Solar Power

Peter Maloney writes in his article, † Environmentalists Against Solar Power† that solar power projects are facing major scrutiny, not from the coal or oil industry, but from environmentalists. Maloney says that Southern California is pushing for solar power in the desert cause the amount of sunlight with virtually no clouds, â€Å"but its also the home to the Mojave ground squirrel, the desert tortoise and the burrowing owl, and to human residents†. Maloney also states that the US Bureau of Land Management says that it had applications submitted for solar power that would cover 78,490 acres in the desert. For the entire US, the number of applications grew from zero two years ago to more than 125 with enouch potential electrical power of 70,000 megawatts or the equivalent to 70 large coal plants. The rush to try and get this land is caused by a California Law that calls for 20 percent of the state's electricity must come from renewable resources by 2010. Jim Harvey, who is the founder of the Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy, is quoted by Maloney saying, † Our position is that none of this is needed. We support renewable energy, and we support California's renewable energy targets, but we think it can be done through rooftop solar†. Harvey also pointed out the success that Germany was having by using rooftop solar panels. The way it works is that the government offers payments for electricity generated from solar panels. The payment is roughly 50 cents per kilowatt hour. The average payment in the US in 11 cents per kilowatt hour, but the payments would not be as high as the German payments here. Maloney goes on to say not only would the solar panels destroy habitats, it would run the deserts small water supply, as it is, even more scarce. The mirror and solar panels would have to be washed, and some panels use turbines which would require more water. Terry Frewin, chairman of the Sierra Club's California/Nevada desert commitee, says that † solar panels destroy all natice resources on site, and have indirect and irreversible impacts on surrounding wilderness†. At the current rate of adding 200 megawatts of rooftop solar panels a year, it would take â€Å"100 years to meet the 20 percent renewable [target set] by California†. The first major debate over a large solar power project was over the 250 acres of land, which was on the outskirts of Victorville, California, on the western side of the Mojave that was gonna be used for the solar panels. Inland hired people to look for the endangered ground squirrel and desert tortoise. No squirrels were found but some tortoises were, so the Inland, cmpany building the panels, said for every acre of lost habitat they would buy one acre of land to offset it. Although it would cost some â€Å"6.5 million to 10 million dollars† to buy the offsetting acreage. Solar Power Peter Maloney writes in his article, † Environmentalists Against Solar Power† that solar power projects are facing major scrutiny, not from the coal or oil industry, but from environmentalists. Maloney says that Southern California is pushing for solar power in the desert cause the amount of sunlight with virtually no clouds, â€Å"but its also the home to the Mojave ground squirrel, the desert tortoise and the burrowing owl, and to human residents†. Maloney also states that the US Bureau of Land Management says that it had applications submitted for solar power that would cover 78,490 acres in the desert. For the entire US, the number of applications grew from zero two years ago to more than 125 with enouch potential electrical power of 70,000 megawatts or the equivalent to 70 large coal plants. The rush to try and get this land is caused by a California Law that calls for 20 percent of the state's electricity must come from renewable resources by 2010. Jim Harvey, who is the founder of the Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy, is quoted by Maloney saying, † Our position is that none of this is needed. We support renewable energy, and we support California's renewable energy targets, but we think it can be done through rooftop solar†. Harvey also pointed out the success that Germany was having by using rooftop solar panels. The way it works is that the government offers payments for electricity generated from solar panels. The payment is roughly 50 cents per kilowatt hour. The average payment in the US in 11 cents per kilowatt hour, but the payments would not be as high as the German payments here. Maloney goes on to say not only would the solar panels destroy habitats, it would run the deserts small water supply, as it is, even more scarce. The mirror and solar panels would have to be washed, and some panels use turbines which would require more water. Terry Frewin, chairman of the Sierra Club's California/Nevada desert commitee, says that † solar panels destroy all natice resources on site, and have indirect and irreversible impacts on surrounding wilderness†. At the current rate of adding 200 megawatts of rooftop solar panels a year, it would take â€Å"100 years to meet the 20 percent renewable [target set] by California†. The first major debate over a large solar power project was over the 250 acres of land, which was on the outskirts of Victorville, California, on the western side of the Mojave that was gonna be used for the solar panels. Inland hired people to look for the endangered ground squirrel and desert tortoise. No squirrels were found but some tortoises were, so the Inland, cmpany building the panels, said for every acre of lost habitat they would buy one acre of land to offset it. Although it would cost some â€Å"6.5 million to 10 million dollars† to buy the offsetting acreage.

Leisure Essay Essay

Almost everyone has some kind of leisure time whether it is a couple hours or a couple days. What varies is the type of recreational activities people choose to do during that time. Although leisure and recreation is chosen based on ones unique individual interests, there are many sociocultural factors that influence the type of recreational activities we do, when we do it and how often we do it. These factors include political, religious, social, biological and many others. The sociocultural factor that is most dominant in influencing my leisure and recreation is the environmental factor. Environmental factors that influence my leisure include the locality or area that I live in, the weather/climate, and also the family culture I was raised in. These factors facilitate the leisure activities I am able to do and constrain certain activities as well. The economic factor also has some influence on my leisure and recreation. I find interest in many recreational activities but these factors have great influence on the activities I can do. When constructing my seven day time map, there were a lot of general patterns that I noticed in terms of when I do my daily activities. First of all, working out in the gym was one of my most regular recreational activities. I worked out at around the same time every afternoon, right after my morning university classes. On some occasions, after my work out, I played basketball and that was the only other physical activity I engaged in. Moreover, a lot of my leisure was used socializing at home with my family and watching movies with them. Other activities I did in my leisure was watch television, check my social media messages to keep in touch with friends, and watch games and highlights of the sports I follow. These are all indoor leisure activities which I have easy access too. In my time map some activities were ambivalent as to whether they were considered leisure or not. For example there are countless periods throughout the week where I engage in prayer. I do not deem this activity leisure because it is considered a religious duty or responsibility. Although my time map has periods of leisure, overall there is not much time for leisure and recreation as majority of my time is sacrificed for school. To sum up, my time map shows that many of my recreational activities are molded in distinct ways instead of being placed at random, which shows that there are many factors that influence my leisure. An environmental factor that has a big influence in constraining my leisure is Toronto’s cold climate. Before I came to Canada, majority of my recreation consisted of playing outdoor sports such as cricket and soccer. I no longer play those sports as the weather is too cold and unsuitable for those outdoor activities. One thing to note is that in Canada, encouragement for children to play sports is lacking and there has been a trend showing fewer and fewer children participating in sport since the 1990s (http://publications. gc. ca/collections/Collection/CH24-1-2000-1E. pdf? ). It could be possible that growing up in that kind of environment as a child influenced the lack of importance I give to sport during my leisure time. Many immigrants who come to Canada have to adapt and change their way of life, including what they do in their recreation (Khandor, 2011). Most newcomers slowly start assimilating to the sports that are popular in Toronto (Khandor, 2011). In Parissa Safai’s lecture on newcomers, she stated that the more younger the immigrant is when they arrive to Canada, the more easily they assimilate to Canada’s sport culture. When I came to Canada I slowly started playing basketball more and more every year because that was the best way for me to make friends and fit in to the new environment. Furthermore, during the winter months, basketball was the only sport I had access too because there were indoor courts available. These environmental factors inclined me to choose basketball as my main recreation in terms of competitive sport and now it is one of my favorite sports. It was hard for me to engage in my previous recreational activities because nobody enjoyed playing soccer or cricket. This constrained my choices in terms of what kind of recreational activities I wanted to do. Another factor that separated me from playing sports such as soccer and cricket were economic factors. During the winter season, the only way I could play these sports was if I joined the indoor leagues but these leagues were quite expensive. Coming from a middle class family, these extra expenses were hard to manage and sustain. Soon it became too much and so I had to quit and find other recreational activities to do in my leisure. Due to these various sociocultural factors, my involvement in certain sports was severely hampered while other sports such as basketball were immensely facilitated. Another environmental factor that really controls when I do my leisure is the area or locality where I live. I do not live in a prestigious area and thus there are many things lacking such as recreation centers and gyms. Your built environment influences how physically active you are because you are more likely engage in healthy recreational activities if they are close and easily accessible to you (Handy, Susan et al, 2002). As Professor Humana discussed in his lecture, your environment and community plays a big role in what kind of recreational activities you do and how frequently you do them. The closest gym to me is on my university campus, almost one hour away and the membership is also cheap. As a result, I tend to always do my weightlifting workout right after my morning university classes as shown on my time map. I know that if I commute home right after class instead of going to the campus gym, it becomes a lot more difficult to achieve that recreation later on. Waiting in the cold and taking the bus for one hour just to workout is a lot more unappealing and thus would drive me away from engaging in this recreational activity. Because I am already on campus, I realize naturally that it is my only chance to go to the gym and workout as there is no recreational facility around where I live. This space and environment factor encourages and facilitates me to take part in this recreational activity at that specific time. In addition, I have a close friend who also goes to the gym at around the same time and we always workout together. Whenever I go to the gym with him, workouts are done more efficiently and competently because we always motivate one another and push each other to the limit. Being in an environment where the workout is intense and done thoroughly gives me added incentive to go to the gym at that specific time. On top of that, I enjoy being in an environment where I am doing recreation with a friend as opposed to doing it by myself. These environmental factors, especially the locality/area factor, manipulate when I choose to do this type of leisure and facilitate how frequent I am in doing it. A good amount of my leisure time comprises of spending time with my family at home, whether it is watching a movie with them or just socializing. This recreational activity has a lot to do with the family environment I was raised in. Asian cultures tend to put a big emphasis on family obligation and having positive family relationships (Fuligni, Tseng, and Lam, 1999). In these cultures, a person’s value in society is measured by how strong their family bond, including their distant relatives (Fuligni, Tseng, and Lam, 1999). In my family culture, spending time with your family is important as it shows good etiquette and respect. Whenever my parents have leisure time they always spend it doing something with the family as opposed to going out with their friends or doing something on their own. My father has always had a tradition of bringing home movies for the whole family to watch together on the weekend. This gave me a family-first mentality so whenever I get leisure time, they are my first priority. As a child I have always seen this positive family atmosphere so it is natural for me to spend my leisure time with them. All in all, choosing to spend my leisure with my family is greatly facilitated by the environment I grew up in. One aspect of my recreation that is severely prevented because of environmental factors is the opportunities I get to socialize and go out with my friends. All my friends live out of walking distance from me so it takes quite a bit of travel to reach their places. The cold, winter environment makes it even more difficult for me to meet up with them and vice versa. Other environmental factors such as buses taking so long to arrive also make it hard to socialize or go out with anybody. Furthermore, there is a lot of construction around the area where I live and thus it is a long walk before I can get to any kind of transportation. In developing neighborhoods and areas the built environment are poorly constructed and thus there is minimal transport or transport is hard to access (Handy, Susan et al, 2002). The freezing winter weather, along with all these other factors really constrains my ability to socialize with my friends and go out. The only times I am able to socialize with my friends are if we meet up right after our university classes. In addition, sometimes economical factors also constrain my ability to socialize with my friends. Often times when my friends want to go out, the leisure activity requires a lot of money. Some examples include going to the movies, fancy restaurants, buffets, skiing and many more. I do not have a job and my parents do not think it is necessary to be spending so much money on leisure and recreational activities. As a result of all these many factors, I am restrained from going out with my friends and thus they are rarely part of my leisure activities. A big part of my leisure and recreation includes going on the internet. This includes all the social media sites such as twitter, facebook, skype and many others. Furthermore, it includes the various sports web sites I go on to see the highlights and get updated with the latest scores. Surfing the internet is a type of recreation that almost every student is familiar with. The amount of students that spend time on the internet has gone up at an exponential rate over the past five years (Aguiar, 2006). I believe there are many factors that lead me and many others to use our leisure time surfing the internet. Firstly, we live in an environment where the internet is accessible almost anywhere you go. You can access it through your cell phone, laptop or computer. Also, I do not live close to any of my friends and it is difficult to meet up with them in such cold weather conditions. In a way, this gives me incentive to go on these various social media sites so I can keep in touch with my friends and stay updated. In fact, statistical analysis shows that social media is by far the most popular sites that students visit on the internet (http://nces. ed. gov/pubs2006/2006065. pdf). I also use the internet to stay updated with my favorite sports. During the school year there is not enough leisure time to sit down for hours and watch sports games. With the internet available almost all the time, you can find out the score and watch quick highlights so you can still have some leisure in a work filled day. On the whole, with the cold winter environment keeping me indoors majority of the time, there is a lot more incentive for me to use an indoor activity such as the internet, during my leisure time. The cold weather climate also has influence on the remaining leisure activities I part take in. These activities include watching television, listening to music or just relaxing on my bed. What all these activities have in common are that they are indoor activities and easy to access. Of all the environmental factors, the climate had the greatest affect on my leisure. Although leisure and recreation may seem to be things that are done with a lot of freedom and agency, that is not the case. There are many hidden factors and circumstances that dictate what type of recreational activities you take part in and when your leisure time occurs. Because I was born outside of Canada, in a hot and humid country, I feel that environmental factors had the biggest and most glaring affect on my leisure and recreation. The patterns and frequencies of my leisure activities made me reflect on what factors facilitated some of my recreation. My inability to take part in some of the leisure activities I liked, showed me the factors that constrict some of my recreation. In conclusion, I learned that although we choose the type of leisure and recreation we participate in and enjoy, that too is influence by certain factors. References Aguiar, M.(2006). Measuring trends in leisure: The allocation of time over five decades. Cambridge, Massachusetts: National Bureau of Economic Research. http://www. nber. org. ezproxy. library. yorku. ca/papers/w12082 Culture Statistics Program. 1998. Sport Participation in Canada. Statistics Canada. http://publications. gc. ca/collections/Collection/CH24-1-2000-1E. pdf? Fuligni, A. J. , Tseng, V. and Lam, M. (1999), Attitudes toward Family Obligations among American Adolescents with Asian, Latin American, and European Backgrounds. Child Development, 70(4), 1030–1044. doi: 10. 1111/1467-8624. 00075. Handy, S. L. , Boarnet, M. G. , Ewing, R. , & Killingsworth, R. E. (2002). How the built environment affects physical activity. American journal of preventive medicine, 23(2), 64-73. Khandor, E. (2011). The global city: Newcomer health in toronto. [Ebrary version]. Toronto Ontario: Toronto Public Health : Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services. http://celarc. ca. ezproxy. library. yorku. ca/cppc/232/232994. pdf MARCIVE-York University. 9/21/2006. Computer and internet use by students in 2003: statistical analysis report. http://nces. ed. gov/pubs2006/2006065. pdf.

