Thursday, October 31, 2019

Casenote Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Casenote - Case Study Example Though this judgement does not lay the law but has only followed precedents in general, it still stresses on the point that the findings of the Ombudsman are binding and also given the fact that the number of people affected by this judgement are many, it attempts to ensure that people are not left without any remedy by seeking reconsideration of the Recommendation by the Parliament. In the course of this case note we shall understand the facts of the case, the law that governed the Occupational Pension Scheme in the light of the precedents and also the discuss the judgement as to its correctness. The broad facts of the case are that the four claimants had individually believing in the information distributed by way of official government publication and also believing in their employer's word invested in the Occupational Pension Scheme only to land in financial crisis after retirement because of winding up. The companies of three out of the four claimants wound up and as a result they could not get more than a fraction of their pension amount, while in the case of the fourth, the pension scheme wound up thereby throwing him into financial crisis. The situation of the fourth claimant is worse as he is not even eligible for the Financial Assistance Scheme promoted by the government as his company is still solvent. Given such a situation, Members of Parliament had made various complaints to the Ombudsman regarding pension losses alleging firstly that the rights of pensioners were not protected, secondly that policy decisions were taken without referring to relevant evidence, th irdly relevant information being distributed was largely misleading material and lastly public bodies were causing unreasonable delay in winding up schemes. Based on these four allegations, the Ombudsman conducted an in depth investigation and relying on a government pamphlet disseminating pension information, submitted a detailed report before the Parliament consisting of findings and recommendations, wherein she held the State guilty of maladministration. In consequence the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) considered her report along with the oral evidence presented by her and rejected her report completely except for one point. This rejection of the Parliament is the subject matter of the judicial review of the present case. Legal Background Prior to discussing the rationale behind the judgement, it is important to understand the legal background. It has been seen that traditionally pension schemes were governed by the law of trusts but later in 1995 the Pensions Act2 was enacted which dealt with occupational pensions. This Act brought about the establishment of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority and also laid down the rules, regulations, rights and obligations of trustees and also introduced the concept of Minimum Funding Requirement or "MFR"3. The Act also stated that the assets and liabilities of a particular scheme should be equal at all times so that the assets balance the liabilities in case of any

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Race vs. Ethnicity Essay Example for Free

Race vs. Ethnicity Essay If we were to go out on the streets today and ask â€Å"what is the difference between race and ethnicity?†, most people would probably answer â€Å"I don’t know† or â€Å" They are the same thing†. One of the most confused concepts of defining one another is the distinguishing of race and ethnicity. In the past, people either thought one was the other or there was simply no difference. Labeling people in the world is often done without proper knowledge and can lead to making a false accusation or offending someone. Race is associated with one’s biological ancestors, such as your physical appearance. While ethnicity is the identity with people who share similar cultural tradition. Ethnicity and race are different in many ways but are still often confused by many people today. For one thing ethnicity deals with one’s cultural background while race deals with a more genetic background. Geographers study where and why of ethnicity and its locations. Geographers also study where and why people of different races live where they are. Another difference between the two is that ethnicity isnt as easy to tell by just looking at someone. But if you looked at someone to determine their race you could just tell by their skin color. Say you put a Caucasian male from Canada, Germany, America, and Ireland together in a line; it would be very difficult to distinguish which one from which. But you can easily determine that all the males are Caucasian. Ethnic groups typically seek to define themselves by their language, traditions, and religion; while race is usually defined by skin color. Defining people through race usually leads to prejudice and racism, the belief of one’s race is of superiority than all the others. It is preferred by most people to be identified through their ethnicity, since it represents their culture and doesnt have the potential to be offensive. In conclusion, race and ethnicity are distinctly different yet are confused among most people of the world. Race is determined by skin color and physical attributes passed down from ancestors. Ethnicity is identifying with your cultural background including language, religion, and traditions. It is better to identify people through their ethnicities instead of their race to avoid offense. Most people do not know the difference between the two or think they are the same. Ethnicity and race connect in a way with each other, but they are and will always be distinct to one another.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

E Coli On Bathroom Surfaces

E Coli On Bathroom Surfaces In this experiment, we aimed to test the common statement that Pine- O- Cleen kills 99.9 of E.Coli on bathroom surfaces .To test this myth we used sterile swabs, sterile physiological saline sterile pipettes. Tile was used to represent bathroom surface and E .coli culture to represent unclean or contaminated surface. E coli culture was spread on the tile with sterile glass spreader evenly and then Pine-O-Cleen was sprayed on it. Therefore in this experiment, the independent variable is the length of time E coli was on the surface of the tile used and the dependent variable is the number of E coli forming units (cfu) or the Percentage of E.coli cells remaining on the Nutrient Agar Plate and Malt extract plate after being cleaned using Pine-O-Clean and controlled variables were length of time E.coli was left on tile, type of bacteria onto the tiles (E.coli), the surface area that bacterial growth is tested on number of bacteria initially present on tiles By using sterile pipettes, sterile glass spreader and using a known concentration of e .coli culture (1 ml) and pine- o-cleen (1 ml) on both of the tiles used, other variables were controlled such as incubation temperature incubation time. Null Hypothesis: There is no difference in number of E. coli cells surviving on bathroom surfaces with or without treated with Pine -O-Cleen. The effect of pine o clean in removal of bacteria from a contaminated surface was tested in weeks 12 and 13. Basically we tested the effect of Pine-O-Cleen on E. coli cells on bathroom surfaces. The results of the experiment in week 12 identified that the number of cfu on each plate were too low to be accurate and dilutions did not had decreasing number of colonies and some plates had 0 colonies and even control had colonies in it , so calculations were not done that week. Results in week 13 we obtained approximated cfu were transferred from the bathroom tiles and after it was treated with pine -o- cleen. This was determined by counting cfu on pour plates of the undiluted solution from week 13. Table 1: Pour plate counts of serial dilutions and total number of colony forming units (cfu) transferred from the bathroom tile contaminated with E.coli culture to a swab and the ones treated with pine -o -cleen. * The values were accurate for wk 13 since they were in the range of 25-250 cfu/plate for 10-4, 10-5 dilutions and plates were having decreasing number of colonies as dilution factor was increasing. Interpretation and conclusion: As mentioned above, total number of bacteria transferred from the tile with E.coli which was contaminated and after it was treated with Pine Oà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ Cleen. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the pine O cleen has some effect on number of bacteria on the tile. Plates had decreasing number of colonies as dilution factor increased. There was roughly a 10 fold difference between successive dilutions. Although some bacteria survived the cleaning process, pine o cleen still kills germs on bathroom surfaces. Pine -O -Cleen possess antimicrobial substances and that surface bacteria die within minutes but it doesnà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t kill 99.9 of E .coli cells. In agreement with our results, previous studies have shown very little amount of pine o cleen is needed to kill a particular species of bacteria (Fidalgo, 2002). Other variables to consider is that length of time E.coli was left on tile, type of bacteria onto the tiles (E.coli), the surface area that bacterial growth is tested on number of bacteria initially present on tiles. Decontamination reagents used for flucloxacillin wipe sampling and degradation/stability tests included: isopropanol 50 and 70, ethanol 60 and 100, benzalkonium chloride 0.1 (Pine O Cleen), sodium hypochlorite 0.5 (Chloroclens), sodium hydroxide 0.03M and distilled water Previous studies have shown that Pine O cleen is very effective against bacteria and only 0.001 of bacteria was left behind after using Pine-O- Cleen . ( Fidalgo,2002). Based on our preliminary results, together with the results reported on other recent studies, which all suggest that pine -O-Cleen is effective against bacteria, we reject Null hypothesis since pine- o -cleen does have an effect on number of E.coli cells since in treatment we got 0 colonies. Critical evaluation of experimental design In week 12, we set out to evaluate the number of E. coli cells transferred from the surface of the bathroom tile with E .coli culture to a moistened swab. A dilution series was set up and spread plates of each dilution were performed. Unfortunately the number of CFU was too low to be accurate. Therefore the experimental design was modified in the second experiment in wk 13 to compensate for this problem. Due to limitation of the number of plates and bottles, the experiment was designed such that test in wk 12 were duplicated. We used 10-4, 10-5, 10-6 instead of 10-5, 10-6, 10-7.This introduced the possibility of variables due to potential differences in techniques and in concentration of E coli culture use. Therefore, the experiment could be improved by performing the duplicates at the same time, choosing treatments that altered the minimum of confounding variables, incorporating as many effective controls as possible, keeping number of replicates as high as feasible, Since total number of replicates available for the experiment were limited by resources, compromised between number of treatment and number of replicates per treatment, accounting for the time taken to apply treatments and then recording results, ensuring same number of replicates is present in each treatment, finding out the limitation on resources. If more materials were ordered like more bottles, tiles, NA plates it would have been ideal to increase the number of replicates for each test in order to make the results more statistically relevant. A recent study has demonstrated that the transfer of bacteria to food increased when cells were applied to the surface n the presence of growth media compared with dilution buffer (Moore et al, 2007). This additional variable could also be tested in future studies.

