IFRS and GAAP Convergence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IFRS and GAAP Convergence - Essay Example ich have been adopted by the International Accounting Standards Board and comprise of IFRS, IAS (International Accounting Standards) and Interpretations. The term GAAP refers to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles used by the CPA firms and companies in order to present their financial statements. These are also referred as the rule-based accounting standards. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are jointly functioning in numerous cooperative assignments intended to enhance the compatibility of US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and eventually converge both the standards with each other. (PWC) The convergence of IFRS and the GAAP will largely impact the public companies, accounting firms, and small and medium companies together. The affects which the convergence will have are discussed in detail below. The public companies will be largely affected as the convergence will alter the reporting requirements of the companies and greater disclosures will be required as per the disclosure requirements if IFRS. The convergence will also have impact on the revenue recognition as the IFRS provides a different and assorted way of treating revenues from different transactions. This convergence will also impact the banking industry with regards to computation and accounting of gain, impairment of financial assets and hedging etc. This convergence will give new dimensions to the work of the accounting firms as they will have to reassess the reporting requirements and the financial disclosures for which they have to give their opinion. CPAs as well as the accounting firms will be required to obtain considerable knowledge and training to cope up with the converged standards in line to make the move while educating their clients as well. (Convergence Is Coming: How Your CPA Firm Should Prepare ) The convergence will require

Discussions W1-3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discussions W1-3 - Assignment Example This include: independence, integrity, objectivity and being transparent. The body hopes that its independence from undue pressure will not have an influence in its decision-making processes. The board has to be ethical, honest and forthright in all its relationships. It also has to be impartial in its decisions so that it can encourage open public participation. FASB on the other hand, is responsible for improving the financial accounting and reporting by non-governmental agencies. The boards has to ensure that such institutions provide financial information that is accurate and useful to investors and other end users. The board encourages broad participation of all stakeholders view in an effort to come up with better financial reporting standards. There are some differences in accounting for profits and nonprofit financial reporting. The standards of reporting for the two accounting boards are very different especially when it comes to accounting for profit. In recognition of prof its for instance, GABS does not necessarily recognize profits because it is a non-profit making venture and instead it may be called surplus. FASB on the other hand, does recognize profits in its financial reporting and is one of the most important information for decision makers. Therefore, profit is always recognized and has to be reported in the financial statements of profit making institutions. Government reporting is often a challenge especially when one has to consider that the government has to take into consideration different aspects. For instance, government reporting is different for counties and that of the city because of different reasons. First, the counties are usually under the local authorities and the cities are usually under a municipality and thus the difference. The reporting also has to take into consideration the number of residents or the population of the inhabitants. This is especially crucial in knowing what the resources will be allocated to each county and city. As is the case, some counties are larger than cities and some cities are bigger than counties. Therefore, there has to be some consistency in reporting of financial statements for the two. GABS reporting on financial statements of non-profit making institutions has to take into consideration three main characteristics. First, the information shared has to be useful to the end users. The main use of information is to influence decision-making, therefore the information has to be useful to people who are not looking for profits but rather how resources or services have been provided effectively. Secondly, GABS has to take into consideration the fact that most users are not familiar with accounting standards for governmental organizations. Therefore, the board has to educate and guide the end users in interpreting financial reporting for non-profit organizations. Finally, the decision makers are the most important and integral part of reporting. The government should not alt er any information on financial statements to influence the minds of the decision makers (gasb.org, 2012). There are similarities and contrasts in the way financial reporting is conducted under the International financial reporting standards and the U.S GAAP especially when it comes to leases. Both accounting reporting are similar in that they recognize the three types of leases. They recognize the existence of a capital lease, a financial lease and an operating lease. Secondly, the two

Project Implementation Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Project Implementation Process - Essay Example It is also expected by the stakeholders that some commercial uses like an artists’ studio shall have a place on the piece of land after it is developed for the generation of further income by drawing more people to the site. It is thus the developer’s duty to assess the site and, in this report to the School Governors, detail how the various issues put forth by the stakeholders shall be handled to make sure that the 2.5 million pounds budgeted for meet all the needs of developing the project (Kerzner, 2009, p. 9). Statutory Issues in Consideration There are several legal matters that need to be dealt with to ensure a smooth running of operations both currently and in the future. It is expected of the developer that all matters legal are put into consideration to eliminate all hurdles that may sabotage the project and lead to the loss of the benefits expected from the projects that will result from the facilities erected on the bought site. These issues shall be discusse d in the following section to quell the fears of the stakeholders and have their confidence and blessings as to the viability and profit potential of the project (Smock and Stewart, 2006, p. 30). The first issue is the legal access to the site that has been bought from the local authority. All the required documents concerning the transfer of land to the Drove Park School shall be obtained before the commencement of the project. The title deed shall be transferred to the Grove Park School before any activity is undertaken. It is expected that the complete transfer of the land from the local authority possessing it to the school shall be completed before the developer takes charge of the projects at hand. This is to avoid the eventualities that may result from the access to land that is under dispute due to one mishap or another (Russill, 2012, p. 41). Another legal issue that requires keen attention is the acquisition of the permit from the government to allow access to and developm ent of the land in question. An agreement shall be signed between Grove Park School and all the authorities that have a vested interest in the land to fully assure the Grove Park School that it has the full possession of the site at hand and that its developer is allowed full access and the use of the land (Nohe, 2009, p. 22). The site needs to be developed from a very poor and hopeless state to inspire the whole area and turn it into a business center of its own standing. Since it is expected that the project shall be very successful, plans should be put in place both with the owners of the land adjacent to the one under development to eliminate any future hurdles that may jeopardize development and other plans. The Grove Park School should thus focus on liaising with the local authorities to allow future expansion plans without breaking any laws in place. All government rules concerning the future plans of the project at hand should be known in advance both by the developer and al l parties with vested interest (Kerzner, 2009, p. 15). The developer at this stage assures all parties that all rules and regulations concerning the project both at present and in the future are well taken care of and there exists no major hurdle as to the development plans in place. Statutory