Drug Abuse Prevention Essay

The term drug abuse most often refers to the use of a drug with such frequency that it causes physical or mental harm to the user or impairs social functioning. Although the term seems to imply that users abuse the drugs they take, in fact, it is themselves or others they abuse by using drugs. Traditionally, the term drug abuse referred to the use of any drug prohibited by law, regardless of whether it was actually harmful or not. This meant that any use of marijuana, for example, even if it occurred only once in a while, would constitute abuse, while the same level of alcohol consumption would not. In 1973 the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse declared that this definition was illogical. The term abuse, the commission stated, â€Å"has no functional utility and has become no more than an arbitrary code word for that drug presently considered wrong.† As a result, this definition fell into disuse. The term drug is commonly associated with substances that may be purchased legally by prescription for medical use, such as penicillin, which is almost never abused, and Valium, which is frequently abused, or illegal substances, such as angel dust, which are taken for the purpose of getting high, or intoxicated, but actually have no medical use. Other substances that may be purchased legally and are commonly abused include alcohol (see alcoholism) and nicotine, contained in tobacco cigarettes. In addition, in recent years, chemists working in illegal, clandestine laboratories have developed new chemicals that have been used for the purpose of getting high. (These are called â€Å"designer drugs†.) All of these substances are psychoactive. Such substancesÑlegal and illegalÑinfluence or alter the workings of the mind; they affect moods, emotions, feelings, and thinking processes. Drug Dependence Drug abuse must be distinguished from drug dependence. Drug dependence, formerly called drug addiction, is defined by three basic characteristics. First, users continue to take a drug over an extended period of time. Just how long this period is depends on the drug and the user. Second, users find it difficult to stop using the drug. They seem powerless to quit. Users take extraordinary and often harmful measures to continue using the drug. How dependency-producing a drug is can be measured by how much users go through to continue taking it. Third, if users stop taking their drugÑif their supply of the drug is cut off, or if they are forced to quit for any reasonÑthey will undergo painful physical or mental distress. The experience of withdrawal symptoms distress, called the withdrawal syndrome, is a sure sign that a drug is dependency-producing and that a given user is dependent on a particular drug. Drug dependence may lead to drug abuseÑespecially of illegal drugs. Psychoactive, or mind-altering, substances are found the world over. The coca plant grows in the Andes of South America and contains 1 to 2 percent cocaine. The marijuana plant, Cannabis sativa, contains a group of chemicals called tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. This plant grows wild in most countries, including the United States. The opium poppy is the source for opium, morphine, heroin, and codeine. It grows in the Middle East and the Far East. Hallucinogens (such as LSD), the amphetamines (speed), and sedatives, such as methaqualone (Quaalude, or ludes) and barbiturates, are manufactured in clandestine laboratories worldwide. As a result, psychoactive drugs are used for the purpose of intoxication practically everywhere (see drug trafficking). Classification of Psychoactive Drugs Pharmacologists, who study the effects of drugs, classify psychoactive drugs according to what they do to those who take them. Drugs that speed up signals passing through the nervous system, which is made up of the brain and spinal cord, and produce alertness and arousal and, in higher doses, excitability, and inhibit fatigue and sleep, are called stimulants. They include the amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine, and nicotine. Drugs that retard, slow down, or depress signals passing through the central nervous system and produce relaxation, a lowering of anxiety, and, at higher doses, drowsiness and sleep, are called depressants. They include sedatives, such as barbiturates, methaqualone, and alcohol, and tranquilizers, such as  Valium. Constituting one distinct kind of depressants are those which dull the mind’s perception of pain and in medicine are used as painkillers, or analgesics. These drugs are called narcotics. They include heroin, morphine, opium, and codeine. In addition to their painkilling properties, these depressants also produce a strong high and are intensely dependency-producing. Some drugs cannot be placed neatly in this stimulant-depressant spectrum. Hallucinogens include LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. Such drugs produce unusual mental states, such as psychedelic visions. Marijuana is generally regarded as not belonging to any of these categories but as a drug type unto itself. History of Drug Abuse in the United States During the 19th century there were virtually no controls on the importation, sale, purchase, possession, or use of psychoactive drugs at the federal level and very few at the state level. Dangerous substances such as opium, cocaine, and morphine were basic ingredients in patent medicines that could be purchased by anyone for any reason, without a prescription. These nostrums were used to cure headaches, toothaches, depression, nervousness, alcoholism, menstrual crampsÑin fact, practically every human ailment. As a result of the ready availability of addicting drugs, and as a result of their heavy use for medical problems, many individuals became addicted to the narcotics contained in these patent medicines. In fact, in 1900, there were more narcotics addicts, proportionate to the population, than there are today. At that time, most of the users who became addicts were medical addicts. Very few abusers took drugs for â€Å"recreational† purposes. In 1914, in an effort to curb the indiscriminate use of narcotics, the federal government passed the Harrison Act, making it illegal to obtain a narcotic drug without a prescription. During the 1920s the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that maintaining addicts on narcotic drugs, even by prescription, was in violation of the Harrison Act. Approximately 30,000 physicians were arrested during this period for dispensing narcotics, and some 3,000 actually served prison sentences. Consequently, doctors all but abandoned the treatment of addicts for nearly half a century in the United States. The use of narcotic drugs dropped sharply in the United States between the 1920s, when there were as many as half a million addicts, and 1945, when the addict population was roughly 40,000 to 50,000. The recreational use of other drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, stimulants, hallucinogens, and sedatives, which are used so frequently today, also remained at extremely low levels during this period. The 1960s, however, was a watershed decade. The widening use of illegal drugs accompanied increased tolerance for a wide range of unconventional behavior. The period saw the growth of movements that stood in opposition to the Vietnam War and to mainstream American culture, the coming into popularity of rock music, and enormous publicity devoted to drugs, their users and proselytizers. During this time some social groups viewed drug use in positive terms and believed it a virtue to â€Å"turn on† someone who did not use drugs. Although media attention to drugs and drug use declined between the late 1960s and late 1970s, the use of drugs did not. The late 1970s and 1980s represent another turning point in the recreational use of marijuana, hallucinogens, sedatives, and amphetamines. Studies show a large drop in the use of most drug types through the 1980s, but a significant increase since 1990. The 1980s witnessed the development of a new form of an old drug (crack), the widespread use of a drug that was not previously taken on a recreational basis (â€Å"Ecstasy,† or MDMA), and the resurgence of a drug that was widely abused in the 1960s but then fell into disuse for a time (methamphetamine, or â€Å"ice†). Crack is a smokable derivative of cocaine that began to be used on a widespread basis starting in 1985; heavily abused in the inner cities in the late 1980s, it has since fallen off in use. Chemically related to amphetamines, MDMA was developed early in the 20th century as an appetite suppressant; it is not easily classified, although most observers regard it as a hallucinogen. In the 1980s it had a brief vogue among college students, intellectuals, and psychiatric patients seeking spiritual and therapeutic insight; its use has declined into the 1990s. Methamphetamine had a brief run among â€Å"speed freaks† in the late 1960s, who took huge intravenous doses on a compulsive, addicting basis. In 1989 â€Å"ice† emerged on the West Coast as  a drug of choice. Its use has been far greater in some areas than others, and no national epidemic of methamphetamine abuse has developed. Patterns of Drug Use The illegal use of psychoactive drugs is extensive in the United States. Some 78 million Americans age 12 and over have tried at least one or more prohibited drugs for the purpose of getting high. The illegal drug trade represents an enormous economic enterprise, with annual gross sales estimated to be $40 to $100 billionÑmore than the total net sales of the largest U.S. corporation. About 60 percent of the illegal drugs sold worldwide end up in the United States. By far the most commonly used illegal drug is marijuana. Roughly half of the total of all illegal drug use involves marijuana alone. There was a substantial decline in all measures or levels of marijuana use throughout the 1980s. In 1979, 31% of 12-to-17-year-olds and 68% of 18-to-25-year-olds had at least tried marijuana; by 1990 the comparable figures had shrunk to 15% and 52%. Since 1990 the use of marijuana has risen significantly, especially among schoolchildren. In 1990, 27% of high school seniors had used marijuana during the past year, while in 1996 this was 36 percent; the rise among eighth- and tenth-graders was even