Friday, October 25, 2019

A Career in Education Essay -- career essays

A career in education can be a rewarding yet challenging field. Becoming a teacher is a unique career in which there will be various titles, from being a communicator, social worker, disciplinarian, evaluator, role model, and at times a parent. Being able to change the lives and mold minds of young children is something I have always wanted to do. Throughout my research and personal interview, I have discovered what my salary will be like, the lifestyle impact, future projections, and the credential requirements needed to accomplish becoming an educator. The requirements for becoming an educator vary from state to state because each state has its own set of rules when it comes to their educators. For example, Wisconsin requires that their educators have a Bachelor’s degree, pass the Praxis II exam and the edTPA (Teacher Performance Assessment) and that they know how to communicate, have knowledge of what they are teaching, understand different learning styles, children’s growth, know how to evaluate, manage a classroom and plan lessons (Teacher Education, Professional Development & Licensing). For UWM graduation requirements, I must complete a human relations class so that I know how to understand different cultures and how to communicate with different types of people. I also must have credits in fine arts, social sciences, and natural sciences; a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 in all professional education coursework, a full day/semester during the final year of the program for field experience, and earn a C or bette r in student teaching to be eligible (Academic Programs). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the future employment projection for educators is expected to grow 17% from 2010 to 2020 simply because of... ...th long working hours teachers deal with a lot of emotional and physical stress; dealing with parents, administrators and behavioral issues, educators have to keep personal and emotional reactions separate from their professional reactions, when it comes to dealing with behavior issues in the classrooms and also dealing with difficult parents; learning how to cope and deal with tension and even sometimes hostile environments are all a part of being a teacher. Dealing with superiors is also stressful for teachers because although as an educator our job is to evaluate students, teachers also are evaluated themselves, and evaluations can heavily determine if they will continue to have a job in that specific school (Robin Grusko and Judy Kramer). Although there are beautiful and rewarding things that come with being a teacher, the personal life can be challenging.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Othello and jealousy Essay

Jealousy takes many forms and sometimes it is harmless while at other times it can be destructive. In William Shakespeare’s play â€Å"Othello† a man named Iago hates and is jealous of the protagonist Othello because Othello has not promoted him to position of Lietunant, so he decides to try and kill Othello. However, he first convinces Roderigo to help him because Roderigo is in love with Othello’s wife Desdemona and Iago promises that he can get him together with Desdemona. With Roderigo’s help, Iago is able to plot a series of events which eventually leads to convincing Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, and this not only causes conflict between husband and wife, but leads to Othello’s desire to kill Cassio. Thus, Shakespeare suggests that when people are conflicted with jealousy, they may hurt others and even cause their own destruction. At the beginning of the play, Iago feels jealous towards Othello and tells Roderigo that â€Å"I hate the Moor: And it is thought abroad, that ‘twixt my sheets He has done my office: I know not if’t be true; But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, Will do as if for surety.†(1.3.12). Iago first states that he hates Othello for passing him over for a promotion but he hears rumors that his wife Emilia might have had a fling with Othello. Even though Iago is not sure if the rumors are true, he still decides to try and disrupt Othello’s life. This reveals the buildup of jealousy and hate within him, and even without any clear reason to disrupt Othello’s life, he feels the need to do create evil rumors about him in order to ruin his reputation. Moreover, Iago manipulates Roderigo in order to cause confusion and cause jealousy in Othello’s mind. Iago tells Roderigo that â€Å"Thou art sure of me. Go make money. I have told thee often, and I re-tell thee again and again, I hate the Moor. My cause is hearted: thine hath no less reason. Let us be conjunctive in our revenge against him.† (1.3.358). Roderigo is jealous of Othello marrying Desdemona, the woman he loves and is now blinded by love so believes whatever Iago tells him. Indeed, Iago se es this opportunity and decides to take advantage and use Roderigo to plot a series of events that will lead Othello into Iago’s trap. Shakespeare shows that due to Iago’s evil and jealous nature, he does not want happiness for anyone and therefore uses people as tools or toys for his own purpose. Finally, Iago uses Cassio and Desdemona to make Othello think and suspect that Desdemona is cheating on him. Iago thinks to himself  Ã¢â‚¬Å"if I can fasten but one cup upon him, with that which he hath drunk to-night already, He’ll be as full of quarrel and offence as my young mistress’ dog.†(2.3.9). Iago gets Cassio drunk so he will get in a fight because he wants Cassio to be in trouble with Othello and while that is happening he knows Desdemona will intervene and try to help Cassio. Iago’s actions show that he is so jealous of Cassio’s position that he is willing to do anything to make Cassio look suspicious. Iago’s capability to portray Cassio as unreliable and untrustworthy reveals the extremes people can go to because of jealousy. Iago is willing to exploit everyone j ust to get even with Othello proving that jealousy can actually lead humans to abandon their logic. As Iago’s plans to get Cassio killed continue, he successfully creates the seeds of jealousy in Othello too. Ironically, he even says to Othello that â€Å"O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on† (3.3.15). Iago pretends to be on the side of Othello and warns him not to be too jealous because it will lead to self-destruction. As a result, Othello naively trusts a person who is trying to lead him into self-destruction yet he does not realize this and continues to step on the traps that Iago sets up. Moreover, Othello falls deeper and deeper into Iago’s master plan and begins to doubt Desdemona even though he at first wants proof of her affair. Othello reminds himself â€Å"No†¦my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company, is free of speech, sings, plays and dances well; where virtue is, these are more virtuous: †¦No, Iago; ill see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove: and on the proof. There is no more but this, away at once with love or jealousy!† (3.3.31). Othello refuses to be destroyed by jealousy because he can clearly see that Desdemona chose him out of love and not because of anything else, but he feels like he needs proof from Desdemona that she is not cheating on him to be truly convinced. This passage shows that even though Othello claims that he will not be conflicted by jealousy, step by step he is moving away from his claim and becomes jealous and filled with doubts. Shakespeare warns that jealousy has the capacity to make a person forget the reality and see people and situations clearly because it is such a strong emotion Finally, Emilia warns Desdemona about Othello’s jealousy as she says â€Å"but jealous souls will not be answer’d so; / They are not ever jealous for the cause, / But jealous for they are jealous: ‘tis a monster/ Begot upon itself, born on  itself.†(3.4.3). Emilia understands that jealousy is like a â€Å"monster† that comes out of nowhere and becomes worse and worse over time. This suggests that Othello’s mind is being controlled and taken over by the â€Å"monster† and the jealousy in his mind can keep growing until it is finally out of control. In Othello’s time, men owned women and an affair would damage a man’s reputation and ego more than today. Since Othello is a Moor, the thought of his wife cheating on him is even worse than if he was Venetian since Desdemona is his and she owes him loyalty. Near the end of the play, Desdemona discovers that her handkerchief is missing and asks Emilia where her handkerchief is. Emilia does not know and Desdemona says â€Å"Believe me, I had rather have lost my purse / Full of crusadoes: and, but my noble Moor / is true of mind and made of no such baseness / as jealous creatures are, it were enough / /to put him to ill thinking.† (3.4.7). Desdemona knows that the handkerchief is an important gift from Othello and losing it might cause doubts in Othello’s mind about her loyal ty. Unfortunately, Othello is set up by Iago and finds the handkerchief and is now convinced of his wife’s unfaithful character, so he murders Desdemona. After strangling Desdemona he says â€Å"Behold, I have a weapon; / a better never did itself sustain / upon a soldier’s thigh: I have seen the day, / that, with this little arm and this good sword, / I have made my way through more impediments / than twenty times you stop: but, O vain boast!† (5.2.55). Othello understands after killing her, that Desdemona’s death was pointless as he is now alone without the love of his life. By the time Othello realizes that he was set up by Iago and Desdemona did not cheat on him, Othello cannot tolerate the guilt of killing her and decides to commit suicide. Before stabbing himself he says â€Å"speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate / nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak / of one that loved not wisely but too well; / of one not easily jealous, but being wrou ght / Perplex’d in the extreme.† (5.2.341-345). Othello becomes the victim of Iago’s cruelty because he is unable to control jealousy, and he ends up being his own worst enemy as his jealousy becomes so powerful that he kills because of it. Shakespeare shows that jealousy can destroy not only others’ lives but can lead to one’s own self-destruction as people cannot see clearly and think rationally when they let such a strong emotion over-take them. Therefore, Shakespeare warns readers that they must control the jealousy in their lives because if they  do not, they will destroy the relationships with those around them and themselves. Jealousy is one of the strongest emotions and it can come easily when a person feels like they deserve better, as Iago does, or when they are too possessive over another person, as Othello is over Desdemona. Either way, jealousy causes people to misread reality and act irrationally.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Money Laundering †Effects on the United States