The Move from Doubt to Certainty Essay Example for Free

The Move from Doubt to Certainty Essay Descartes is interested in the certainty of his existence and the existence of other people and things. Descartes beliefs vary from those of Socrates. Descartes argues that knowledge is acquired through awareness and experience. Using this approach, Descartes moves through doubt to certainty of his existence. He asks himself various questions about the certainty of his existence and solves them through clear thought and logic. Using this method Descartes establishes doubts to be truths and by the end of the book, he has established that he does indeed exist. In this paper, I will show how Descartes moves through doubt to certainty. I will explain how Descartes uses the cogito, proves the existence of God and what that means to his existence. I will also discuss the general rules of truth that Descartes establishes. In the First Meditation Descartes begins to examine what is certain and what is doubtful. Descartes wants to establish that his knowledge is certain and not doubtful. He states, I had accepted many false opinions as being true, and that what I had based on such insecure principles could only be most doubtful and uncertain; so that I had to undertake seriously once in my life to rid myself of all opinions I had adopted up to then, and to begin, and to begin afresh from the foundations, if I wished to establish something firm and constant in the sciences. (Descartes 95) By this Descartes means that he wishes to establish a foundation for his knowledge based on certainty instead of doubt. Descartes first looks at the senses. This is important because the senses are the first thing to cause doubt. He focuses on the perception of things. He says that things far from him, in the distance, give him reason to doubt their certainty, while things that are close to him are indubitable and he is clear about their certainty. However, Descartes realizes that dreams pose an obstacle to his beliefs. Even up close, dreams can be indubitable. Descartes believes that if a person has had a dream that was so intense that the person could not determine it form reality, then they have reason to doubt objects that are close to us and appear to be indubitable. In order to resolve this problem, Descartes suggests that one must examine whether they are dreaming or not. Descartes realizes that he can not rely on his senses anymore to give him dubitable truths. He turns to find something that is indubitable. Descartes tries to use science as a foundation for truth. He discards physics, astronomy, and medicine because all three of them rely upon the senses. we shall not be wrong in concluding that physics, astronomy, and medicine, and all the other sciences that depend on the consideration of composite things, are most doubtful and uncertain (Descartes 98). However, Descartes finds that such things as geometry and arithmetic can be trusted because their are no senses involved. They are based upon logic. whether I am awake or asleep, two and three added together always makes five, and a square always has four sides; and it does not seem possible that truths so apparent can be suspected of any falsity or uncertainty(98). However, Descartes finds reason to even doubt this. The only thing that could makes these truths dubitable is through the intervention by an Evil Deceiver (God). Descartes cannot prove that God is good and has to acknowledge that God has the power to deceive. Therefore, Descartes must doubt all things until he can prove their certainty. Descartes comes to call this doubt Universal Doubt. In the Second Meditation, Descartes examine the existence of himself. He concludes that if he cannot prove something exists then how does he know with certainty that he exists. It is his doubt of his existence that Descartes uses to prove his existence. Descartes realizes that if he is able to doubt then he does indeed exists. He take the approach that, I think therefore I am to establish a certainty that he exists. This idea also known as the cogito becomes the central point that Descartes will use for the remaining of his meditations. Descartes affirms his existence every time he thinks, doubts, or is persuaded(Descartes 103). Descartes affirms that if there is an Evil Deceiver then Descartes must exist because in order for God to deceive, Descartes he must first exist. Although, Descartes has proved his existence he can only prove it in the mental capacity. He does not know for certain that he exists in the physical form. The only way, at this time, that Descartes can prove the existence of his body is through his senses. He has already established that his senses are dubitable and therefore cannot tell him with certainty that his body exists. In order to get a better understanding of his relationship between his body and mind, Descartes melts a piece of wax. He observes the wax in two different states, the first in a solid form and the second in a melted form. He questions how his senses can show him two entirely different forms of the same substance; yet he knows that the substance, in both states, although completely different, is wax. The mind was able to understand the essence of the wax. Although the senses were not entirely capable of making the connection between the two forms of wax, the senses assisted the mind in determining what the substance was. This experiment proves to be important to Descartes because he is able to make a link between the senses and the mind. Using his experiment, Descartes enters his Third Meditation using his general rule of truth that all things we conceive very clearly and distinctly are true(Descartes 113). However, there is one flaw to his thoughts. If God is an evil deceiver than this cannot be true. Descartes proceeds to establish that God is good and does not deceive. Descartes uses three points to establish the existence God. These points are ideas. The first one is adventitious ideas; those ideas that come from outside experiences. The second is invented ideas; those that are derived from the imagination such as sirens and chimera. The final is innate ideas; those that are within one when they are born. Descartes uses two more points to further establish that God exists. He uses the ideas of infinite and perfect. These two ideas, Descartes cannot account for. The only way for such things to come about would be from an infinite and perfect being such as God. These ideas have a direct relationship with God. In order for a finite beings such as Descartes to have a concept of infinite it must have been planted there by an infinite being such as God. Descartes concludes this idea to be true because one cannot derive the idea of