sharper. Cocaine is the second most commonly used illegal drug in the United States. In 1995 there were roughly 1.5 million monthly or more cocaine users in the United States, a decline from 5.7 million in 1985. Heroin is less widely used, but it has been used at least once by roughly one American in 100. Most people who have taken illegal drugs have done so on an experimental basis. They typically try the drug once to a dozen times and then cease using it. Of all illegal drugs, marijuana is the one users are most likely to continue using. Discontinuation rates are very high for drugs such as methaqualone, sedatives, barbiturates, heroin, and LSD. Even most regular users of illegal drugs are moderate in their use. The typical regular marijuana smoker is an occasional user. Still, a sizable minority does use the drug frequently, to the point of abuse. In 1996 about 5% of all high  school seniors used marijuana daily or nearly daily (20 or more times in 30 days). A pattern of episodic, regular use characterizes nearly all drug use for the purpose of recreation. This does not deny the problem of the heavy, chronic abuser of these drugs. Drug Law Enforcement In 1970 the Congress of the United States passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (Drug Control Act). Most of the states followed suit, basing their state legislation on the federal model. The Drug Control Act distinguishes among several categories of drugs based on their supposed abuse potential and medical utility. Drugs that supposedly have a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use, including heroin, LSD and the other hallucinogens, and marijuana, may be used legally only in federally approved scientific research. In roughly half of the states, marijuana has been approved for medical use, but it remains illegal by federal law. In practice, the criminal justice system distinguishes between â€Å"hard† and â€Å"soft† drugs; it is unlikely that a first-time offender arrested for small-quantity marijuana possession will ever serve a prison sentence. Drugs such as morphine, cocaine, the amphetamines, and short-acting barbiturates are also regarded as having great abuse potential, even though they have accepted uses in medicine. Rigid prescription procedures maintain extremely tight controls over use. Drugs such as long-acting barbiturates and nonnarcotic painkillers are considered to have a lesser abuse potential, although they may lead to low physical dependence or high psychological dependence. These drugs have more relaxed controls, as do tranquilizers, and are classified as having low abuse potential. There has been a notable drop in the number of prescriptions written for psychoactive drugs that were most often abused in the 1960s and early 1970s. By the mid-1990s the number of prescriptions written for barbiturates and the amphetamines was one-tenth of what it was in 1970. Many other countries have also placed severe restrictions on the prescribing of drugs by doctors and have thus greatly reduced the frequency of their abuse. Restricting psychoactive pharmaceuticals brought about a reduction in the number of legal prescriptions written for them. A decline in the illegal street use of these same drugs lagged a few years behind the decline in legal prescriptions. In 1975, 11% of high school seniors said that they had taken barbiturates for nonmedical purposes during the previous year; in 1996, that figure was 5%. For methaqualone, completely outlawed in 1985, the comparable figures were 5% and 1%. The illegal use of amphetamine in the mid-1990s is half of what it was in the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, many forms of nonmedical drug use among the young have risen since the early 1990s. The demand for drugs for illegal purposes remains high despite law-enforcement efforts. In 1996 there were about 1.5 million arrests on drug violations in the United States; drug arrests have nearly doubled over the past decade. Each year there are roughly 300,000 arrests on marijuana charges, and nearly 80% are for simple possession. The risk of arrest does not deter substantial numbers of Americans from selling and using illegal drugs. Treatment From the 1920s until the 1960s treatment for drug abuse in the United States was practically nonexistent. Following the enforcement of the Harrison Act during the 1920s, few physicians were willing to treat addicts. During the 1930s two Public Health Service prison hospitals were opened, but their patients had a relapse rate of roughly 80%; during the 1970s the federal government closed them down. Since the 1920s the primary treatment program for most addicts has been no treatment at all; until recently, arrest has simply resulted in incarceration and therefore forcible detoxification. The dramatic explosion in the use and abuse of a number of illegal drugs during the 1960s demonstrated the weakness of this approach. As a result, a range of treatment programs, developed largely in the 1960s, have been widely used. Methadone is an addictive synthetic narcotic used to combat narcotic addiction. A hospital or a clinic administers the drug, usually dissolved in  artificial orange juice drink. Taken this way, the addict does not get high. Methadone blocks the action of narcotics so that addicts cannot become high, even if they were to inject heroin. According to the program’s rationale, addicts will then stop taking heroin. Although patients remain addicted to methadone, they can live a normal life, since the drug supply is steady and secure. Plus, they are no longer exposed to health risks like AIDS and hepatitis from shared needles used for injecting drugs. Because the program is inexpensive to administer, methadone has become a very popular form of treatment; roughly 100,000 narcotic addicts in the United States are treated in this program. The drug naltrexone has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating alcoholism and heroin addiction, in concert with an appropriate counseling program. Naltrexone reduces cravings for alcohol and heroin, thereby decreasing relapse rates. Therapeutic communities (TCs), such as Daytop Village in New York and Walden House in San Francisco, advocate a completely drug- and alcohol-free existence. Addicts live in the therapeutic communities, and many of the administrators are ex-addicts, who can best understand the addict residents. The view of all TCs is that the addict uses drugs as a crutch. TCs attempt to resocialize the addict by inculcating a value system that is the opposite of what prevailed on the street. Discipline in therapeutic communities is strict, penalties for breaking rules are severe, peer pressure is unrelenting, and the program benevolently dictatorial. Because of the strictness, many residents leave against the advice, and without the permission, of the staff. TCs seem to be effective for a limited segment of the addict populationÑthose who are young, middle-class, and highly motivated to quit drugs. The programs are expensive to administer; there are far fewer patients in them than in methadone-maintenance programs. The Legalization Debate In the 1990s there has been a strong call among some experts, politicians, judges, and government officials for the removal of all criminal penalties  for the sale, possession, and use of illegal drugs. This development has taken place at a time when public opposition to such a policy has actually grown. The legalization or decriminalization program rests on three assumptions: drug abuse will not rise significantly under legalization; these illegal drugs are less harmful than the legal drugs alcohol and tobacco and are less harmful than generally believed; and the current policy of arresting and imprisoning for drug possession and sale does more harm than good. No one can know for sure whether drug use and abuse will rise, fall, or remain stable under legalization. In nine U.S. states and in the Netherlands, where small-quantity marijuana possession has been partially decriminalized, there has been no sharp rise in the use of this drug. Evidence suggests, however, that criminalization of some drugs has produced lower use and abuse, and that legalization, if accompanied by lower cost and ready availability, might result in a significant rise in use and abuse. For example, legal controls on certain prescription drugs has been followed by a decline in their illegal street use. In addition, the continuance rates of the legal drugs alcohol and tobacco are strikingly higher than for illegal drugs. For the most part, the use of the illegal drugs tends to be more sporadic and occasional, and more likely to be given up, than the use of legal drugs. In the United States, outlawing the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 21 has produced a significant decline in its use, as well as in the number of alcohol-related fatalities in this age group. Many current users, abusers, and addicts state that they would take drugs more frequently if drugs were legalized and readily available. And contrary to the stereotype, evidence suggests that, during prohibition (1920-33), alcohol consumption dropped significantly. There is much information to indicate that the abuse of drugs might very well rise under a policy of legalization or decriminalization. The prolegalization groups are almost certainly right that crime and certain medical maladies among drug abusers would decline if drugs were legalized. Perhaps a â€Å"third path† somewhere between the current punitive policy and  full legalization would be most effective. Needle exchange programs have cut down on drug-related AIDS transmission in Liverpool, England. The Dutch policy of de facto decriminalization for marijuana and hashish has not resulted in a rise in use or abuse. Perhaps the guiding policy on drug use ought to be on harm reduction rather than waging a war on drug abuse. Some aspects of this policy should include a flexible or selective enforcement, vastly expanding drug treatment programs, needle exchange programs, a distinction between â€Å"hard† (cocaine and heroin) and â€Å"soft† drugs (marijuana), expanding antidrug educational efforts, and focusing on reducing the use and abuse of tobacco and alcohol. The first priority should be to make sure that the users and abusers harm themselves and others as little as possible.

DEFINITIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DEFINITIONS - Essay Example 10. Professional ethics – these are the standard of behavior of a specific professional community. These are the expected behaviors they need to uphold and this sets the boundaries and limitations of what they can and cannot do. 11. Religion – a belief system that becomes the basis or standards of ethics and morality of a community. It is an organized behavior that establishes the values and principles of spirituality. It involves rituals, code of ethics and a certain philosophy of life, and even death. 12. Salvation – it is the event by which an individual is saved from an undesirable situation such as bondage or suffering of the soul. For Christianity, it is the redemption from sin. It is one of the many beliefs of various religions, the goal of their belief system. 14. World Religions – there are many religions all over the world. The largest and most well-known are the following: Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism. There are other smaller religious communities coming from these major world religions. 16. Ethics – it determines the differences between the right and wrong behavior. It is the basis for one’s actions and decisions. Ethics clarifies the standards and values by which one should live

The Chemistry of Biodiesel Production Term Paper

The Chemistry of Biodiesel Production - Term Paper Example Biodiesel is one such form of hydrocarbon based fuels. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines biodiesel fuel as monoalkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from a renewable lipid feedstock, such as vegetable oil or animal fat (Zhang et al. 1). It is made by chemically combining any natural oil, fat or recycled grease with a suitable alcohol in the presence of a catalyst. The general equation that can be used to predict the amount of biodiesel that will be made from fats and oils is as shown: 100 pounds of oil + 10 pounds of methanol > 100 pounds of biodiesel + 10 pounds of glycerol Biodiesel can be used as neat (B 100) or in a blend with petroleum diesel for example a blend of 20 % biodiesel with 80 % petro-diesel by volume, is termed â€Å"B 20† (van Gerpen et al. 22). ... The Biox process involves the use of a co-solvent, tetrahydrofuran (THF), to solubilize the methanol. THF enhances solubility of the alcohol in the triglyceride phase and thus hastens the otherwise slow reaction (van Gerpen et al. 38). With THF the reaction takes 5 to 10 minutes at a low temperature of 30 °C. On the other hand, in the supercritical process a high alcohol to oil ratio (42:1) mixture is subjected to supercritical conditions – temperatures of 350 – 400  °C and pressures of 1200 pounds per square inch and above. So far, the huge capital and operating costs incurred in performing the supercritical reactions have made scaling up of this process to be quite difficult (van Gerpen et al. 40). The most common way to produce biodiesel is through transesterification. Transesterification refers to a catalyzed chemical reaction involving vegetable oil and an alcohol to yield fatty acid alkyl esters (which is the biodiesel) and glycerol. Catalyzed processes ca n be further subdivided into three major processes: acid catalyzed processes, alkali catalyzed processes and enzyme catalyzed processes (Zhang et al. 2). The alkali catalyzed process involves use of a basic catalyst such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide whereas the acid catalyzed process involves the use of an acid such as sulfuric, phosphoric, hydrochloric, or organic sulfonic acids as the catalyst. In enzyme catalyzed processes, lipases are used to catalyze transesterification in either aqueous or non-aqueous systems. Acid catalyzed and alkali catalyzed processes are the ones that continue to receive the most attention largely because the production of enzymes is significantly costly and their reactions remarkably slower (Zhang et al. 2). As mentioned previously,

End of Cold War and Collapse of Soviet Union Essay

End of Cold War and Collapse of Soviet Union - Essay Example e 1980s in order to determine why the Soviet Union left Eastern Europe and the extent to which Gorbachev can be held responsible for the subsequent collapse of communism. Though the reasons for the collapse of communism in the CEE countries are numerous, Gorbachev is at the heart of the said event. Historians have examined the dramatic end of the Cold War almost since the day the Berlin Wall came crashing down. Some, most notably Karen Dawisha, predicted the event earlier. She released her book Eastern Europe, Gorbachev, and Reform in 1988, and understood that Gorbachev knew the regimes in Eastern Europe were illegitimate, placed in power by the Soviet Union on the coattails of the Red Army's entrance into the area during the closing days of World War II.2 However, she argued that if Gorbachev was serious in his intentions concerning noninterference in the affairs of sovereign states, then Eastern Europe would likely soon break away from the Soviet grasp and attempt to move west.3 Charles Gati theorized in his important work The Bloc that Failed: Soviet-East European Relations in Transition, that the Soviet Union lost control of Eastern Europe due to an extraordinary domestic crisis which consumed their attention and resources.4 Moreover, The Warsaw Pact was an ineffective mec hanism for collective security, according to Gati, since its member states each had different perceived enemies, oftentimes another member of the Warsaw Pact.5 Joseph Rothschild stated that the stability of Eastern Europe depended directly on the economic performance of the country in question.6 By the time Gorbachev came to power, he realized that a serious overhaul of the system was necessary due to the flagging economies of the Eastern Europe satellite states, in crisis before but never this severely. Like Charles Gati, Rothschild stated that by the 1980s, Eastern Europe had broken out of the conformist mold placed on it after World War II by Joseph Stalin, and each country began to pursue its own different interests.7 Thus the "Soviet bloc" was a collection of different states each moving in its own direction; Gorbachev had very limited choices, and ultimately let them Return to Diversity. These views hold to the tenet that the breakup of the Soviet bloc was due to internal fact ors in the countries of Eastern Europe.8 Other authors have studied the internal demise of the Soviet Union, placing the emphasis on themes ranging from the nationalities problem to incorrect decisions by the General Secretary. Helene Carrere d' Encausse examined the former in her work The End of the Soviet Empire, in which she chronicled the difficulty of governing an empire

Application Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Application - Assignment Example Objective examination of the mentioned variables seeks to establish a relationship between the factors influencing teacher-student communication within a learning environment. The research article subscribes to the fact that student nonverbal responses are a desirable behavior among teachers in a college context (Malachowski and Martin 142). It acknowledges that all students will not engage in constructive communication through verbal means. In this regard, there is a need to understand how teachers can effectively use nonverbal communication in sourcing desired information from students. B. Theoretical Background Numerous studies suggest that students’ nonverbal responses influence a teacher’s degree of self-efficacy and job satisfaction. In addition, students respond differently to classroom instructions based on their perception on the instructing teacher (Malachowski and Martin 143). In this context, it is inherent to acknowledge the element of nonverbal immediacy d epicted by a teacher within a class room. Previous studies show that nonverbal immediacy influences students’ willingness to comply with a teacher’s instructions. On the other hand, the aspect of communication apprehension affects effectiveness of communication between teachers and students in college classrooms. High levels of Communication Apprehension, which involves an exaggerated sense of fear and anxiety, act as a negative influence on a teacher’s communications. Subsequently, students experiences discomfort and dissatisfaction whenever their teacher elicits substantial degrees of communication apprehension (Malachowski and Martin 143). Thorough evaluation of these variables within teacher population suggests existence of a relationship between them and the students’ nonverbal responses. In this regard, it is worth establishing an objective and reliable relationship between the variables mentioned above. Therefore, this research article provides a d etailed analysis on the quantitative nature of relevant variables within a learning setting. II. Description of Research Results a) Nonverbal Immediacy The entire study inclines towards hypothesis containing paired variables regarding teacher’s perception on students’ nonverbal responses, and their individual patterns in nonverbal communication. On the aspect of nonverbal immediacy, results depict a positive relationship between instructor’s perception on nonverbal immediacy and their perception on students’ nonverbal responsiveness. Quantitative analysis of the variables yields a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.56 (Malachowski and Martin 146). Theoretical knowledge ascertains that nonverbal immediacy influences the physical and psychological distance between communicating parties. In learning, instructors displaying minimum physical and emotional contact with their students receive more and objective attention compared to those eliciting behavioral arousal and attention among students. b) Confirmation Behaviors The second hypothesis relates the variable of confirming behaviors and the instructor’s perception on students’ nonverbal responses. Quantitative analysis yields a Pearson coefficient of 0.33, which suggests existence of a positive relationship between the two variables. Confirmation behaviors refer to instructor’s perception on students’ perception concerning their resourcefulness, significance and acknowledgement within a classroom. The relation coefficie