Money Laundering – Effects on the United States Free Online Research Papers Many people who are either born in or migrate to the United States have hopes to achieve the â€Å"American Dream.† That dream is, through hard work and determination, one can have a prosperous life. However, there are some people who want to achieve the American Dream sans the hard work. These people violate the laws and regulations established by the government, be it federal, state or local. One scheme used is money laundering which has a massive effect on the United States. Not only does money laundering support the continuance of criminal activities including terrorism, it dilutes the financial stability of the United States by reducing tax revenues, restricting fair competition with legitimate businesses and, disrupting economic development. The United States Government has implemented many laws to combat and counter the effects of money laundering. Introduction Money laundering is â€Å"the practice of engaging in specific financial transactions in order to conceal the identity source and/or destination of money.† (Wikipedia Encyclopedia) In a normal money laundering scheme, there are three steps that occur: (1) placing of illegal money into a legitimate financial market, (2) moving the money between different financial institutions and (3) finally, integrating the money back into the economy. The World Book Encyclopedia states â€Å"money laundering involves eliminating evidence and making it difficult for authorities to trace the money back to the illegal source.† (p.718) â€Å"The term ‘money laundering’ was first coined in the 1930s by the US Treasury agents who were trying to lock Al Capone.† (Mathers, p 21) Capone used the laundromats he owned to conceal money he had made from his illegal liquor operation. He made it seem as though the revenue from the liquor came from his operation of the laundro mats. Since then the term has become widely used officially and unofficially alike. Money laundering is no longer a practice limited to your everyday criminal but it includes your normal citizen who just doesn’t want to pay their taxes or who doesn’t want his or her spouse to know how much asset is being held during the time of divorce. As time goes by, there is becoming increasingly more reasons as to why someone wants to launder money. Common reasons why people launder money is that they want to avoid prosecution, increase profits, avoid seizure of accumulated wealth, appear legitimate and evade tax. Just like the reasons are endless so are the methods of money laundering which are very simple in nature. A money launderer can choose to launder through currency exchanges, asset purchases with bulk cash, telegraphic transfer of funds, credit cards, gambling in casinos , and commingling of funds. However, the common choice of money launderers is to structure transactions through different financial institutions. Although, no one knows the exact amount of money involved in the money laundering schemes, it is believed to be in the high billions, and maybe trillions, of dollars each year. Some of the common money laundering schemes include drug trafficking, organized crime, corruption, illicit dealing in weapons, human trafficking, fraud and theft. The United States Government has made it a criminal offense to launder money. The Financial Recordkeeping and Reporting of Currency and Foreign Transactions Act of 1970, also known as the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 , was one of the first laws implemented as a tool the United States government used to fight money laundering. In order to convict a person of money laundering, the prosecutor must prove that the individual knowingly engaged in financial transactions or international transportation that involved the concealment of proceeds of an illegal activity.Effects Criminal Activities Historically, the most strenuous effect money laundering has on the United States is that it often supports criminal activities, such as organized crime and drug trafficking. This is because the money laundered is often used to continue the operation of the crime. Often, these crimes are associated with the killing of others to maintain control of the underworld market. In todays world, organized crime groups generate enormous amounts of money. This money is often referred to as â€Å"dirty money.† This dirty money will often bring suspicion to the organized crime group and leave a trail of evidence which can lead to conviction and jail time. Therefore, the criminals conceal the origin of the profits from the authorities so that they can benefit from the illegal activity. One of the ways these criminals are concealing the illegal money is by moving the money quickly across the country’s borders. â€Å"The rapid expansion and ease of access to foreign markets has catapulted American organized crime onto the front of the international money laundering stage.†(Sheetz, p. 106) Today’s technology, like Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and on-line banking, allows criminals to move the money through the different institutions around the world in a matter of seconds. The more international transactions made with this dirty money , the more difficult it is to identify its origin. One of the largest operations in which money laundering plays an integral part is drug trafficking. From 1992 to 1998 Raymond Kelly reports â€Å"US Customs has seized more than 756 million dollars of laundered money. It has made approximately 2100 arrests and seized more than 40,000 kilograms of cocaine.† (p. 39) The high ranking drug dealers exchange the drugs for money in which they use the proceeds to buy more drugs. With any other business, this would be acceptable. However, the effects of the drugs leave the United States in a predicament in which there is an increasing rate of mental and physical illness, incurable diseases, robberies, shooting and killing. Most recently, terrorist attacks have been a high priority for the United States due to the events of September 11, 2001 when so many Americans lost their lives. Although terrorists obtain their money through legal sources like charitable donations, they also obtain some financing through illegal sources such as people-smuggling, drug trafficking, kidnaping and extortion. â€Å"By using convoluted transactions in the layering stage, terrorist financing conceals the source of the funds, which ensures that such sources remain fertile.† (Waszak, p.673) With the money they obtain, terrorists can continue to threaten the United States and the livelihood of the American citizens. Reduces tax revenues Another way money laundering effects the United States is through tax evasions. In the eyes of the United States Government and the Internal Revenue Service, income from any source, be it legal or illegal, is taxable income. Money laundering is one of the mechanisms in which individuals use to circumvent paying taxes on income. It is ideal for criminals who want to hide the proceeds and evidence of an illegal operation or for individuals who want to keep one hundred percent of their income to themselves. In some instances, the individuals will launder the money through offshore accounts to foreign countries. These countries operate as an Offshore Financial Center, also known as Tax Havens. The Tax Havens allow individuals a way out of paying their share of taxes by shielding the money under their guardianship. The 2001 U.S. Senate subcommittee report titled Correspondent Banking: A Gateway for Money Laundering, stated One U.S. correspondent banker told the Minority Staff that he is learning that a large percentage of clients of offshore banks are Americans and, if so, there is a â€Å"good chance tax evasion is going on.† He said there is â€Å"no reason† for offshore banking to exist if not for â€Å"evasion, crime, or whatever.† There is no reason for Americans to bank offshore, he said, noting that if an offshore bank has primarily U.S. clients, it must â€Å"be up to no good† which raises a question why a U.S. bank would take on the offshore bank as a client. A former offshore bank owner told the investigation that he thought 100% of his clients had been engaged in tax evasion. (p.16) Furthermore, the New York Times reported â€Å"Tax evasion by Americans using offshore accounts is rising and will increase† (Johnston, ). Therefore, the United States has to endure an increasing gap in the budget. For every dollar laundered overseas is a dollar that is not taxed and is not portioned to the United States government which goes to support itself and continue federally funded programs such as Financial Aid and Social Security. â€Å"United States loses $70 billion in taxes annually from such evasion a figure so huge that if even half that amount were collected it would pay for a Medicare prescription drug program without raising anyones taxes or cutting anyones budget.† (Johnston) Ultimately, it will not be the United States Government who will be the victim of the tax evasion through money laundering but the American citizens who will be the true victims. For the last four years, there have been major budgetary cuts government-wide in order to carry out the function of the government. If the United States continues to experience hefty losses due to money laundering, the government will eventually begin to raise the tax rates. It will even eliminate non-critical programs like The American Dream Home Ownership Program which has been an instrumental factor for so many Americans buying homes. Disrupts economic development Money laundering creates an underground economy that cripples the United States’ overall economic strength. When money is transferred overseas it leaves less money in the United States to circulate. This reduces the purchasing power of the United States and its citizens. It also lessens the amount of resources the United States has available to operate its businesses to produce revenue. Thus, this creates a cycle. Additionally, money laundering can increase the desire for cash and create an exchange rate that is unpredictable. Furthermore, money launderers are typically greedy in the sense that they are only interested in protecting their financial interests. Money launderers will often use their funds for efforts that may not necessarily benefit the United States’ economic position. This is clearly illustrated in the Enron scandal. At its peak, Enron was one of the top corporations in the United Stated and, in a matter of months, they were bankrupted. A company that once was perceived as an institution that was good for the United States had really been a company that was good for the executives. â€Å"The motives and attitudes behind decisions and events leading to Enrons eventual downfall appear simple enough: individual and collective greed born in an atmosphere of market euphoria and corporate arrogance.†(Thomas, p. 42) The top executives were looking for ways to increase their own equity instead of Enron’s. Therefore, the â€Å"methods the company used to disclose (or creatively obscure) its complicated financial dealings were erroneous and, in the view of some, downright deceptive.† (Thomas, p. 42) As the story slowly unfolded, it was revealed that the executives had laundered some money overseas to hide how much they actually had. And when it is all over, the company we knew as Enron no longer existed. â€Å"November 30 the stock closed at an astonishing 26 cents a share. The company filed for bankruptcy protection on December 2.(Thomas, p45) The greed of the money laundering executives was a hard blow to the United States, as a people and as a government. â€Å"Four-thousand five hundred individuals have seen their careers ended abruptly by the reckless acts of a few† (Thomas, p. 48) and the money they were hoping to retire with is now gone. Additionally, the investors who purchased stocks suffered drastic losses. As a result, the country was left to play clean up. They will have to provide financial assistance to the workers who lost their jobs by paying unemployment, providing additional employment training and outreach, and supplying health benefits until the former employees are able to be self-sufficient. The United States has to suffer a lost in tax revenue; where individuals would have realized a profit they are now showing a loss and will not pay the same amount in taxes. Regulations Authorities will never totally eliminate money laundering, however; the United States enacted cash deposit reporting requirements and anti money-laundering legislation some 25 years ago. In addition, the United States is still developing and amending laws to combat the money launderers and prosecute any future offenders and also deter individuals from committing or conspiring to commit money launder crimes. Because money laundering has significant impact on the United States, it is not surprising how many laws are related to money laundering. The first law that was created to deal with any aspect of money laundering was the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. This law does not make money laundering a criminal act but simply requires financial institutions to prepare and preserve documentation for specific types of transactions. One type of documentation requires is a Currency Transaction Report. This report is created for every transaction that is made over $10,000. In certain instances, a combination of transactions may be recorded. Another type of documentation is Report Of Transportation Of Currency Or Monetary Instruments. This report is created whenever United States currency or other monetary instruments, totaling over $10,000, are shipped, mailed, or transported into or out of the United States at one time. A third type of documentation is a Suspicious Activity Report. This report is created when a financial institution knows or suspects criminal offenses, at specified thresholds, or transactions over $5,000 that relate to money laundering or violate the Bank Secrecy Act. This is generally in response to the structuring method of money laundering. With structuring, a person causes or attempts to cause a bank to fail to file the requires reports by making several transactions with one or more domestic financial institutions to prevent from going over the $10,000 markat any one institution. Once drug trading became more popular, the United States Congress increased its focus on money laundering and decided to expand the current laws. In 1984, financial institutions were then required to report business cash transactions exceeding $10,000. Finally, the United States Congress begin to specifically concentrate on money laundering when they created the Money Laundering Act in 1986. This act did three things. First, it made money laundering a criminal act. Secondly, it prohibited structuring transactions to evade Currency Transaction Report filings. Lastly, it introduced civil and criminal forfeiture for BSA violations. Therefore, anyone suspected of these acts could now be indicted and prosecuted in a court of law. Then in 1988, Congress passed the Money Laundering Prosecution Improvement Act. This act elaborated on the definition of financial institution. The act included businesses like car dealerships and real estate mortgage companies and subsequently required them to file reports on large currency transactions In 1992 the Annunzio-Wylie Anti-Money Laundering Act was passed and it extended the Bank Secrecy Act in several respects. Most importantly, it required any financial institution, and its officers, directors, employees and agents, to report any suspicious transaction that may be in violation of federal laws and regulations. Other Annunzio-Wylie amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act required financial institutions to establish and implement anti-money laundering programs, initiated special record-keeping rules relating to funds transfer transactions, and created the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Committee. Lastly, the Annunzio-Wylie Money Laundering Act made it a criminal act to operate illegal money transmitting business , and required mandatory re-examination of the charters of financial institutions that were convicted of money laundering. In 1994, the United States created the Money Laundering Suppression Act. .This act required the banks to develop their own procedures for examining anti-money laundering activities. The act also reconstructed the Currency Transaction Report exemption. Four years later, Congress passed the 1998 Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Strategy Act which required the banks to create and perform anti-money laundering training for their examiners. It also compelled the United State Treasury and other governmental agencies to create and implement a National Money Laundering Strategy; and Created the High Intensity Money Laundering and Related Financial Crime Area (HIFCA) Task Force. The criminal punishments for violation of these laws include prison sentences for a long as 20 years and fines that go up to $500,000 or twice the value of the money involved, whichever is greater. In additional to the criminal punishments, the offenders may face civil charges and have to pay amounts up to the value of the assets involved in a transaction. The United States Congress believe that these punishments to be too severe. Before the 1986 Money Laundering Act, defendants had to be prosecuted under other statutes related to the underlying unlawful activities that had induced the money laundering, such as tax evasion and the Bank Secrecy Act, and, these statutes generally had more lenient penalties. . Following September 11, the United States Congress search for answers as to how such tragedy could happen here on the United States soil. One answer they came up with was through money laundering. The United States Congress found that money laundering was a contributing factor for the financial fuel which allowed a transnational criminal organization to conduct and increase their operations terrorist activities towards Americans. .Money laundering was used to conceal the actual source and use of the money to conduct the terrorist threats. Congress in particular noted that correspondent accounts are subjected to use by money launderers as it is easier to conceal the identities of the owners of such accounts and that private banking services can be susceptible to deception by money launderer. (Wikipedia Encyclopedia) As a result, the most recent legislation associated money laundering came about in 2001 after the event of September 11, 2001. This act is called the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools to Restrict, Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, commonly reffered to ad USA PATRIOT Act. The USA PATRIOT act requires the sharing of government-institution information and voluntary information among financial institutions. It also required financial institutions to develop and implement programs designed to verify the customers. This will ensure the banks are aware of who they are dealing with and if they are associated with any terrorist. Additionally, the USA PATRIOT Act required financial institutions to take extra precautions with the daily operations of business. Lastly, the act required the establishment anti-money laundering programs across the financial services industry. The Patriot Act as it relates to money laundering is designed to reconstruct and improv e the United States procedures which were created to deter, detect, and prosecute international money laundering and terrorist financing. Research Papers on Money Laundering - Effects on the United StatesThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceTwilight of the UAW19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraPETSTEL analysis of IndiaIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresGenetic EngineeringThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into Asia