infinite by negating the finite(Descartes 125). An example of this would be the use of a number line. The number line will never be able to illustrate infinity. One could negate every number on a number line and still not arrive at infinity. Therefore, Descartes concludes that God does exist and therefore is not an evil deceiver. Because God has supplied us with the innate ideas of perfection and infinity, God, therefore, must be infinite and perfect. Descartes states that, Whence it is clear enough that he cannot be a deceiver, for the natural light teaches us that deceit stems necessarily from some defect(Descartes 131). Since God is perfect he is not an evil deceiver. It is important to realize that by the time Descartes has reached his Fourth Meditation he has proved three important things. The first is that doubt is not universal. The second is that there is a general rule of truth. The third is that God exists and cannot be an evil deceiver. However, Descartes raises a question: If God exists and cannot be an evil deceiver then why are humans imperfect and perpetually making errors? Descartes explains this through the explanation of free will. Descartes states that God has given all humans free will. This is the cause of human error. Because we have free will, humans are able to make choices and decisions free from the influence of God. Sometimes free will interferes with Gods ability to help humans and therefore humans sometimes make poor decisions. If God did not give humans free will than God would play a direct role in every decision made by humans. It is because God gives humans free will that allows for human error. Descartes Fifth and Sixth Meditations begins with the establishment of his remaining doubts and the application of what he has discovered. The first question deals with the essence of color, mathematical, and geometrical truths. The second is the existence of people and things. The third is determining the difference between dreams and reality. Descartes reiterates that God is not an evil deceiver and therefore he can clearly conceive something to be true. He reiterates that if he conceives God correctly then God is perfect. Imperfection is not compatible with Gods omnipotence. A non-existent thing cannot be perfect. Even a non-existent perfect thing is imperfect and all perfect things are perfect. Descartes also restates that a perfect thing cannot deceive. With this knowledge, Descartes proceeds to solve his second problem. The existence of corporeal(physical things) exist with certainty. Since God is not an evil deceiver, the idea of physical things is accurate. Although some perceptions will still be blurry and may confuse Descartes objects do indeed exist. He concludes that he just has to be more judgmental of those perceptions. But as concerns other things, which are either only particular, as,, for example, that the sun is of such a size and shape, etc. , or are perceived less clearly and distinctly, as in the case of light, sound and pain and so on, although they are very doubtful and uncertain, nevertheless, from the fact alone that God is not a deceiver, and has consequently permitted no falsity in my opinions (Descartes 158) Descartes now knows for certain that he has a body. Descartes realizes that, I have a body, which is ill disposed when I feel pain, which needs to eat and drink when I have feelings of hunger or thirst etc. (Descartes 159). Because of these feeling that Descartes has and because God is not an evil deceiver than Descartes is indeed lodged in a body and is an entire entity with it. Descartes finally analyzes his third doubt. He now has the ability to distinguish between being awake and dreaming. When we are awake, Descartes states, are mind flows in an uninterrupted, continuous sequence. When we are dreaming, our mind does not flow in a consistent, and undisturbed sequence. When a person has a break in the consistency of events, they are dreaming. when I perceive things which I clearly know both the place they come from and that in which they are, and the time at which they appear to me, and when, without any interruption, I can link the perception I have of them with the whole of the rest of my life, I am fully assured that it is not in sleep that I am perceiving them but while I am awake(Descartes 168) After establishing certainty to his doubts, Descartes states, And I must reject all the doubts of the last few days as hyperbolic and ridiculous, particularly the general uncertainty about sleep, which I could not distinguish for a wakeful state (Descartes 168). With that Descartes concludes his meditations and uncertainties. Although Descartes makes a sound argument there were some people that disagreed with his theories. One of those people was John Locke. The beliefs of Locke, who was an empiricists, were similar to those of the Sophist during the time of Socrates. He argued that when a person was born their mind was empty. A person obtained knowledge through experiences. He also felt that if a person misinterpreted an experience it could lead to doubt or skepticism. Locke tries to prove Descartes wrong by saying that there are no innate ideas. He states that by understanding our own mind we can deter doubt. Locke proposes three separate possibilities about truth. The first is that there is no such thing as truth. The second is that there is no way to obtain truth. The third reason is that we can understand implied things but not be absolutely certain about them. Locke believed that we never deal with certainty and everyday we deal with possibility. and it will be unpardonable, as well as childish peevishness, if we undervalue the advantage of our knowledge and neglect to improve it to ends for which it has given us, because there are some things that are set out of the reach of it. (Locke 57). Locke states that not all innate ideas come from natural ability. He says that a universal consent does not prove innate ideas. They could arise from experience. Locke supports this theory by saying that innate ideas are neither in children nor idiots. If these ideas were innate then everyone would have them. He further states that mathematical truths are learned from experience and are not innate ideas. Descartes and Locke were two men with completely different views. They each set out to prove their own existence in a different fashion. Although they do not agree with each other, each one of them presents a clear and intelligent argument. It is these arguments that have encouraged the human race to consider the possibility of existence long after the death of Descartes and Locke. People will continue to debate their viewpoints for years to come and maybe, one day we will know the meaning of existence.