Team Work Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Team Work - Term Paper Example 6. Sublease unused hospital medical equipment when not in use 7. Create a website that will provide all software for students, professionals, and enterprises, such as Office, HFSS, Matlab, SolidWorks, etc. for a little low quote and fully unlimited license. 8. Web host to keep encrypted medical records so that they are accessible worldwide 9. Create custom phone apps for individual people and companies. 10. A health insurance co-op to get health insurance benefits of a large company to an individual 11. Refurbish medical equipment and sell needy medical establishments 12. Establish and maintain a data base of quality medical professionals 13. Create an integrated internet based query of emergency departments to reduce wait times 14. Create a company to help startups lessen the strain of FDA approval 15. Create a drug recycling company 16. Distribute unused drugs expired equipment to third world countries 17. Medical equipment maintenance company 18. Create a company that upgrades cur rent medical equipment 19. Create a website that encourages competition among medical providers 20. Using AzTechnology â€Å"Fuel-Cell Based True Uninterruptible Power Supply for DC powered Devices† this technology can be incorporated to hospitals for medical devices or private practitioners that use medical devices as a power back-up equipment. This technology will be useful for third world countries such as Haiti. 21. Living System Home for elderly people 22. Buy confiscated cars to the State before they go in auction, and repair them for purpose of selling them to a really considerable price 23. Primary or preventative care for automobiles 24. Using multi-touch technology to be applied to a retail company to show inventory of the product without the need that physically show it. This will elude the need of shoplifting 25. Medical Equipment repair 26. Using Volkswagen technology safety to be incorporated to home security. 27. sell/run program for I pad/Tablets that allows w aitresses to send orders directly to kitchen staff instead of physically giving it to them 28. lemonade stand 29. candy stand 30. invest in franchises 31. used furniture store 32. sell games for smart phone 33. auto detailing company 34. sell CPR training dummies that give electronic feedback for if one is doing compressions correctly 35. Create a website to automatically translate websites, making for a truly world wide web 36. Pet rental company 37. Start a club 38. Private personal webpage to manage your email and social media similar to a phone that is accessible anywhere 39. Some who hunts wild cats and sells them for food 40. Assisted living firm 41. Health insurance discounts based on health. 42. Create an assisted living apartment complex with more freedom than normal assisted living facilities. 43. A website/phone app to quickly estimate the necessity to call EMS or go to the hospital by one’s own means 44. Buy/sell used books 45. Start an insurance company based on keeping people healthy not curing the sick 46. Cooking home food (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) to deliver to students or people that are really busy that cannot cook or get food at all 47. Create a hospital that is accessible by only private means no government services, a truly private hospital 48. Provide International Students with a database that will give them the facility of finding jobs or companies that sponsored H1 visas. Making a career fest or making such a thing as ASU Sun devils

People really need go to college to learn Research Paper

People really need go to college to learn - Research Paper Example her people should head towards colleges and campuses in order to seek knowledge or same can be done even if they say goodbye to the typically educational environment of a classroom involving a well learned scholar and students. It also explains on what grounds people should stay on the decision to continue going to a campus or college and not be thwarted by the opposite forces which could block the way to mutual learning. Though college education is seen as the key to a facilitated life, Murray argues about traditional way of learning saying that one’s individual intelligence should be seen as a potent indicator of success than college grades and though â€Å"young people need some training after high school, but pursuing a bachelors is a clumsy, ineffectual way to get the training they need† (Murray, cited in Marklein). Critics of going to school to learn suggest that though great educational accomplishments could be achieved with the help of fellow students’ and professors’ combined help and support, still learning should never be thought of as a process which could be limited to schools, colleges, or universities especially in the present times. Today there are so many live blogs, high profile lectures, and educational tips available on internet that any thing desired to be noticed is literally at finger tips of a student. One word is all that needs to be typed in the Google search bar and next second, thousands of links are readily available to be checked out so that latest realities concerning a subject could be unfolded by those links. All critics of traditional learning which involves getting education formally in a proper setup are actually against the traditional or conventional concept because it is a common practice among many parents and students to waste wads of cash after colleges’ or universities’ names and so they pay more attention to the college’s name than on a student’s individual personality. It is an undeniable reality that a

Variations of the Approaches to VET Systems Essay

Variations of the Approaches to VET Systems - Essay Example The form of the given skills is determined both by the market mechanism and decisions taken by individuals in order to enhance their careers or income. In the second model, the VET is incorporated into an educational system or a school system that is comprehensively made up to develop professionals. Clearly, the systems Ashton (2004) has in mind in relation to the first type is the systems in the UK and US, while he allocates the second type to the dual system of VET in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Denmark. It is useful to place these two models on two ends of a continuum from a system based on outcomes to one based on inputs. England lies on employability whilst Germany mostly on â€Å"vocational training†. In Germany, the VET systems are put more emphasis on employability with occupations becoming less rather than more delineated and less, rather than more specialised, in line with requirements of the knowledge economy, but also, with a central focus on the occupational mobility of the individual. In England, the opposite is true where there has been a narrowing down of skills. A strong led-demand system ensures the production of narrow sets of skills suited to a low –skilled labour market. ... This contrasts sharply with the VET in England which has been criticised for neglecting general education (Harrison 2002). In addition, these systems are characterised by three important differences between them in terms of the balance between classroom and work place learning. It is only in Germany where a dual system that relies on integration of hypothetical knowledge with significant workplace experience can be found. On the other hand, there have been more advancement aimed at making Vocational Educational and training systems more practice-oriented. However, this contradicts with the English model which in the recent years has moved towards a ‘narrowing’ of skills dispensed with knowledge deemed unnecessary. The fact that it is difficult in the English language to differentiate types of knowing may reflect the suspicion with which abstract underpinning knowledge in VET has been treated in this country (Keep 2006). German distinguishes ‘knowing that’ or theoretical knowledge from ‘knowing how’ practical knowledge or know-how. In addition, the German language further distinguishes between systematic propositional knowledge and systematic propositional knowledge. Also, while in Germany, VET involves different types of knowledge to underpin practice in a rather broad occupational field, VET in England is aimed at acquiring task-specific skills with no or little underpinning knowledge. These types of knowledge are occupational, task-specific and industrial. Importantly, while skills in Germany are integral elements of holistic union, in England they are bundles of specific skills defined as learning outcomes of fragmented qualifications. The education system in

Cia Research Paper Essay Example for Free

Cia Research Paper Essay Account of the work of the CIA, discussing in some detail the nature of the relationship between the intelligence-gatherer and the policy-maker. Since the 1970s the CIA has provided intelligence to Congress as well as to the executive, so that it now finds itself in a remarkable position, involuntarily poised nearly equidistant between them. It has not however abused this freedom of action, probably unique among world intelligence agencies, so as to cook intelligence. CIA deputy director. Robert M. Gates, a career intelligence officer, is Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. He served on the National Security Council staff from the spring of 1974 until December 1979. Tweet Close Style: MLA APA Chicago More Sharing Services Over the years, public views of the Central Intelligence Agency and its role in American foreign policy have been shaped primarily by movies, television, novels, newspapers, books by journalists, headlines growing out of congressional inquiries, exposes by former intelligence officers, and essays by experts who either have never served in American intelligence, or have served and still not understood its role. The CIA is said to be an invisible government, yet it is the most visible, most externally scrutinized and most publicized intelligence service in the world. While the CIA sometimes is able to refute publicly allegations and criticism, usually it must remain silent. The result is a contradictory melange of images of the CIA and very little understanding of its real role in American government. Because of a general lack of understanding of the CIA’s role, a significant controversy such as the Iran-contra affair periodically brings to the surface broad questions of the proper relationship between the intelligence service and policymakers. It raises questions of whether the CIA slants or cooks its intelligence analysis to support covert actions or policy, and of the degree to which policymakers (or their staffs) selectively use—and abuse—intelligence to persuade superiors, Congress or the public. Beyond this, recent developments, such as the massive daily flow of intelligence information to Congress, have complicated the CIA’s relationships with the rest of the executive branch in ways not at all understood by most observers—including those most directly involved. These questions and issues merit scrutiny. II The CIA’s role in the foreign policy process is threefold. First, the CIA is responsible for the collection and analysis of intelligence and its distribution to policymakers—principally to the president, the National Security Council (NSC) and the Departments of State and Defense; although in recent years many other departments and agencies have become major users of intelligence as well. This is a well-known area, and I will address it only summarily About CIA The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act by President Harry S. Truman. The act also created a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) to serve as head of the United States intelligence community; act as the principal adviser to the President for intelligence matters related to the national security; and serve as head of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 amended the National Security Act to provide for a Director of National Intelligence who would assume some of the roles formerly fulfilled by the DCI, with a separate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency serves as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency and reports to the Director of National Intelligence. The CIA directors responsibilities include: †¢Collecting intelligence through human sources and by other appropriate means, except that he shall have no police, subpoena, or law enforcement powers or internal security functions; †¢Correlating and evaluating ntelligence related to the national security and providing appropriate dissemination of such intelligence; Providing overall direction for and coordination of the collection of national intelligence outside the United States through human sources by elements of the Intelligence Community authorized to undertake such collection and, in coordination with other departments, agencies, or elements of the United States Government which are authorized to undertake such collection, ensuring that the most effective use is made of resources and that appropriate account is taken of the risks to the United States and those involved in such collection; and †¢Performing such other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting the national security as the President or the Director of National Intelligence may direct. The function of the Central Intelligence Agency is to assist the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in carrying out the responsibilities outlined above. To accomplish its mission, the CIA engages in research, development, and deployment of high-leverage technology for intelligence purposes. As a separate agency, CIA serves as an independent source of analysis on topics of concern and also works closely with the other organizations in the Intelligence Community to ensure that the intelligence consumer—whether Washington policymaker or battlefield commander—receives the best intelligence possible. As changing global realities have reordered the national security agenda, CIA has met these challenges by: †¢Creating special, multidisciplinary centers to address such high-priority issues such as nonproliferation, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, international organized crime and narcotics trafficking, environment, and arms control intelligence. †¢Forging stronger partnerships between the several intelligence collection disciplines and all-source analysis. †¢Taking an active part in Intelligence Community analytical efforts and producing all-source analysis on the full range of topics that affect national security. †¢Contributing to the effectiveness of the overall Intelligence Community by managing services of common concern in imagery nalysis and open-source collection and participating in partnerships with other intelligence agencies in the areas of research and development and technical collection. By emphasizing adaptability in its approach to intelli gence collection, the CIA can tailor its support to key intelligence consumers and help them meet their needs as they face the issues of the post-Cold War World. Posted: Dec 19, 2006 02:07 PM Last Updated: Jan 10, 2013 08:09 AM Last Reviewed: Dec 30, 2011 12:36 PM History of the CIA The United States has carried out intelligence activities since the days of George Washington, but only since World War II have they been coordinated on a government-wide basis. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed New York lawyer and war hero, William J. Donovan, to become first the Coordinator of Information, and then, after the US entered World War II, head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1942. The OSS – the forerunner to the CIA – had a mandate to collect and analyze strategic information. After World War II, however, the OSS was abolished along with many other war agencies and its functions were transferred to the State and War Departments. It did not take long before President Truman recognized the need for a postwar, centralized intelligence organization. To make a fully functional intelligence office, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 establishing the CIA. The National Security Act charged the CIA with coordinating the nation’s intelligence activities and correlating, evaluating and disseminating intelligence affecting national security. On December 17, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act which restructured the Intelligence Community by abolishing the position of Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI) and creating the position the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA).