Monday, October 21, 2019

Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry The WritePass Journal

Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry Introduction: Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry Introduction:Hospitality Industry:Importance of Human Resource in Hospitality Industry:Importance of Culture in International Hospitality Industry:Social Structure:Language:Education:Interests and Values:Economics:Effects of Culture on Hospitality Industry:Consumer Behavior:Local Demand:Brand Image:Human Resource Issues in the Hospitality Industry:Conclusion:References:Related Introduction: There have been researches conducted on the importance of the human resource management and as the business environment has transformed into more competitive world, the importance of having an adequate and appropriate Human Resource Management cannot be neglected. The most important factor by which the HRM contributes towards the organizational success is to realize the differences between cultures while the business tends to experience internationalization.   There have been many researches already being conducted in order to realize the different cultures, people having different attitudes towards the similar issues. Due to several factors like globalization and internalization of the businesses, this has increased the focus of many authors to write about importance of culture and realize that removing the cultural difference will enable the company to improve the performance. In order for the business to prosper in the international market it is necessary to realize the difference in the local culture and realize the different norms and values in the local market, and this can easily be done by having proper Human Resource Management in the organization. There are many cases in which huge company experienced failure in order to enter the new market like China, this is mainly because the company is not able to realize the different and intense local culture, norms and unique values of the country, it creates difficulties in conducting operational   and non operational activities like marketing and financing the company. Having HR department to support the organization, through intense communica tion across the company and also providing the required training and developing the needed skills in the employees can enable the company to become more competitive in the new market. The difference in the culture and the importance of realizing the difference is very crucial in every sector of the business including the Hospitality industry. This industry is unique in kind since this is the only business in which the consumer is being brought to the product instead of taking the product to the consumer. Hospitality industry across the globe has experienced boost due to globalization concept, this research report is based on the book written by an author named Ulrike Ditzel, and the name of the book is Cultural difference in business life, understanding German and American Business Culture. This research study is being based on the importance of Culture in business related to the necessity of having appropriate HRM in hospitality industry. This report discusses the various issues that are being discussed by the author and the evaluation of the work is also being conducted which can be found during the research report many times, although this book makes it sure th at realizing cultural difference is essential for hospitality industry. Hospitality Industry: In order to first realize that how HRM has grown to a more important role in the business especially in the tourism industry, it is first necessary to realize the current situation of the industry. After the industrialization of the globe the concept of viewing the world as a single market was introduced known as globalization; in other and simpler words, one country stop selling and other quits buying. due to globalization in the many people tend to travel more for many different reasons, especially for business purpose, tourism and many others, or it can be said that people are travelling more than before which has provided boost to the hospitality industry across the globe, and for many countries having adequate hospitality industry, it has become the major source of income, countries like Malaysia which has promoted itself as the best place for spending the vacation, places like Hawaii, these regions have experienced development due to the increase in the people travelling and vi siting this place hence generating more income for the country (Knowles, Diamantis, Mourhabi, 2004). Some places can be observed for having natural uniqueness providing those some benefits over other places, where people will love to spend their vacations, some places are very attractive for having historic background like Taj Mahal in India, or Moenjo Daro in Pakistan, people having interest in viewing the historic stuff love to visit this place. It can be therefore easily be said that the Hospitality industry has increased as compared to past years and tourism also played its role in the development of the industry, but still there are other factors like business which has more influenced the entire industry. For instance, Dubai one of the major financial hub before recession was the main country for many multinational companies to work and set their head office there, as the recession period is being over the state has again capture the sight of many businesses. Through the above discussion it can be observed that the main factor influencing the business sector is the globalizati on and therefore people travelling for business purpose has provided the fuel for the hospitality industry (Olsen, Zhao, 2008). This can be considered that travelling for business purpose has also increased the people to travel for pleasure as well; there are many countries which are now connecting both industries in one form like Malaysia which is the most benefitted country amongst all, generating much revenue from this sector, since this country is being the technological hub for many countries and god has gifted this country with great many scenarios the management has able to maintain make it useful for the country.   Therefore it can be said that the Hospitality industry has increased a lot and recently there are many factors which have played an important role in the development of this industry (Pizam, 2005). By reading the research work conducted by the authors, the importance of Human Resource Management was observed and realized that the HR personal should always be present in the any business especially in the tourism industry. The following part of the report includes the various critical aspects of organization managing the adequate human resource management in working in the tourism industry (Tanke, 2000). Importance of Human Resource in Hospitality Industry: Likewise many businesses and industry, the hospitality industry has also realized the fact that employees are the most important asset of the organization. Especially in hotel business, having a good, qualified and hardworking workforce can distinguish between which hotel is good and which is bad. The human resource managers are able to cover almost every aspect of the hotel; this makes human resource management an integral and significant part of the management in the hospitality industry. After going through the document it is being realized that since hospitality industry is about providing better services to the consumers, therefore the quality of the hotel depends upon the labor force working in the hotels (Chon, Mair, 2009). There are many different areas, improving them is the duty of human resource manager resulting in the overall better performance by the entire organization. The HRM department is responsible for hiring new employees, the newly hired employees can seriously affect the performance of the hotel which makes it necessary for the managers to hire the best and qualified workers present in the market by following appropriate hiring process, in which every candidate is critically evaluated and only those with the spark are being hired. The most important task for the HR manager is to get the most appropriate people for particular task, since in hotel industry, many workers tend to just participate in the work, as they think that there is nothing else to do, whereas hotel services require proactive employees which can make decision on the spot and can satisfy the customer query in time (Brotherton, 2003). This report will also discuss the issues that are related with the HR manager in terms of managing the different tasks in the hospitality industry, but the most important task of the HR manager is to retain the highest quality employees, the main problem in doing this duty is the fact that many of the people do not want use this industry as the ending career, therefore the employee turnover in the hospitality industry is relatively much higher than other industry (Albercht, 2001). After analyzing the document that is being also discussed in the start of the report, reading the document helped to realize that HR manager has to more strategic in terms of handling HRM issues in the industry (Aswathappa, 2010). In more critical aspect which can be realized is that since hospitality industry, the management need to handle the customers coming from different countries having different cultures and unique attributes, that’s what makes the HR department to have a broader perspective of duties in the Hospitality industry. Therefore the importance of Human Resource Management cannot be neglected in this industry, having customers coming from different cultures do have separate living standards and also the expectation varies. Therefore the training and development provided by the HR manager should enable the employees to cope up the issues related to the cultural issues arising (Brewster Harris, 1999). Moreover, when any company wants to open a hotel in the international market, or in other words a hotel which needs to go beyond the boundaries, it has to face some difficult issues in terms of managing the cultural factors (Browaeys, 2008). There are many examples of huge companies facing failure when entering into different countries. HR department has to play a significant role in this regard while maintaining the significant corporate culture and also to cope up the issues regarding the external environment (McManus, 2006). Moreover in the global context in terms of hospitality industry, the HR manager also has to be more strategic in terms of rewarding and motivating the employees through different processes. Hotels which are able to provide appropriate training to the employees resulting in the enhancements of the skills and abilities of the employees make it possible for them to go upward in the career (Dash, 2007). Having appropriate HR department in the hotel provides the employees a gateway by which they can have proper guidance regarding any issue related to the performance or with the daily operational activities. Moreover this provides with the sense of security to the employees that they do have someone who can look after them whenever they commit a mistake (Edwards, 2007). The above discussed importance of having appropriate HR manager and department is being extracted from the document that was supposed to lead. In that particular document, it was analyzed that having human resource management in the hospitality industry is must (Ferraro, 2006). Importance of Culture in International Hospitality Industry: There are many cultural factors that prevent the company, in this case hotel to operate in the other regions, this was observed during the analyses of the document that was required to consider, these issues become more critical when they are not properly treated, and for the providing the appropriate treatment organization needs to have appropriate human resource management. In order to manage the different factors, it is first essential to identify these factors and then the role of the HR manager in order to cope up with the issues, some important elements are (Hellibrand, 2008): Social Structure: This is very important for the hotels that are planning to open a new business unit in any other country. The social structure here represents the way people live in different countries, this is important to realize since, HR manager needs to hire the employees and train them accordingly. In different regions people do have different