C.S. Lewis on Misunderstanding Fantasy Essay -- Biography Biographies

C.S. Lewis on Misunderstanding Fantasy â€Å"Good stories often introduce the marvelous or supernatural and nothing about Story has been so often misunderstood as this.† On Stories—C.S. Lewis The early decades of the last century saw the loss of credibility of fantasy literature among the academic elite who ruled it a popular genre with little to no scholarly merit. Little that had had the misfortune of being dubbed fantasy had escaped the blacklist cast upon the field. Many critics had also labeled the fantasy genre as largely clichà ©, full of shallow characters, and as having no value beyond being purely escapist entertainment. These generic labels, applied wholesale to fantastic literature, had pushed it off the radar until readers of Fantasy had become literary lepers, lurking in the corners of accepted literary societies. Recent big screen blockbusters such as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and its sequel, The Two Towers, as well as the two Harry Potter films have restored much attention to the oft-ignored genre. Despite the commercial success of the two fantastical franchises, however, Fantasy has not regained much standing within the academia, as scholars continue to neglect contemporary fantasy literature when choosing curricula and fail to give the genre its due while unwittingly including much that is fantastic in classical literature courses. Although these classics have been accepted, they have often been held either as the exception to the rule or have not been labeled as Fantasy at all. Further, the lack of Fantasy in the curricula of colleges across the country has become so egregious as to ignore modern literary giants such as George R.R. Martin who competes e... ...ery dissimilarities than any other story could because of its similarities. Lewis said, â€Å"The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by the veil of familiarity† (On Stories 90). â€Å"By putting bread, gold, horse, apple, or the very roads into a myth, we do not retreat from reality; we rediscover it. As long as the story lingers in our mind, the real things are more themselves.† Bibliography Lewis, C.S. An Experiment in Criticism. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 1961. Lewis, C.S. On Stories and Other Essays on Literature. Ed. Walter Hooper. New York. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Publishers, 1966. Tolkien, J.R.R. â€Å"On Fairy-Stories.† Tree and Leaf. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965. Tolkien’s label â€Å"fairy-story† can be taken synonymously with fantasy literature.

Marriage and Social Class Essay

Many cultures categorize their society according to wealth, power, education, religion, ethnicity and occupation. These differences usually draw the lines that not all are willing to cross for different reasons. In America, the consequences when crossing classes are usually implemented by an individual’s family and peers. If a person decides to date or marry someone of a lower class, the immediate concern would be if the person of a lower class is interested for monetary gain whereas, the person of a lower class may be concerned if they would be treated as an equal in the relationship. With these problems present the courtship or marriage could be domed from the beginning or made to work harder at leveling the playing field. I believe love in lower class groups build their foundation on love where relationships are concerned simply because high expectations are not placed upon them and they are free to love whomever their hearts desire. In the marriage market, characteristics such as income, education and occupation are key definitive qualities when looking for a perspective life long companion. In addition, the tendency of individuals to marry others with similar traits has important implications for social inequality, income redistribution and education. However, there is still little understanding about what generates this assertive matching. One possibility is that people like to follow horizontal preferences when choosing a spouse to share similar characteristics of their own. This approach is believed to provide the security of longevity in love. However, sometimes people will experience an attraction to someone outside their social class whether it’s above or below but not always follow through due to fear of failure or rejection from family and peers. According to Karl Marx, one percent of the population is considered upper class and their wealth is generally inherited. Members of this particular class are perceived as snobs by the lower classes because they tend to look down at anyone outside their circle. This group does not have to work but often serve as board of directors of major companies and they are careful to only socialize with peers of an elite group. In most cases, parents with young children are thinking ahead as to who would be a good match and what social events to come would provide excellent choices of companionship. Their expectations would be for their children to select a person of equal or greater than the wealth of their own. In many cases, if a selection of a lower class is the choice of an immediate family member there would be great consequences including releasing them from all or most of the family’s wealth. Some would perceive the choice as rebellious and some may feel that it’s simply true love. If a person is made to feel that options are limited it may be an act of rebellious. However, if they stumble across a person they feel a connection with and is able to communicate on a level of satisfaction than the ability to proceed should be encouraged. Too often, members of the upper class enter the union of marriage because it meet or exceed the expectation of family and peers and later become unhappy with their choice. When this happens, they are reluctant to free themselves in fear of what others would think. Women in most marriages of the upper class are unhappy because the husband is usually away from the home on extended stays for multiple reasons. To fill the void of their husbands’ temporary absenteeism, they will keep themselves busy with charities, hobbies and the children if they are not away in boarding school. Although the divorce rate is low for this class infidelity is high. Because this class is very much secluded from the others, persons on the outside believe they must be happy in love assuming the problems of the lower class would not be an issue due to their wealth. In fact, many of the same problems exist such as communication, loneliness and loyalty to name a few. However, the upper middle class makes up approximately ten percent of the U. S. population and are successful business people, executives and high ranking civil and military officials (Long 2010). This group acquires their wealth from investments, savings and little of their wealth is inherited. The possibility of marriage within these groups is very likely to have longevity, mostly because it is expected of them although happiness with their spouse may not last the duration of the union.