Alexander Hamilton Essay Example for Free

Alexander Hamilton Essay I consider Napoleon, Fox, and Hamilton the three greatest men of our epoch, and if I were forced to decide between the three, I would give without hesitation the first place to Hamilton. He divined Europe. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. So begins the biography of Alexander Hamilton on the web page from Revolution to Reconstruction.   Even   Jefferson was in awe of him as he told James Madison in 1795, Hamilton is really a colossus . . . without numbers, he is a host within himself. – quoted by De Coralis. Alexander Hamilton was born in about1757 on the Caribbean island of Nevis. He had no birth certificate so the exact date is disputed, but he always said it was in 1757. He was one of two sons born illegitimately to a French Huguenot mother by an irresponsible Scots father who was later to abandon his family. His mother died of yellow fever when he was only 13, having been imprisoned for adultery at the instigation of her husband , who then managed to successfully sue for all her meagre assets, leaving the two boys with nothing. All his life Hamilton was aware that people knew of his beginnings and discussed them behind his back. After his mother’s death he began to work as clerk to New Yorker Nicolas Cruger. In Cruger’s absence he ran the firm and so even as a teenager he came to learn and to manage the intricacies of international trade – something that was to be in his stead later. He also saw the dark side of trading – slavery, which he came to hate. Eventually he was to co-found an abolitionist society. Another mentor was clergyman Hugh Knox, who tutored him in both humanities and sciences. It was these mentors and other rich islanders who paid for him to study in New York at the then King’s College . (Now Columbia University). Their idea seems to have been that he study medicine and then return to set up practice. That was the theory, but the fact was that he never returned to the islands. He arrived in New York in 1773. In 1774 the first continental Congress met to decide what to do about what they saw as the tyrannical rule of England. Following the Boston Tea Party Hamilton travelled to Boston where he became convinced of the rights of the colonists. The newspapers were full of arguments for and against and Hamilton joined in when he wrote his first pamphlet A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress, According to   Lisa Marie de Coralis on the web page ‘From Revolution to Reconstruction’,   in 1769 Hamilton had written to a friend saying that what better way was there for a young man to change his station in life than in war. His argument was that in war it is one’s abilities rather than one’s background that counts. Considering his background it is hardly a surprising view. In the summer of 1776 the British fleet were sailing towards the city of New York and Hamilton responded quickly to a call for volunteers. He soon became captain of a group of artillerymen, even paying for their uniforms himself. He and his company fought alongside Washington and his men at Long Island and in other battles that year   His talents were recognised and he became, aged 20, aide-de-camp to General George Washington with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. It seems with hindsight that he made the right choice, for he had earlier turned down similar positions with other military leaders. He continued to be close to Washington for most of the time and was eventually among those who composed Washington’s farewell address in 1796. Valley Forge in the winter of 1777 -78 was an important time for Hamilton. Washington had some 9,000 men forced to scavenge for supplies, because of the inability of Congress to act on their behalf. All around men were starving and Hamilton realised that the   Americans would become a laughing stock if their government was seen to be unable to support its troops. There was to be an alliance with France and Hamilton, probably using the French he had leant from his mother, became interpreter. In the summer of 1779 rumours began to circulate that Hamilton was to lead a move to overthrow congress and install Washington as a dictator. Colonel John Brooks told Hamilton of these rumors adding that he had heard someone say Mr. Hamilton could be no ways interested in the defence of this country; and therefore, was most likely to pursue such a line of conduct as his great ambition dictated. His colleagues realised that the rumours were false. Hamilton was frustrated with Congress, no more. It   did make one thing plain though, Hamilton was, and always would be viewed as an outsider – a non-American, a major reason why, despite his massive abilities he is not included in the list of American Presidents. Other reasons given are his affair and the fact that his politics and reasoning were way above the heads of most Americans. Hamilton on the other hand firmly links himself with the American cause as when he wrote to Congressman Duane in 1780 â€Å"the defects of our present system, and the changes necessary to save us from ruin.    See chapter 8 ‘From Revolution to Reconstruction. In the letter he sees America as other nations would see her, with a weak congress, unable to fulfil its commitments. Much of the letter is about his financial plans for the country – not surprising for someone who was to become its treasurer. Washington was not known as a placid man. There were several spats and then in 1781, Washington felt that Hamilton was not respecting him and the two fell out. In April of that year he resigned as aide-de camp and went to stay with his new wife in Albany. From here he began his first essays on American government. The Continentalist, In 1781 he finally had his first command and victory at Yorktown. In January of 1782 his first child was born and two months later he resigned from the military, being appointed as Receiver of Taxes for New York. At the same time he began to study law, completing a three year course in just a few months. In 1782 he also became a congressman.   He is quoted by De Coralis as writing to Lafayette:- I have been employed for the last ten months in rocking the cradle and studying the art of fleecing my neighbours. I am now a Grave Counsellor   at law, and shall soon be a grand member of Congress. The Legislature   at their last session took it into their heads to name me pretty unanimously one of their delegates. As a lawyer he acted in many cases involving anti-loyalists laws. One of his most important cases ensured that federal laws were to be treated as supreme over those of individual states. Hamilton could be quite outspoken. In June 1780 he write to John Laurens describing   his fellow Americans as having ‘the passiveness of sheep †¦they are determined not to be free†¦I f we are saved France and Spain must save us.’ Eventually of course they rose to the occasion, though France did contribute to the success by not allowing Britain to make full use of its military and naval powers. Despite his American nationality he admired   the British system of government . He said when addressing congress in June 1787 ‘I believe the British government forms the best model the world ever produced.’ Hamilton is one of the anonymous contributors to the Constitution, the final text of which was drawn up by James Madison in July of 1787, according to Cohen and Major ( page 511). First of all Hamilton asked for a revision of the articles of confederation. He called them to arms saying as quoted in volume 4 of his papers:- Let Americans disdain to be instruments of European greatness! Let the thirteen states, bound together by strict and indissoluble union, concur in erecting one great American system. He signed the constitution in September 1787 and when Washington took on the presidency he knew that Hamilton was the best man to take on the country’s finance and he became the first, and perhaps the greatest, Secretary to the Treasury in 1789. He served in this post from 1789 to 1795, during which period he succeeded in restoring the country’s financial position. Early in his period of office he produced lengthy reports for congress about what the country needed financially including a system of taxation and funding of the national debt. The report controversially included the need for a national bank, an idea that Washington for one did not at first approve of. In 1792 there was a stock market panic and from this time on Hamilton came under attack for his policies. In 1804 there was to be an election. During the run up Hamilton, then leader of the Federalist party and famous for arguing for freedom of speech, was heard , on more than one occasion, to be vilifying Aaron Burr, the Republican leader, vice-president and a long time enemy. He had already come out heavily against Burr in the press. Burr demanded satisfaction in the form of a duel, and despite the fact that his beloved son had died in a duel, Hamilton, after the interchange of several letters, finally conceded. It was his eleventh and last duel. Hamilton fired firs t and missed. Burr’s first shot, hit Hamilton in lower abdomen, paralysed him and he died at home the following day, having confessed to hi s doctor that he had had no intention of hitting Burr. He died   leaving a wife, seven children and a mountain of debts, having frequently undercharged clients, subsidised newspapers and having refused an army pension. The financial genius had failed to provide for himself. Neither man benefited as Burr was indicted for murder, though duelling was not outlawed in New Jersey, and though later acquitted, Burr’s political career was over, as of course was Hamilton’s. Bibliography Crystal, D. editor, The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1995 Hamilton,A. Address to the Constitutional Congress, 11th June 1787, quoted by Cohen,M. and Major,J. in History in Quotations, Cassell, London ,2004. Hamilton, A., The Papers of Alexander Hamilton vol2 (1961) pages 347-8, volume 4,   page 345. Electronic Sources De Coralis, L.M. From Revolution to Reconstruction, Biography of Alexander Hamilton found 2nd June 2007   http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/hamilton/hamilxx.htm