perspectives and different living standards, resulting in diversified population to target and attract, and also to hire people that are also from different social structure. HR manager in the hospitality industry can enable the organization to understand the basic difference in the social structure of the country from the country of origin (Keegan, 2002). Language: This comprises of the most difficulties from all the different factors in culture, a hotel going international or entering into a new country needs to face this issues, there are many examples like Coca Cola entering China and changing the pronunciation, as first it did not mean what was expected from it, moreover like many other businesses the importance of employees is also being realized by the hospitality industry and now businesses considers employees the most important asset of the organization, therefore HR manager needs to be proactive in dealing with the issues related to language problem in the new country. moreover HR manager in the hotel will able to develop the understanding in the upper management about the local culture and what are the different jargons and what are the norms of the language (Luger, 2009). Even if the business is not international, hotel needs to accommodate people from different nations having different languages and act in their language can mean harmful whereas can also mean very normal in the local language in which the hotel is being working. Here comes the strategic role of the Human Resource Manager who needs to fill the gap that is being created by the language issues by holding appropriate session related to training the employees and also telling the management about the language differences (Paul, 2008). Education: Here the education means the level of literacy rate in the country, this has become a critical issue for the HR management because, organizations working in the country having low literacy rate will make it hard for the organization to find the most appropriate employee for the position. Moreover sometimes hiring less educated people will harm the services provided by the hotels, since hiring inappropriate employee in hotel can alter the services at very rapid pace, since in hotels direct customer interaction is being conducted, hence affecting the image of the entire organization (Poole, 1999). Interests and Values: HR manager has to realize that what elements are different in terms of interests in the new country, it is also possible that one thing which is given the most value in the country of origin means nothing in the new country, hence resulting in the failure of the entire business. Therefore the Human Resource Management needs to realize the difference between the interests and values of the culture and try to pose the hotel in an acceptable manner and decorate it in the similar way, so that potential customers can feel that they are in their own culture. Economics: Different currency rate, different factors driving the economy, varying financial sector, these issues are less related to the HR manager, but international hospitality industry needs to cope up with these issues that occur when management decides to internationalize the entire business. Effects of Culture on Hospitality Industry: After analyzing the hospitality industry in the context of the human resource management and cultural affects, it has been noted that the there are various elements that effect the cultures for the hospitality industry. Some of the key elements are discussed below; Consumer Behavior: One of the main important elements that has noted is that the consumer behavior is hospitality industry is changing with significant rates. As compared to the last couple of decades the behaviors of the customers have been changed and the main reason behind this change is the mode of globalization. As discussed in the above report that the since the business world has entered into globalization mode, the hospitality industry has managed to grow faster than ever before because the visitors now find this easy to move from one region to another easily and with many facilities (Mondy, 2008). And since the customers have now visited many places across the world, the roles of human resource personnel have become more critical. Today, the human resource personnel have to ensure that they design the organizational policies and regulations according to the consumer behavior. But the changing behaviors of the consumers are restricting the human resource personnel to do so. Many of the companies and their HR departments are now planning and redesigning their strategies to ensure that the consumer behaviors are properly understood. As compared to the past few years, the HR personnel in hospitality industry have become more responsible to understand the needs and requirements of the customers and act accordingly. Local Demand: A part from the above critical factors of changes in consumer behavior, the local and regional demand of the customers has also noted to be changed. Especially after the global and economical crisis, the visitors do not prefer to visit the other locations outside the regions because it requires them to pay the expenses and due to financial crisis, every individual is suffering from the shortage of finances (Schuler Jackson, 1999). The HR department of hospitality industry again has to ensure that it clearly understands the local demand and design the organizational strategies accordingly to attract the potential customers and increase the sales and profitability. As this is the only way which is remained to adopt otherwise sustaining in hospitality industry is not an easy task to perform. Brand Image: Maintaining the brand image is also one of the critical jobs for the organizations and HR departments are one of the responsible departments to do so. The regional culture also creates many complications for the hospitality industrial companies to ensure that the brand image is saved from any harm. Today it is noted that many of the companies are operating efficiently and successful across the world and it is because of the regional culture (Rae, 2000). Human Resource Issues in the Hospitality Industry: Different levels of hotels big and small in the hospitality industry face difficulty in order to manage the human resource and also the relationships with the employees in any country or countries they operate in.   There have been increase in the employees issue regarding the organizational culture; the cases for sexual harassments have increased which ultimately costs the organization to give from its profit (Wvans, 2010). There are many cases observed in which hotels are not following the health and safety issues regarding the employees or the customers and even different services provided to them in different phases. Many hotels are observed to have high employee turnover or highly staffed labor, which means the organization is having more employees than required. This is because of the lack of appropriate HR manager and department which are not fulfilling the different needs of the organization, as now days the HR department should be playing more strategic role instead of onl y restricted to traditional ways. There are few major issues regarding the HR personals in the hospitality industry which was observed during the reading of the document presented by the author (Price, 2007): Job Description: the main issue for the HRM in the international hospitality industry to is to develop an appropriate job description which can cover the entire employee area of the organization. The issue concerning this element is the fact that HR manager needs to incorporate every level of employee in order to deliver better services to the customers (Smith Mounter, 2008). Policies and Procedures:   in order to develop the policies regarding the employees in the organization, the HR manager needs to be more proactive, since working in the international business environment needs to incorporate different cultures, as it has been discussed above in the report. Moreover the HR manager needs to deal with different laws and regulations depending upon the country or the countries they are working in. this mean that the HR manager needs to develop policies in which every aspect is being taken care off so that the management is able to have better relations with the employees. These policies must incorporate the different operational issues like sexual harassments and other problems that the employees are facing in their duties. Inductions Process: it has been already being discussed above that the most important asset of the company are the employees, therefore working in the international business industry, hotel needs to have the most appropriate and hardworking employees so that they can perform much better. The entire induction process of the company should be strategically followed by HR manager (Wierzbicka, 1999). Conclusion: As the business environment is getting more competitive, organizations in different industries need to gain some access to those resources in which they have gain the competitive advantage to increase the profitability. The above report is being constructed in this similar regard, in which it was required to select an author which has written on the topic of culture and then the concepts earned through that book was being incorporated in this research report which is based on the importance of Human Resource Management in the international industry. Therefore the report is constructed in a logical manner followed from the evolution of the Hospitality industry, in this part the different factors have been discussed which has resulted in the boost of the entire industry; the main factor which has influenced is the globalization. Then the importance of culture is being discussed and how the realization of the culture is important in the international business environment and also different factors of the culture are being discussed. In the end part of the report, the importance of Human resource management is being discussed and how human resource manager can play its role in the development of the organizational performance. There are few issues also discussed in which the basic emphasis was on to have an appropriate inductions system by which the organization will be able to hire best employees. References: Albercht M H, 2001, International HRM, Wiley Black, USA UK Aswathappa K, 2010, International Business, Tata Mc Graw Hill, India Brewster C Harris H, 1999, International HRM, Routledge, USA Canada Brotherton B, 2003, the international hospitality industry, Butterworth-Heinemann, China Browaeys M J, 2008, Understanding Cross Cultural Management, Pearson Education, India Chon K, Mair T, 2009, welcome to hospitality, Cengage Learning, Canada Dash A, 2007, IRHM, Tata Mc Graw Hill, India Edwards T, 2007, International HRM, Pearson Education, India, Ferraro E, 2006, Cultural Anthropology, Cengage Learning, USA Hellibrand J, 2008, Cross Cultural Competences, GRIN, Germany Keegan W J, 2002, Global Marketing Management, 7th E, Pearson Education, India Knowles T, Diamantis D, Mourhabi J, 2004, The globalization of tourism and hospitality, Cengage learning, UK Luger E, 2009, Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, GRIN, Germany McManus J, 2006, Leadership: Project Human Capital Management, BH, UK Mondy R W, 2008, HRM, 3rd Edition, Pearson Education, India Olsen M, Zhao J, 2008, Handbook of hospitality strategic management, Butterworth-Heinemann, UK Paul J, 2008, International Business, PHI Learning, India Pizam A, 2005, international encyclopedia of hospitality management, Butterworth-Heinemann, UK Poole M, 1999, HRM, Routledge, USA Canada Price A, 2007, HRM in a Business Context, Cengage Learning EMEA, USA Rae L, 2000, Effective Planning in Training Development, Kogan Page, GB Reddington M, Williamson M Withers M, 2005, Transforming HR: Creating Value Through People, BH, GB Schuler R S Jackson S E, 1999, Strategic Human Resource Management, Blackwell Publisher, GB Sims R R Vares J G, 1999, Keys to Employee Success in Coming Decades, Greenwood Publishing Group, USA Singh S, 2006, HRD and Managerial Development, Global Vision Publishing, India Smith L Mounter P, 2008, Effective Internal Communication, Kogan Page Publishers, India Tanke M, 2000, HRM for hospitality industry, Cengage learning, US Wierzbicka A, 1999, Emotions Across Languages Culture, Cambridge University Press, GB Wvans P B, 2010, The Global Challenge, Tata Mc G