Fast Food Argument

Fast food is unhealthy; leads to obesity and disease, but the convenience and addictiveness of it contributes to the laziness of the general population. Most people eat fast food for the lack of time then having prepare a decent meal. It seems as though there is a fast food restaurant on every street corner while driving home. The general population oversees the fact that eating nothing but these greasy foods will attribute to weight gain. Fast food is addictive for the convenience of it and in which it tastes so good. Additionally, the variety of fast food restaurants provides timely manners for people with different work hours; compared to whom works a normal nine to five job. For instance, people try dieting and then will starve their body by not eating anything at all or just salads that will go nowhere fast. The human body needs heavy calories to burn off and produce healthy enzymes and glycogen. Specifically, this helps produce bigger muscles and thicker bone density. Eating nothing at all will still not help a person get healthier because the human brain needs carbohydrates and proteins to function properly. Naturally, eating too much fast food leads to obesity which leads to diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure; which then leads to laziness. Laziness is one of the biggest factors to weight gain. What a vicious circle this is; being too tired to cook after working all day, the convenience of fast food then laziness and furthermore, the unnecessary results of obesity and disease.

Cunto se demora la green card por trabajo

Cunto se demora la green card por trabajo El tiempo de demora de la tarjeta de residencia por trabajo varà ­a desde apenas unos meses de tramitacià ³n ordinaria hasta esperas variables de varios aà ±os. La diferencia radica en la categorà ­a de visa de trabajo por la que se obtiene la tarjeta de residencia. (Y en algunos casos tambià ©n afecta el paà ­s de origen). Categorà ­as en las que no hay espera para la green card por razones de trabajo Cada aà ±o fiscal se conceden 140,000 tarjetas de residencia por motivos de empleo, divididas en diferentes categorà ­as. Las denominadas 1, 2, 4 y 5 no tienen que esperar a que haya visas disponibles, porque el nà ºmero de visados es superior al de peticiones. Pero,  ¿quà © empleos estn comprendidos en esas categorà ­as? Anualmente se conceden hasta un mximo de 40,000 visas en la categorà ­a 1. Dentro de esta hay tres tipos de empleos posibles: EB-1 (a), para la crema de la crema profesionalmente hablando. Pueden aplicar por ellas personas extranjeras con habilidades extraordinarias en las Artes, las Ciencias, el Deporte, la Educacià ³n o los Negocios. Son profesionales tan excepcionales que no necesitan tener una oferta de trabajo. Es decir, pueden aplicar ellos mismos por la tarjeta de residencia, sin patrocinador. EB-1 (b), para profesores universitarios o investigadores sobresalientes con al menos de tres aà ±os de experiencia profesional reconocida internacionalmente. Es necesario que tengan una oferta de trabajo y que la solicitud para la tarjeta de residencia la presente una universidad o un instituto, pà ºblico o privado, de investigacià ³n. EB-1 (c), para ejecutivos o gerentes que lleven al menos tres aà ±os trabajando en el extranjero para una filial o subsidiaria de una empresa americana. Tampoco hay tiempo de espera para la categorà ­a 2 (EB-2), para la que hay reservada 40,000 tarjetas de residencia por aà ±o fiscal. Pueden beneficiarse los profesionales con una maestrà ­a o doctorado o, en el caso de tener sà ³lo una licenciatura, debern tener cinco aà ±os de experiencia laboral. Tambià ©n encajan en esta categorà ­a las personas con habilidades excepcionales en los Negocios, las Artes y las Ciencias. Es decir, deben ser muy superiores a la media en su campo. Aunque generalmente se necesita una oferta de trabajo y que el empleador solicite la tarjeta de residencia para ellos, hay casos en los que el extranjero que cumple con los requisitos arriba mencionados puede solicitar la green card por sà ­ mismos si puede probar que la aprobacià ³n de su solicitud servirà ­a los intereses nacionales de los Estados Unidos. De hecho, hay abogados especialistas en este tipo de casos que se conocen con las iniciales NIW (por Waiver por interà ©s nacional, en inglà ©s). Otra categorà ­a sin tiempo de espera es la 4 (EB-4), que son conocidos como Emigrantes Especiales. Es necesario que el empleador americano solicite la tarjeta de residencia para ellos mediante la planilla I-360. Pueden beneficiarse por esta categorà ­a: Sacerdotes, monjas, rabinos y otros trabajadores religiosos.Ex trabajadores del Canal de Panam.Ciertos miembros del Ejà ©rcito de los Estados Unidos.Empleados jubilados de organizaciones internacionales y dependientes.Asimismo, trabajadores en el extranjero del Gobierno estadounidense. En este à ºltimo caso, la peticià ³n de la green card no debe hacerse mediante la I-360, sino que debe utilizarse la planilla DS-1884. Por à ºltimo, los inversores dentro de la categorà ­a 5 (EB-5) tampoco estn sujetos a disponibilidad de visas y espera. Hay que resaltar que aunque no hay tiempo de espera por visas en las categorà ­as arriba mencionadas, hay unos meses de demora en la tramitacià ³n ordinaria. Tiempo de espera para la categorà ­a 3 y otros trabajadores Los trabajadores que obtienen la tarjeta de residencia por la categorà ­a 3 (EB-3) o por la de otros trabajadores esperan en estos momentos cuatro aà ±os y medio, para los casos de ciudadanos de Latinoamà ©rica y Espaà ±a. Otros paà ­ses, como India o China tienen tiempos de espera superiores. En la categorà ­a 3 y en la de otros trabajadores recaen: Profesionales con licenciatura (B.A. o B.S.).Personas sin estudios superiores pero con una habilidad profesional especial y experiencia laboral de al menos dos aà ±os.Personas sin habilidades especiales pero cuyo trabajo requiere una experiencia laboral de al menos dos aà ±os. Para esta subcategorà ­a no pueden otorgarse ms de 10,000 tarjetas de residencia por aà ±o fiscal. Las personas que estn esperando por una green card en esta categorà ­a pueden verificar los tiempos de espera en el Boletà ­n de Visas del Departamento de Estado, teniendo en cuenta la fecha de prioridad de su aplicacià ³n. Por à ºltimo, tener en cuenta que para esta categorà ­a es siempre necesario obtener una certificacià ³n laboral y tener una oferta de empleo y que el empleador estadounidense realice la peticià ³n de la green card mediante la planilla I-140. Se recomienda tomar  este test para verificar  que se tienen los conocimientos necesarios sobre green card.