Pestle Analysis Is An External Analysis Economics Essay

Pestle Analysis Is An External Analysis Economics Essay It is a part of the external analysis when conducting a strategic analysis or doing  market research, and gives an overview of the different macro environmental factors that the company has to take into consideration. This analysis of the external environment will lead to the identification of a number of opportunities and threats. 7.1 PESTLE Analysis of Royal KPN Political Factors The Netherlands opening degree of its economic, commercial laws and investment policy is well-known in the world. The Netherlands economy is very internationalization with minimum interference from the government, and its trade investment policy is the most open one in the world  [1]  . The government offers many kinds of policies to encourage international investment, and support foreign companies to enter the Netherlands. In addition, the Netherlands has well-done taxation system and commercial environment. The Netherlands low tax rate and widespread tax revenue treaty network in Europe make its taxation environment favorable and attractive (L Zeng 2008). The new Dutch telecommunications regime is relatively liberal, with no barriers to entry, no line-of-business restrictions and relatively few controls on prices. After deregulation, a large number of companies have been in the local market to provide telecommunication services and invest in facilities.  [2]   In addition, the EU telecommunications regulators never reduce the regulation for the telecom industry. The policies about cut settlement cost and roaming charges are continually published. The Netherlands, like most Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, is facing a double challenge: to complete the liberalization of the telecommunications market, and to prepare for the next generation regulatory regime in the face of convergence. Economic Factors The Netherlands is called the gate of the Europe due to its predominant geographical position. It has a flourishing and open economic which depends heavily on foreign trade  [3]  . It is one of the main foreign investment countries with the most favorable and attractive business environment in the world. The Netherland is also playing an important part in the economic and trading development, and having a large number of customers in the EU market. By the end of 2011, the GDP of the Netherlands is currently ranked 16th in the world, and it is the eighth in imports of goods and services from the United States  [4]  . Moreover, the Netherlands has developed communication infrastructure and advanced transporting network, with two biggest ports (Rotterdam and Amsterdam) and the third largest airport (Schiphol) in the Europe Union. The Netherlands is also famous all around the world by its leading technologies and management experience in many fields of industries, such as the tel ecom and electronic industry. In short, the Netherlands open economy is developing mainly depends on its good geographical position, the developed transportation system, the advanced communication infrastructure and the developed logistic service, as well as the powerful government support and attractive commercial environment, make the Netherlands the most favorable economic environment for doing business among all the European countries. But in recent years, the whole economy in Europe is seriously threatened by the European sovereign-debt crisis. In many experts view, economic downturn in the Euro zone will still keep for a long time and this also affected the telecom industry. The constantly depraved macro economy make an apparently decrease in revenues of the European telecom companies, lead to the profit declined, liquidity squeeze and market demand weak. Social Factors The Netherlands has a modern and international society, the people living here has a high quality of life. The Netherlands has a long and colorful history; its special social culture is so open and become very suitable for foreign people. During several centuries, the Netherlands has accepted massive immigrants from all over the world. As a result, the colorful social history and international social environment make it favorable for the investors to take part in varies of business activities. In the meantime, the favoring commercial policy and stable political environment provide equal development opportunities for both local and foreign companies, which make the Netherlands business environment more diversification. In addition, the Netherlands has high quality labor force. Most of the Dutch citizens have received high education or job training, and master one or two foreign languages  [5]  . Moreover, they are qualified with the complex skills that are needed in the high-tech economy. The Netherlands has a small but advanced telecom market. The broadband, Internet and mobile penetrations are all far ahead of the EU average. The Netherlands has consistently ranked among the top rated telecommunications markets within Western Europe. Broadband services will supply greatest opportunities for growth, while fixed lines are expected to continue to decline. Mobile broadband connections in the Netherlands have increased to 882,000 in the middle of 2010 and Mobile penetration reached about 130% in early 2010.  [6]  Despite the recessionary conditions such like economy slowdown and debt crisis in Euro zone, Dutch subscribers have shown that they will continue spending, especially due to their desire for the latest technologies. Technological Factors The Netherlands has the leading communication networks and IT technologies in the Europe, which mainly benefits from the government support and technological development  [7]  . Now consumers in the Netherlands can enjoy a variety of communication methods and an increased range of services, such as network and wireless network operation. The industry has evolved the past previous limits that confined services to voice related ones, which makes the computer and based IT and telecom technologies become the part of the normal life  [8]  . As a result, it is becoming more efficient to do Internet trading among companies in different countries due to the rapid development of communication and IT technologies. Moreover, the Netherlands perfect commercial laws and well-operating consumer market have provided a good business environment for the telecom companies to develop their technologies and make broader distribution channels. Besides, the Netherlands is among the worlds most wired countries with a state-of-the-art, 100 percent fiber-optic infrastructure, the largest bandwidth and Internet Exchange on the European continent, and a pro-technology government that is committed to continued research and development.  [9]  Telecom providers in the Netherlands offer a wide range of services and are keen to introduce new technologies. The Netherlands telecom market has one of the most advanced infrastructures in Europe, which providing a solid foundation for emerging bundled services offerings. Legal Factors The legal institution of the Netherlands is also highly praised because of its business laws which take laws letter as main body and assisted with legal principle theories (L Zeng 2008). The  Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority of the Netherlands (OPTA) promote competition, encourage innovation and protect consumers in telecom markets. OPTA also issues licenses for telecom operators, sets interconnection prices for providers and end-users, and solve disputes between telecom carriers. Radio communications Agency Netherlands is responsible for obtaining and allocating frequency space and monitoring its use. Dutch Media Authority upholds the rules which are formulated in the Dutch Media Act as well as in the regulations based on this act for example the Media Decree.  [10]   Dutch Telecommunication Act entered into force in  December 1998. The Dutch government adopted the EC Electronic Communications Framework  (IRIS 2002-3:4)  and amended the Act in 2004.  Major modifications  include: 1) Adoption of electronic communications in various fields; 2) Expansion of OPTCs authority in rule making; 3) Improvement of consumer protection, anti-spam regulations, application of competition law; 4) Single framework applies to all kinds of electronic communication networks including cable TV networks. The revised Act entered into force on May 19, 2004. Environmental Factors In the Netherlands, very high densities of both population and economic activities have led to very intense pressures on the countrys environment. In addition to levying environmental taxes, governmental administrations, like Water Boards, have the possibility to charge fees. Companies and households are charged directly for some polluting activities, for instance the discharge of waste water to the sewers and the production of waste (Statistics Netherlands, 2012). For companies, these fees would be accounted as parts of environmental costs which are quite high each year. Care for the environment is an integral part of KPNs business operations. KPN is particular focus on  responsible energy use, because the telecommunication and ICT sector consumes a lot of energy and ICT can help to reduce its customers energy consumption. They aim to continuously enhance their environmental performance and to become an example in this sector, as well as to observe relevant regulations and legislation  [11]  . In addition, KPN is dedicated to proper management of cables, reduction of waste, and other issues that contribute to make a better environment. In the Netherlands and Germany, KPN has a certified environmental management system (ISO14001). This international standard is used to develop environmental policy, to manage environmental aspects and to improve the environmental performance of an organization. 7.2 PESTLE analysis of Deutsche Telekom Political Factors Germany has a very stable government which provides a safe environment for business. The efficient regulatory regime and open-market policies treat the foreign business investments much the same as German investors  [12]  . Its political system is open to international business and strives to find ways in which to attract new businesses and investors, such as recently lowering its corporate profit taxes  [13]  . The main challenge for the government of Germany is dealing with the debt crisis in the Eurozone, which had a significant negative impact on public finances and economic growth. The bailout of financially weak European countries is unpopular among German taxpayers which also represents a political risk  [14]  . Despite there is a challenging external economic environment aggravated by the European debt crisis, Germany is still one of the worlds most dynamic and powerful economies. The foundations for long-term competitiveness and stable economy growth have been deeply rooted in the high quality of the judicial regime, which maintains a strong rule of law. Economy Factors Germany is the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP and fifth by GDP (PPP) in 2011. Germany is also the largest national economy in Europe, accounting for about one-fifth of the gross domestic production (GDP) of the European Union (EU)  [15]  . Germany is the worlds third largest exporter with $1.408 trillion exported in 2011 (Eurozone countries are included)  [16]  . Germany is one of the worlds high-income countries and the largest European trade and investment partner of the United States. Although its economic and commercial policies are increasingly determined within the EU, Germany plays a key role in influencing EU policies (Paul Belkin 2009). Germanys economy has been on a lower growth rate in recent years, and unemployment has also risen steadily. Especially hit by the international financial crisis, which led to a steep 5% decline in the GDP growth of Germany in 2009  [17]  . The crisis also raised questions about the long-term vitality and strength of the German economy. After resuming in 2010, economy growth in Germany slowed down again in 2011 as a result of the debt crisis in the Eurozone and the specter of recession. With declining economic growth and rising expenditures on social protections, Germany is facing significant budgetary issues and resource constraints. The telecom industry plays an important part of the Germanys economy and has important strategic significance for the economys development. So the aim of market liberalization in Germany includes not only the benefits to consumers of improved prices, choice, quality of service and widened product range, but also overall economic development  [18]  . The government recognizes that investment in communications infrastructure, services and broadband will mainly come from the private sector. And pro-competitive regulatory reform is considered the most effective way to promote the private sector investment and innovation. Economic slowdown in Germany makes these broader aims more pressing and important. Social Factors Germany has the largest population in the European Union with 81.8 inhabitants in January, 2011. The prosperous German economy attracts millions of immigrants from around the world as it is the third largest country in terms of immigration  [19]  . Germany has a modern and open society; most people are well-educated and enjoy a high standard of living. Germany is also famous for its well social security system which mainly due to their flourishing economy. Besides, there are more than 40 million workforces in Germany which making it the largest pool of labor in the EU. Germanys world-class education system ensures that the students will