Sunday, October 20, 2019

25 Words and Their Prepositional Pals

25 Words and Their Prepositional Pals 25 Words and Their Prepositional Pals 25 Words and Their Prepositional Pals By Mark Nichol You probably know a preposition a word that shows a relationship between two words or phrases by demonstrating place, time, or another quality when you see it, but that’s grammar. What about usage? Which prepositions go with a given verb or adjective, and when? Some choices are no-brainers, but others can present a challenge. Here’s a guide to various words that require writers to choose from more than one preposition depending on meaning and sentence construction: 1. Abide â€Å"with us for a while,† â€Å"by the rules† (or â€Å"I can’t abide him†). 2. Answer â€Å"to him for what you’ve done,† â€Å"for what you’ve done.† 3. Caution â€Å"about unsafe conditions,† â€Å"against the rash proposal.† 4. Compare â€Å"with other products that make the same claims,† â€Å"apples to oranges.† 5. Confide â€Å"in her about my problems,† â€Å"to him what I really think.† 6. Conversant â€Å"about climate change,† â€Å"in several languages,† â€Å"with aspects of technology.† 7. Differ â€Å"from other species in their diet,† â€Å"with them about the cause of the company’s failure,† or â€Å"about public policy,† â€Å"on public policy,† or â€Å"over public policy.† 8. Different â€Å"from what he was used to,† â€Å"than he was used to.† From is the preferred usage, but than substitutes for â€Å"from what.† (â€Å"Different to† is a Britishism.) 9. Dissent â€Å"against the status quo,† â€Å"from the majority opinion.† (To or with are not considered standard usage.) 10. Dissimilar â€Å"to her previous sculpture.† (From is considered incorrect.) 11. Enamored â€Å"of every woman he meets.† (With is considered incorrect.) 12. Equivalent â€Å"in amounts,† â€Å"to the earlier result.† (With is not considered standard usage.) 13. Excerpt â€Å"from their book was reprinted without their permission.† (Of is considered incorrect.) 14. Forbid â€Å"him from attending,† â€Å"him to attend.† (To is considered the more correct of the two choices.) 15. Identical â€Å"to the one she saw yesterday,† â€Å"with the one she saw yesterday.† (Language purists consider with more correct, but use of to is significantly more common.) 16. Independent â€Å"of the group, he protested the plan.† (From, as in â€Å"Independent from her family,† is considered incorrect.) 17. Instilled â€Å"instilled a few drops of the solution into the wound,† â€Å"in him a drive to succeed.† (With, as in â€Å"Instilled with a drive to succeed,† is considered incorrect.) 18. Oblivious â€Å"of the warning signs,† â€Å"to the noise†; the choices are often interchangeable. (About is often used in association with oblivious, but it’s not considered standard usage.) 19. Vexed â€Å"about her behavior,† â€Å"at her behavior.† The correct preposition to use with the following words depends on whether the object is a person or a thing: 20. Comment â€Å"about her† or â€Å"to you about what happened,† but â€Å"on the issue.† 21. Impatient â€Å"with him,† but â€Å"about the delay,† â€Å"at the delay,† or â€Å"with the delay.† 22. Inquired â€Å"of him where he was going† and â€Å"after her whereabouts,† but â€Å"into their progress† or â€Å"about the vacant apartment.† 23. Mastery â€Å"over all other competitors,† but â€Å"of the skill.† 24. Reconcile â€Å"with her boyfriend,† but â€Å"to the loss of her boyfriend.† 25. Succeed â€Å"as a businessperson,† but â€Å"to the position.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Fly, Flew, (has) FlownFlied?36 Poetry TermsThe 7 Types of Possessive Case

Saturday, October 19, 2019

The US-led war in Iraq Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The US-led war in Iraq - Essay Example Iraq had a devastated economy from 1980 to 1988 due to the internal war of the country. The country was made to be the largest military country in the region of Persian Gulf. The country was invaded by Kuwait in 1990 but the United States-led UN coalition forced them out in 1991. This led to social instability in the Kurdish side of the country where the Shia Muslims were against the government, which was led by Saddam Hussein. The government was forced to use force in order to suppress this rebellion. This led to a massacre where thousands of individuals were killed and a lot of property was damaged. The United States government and other superpower countries were forced to declare the country to be a no flying zone due to the instability of the region. The country was even sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council since the country refused to surrender their weapons so that they could be inspected. The country remained unstable from the 1900s to 2000s. The United States-led coalition invaded the country in 2003 after it was reported that the country had refused to be inspected by the United Nation. This led to the Iraq war between the United States and Iraq. Iraq’s dictator was overthrown in this war after the invasion had taken place. The country was left under the control of Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) that handled the governmental affairs of the country, which later led to the formation of the government. The Iraqi interim Government took over after the CPA was disbanded in June 2004. The transitional government later took over after the election was held in January 2005 and in September the countries constitution was completed. December of the same year marked another election that initiated a four-year government, which took over power in March 2006, and was in accordance with the constitution. Even after the elections had been conducted in the country, there were still casers of instability and reports of violence across the country. This made the United States forces to be increas4ed in the region to calm the violence. The US started leaving the country in June 2009 after the two countries came up with a plan to ensure that the troops were out of the country’s urban areas (Jenkins, 57). The Iraqi war officially ended in December 2011 as majority of the US troops had left the country. The governance of Iraq changed after the invasion by the United States. This government is an establishment of the parliamentary democracy where it has branches of executives. The president is the chief of states and the prime minister is the head of government. The legislative branch of Iraq is has a unicameral council of representatives. The judicial branch of the country does not exist. However, the CIA Fact book implies that the judicial governance and management should start with Higher Judicial Council, which is followed by Federal Supreme Court Federal Court of

Friday, October 18, 2019

The Climate for Change by Al Gore Pg. 301 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Climate for Change by Al Gore Pg. 301 - Essay Example children would want the people today to hear and recognize the truth of the prevailing situation, before everything might be too late (Laurence and Rosen 301). Al Gore was simply trying to show special concern on the preservation of life in this world. Based on his speech, this looks like the very reason in the first place why he initiated primary move of encouraging and informing everyone of the prevailing condition of planet earth in the advent of man-made contribution to the climate change. Thus, the entire speech of Gore consists of very important points in order to justify what he actually would want to convey to the people prior to convincing them so as they would create elemental actions for the preservation of life. The first point was all about addressing the climate crisis. For Gore, attending to this problem is just the same way on how one should do it with the prevailing concerns on economic and energy security crisis. â€Å"Here is the good news: the bold steps that are needed to solve the climate crisis are exactly the same steps that ought to be taken in order to solve the economic crisis and the energy security crisis (Laurence and Rosen 301). Gore was just actually emphasizing at this point on how exactly to simultaneously hit various opportunities with one essential decision. He was offering in as much as possible the best move to initiate in order to address both economic and environmental concerns associated with global warming issue. For him, it would be the best move to identify first the real cause of the problem and after that initiate an action plan as the basis of actual implementation for the solution-making process. So as for the second point of Gore’s speech, here are the important plans or suggestions that he presented to the people (Laurence and Rosen 302-303). For Gore it would be now the right time to invest in alternative sources of energy such as geothermal, wind, and solar energy. To implement this, Gore encouraged the executive

Genocide and Humanitarian Intervention Research Paper - 1

Genocide and Humanitarian Intervention - Research Paper Example Despite optimistic dreams, harmony was shattered in the early 1990s with the explosion of ethnic conflict and humanitarian tragedies on the grandest scale.   While ethnic conflict and humanitarian crises have existed since the dawn of time, for the first time ever images of extreme bloodshed, violence, and even genocide were broadcast into the millions of people around the world, from New York to New Delhi and from London to Lagos. Images of children being slaughtered, women being raped and people brutalized were beamed into the living rooms of concerned citizens all over the world, for all to see. For the first time, the public was confronted, on a near daily basis, with images of mass carnage, violence, and humanitarian crisis. People pressed their congressmen, parliamentarians and state representatives to act and, in varying degrees, a groundswell calling for a decisive role for governments in ending these humanitarian crises and conflicts emerged. Although some wanted direct military action, often French, British or American, in ending a particular conflict, most governments have traditionally favored other instruments of diplomacy: p olitical pressure, economic sanctions and imposed a settlement through international bodies such as the United Nations. As Carleton, & Stohl have emphatically demonstrated, a foreign policy rhetoric may be politically salient but not always political possible.  The purpose of this report is to provide an analysis of the human rights issue of genocide and humanitarian intervention.   With the aim of providing a thorough and concise overview of an incredibly timely issue, the following will explore arguments by two major scholars in the field regarding this important human rights issue.  