A Brief History of Women in Higher Education

A Brief History of Women in Higher Education While more women than men have attended college in the U.S. since the late 1970s, female students were largely prevented from pursuing higher education until the 19th century. Before then, female seminaries were the primary alternative for women who wished to earn a higher degree. But women’s rights activists fought for higher education for female students, and college campuses turned out to be fertile ground for gender equality activism. Female Grads During the 17th and 18th Centuries Before the formal desegregation of mens and womens higher education, a small number of women graduated from universities. Most were from wealthy or well-educated families, and the oldest examples of such women can be found in Europe. Juliana Morell earned a law doctorate in Spain in 1608.Anna Maria van Schurman attended the university at Utrecht, Netherlands, in 1636.Ursula Agricola and Maria Jonae Palmgren were admitted to college in Sweden in 1644.Elena Cornaro Piscopia earned a doctor of philosophy degree at the University of Padua, Italy, in 1678.Laura Bassi earned a doctor of philosophy degree at the University of Bologna, Italy, in 1732, and then became the first woman to teach in an official capacity at any European University.Cristina Roccati received a university degree in Italy in 1751.Aurora Liljenroth graduated from college in Sweden in 1788, the first woman to do so. U.S. Seminaries Educated Women in the 1700s In 1742, the Bethlehem Female Seminary was established in Germantown, Pennsylvania, becoming the first institute of higher education for women in the United States. It was founded by the Countess Benigna von Zinzendorf, daughter of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf, under his sponsorship. She was only 17 years old at the time.  In 1863, the state officially recognized the institution as a college and the college was then permitted to issue bachelor’s degrees. In 1913, the college was renamed the Moravian Seminary and College for Women, and, later, the institution became co-educational. Thirty years after Bethlehem opened, the Moravian sisters founded Salem College in North Carolina. It since became the Salem Female Academy and is still open today. Womens Higher Ed at the Turn of the 18th Century In 1792, Sarah Pierce founded the Litchfield Female Academy in Connecticut. The Rev. Lyman Beecher (father of Catherine Beecher, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Isabella Beecher Hooker) was among the lecturers at the school, part of the republican motherhood ideological trend. The school focused on educating women so that they could be responsible for raising an educated citizenry. Eleven years after Litchfield was established, Bradford Academy in Bradford, Massachusetts, began admitting women. Fourteen men and 37 women graduated in the first class of students. In 1837, the school changed its focus to only admit women.   Options for Women During the 1820s In 1821, Clinton Female Seminary opened; it would later merge into the Georgia Female College. Two years later, Catharine Beecher founded the Hartford Female Seminary, but the school did not survive beyond the 19th century. Beechers sister, writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, was a student at Hartford Female Seminary and later a teacher there.  Fanny Fern, a children’s author, and newspaper columnist, also graduated from Hartford. Lindon Wood School for Girls was founded in 1827 and continued as Lindenwood University. This was the first school of higher education for women that was located west of the Mississippi. The next year, Zilpah Grant founded Ipswich Academy, with Mary Lyon as an early principal. The purpose of the school was to prepare young women to be missionaries and teachers. The school took the name Ipswich Female Seminary in 1848 and operated until 1876. In 1834, Mary Lyon established the Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts. She then started the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1837. Mount Holyoke received a collegiate charter in 1888, and today the schools are known as Wheaton College and Mount Holyoke College. Schools for Female Students During the 1830s Columbia Female Academy opened in 1833. It later became a full college and exists today as Stephens College. Now called Wesleyan, Georgia Female College was created in 1836 specifically so women could earn bachelor’s degrees. The following year, St. Mary’s Hall was founded in New Jersey as a female seminary. It is today a pre-K through high school named Doane Academy. More Inclusive Higher Ed From the 1850s Onward In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from Geneva Medical College in Geneva, New York. She was the first woman in America admitted to a medical school and the first in the United States to receive a medical degree. The next year, Lucy Sessions made history when she graduated with a literary degree from Oberlin College in Ohio. She became the First African-American female college graduate. Oberlin was founded in 1833 and admitted four women as full students in 1837.  Only a few years later, more than a third (but less than half) of the student body were women. After Sessions earned her history-making degree from Oberlin, Mary Jane Patterson, in 1862, became the first African-American woman to earn a bachelors degree. Higher education opportunities for women really expanded during the late 1800s. The Ivy League colleges had been solely available to male students, but companion colleges for women, known as the Seven Sisters, were founded from 1837 to 1889.