receive the highest-standard education. More than 80 percent of the German workforce has received formal professional training or owned an academic degree  [20]  . Germany is also the largest and most mature mobile market in Western Europe, with average penetration in the broadband and mobile sectors. Its high levels of literacy, urbanization and strong economic performance make Germany a welcoming telecommunications market. In Germany, the mobile penetration reached more than 135% by early 2011  [21]  . Regulatory pressure on voice roaming and termination rates will encourage operators to further promote their development of data applications to improve profits. In 2011, Deutsche Telekom saw a growth in its German customer base and data use, with more than one million new mobile contract customers, although there was a historical low in the number of line losses in its fixed network of 21 per cent during the year  [22]  . Technical Factors New technologies and innovation are significant to maintain Germanys international competitive power. German companies are one of the global leaders in the development of new technologies. Depending on high quality and innovation, the Made in Germany brand has been a guaranty of quality. Moreover, Germany is the number one location for research in Europe. Germanys unique scientific tradition and great variety of research fields offer ideal conditions. Research-intensive products and services contribute 45 percent to the creation of value in Germany, more than in any other industrialized country  [23]  . As one of the worlds leading exporters, Germany clearly understands that science and technology lay the foundation for its future position on the world markets. They are the key to competitiveness and sustainable economic growth. The German Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry is the largest in Europe and fourth largest internationally. The sector plays a significant role in promoting successful RD outcomes in Germany: over 80 percent of innovations in key industries are reliant on ICT technologies. A number of ICT industry segments display significantly positive growth rates; the foremost being the outsourcing services, mobile data services, and gaming market sectors. High levels of public sector investment in broadband and a significant number of private sector innovations made possible by healthy RD incentives levels all contribute to creating a flourishing and dynamic investment environment  [24]  . Legal Factors Germany has a favorable legal environment which is world-famous for its stability and high transparency. The Germanys effective enforcement system and solid codifications provide investors with a strong legal framework to enforce their rights. Its commercial law is strongly respected, because all property rights are well protected and the judiciary is highly professional. As a result, Germany is generally considered to have a secure environment for international investment and business. The German Telecommunication Act was published in 1996. The main content are not only adapt for the development of German telecom, but also show the EU commissions requirements to establish European unified telecom market and the development planning. This is still the basic law of telecom regulation in Germany. The purpose of this Act is, through technology-neutral regulation, to promote competition and efficient infrastructures in telecommunications and to guarantee appropriate and adequate services throughout the Federal Republic of Germany  [25]  . (1) Telecommunications regulation shall be under federal authority. (2) The aims of regulation shall be- To safeguard user, most notably consumer, interests in telecommunications and to safe guard telecommunications privacy; To secure fair competition and to promote telecommunications markets with sustainable competition in services and networks and in associated facilities and services, in rural areas as well; To encourage efficient investment in infrastructure and to promote innovation; To promote development of the internal market of the European Union; To ensure provision throughout the Federal Republic of Germany of basic telecommunications services (universal services) at affordable prices; To promote telecommunications services in public institutions To secure efficient and interference-free use of frequencies, account also being taken of broadcasting interests; To secure efficient use of numbering resources; To protect public safety interests. Environmental Factors In Germany, environmental protection continues to be a major public concern and a high policy priority. This is mainly due to pressures on the environment resulting from its high population density, level of industrialisation and strong dependence on fossil fuels  [26]  . Changes in the climate and atmosphere system are the greatest political and environmental challenges in the 21st century. In the international arena, Germany is a forerunner in climate and energy policies and aim to achieve ambitious emission-reduction goals  [27]  , while climate change which mainly caused by human activities is broad considered all over the world. The ICT industry plays a key role when it comes to curbing climate change. Deutsche Telekom discussed this fact at the United Nations COP  17  climate protection  conference  [28]  , which was held in December  2011  in Durban, emphasizing the necessity of setting specific and mandatory targets. As a forerunner, Deutsche Telekom is developing the products and services in line with these criteria, making it possible for the customers to engage in green consumption with their innovative ICT services and solutions. The company is also investing heavily in the development of a environmental and climate friendly network infrastructure. Moreover, Deutsche Telekom takes a lot of measures to reduce the impacts which their own business activities have on the climate and environment. Reducing the Groups CO2  emissions in Germany is a key point of the  climate protection strategy  [29]  . PESTLE analysis of China Telecom Political Factors China telecom industry started from state-run business, it was directly influenced by national economy policy, macro development environment and national control policy. Due to the monopoly of telecom economy in China (Yang Yubinge.a. 2011), the telecom companies have closely connection with government and supervisory institution. Since reform and opening-up, the telecommunication industry of China has been developed at full speed, its achievement having attracted peoples attention in the world (Wang 2000). The system reform of the Chinese telecommunication industry is being deepened constantly in recent years as well. The government promised open up the telecom market when China joined WTO in 2001. Then scores of abroad companies applied for the add-value businesses in China and invested in the domestic provider. But there is no one applies to open the network provider company in China because of the high development cost and policy risk. In order to develop the telecom industry, the state formulated and promulgated a series of policies such as 2006-2020 National informatization development strategy, The information industry 115 planning and Telecom industry adjust and revitalization plan 2009-2011. The information industry 115 planning showed that the telecom provider should enhance the interaction with manufacturing industry. Telecom industry adjust and revitalization plan 2009-2011emphasized that the industrys independent innovation of information technology was the most important strategy objective. With the improvement of control policy and sustaining reform, there will be an increasing number of abroad provider join in the Chinese telecom market. The telecom provider in China will be confronted with a free and pro-competition environment, which indicates that more incentive competition will come into being. Economy Factors The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is the worlds second largest economy by normal GDP and by purchasing power parity after the United States  [30]  . It is the worlds fastest-growing major economy, with growth rates averaging 10% over the past 30 years  [31]  . China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the world. On a per capita income basis, China ranked 90th by nominal GDP and 91st by GDP (PPP) in 2011, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The provinces in the coastal regions of china tend to be more industrialized, while regions in the hinterland are less developed. As Chinas economic importance has grown, so has attention to the structure and health of the economy. After the reform and opening-up policy in China, the national economy is developing fast and steady, the consumer power of society is also expending fast. This is also promoting the development of telecom industry. The Chinese telecommunication sectors growth rate was about 20% between 1997 and 2002. China fixed-line and mobile operators have invested an average of 25 billion US dollars on network infrastructure in the last years, which will be more than all western European carriers combined. As a result, with 13 billion citizens, China owns the worlds largest fixed-line and mobile network in terms of both network capacity and number of subscribers. As of March 2012, there were a total of 284.3 million fixed-line telephone subscribers and 1.01 billion mobile phone subscribers in China.  [32]   Social Factors As the peoples living standard continuing to improve and communication consumption capacity is continuing to grow, there are more and more consumers like to enjoy a variety of telecommunications services. This requires telecom companies network equipment continual upgrading (ZhangLei 2007); meanwhile develop the enormous potential new business to be excited to meet new consumer demands, which gives Chinas telecommunications equipment market tremendous demand potential. As a state-run telecom operator shouldering the heavy tasks of national information infrastructure construction and modern telecommunications services, China Telecom has always been adhered to the faith of All-round innovation, seeking truth through pragmatic practice, taking human being as the basis and jointly creating value.  [33]  China Telecom is repaying the society, serving the customer, taking care of the staff, and repaying the shareholders while keeping the company steadily developed and grown under the concept of scientific development and in line with the ever-changing environment. China Telecom carried out its social responsibility in all the operation processes while providing services and products, and makes its great efforts in realizing the coordination and harmonious unity between the corporate development and social development, and environment protection while contributing to the social progress  [34]  . In short, China is still belonging to the developing countries; the penetration rate of the telecommunications business is still lower (Liu 2007). In the future, the telecommunications market will continue to expand the scale. Technological Factors In the aspect of technological, China has launched its own domestic 3G mobile technology standard TD-SCDMA, which will challenge CDMA2000 and W-CDMA.  [35]  The development and usage of new technologies like clouding and IPv6 will promote the internetwork penetrating into the real economy and traditional industry. Computer, television and telephone will be fused into one new business. (Wang Xiaochu 2010) Report on Chinas Telecom Industry in 2010-2012 predicts that in 2011-2012, China will accelerate the combination of telecom network, broadcast network and Internet, and promote interoperability, resource sharing, and the development of information and cultural industries, by using of related policies. This interoperability is not only an opportunity but also a challenge for the telecom industry. Since the completion of recombination and the issue of 3G licenses, Chinas telecom industry has set up a three-way struggle, and the competition of the telecom industry has entered a new stage of development. The year of 2009 became the start of this stage. The development of the telecom industry so far is observed to be driven by investment. Since 2010, Chinas investment in 3G will be reduced gradually, and the telecom industry will enter a post-3G era. Additionally, there will be a slowdown of investment-led growth, and the development of the telecom industry will be driven mainly by consumption. Legal Factors The State Council is the government body in charge of all legislative issues in China, including those regarding telecommunications. Regulations and administrative measures issued in 2000 and 2002 lay out the principles and requirements for telecom licensing, interconnection, service standards and charges, network construction, telecom security, and penalties for violating the regulations. However, many regulations are unclear, subject to interpretation, and sometimes ignored by provincial authorities or the carriers themselves  [36]  . The legal system of telecom industry in China is not perfect now. The only law now is the telecommunication regulation of the Peoples Republic of China which promulgated in 2000. And the Telecommunication Act is still on the drafting process, but neither its specifics nor a timetable for its enactment has been made public. Telecom industry will go through from full monopoly to full competition or effective competition. China telecom industry is on the period of transition limited competition period  [37]  . It is expected the telecom industry in China will have a better development situation af