Budgeting db5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Budgeting db5 - Essay Example The company would have budgeted unwisely making the budget deficits occur due to poor budget plan. Poor budget plans are source to monetary crisis. The foundation need to assess the risk and re-strategize on the important issues that will assure the children’s summer takes place. The strategy should focus on the strengths of the company, which will help sustain the company in the crisis. Another way to go about the debacle is to share the expense of the evenly in the company endeavors so that every department has little to go around and finding the balance in the budget. The budget restructuring will make economic sense when the company has in place a strategic direction in the crisis period. The company must accept the crisis to move on quicker through tightening the use of money in the company. The expenditure needs to be trimmed to a sizable amount in order to make the company survive the hit. More caution on the use of funds should be placed with scrutiny monetary utility

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Discrimination, or Not Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discrimination, or Not - Assignment Example Soon after, she filed charge against Hosanna-Tabor with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) appealing against the discrimination of employment along with violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (Supreme Court of the United States, 2011). In this regard, it is justifiable for Perich to file legal case as she was being called and selected as a ‘commissioned minister’ in Hosanna-Tabor. Moreover, rescinding Perich’s call and sending termination letter on the ground of â€Å"threating to take legal action† due to the discrimination can also be considered as a major factor, which can lead Perich to take adequate lawful steps against Hosanna-Tabor (Cornell University Law School, 2012). With reference to the scenario of the case, the suit made by Perich was barred with respect to the legal policies of the First Amendment as it defines that â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances† (Cornell University Law School, n.d.). In this context, the district court has barred the allegation of Perich against Hosanna-Tabor. Moreover, the Establishments and Free Exercise Clauses underneath the First Amendments also confer the ability of the church to choose its own ministers from the perspective of disputes associated with the church’s possessions. Correspondingly, Hosanna-Tabor can also bring in relevant legal claims against EEOC in the ground of the provisions considered by the constitutional law (Pew Research Center, 2014). With reference to the case scenario, it has been recognized that the rescinding of call along with terminating Perich on the ground of ‘threatening to take legal action’ duly ascertain an unjustifiable decision of Hosanna-Tabor. The decision of the school in this

Advantages and Disadvantages of ID Tracking on Individuals Essay

Advantages and Disadvantages of ID Tracking on Individuals - Essay Example med residents to security systems, from home surveillance to guard dogs; human beings go to great extremes to secure themselves, their families, and their belongings. One suggestion to make people safer and impossible to lose; they suggest tracking them. Of course, the idea of finding a lost child instantaneously is ideal for a frantic parent, but others question whether your persistent location is an invasion of individual and personal privacy; not to mention that they have some less than properly addressed physical and technological inefficiencies that work against it. In order to understand the issues with tracking human beings it is best to understand more about the technology involved. Most people are familiar with GPS, which allows us to track our vehicles, our cell phones, our pets, and on occasion even our children (Collins, 2011).However, the newest technology being considered is Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID. There are three types of tags available. The RFID technology, when implanted is consider efficient and less likely to fail due to its protection from damage inside the body (Gilani, 2013).The other advantages, many experts say, is that it will help parents track their children, help families track elderly who are prone to wandering away, and for patients brought into the hospital in critical and non-conscious states; if their imperative medical information is carried within a tracking device it would make treating this patient easier. Unfortunately not everyone is as eager to see this sort of technology embraced. There are some ethical issues that arise, which include security of information. What and whom can guarantee that that information is not compromised? What if someone could â€Å"hack† into the system and locate your children without your knowledge. If ones medical information is there for emergency conveniences what prevents people from tapping into it? Implanted RFID can lead to a negative reaction within the body. Your body

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Budgeting db5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Budgeting db5 - Essay Example The company would have budgeted unwisely making the budget deficits occur due to poor budget plan. Poor budget plans are source to monetary crisis. The foundation need to assess the risk and re-strategize on the important issues that will assure the children’s summer takes place. The strategy should focus on the strengths of the company, which will help sustain the company in the crisis. Another way to go about the debacle is to share the expense of the evenly in the company endeavors so that every department has little to go around and finding the balance in the budget. The budget restructuring will make economic sense when the company has in place a strategic direction in the crisis period. The company must accept the crisis to move on quicker through tightening the use of money in the company. The expenditure needs to be trimmed to a sizable amount in order to make the company survive the hit. More caution on the use of funds should be placed with scrutiny monetary utility

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Advantages and Disadvantages of ID Tracking on Individuals Essay

Advantages and Disadvantages of ID Tracking on Individuals - Essay Example med residents to security systems, from home surveillance to guard dogs; human beings go to great extremes to secure themselves, their families, and their belongings. One suggestion to make people safer and impossible to lose; they suggest tracking them. Of course, the idea of finding a lost child instantaneously is ideal for a frantic parent, but others question whether your persistent location is an invasion of individual and personal privacy; not to mention that they have some less than properly addressed physical and technological inefficiencies that work against it. In order to understand the issues with tracking human beings it is best to understand more about the technology involved. Most people are familiar with GPS, which allows us to track our vehicles, our cell phones, our pets, and on occasion even our children (Collins, 2011).However, the newest technology being considered is Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID. There are three types of tags available. The RFID technology, when implanted is consider efficient and less likely to fail due to its protection from damage inside the body (Gilani, 2013).The other advantages, many experts say, is that it will help parents track their children, help families track elderly who are prone to wandering away, and for patients brought into the hospital in critical and non-conscious states; if their imperative medical information is carried within a tracking device it would make treating this patient easier. Unfortunately not everyone is as eager to see this sort of technology embraced. There are some ethical issues that arise, which include security of information. What and whom can guarantee that that information is not compromised? What if someone could â€Å"hack† into the system and locate your children without your knowledge. If ones medical information is there for emergency conveniences what prevents people from tapping into it? Implanted RFID can lead to a negative reaction within the body. Your body

Catholic Social Teaching Essay Example for Free

Catholic Social Teaching Essay * is a body of doctrine developed by the Catholic Church on matters of poverty and wealth, economics, social organization and the role of the state. Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIIIs 1891 encyclical letter Rerum Novarum, which advocated economic Distributism and condemned both Capitalism and Socialism, although its roots can be traced to the writings of Catholic thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine of Hippo, and is also derived from concepts present in the Bible. * The Catholic Social Teaching has two basic characteristics, namely, being permanent and developing. * Permanent -Since the teachings are based on the Gospel, they offer a permanent complex idea to be pursued in the ever changing historical conditions and ways. These teachings can never go out of date in their fundamentals. Examples of these permanent teachings are exemplified in the following principles: 1. Human dignity and Solidarity 2. Social justice and Christian love 3. Active non-violence and peace 4. Preferential option for the poor 5. Value of human work 6. Universal destinations of all goods of the earth 7. Stewardship and the integrity of creation 8. People empowerment 9. Authentic and holistic (integral) human development * Developing -The fundamentals of Church Social Teaching make up the steadily growing collection of the Church’s social principles that must be creatively applied to and renewed in ever changing concrete situations of various events, cultures, and human needs in the historical process. Deeper insights into permanent values develop as the Church reads the signs of the times. * Methods and Sources 1. Scripture. The authoritative books which record the Jewish and Christian   experiences of God’s self-disclosure. Scripture reveals who God is and who we are called to be in response to God. Interpretation of Scripture requires attention to historical context and is best done in community. 2. Tradition: the ways of thinking and living that are â€Å"handed over† (traditio) from one generation to the next; an ongoing conversation across the ages about our most important questions. Also the body of theological reflection and the ways of putting this reflection into practice that are â€Å"handed over† (traditio) from one generation to the next. Magisterium: official teaching office of church and authoritative voice of tradition. While theologians, activists, and ordinary Catholics make contribute to this body of theological reflection in important ways, a privileged source of Catholic tradition is the magisterium or the official, authoritative teaching office of the church. This official teaching office is exercised by Catholic Bishops, and in particular the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), as well as groups appointed by the Pope. This teaching is expressed in the form of a) papal encyclicals; b) encyclicals of Church Councils (such as Vatican II) or Synods of Bishops, c) statements by Vatican offices, congregations, and commissions; d) Episcopal conferences (regional meetings of Bishops, such as the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in the United States). 3. Reason. The natural human capacity to know truth. The way we interpret and understand Scripture, Tradition, and experience. * Reason as Natural Law The preeminent form of reasoning for much of Catholic tradition has been natural law reasoning. To understand Catholic natural law reasoning, one must get inside a whole worldview, culture, and language within Catholic tradition. Natural law holds that God’s intentions are expressed in the order that God â€Å"built into creation.† This order takes the form of â€Å"natures† or intelligible patterns of being. Humans are capable of knowing this order by reflecting upon creation. As humans we must first recognize our nature and act according to it so as to fulfill our created nature. For example, humans by nature (or by creation) have a â€Å"built in† instinct for self-preservation. Aquinas argues that to use appropriately limited violence in self-defense is good because it is to act according to our God-given nature. (God’s creation is good). * Four Levels of Law St. Thomas Aquinas defines law is â€Å"an ordering of reason† (ordinatio rationis) or the most important way that reason rules or measures actions. He describes four levels of law: a. Eternal Law: the mind (ratio) of God which orders and governs creation b. Divine Law: the explicit revelation of the mind of God in Scripture c. Natural Law: the expression of the mind of God in the order that God has built into creation. This order takes the form of natures or patterns of being that humans can know by using their reason to reflect on creation. For example, because humans by nature (or creation) have a built in instinct for self-preservation, limited self-defense is in accord with our God-given nature. See Romans 2:14-15 d. Human Law: human attempts to formulate laws that reflect the natural law. * Two Interpretations of Human Nature There have been two major strains of interpretation of human nature: a) â€Å"nature as physical†Ã¢â‚¬â€humans must respect their biological â€Å"givenness† or the physical order (ex. artificial contraception interferes with the natural order of sexual intercourse whereas the rhythm method respects this order.) b) â€Å"nature as rational†Ã¢â‚¬â€humans must act in accord with reason; they must seek to discover and fulfill their fullest purpose. Biology does not trump other cues in discovering â€Å"nature.† Instead, we must look to all sources of human wisdom in order to discover how things are meant to be. The pope reasons that the purpose of property is for the good of all creation but a limited right to private property is consistent with human dignity and human wisdom about how well people take care of common property. 4. Experience. Our encounter with the world both past and present. Christian tradition privileges the experience of those at the margins of society—the poor and the oppressed. In Catholic social thought experience is enriched and expanded by a four step process of interpretation and reflection which I will call â€Å"the interpretive circle†. a. experience: insert yourself into a situation, see what is going on, and gather necessary information b. social analysis: â€Å"What are the structural or â€Å"root† causes of injustices?† â€Å"What are the patterns of action that reinforce these injustices?† c. theological reflection: â€Å"What light does faith, especially as expressed in Scripture and Catholic social teaching, shed upon our experience and social analysis?† â€Å"Where is God in this situation and how might we respond to God’s call to us?† d. practical planning: â€Å"What are the most faithful, creative, and effective ways of acting upon the first three steps?† * How does Catholic tradition use these four sources? 1. They serve as checks and balances to each other. Each should inform and complement the other in critical dialogue. 2. â€Å"Reason informed by faith.† Reason and faith penetrate each other and form a unified way of approaching problems. Scripture and Christian Tradition provide the overall story, worldview, and values that serve as the framework for moral reasoning.