The Freelance Writing Course Is Live †Enroll Today!

The Freelance Writing Course Is Live – Enroll Today! The Freelance Writing Course Is Live Enroll Today! The Freelance Writing Course Is Live Enroll Today! By Daniel Scocco The day has finally come. Our Freelance Writing Course is live, and you can enroll today. It runs for six weeks (this being the first one), covering a wide range of topics related to freelance writing on the Internet. If you like to write and want to explore the  possibility  of making money by doing it online, we recommend that you check the course out. Go to the official page, where you can get all the details and enroll. Over 700 students took the course in previous editions, and the feedback we got was terrific. Below, youll find what some of those students had to say about the course: I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the online course. I have been researching content on how to establish a freelance writing career since earlier this year and your course provided information that I just havent been able to find anywhere else. Thanks for taking the time to develop this in a straightforward and manageable fashion. (Yvonne Smith, United States) What you supplied has far exceeded my expectations, both in content and value for money. I congratulate you on a job well done. (Margaret Huggins, Australia) I really enjoyed the course. The lessons were well structured and had realistic yet challenging objectives to meet, and this helped me absorb the content of the lessons. There is a lot to pack into six weeks, but I view the course as a much longer-term investment in helping me establish a writing career and brand to help with my overall success. (Ian Greaves, United States) Your course is amazing. What I have learned so far has been very helpful, and I have looked ahead at what is still there, and I am amazed at the depth of knowledge you have given me. The downloadable books are a big bonus. I know this course will be the best help I could ever find to becoming a freelance writer. (Janie Fletcher, United States) Enrollment will close this Friday, June 8, so you have only 72 hours to join. (The small registration window is to make sure students will follow the course at the same pace, since we have a private forum where they can ask questions and interact with other members.) Visit the official page, where youll find all the details (e.g., course structure, price, bonuses). 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 Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Direct and Indirect ObjectsDifference between "Pressing" and "Ironing"40 Words Beginning with "Para-"

Health and Safety in Automotive Workshops in New Zealand Assignment

Health and Safety in Automotive Workshops in New Zealand - Assignment Example In addition to adopting this WHO strategy on occupational health, the meeting also adopted a proposal for the course of action for the implementation of the same strategy (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2001). In attendance at the meeting were twenty-seven countries, represented by thirty-one collaborating centers. One of the countries was Switzerland The organizers of the meeting included but were not limited to the WHO, International Labour Organisation (ILO), The United Nations Development Programme, the Institute of Occupational Medicine of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Health, the WHO Workers’ Health Programme and the International Commission on Occupational Health. A priority issue at the meeting was health at work. According to the available data by then, it was estimated that about 100 million workers are injured annually at the workplace while about 200,000 die annually in occupational accidents (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour IPEC), (2011). In addition, the WHO reported that between 68 million and 157 million cases of occupational diseases are caused by hazardous exposures at the workplaces or workloads. These statistics obviously negatively affect the health of world population. In fact, the roles and effects of occupational injuries and diseases are found to be more profound in developing countries in which 70% of the world’s working population lives. Due to their impacts the health and well being of workers, occupational injuries and diseases negatively impact the productivity and socioeconomic well being of workers across all industries. These detrimental effects extend even to the friends, families, and dependents of the directly affected workers.

