life events correspond to a greater gap. Using BLS data for 2012, Budig shows that women who have never been married experience the smallest gender wage gap relative to never-married men- they earn 96 cents to the mans dollar. Married women, on the other hand, earn just 77 cents to the married mans dollar, which represents a gap that is nearly six times greater than that among never-married people. The effect of marriage on a womans earnings is made even more clear when looking at the gender wage gap for formerly married men and women. Women in this category earn just 83 percent of what formerly married men earn. So, even when a woman isnt currently married, if she has been, she will see her earnings reduced by 17 percent as compared with men in the same situation. The same team of economists cited above used the same pairing of LEHD data with long-form Census data to show exactly how marriage impacts the earnings of women in a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economics Research  (with Erling Barth, prolific Norwegian economist and a fellow at Harvard Law School,  as the first author, and without Claudia Goldin). First, they establish that much of the gender wage gap, or what they call the earnings gap, is created within organizations. Between 25 and 45 years of age, mens earnings within an organization climb more sharply than do those of women. This is true among both the college-educated and non-college educated populations, however, the effect is much more extreme among those with a college degree. Men with a college degree enjoy vast earnings growth within organizations while women with college degrees enjoy far less. In fact, their rate of earnings growth is less than that for men  without  college degrees, and by age 45 is slightly less than that of women without college degrees too. (Keep in mind that were talking about a rate of earnings growth here, not earnings themselves. College-educated women earn far more than women who do not have college degrees, but the rate at which earnings grow over the course of ones career is about the same for each group, regardless of education.) Because women earn less than men within organizations, when they change jobs and move to another organization, they do not see the same degree of salary bump- what Barth and his colleagues call an earnings premium- when taking the new job. This is especially true for married women and serves to further exacerbate the gender wage gap among this population. As it turns out, the rate of growth in the earnings premium is about the same for both married and never-married men as well as never-married women through the first five years of a persons career (The rate of growth for never-married women slows after that point.). However, compared to these groups, married women see very little growth in earnings premium over the span of two decades. In fact, it is not until married women are 45 years old that the rate of growth for their earnings premium matches what it was for all others between the ages of 27 and 28. This means that married women have to wait nearly two decades to see the same kind of earnings premium growth that other workers enjoy throughout their working career. Because of this, married women lose out on a significant amount of earnings relative to other workers. The Motherhood Penalty is the Real Driver of the Gender Wage Gap While marriage is bad for a womans earnings, research shows that it is childbirth that really exacerbates the gender wage gap and puts a significant dent in womens lifetime earnings relative to other workers. Married women who are also mothers are hardest hit by the gender wage gap, earning just 76 percent of what married fathers earn, according to Budig. Single mothers earn 86 to the single (custodial) fathers dollar; a fact which is in keeping with what Barth and his research team revealed about the negative impact of marriage on a womans earnings. In her research, Budig found that women on average suffer a wage penalty of four percent per childbirth during their careers. Budig found this after controlling for the effect on wages of differences in human capital, family structure, and family-friendly job characteristics. Troublingly, Budig also found that low-income women suffer a greater motherhood penalty of six percent per child. Backing up the sociological findings, Barth and his colleagues, because they were able to match long-form Census data to earnings data, concluded that most of the loss in earnings growth for married women (relative to married men) occurs concurrently with the arrival of children.† Yet, while women, especially married and low-income women suffer a motherhood penalty, most men who become fathers receive a fatherhood bonus. Budig, with her colleague Melissa Hodges, that men on average receive a six percent pay bump after becoming fathers. (They found this by analyzing data from the 1979-2006 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.) They also found that, just as the motherhood penalty disproportionately impact low-income women (therefore negatively targeting racial minorities), the fatherhood bonus disproportionately benefits white men- especially those with college degrees. Not only do these dual phenomena- the motherhood penalty and the fatherhood bonus- maintain and for many, widen the gender wage gap, they also work together to reproduce and worsen already existing structural inequalities that function on the basis of gender,  race, and level of education.

Marketing design Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Marketing design - Case Study Example Michael E. Porter suggests that businesses must search for a sustainable competitive advantage, which comes from developing a distinctive way of competing (Goett, 1999). As part of the marketing strategy for the oxygen bar, methods for setting it apart as a distinctive brand will be addressed. Population growth and changing demographics are examples of social trends that can have an effect on sales (Nickels et al, 2005). As part of a well-organised PESTLE analysis, the identification of external factors directly affecting the success of the oxygen bar has revealed several relevant issues that could positively impact its survival within the market. It might be argued that oxygen bars are a socio-cultural trend towards better health, as oxygen has been said to boost energy, heighten concentration, reduce stress and detoxify the blood (Davis, 2003). The actual effects of frequenting the oxygen bar are socially independent, meaning that those individuals who have used the bars have found different personal satisfactions regarding oxygen usefulness for health and well-being. However, understanding that oxygen bar popularity has been on the increase globally, similar external social factors towards better, healthy living might well impact a strong customer loyalty to the servic e. In the mid-term, it is possible that new developments in health-related, professional research might indicate a different social trend towards health initiatives, negating positive consumer perceptions of oxygen effectiveness. It might be argued that consumer preferences fluctuate periodically, however, an individual need only witness extensive literature available on UK health studies to visualise a growing trend in better health awareness. Therefore, in the mid-term, no dramatic fluctuations Oxygen Bar 4 in socio-cultural values regarding customer discontinuation of the oxygen bar concept are anticipated. Economic factors, in the short term, do not necessarily affect the ongoing success of the Andrews Adult School Oxygen Bar as the pricing structure for the service will be kept at competitive levels. Pricing will be discussed later in the analysis, but it has been determined that the bar will be maintained at an affordable level, allowing for a broader market to be targeted for bar advertisements. From a community perspective, the oxygen bar will open new job opportunities (especially for the campus student population) and might be accepted for its positive economic impact on the community. In the mid-term, assuming the oxygen bar maintains a level of business and profit success in the community, advancing economic impacts could include more job opportunities to staff the business due