Monday, October 14, 2019

The Effect of Enzyme Concentration on Reaction Rate

The Effect of Enzyme Concentration on Reaction Rate Determination of the effect of enzyme concentration on catalysis using starch an amylase. INTRODUCTION Enzymes are said to be catalytic proteins which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being altered in the process of that reaction. [1] A substrate is a substance which an enzyme acts upon. No bond is formed between the enzyme and the substrate in the reaction thus the enzyme goes back to its original shape and can be used again.[2]An enzyme binds to a substrate via the active site thus forming an enzyme substrate complex They are very specific in their reaction and also to the substrate they are binding with. Enzymes function correctly when the shape of the substrate matches the enzymes active site and their functioning is dependent upon its three dimensional structure. They undergo catalysis by lowering the activation energy so that more molecules will be activated thus having the reaction occurring more easily [1] [2] In this experiment amylase is use to break down the starch molecules. Starch is the substrate used and amylase is the enzyme. There is a change when amylase reacts with starch. There is a release of a disaccharide maltose. As time increases there will less abundance of starch and more of the sugar present. So when this is added to iodine the blue/black colour will decrease to a light yellow shade.[4] The concentration of the enzyme is important in chemical reaction as it is needed to react with the substrate. Often a small amount of enzyme can consume a large amount of substrate. But as enzyme concentration increases so is the availability of active sites thus these will convert substrate molecules into products. What this is basically saying is that if the enzyme concentration is to be increased there needs to be an excess of substrate present which in other words means that the reaction must be independent of the concentration of substrate.[3] Apart from the concentration of substrate and enzyme there are other factors which can also influence the enzyme to function to its optimum capacity. These include temperature, pH, and inhibitors. Higher temperature would allow for more collisions to occur therefore allow substrate to bind to the enzymes active site more frequent. Since enzymes work at a certain temperature range activity would decline once this range would have been exceeded and the enzyme is denatured. Each enzyme has its own optimum where it functions best. Pepsin, an enzyme found in our stomach, works best in acidic conditions. Some enzymes becomes denatured thus deactivated when pH goes up down. I predict that the rate of the reaction will increase as the concentration increases and vice versa. The reaction will occur fast once the enzyme is added but it will slow down upon descending to the last test. I also believed that only a few of the test tube will produce a blue/black colour since the starch present in the solution will be hydrolyzed. Apparatus/Materials Water Buffer solution ( pH 6.8) 1% starch solution 1% amylase solution (Saliva) Dropper 3 beakers 3 10 ml measuring cylinders 12 test tubes Test tube rack Timer Method: Four test tubes were labeled A D 2 ml of water was measured and placed in test tube A. 2 ml of amylase (saliva) was measured and placed in the same test tube. Again 2 ml of water was measured and placed in a second test tube, test tube B, and to this 2 ml of the solution in test tube A was added. Another 2ml of water was added to a third test tube, test tube C , and to this , 2ml of the solution from test tube B was added. A further 2ml of water was added to test tube D, and to this 2 ml of solution from test tube C was added. Two milliliters of solution from test tube D was discarded so that all will have equal amounts of solution. Forty drops of buffer solution was added to test tube A . Eight (8) test tubes were collected and placed in a test tube rack. Two drops of iodine solution was placed into each using a dropper. To tube A 0.5 ml 1% starch solution was added. One drop of solution from tube A was immediately transferred to test tube #1 containing iodine solution. The dropper was properly rinsed. After 1 minute, one drop of solution from tube A was added using the dropper to the second tube containing iodine. The dropper was rinsed thoroughly. This was done for all the other test tubes that remained. The contents in all eight iodine test tubes were discarded. The tubes were thoroughly rinsed and dried for use in the next round of tests. Steps 6 11 was repeated for test tubes B,C,and D. RESULTS Test Tube Test Tube with Iodine Observations A B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dark brown solution with small amounts of blue/black grains. These were apparent 17 seconds after adding solution A Dark brown grainy solution. Orange brown solution with particles which were also orange -brown Light orange brown solution. No grainy particles present Lighter orange brown solution Yellow brown solution Yellow brown solution. This was lighter than tube No. 6 Light yellow brown solution. This was exceptionally lighter than the others. Blue- black with coarse particles. Small traces ( 320 seconds) Orange brown solution Light orange brown solution with grains present Orange brown solution with tiny grains present Orange brown solution Orange brown solution Light orange brown solution Light orange brown solution C D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dark brown with small traces of black particles (fewer than with tube B) (455 seconds) Orange brown solution Orange brown solution Orange brown Dark orange brown Dark orange brown Very dark brown solution with a few grainy particles Very dark brown with lots of grainy particles Dark brown solution with very small traces of black grains ( 560 seconds) Dark orange brown, no grainy particles present Dark orange brown solution Orange brown solution Orange brown solution Yellow/ orange- brown solution Yellow brown solution Light yellow brown solution The graph shows how the concentration of the enzyme affects the overall rate of the reaction. A higher concentration of the enzyme will produce a faster occurring reaction than a lower concentration. From the graph as time proceeds the reaction rate drops significantly. DISCUSSION: This lab exercise demonstrated the ability of an enzyme to hydrolyze the substrate molecule. The enzyme used was amylase and the substrate was starch. The starch is what the amylase actually acts upon to give the end products i.e amylase breaks down starch. Substrate ENZYME Products Enzyme concentration and substrate concentration play a vital role in enzymatic activity. The more enzymes available, the quicker the reaction will occur until the substrate is all used up More substrates will also mean quicker activity, until the enzyme is fully saturated so that it cannot continue increasing its activity.[1] Based on the results obtained from tube A, a blue/black colouration was noted. This indicated that there was significant amount of starch present. Iodine is an indicator for the presence of starch. This same colour was noted for tubes B- D but the traces of blue /black colour decreased from tube A -D. As the tests proceeded to the last tube, the colour of the solution for each set changed from a dark brown solution to light yellow and in some cases to a light orange brown solution. A reasonable explanation for this is that there are fewer enzymes present as you move from tube A-D thus the starch will not be broken down. When there is an insufficient amount of enzyme present the reaction will not progress as quick as it would because the active sites present are occupied. If the concentration or amount of enzymes is increased then this would make provision for an increase in reaction rate. Reaction rate would increase due to the fact that there will be more active sites that are unoccupied. However, if there is an excess of enzyme molecule, the rate would not increase if more is added but it would reach at a point where it would level off.[2] Another reasoning behind the colour change in that after the amylase reacted with the starch there will be a discharge of maltose which is a disaccharide. Less starch will be present as time proceeds and more maltose will be present. In addition less starch will be available to react with iodine thus the blue/black colour will decrease. The predictions made were moderately correct since a lower concentration of enzyme produced a reaction which was slow and one that had less products being formed. Various factors could have affected the results of the lab which may have given some amount of inaccuracy. These include temperature and pH. The enzyme perhaps would have functioned better in a certain temperature range instead of normal room temperature. CONCLUSION Based on the results obtained from the experiment it can be concluded that the concentration of enzymes influences the rate of a chemical reaction. If enzyme concentration is decreased then the reaction rate will also decrease. If there is sufficient enzyme to bind with substrate then the reaction will proceed fast and if there are insufficient enzymes present then the reaction will slow down