Team Building Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Team Building - Term Paper Example A community of people sharing common norms, values and interests would always remain a group and would never become a team unless individual members forming the group start to respect one another’s feelings. A team essentially works for the attainment of organizational goals by sidelining the personal interests of individual team members. â€Å"A major advantage a team has over an individual is its diversity of resources, knowledge, and ideas.† (Townsley, 2008). A sound strategy to build the effect of a team in an otherwise group of workers should be based on certain exercises that would serve to enhance the interaction among the members of opposing views. Team members should be given enough time to socialize frequently and work jointly to accomplish predefined tasks. Managers should organize task based workforces in which specified teams should address particular tasks. The idea is to achieve the effect of contact hypothesis in the task force. One member should be selected from each department as a representative of the department. In this way, a holistic approach can be adopted in which the finance, human resource, administration, operation and various other departments as required should work together in close cooperation and collaboration with one another to achieve the objective of organizational significance. The task force should be strategically designed and every individual member should be fully educated on his boundaries and limitations prior to the commencement of the task. All foreseeable antecedents of conflict should be clearly addressed to the maximum extent to minimize the chances of conflict. Tasks should be designed to allow maximum communication among the members. This can be achieved by formulating interdependent activities w ithin the task. The services of individual departments should be integrated into the work elements. In the course of working together, healthy debates should always be encouraged. Managers should

Thomas Cook Plc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Thomas Cook Plc - Case Study Example Thomas Cool was a former Baptist minister and a very religious man and he firmly believed that alcohol was the major factor casing problems among the working class in England. It was with this in mind that the above-mentioned train journey was arranged. The first unofficial tour was this trip in open carriages, which took nearly 500 temperance supporters to Loughborough, and back in July 5, 1841. In 1845 Thomas Cook organized a tour to Liverpool which was accompanied by what must have been the first tour brochure ever printed in the world. His first international venture was to Paris during the time of an international exhibition which was held there. Further tours to other cities in Europe began and an established tour itinerary began to fall in place. A tour to Switzerland and later to Italy was conducted in 1864. With his clientele shifting from working class to middle and upper class passengers, Mr. Cook began to make arrangements with hotels in Europe by using something called t he hotel coupon. This enabled tourists to pay for the hotel rooms in advance and to stay at hotels without paying cash. Another innovation was the circular note, the forerunner of 'travellers cheque.' Trips to the US soon followed and later a trip by steamer up the river Nile was also arranged. All this success naturally led to thoughts of expanding further overseas to the US and Asia. Mr Cook himself was part of a trial world tour which covered the US, Japan, China, Singapore, Ceylon and India. This tour went on to become an annual event in the company's tour calendar.. An unexpected move by the then two owners saw the company being sold off to a Belgian tour operator called Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et des Grands Express Europens in 1928. Certain events during the world war saw the company near collapse and a deal was made where by the ownership changed back to British hands, this time by the government owned railway companies. Even though the company could benefit from the post war travel boom, things began to slow down by 1955 due to the emergence of new and dynamic tour operators. In 1972, Thomas Cook became privately owned once again through a purchase by a c onsortium of the Midland Bank, Trust House Forte and the Automobile Association. The famous red logo of Thomas Cook was introduced during this time. The company did well during this period and even managed to survive the 1970's depression. The Company came under the sole ownership of the Midland's Bank in 1980 and again sold of to Germany's third largest bank, Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB) and LTU group (an airline charter company). Thomas Cook later became the subsidiary of the German bank and soon acquisitions of Sun World, Time Off and Flying Colours took place. In 1999 a merger with Calrlsons Liesrue Group took place. The Company Thomas Cook Group PLC was formed in June 2007 through a merger of Thomas Cook AG and My Travel Group Plc. "It is now part of Thomas Cook Group plc (www.thomascookgroup.com) which was formed on June 19th 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG and My Travel Group plc." (A Brief History). Business Strategy: Corporate growth strategy: The merger of Thomas Cook and My Travel has resulted in a very powerful tour operating company and has a string presence in UK and some European countries. This merger came about so that both the companies could compete more efficiently in a

Profit Variance Analysis A strategic Focu Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Profit Variance Analysis A strategic Focu - Essay Example Although, prima facie, it would seem that the Company is growing at a fairly good growth rate and is in good financial health, this may not bring out the entire picture. It is very much possible that certain key indicators of business performance, like market shares, Contribution, net worth, ROI, and P/V Ratio, that is Profit volume ratios may not be as desired, but these vital parameters lie buried under the avalanche of profit statements. The Analysis reported in Table 3 fails to address certain key questions regarding the marketability of products. If the Company is a single product catering to a single market, things are easy. But, if the Company is multi-producted, having, say two or three diverse product lines, would it be logical to assume that they have the same markets and customers. This may not be true. Different products may have different markets, diverse customers and separate market shares. To club all together, would be inadequate and misleading. Therefore, different market strategies, financial costing, and management accounting principles would have to be used for the different product lines. Only then would a clear and correct picture emerge regarding contribution, PV Ratio, ROI product wise, market share and estimation of fixed, variable, semi-variable and step-fixed variable costs be correctly estimated and determined. Question 2 : Does a favorable variance imply favorable performance Answer 2 : A favorable variance, or adverse variance, does not always imply favorable or adverse performance. The connection between favorable and adverse variance on the one hand, and the favorable and adverse performance on the other, would depend upon the laying out of the strategies in the context of business, and it is only after evaluation of execution of these business strategies that it could be possible to adjudge, whether a favorable or adverse variance necessarily implies favorable or adverse product performance. (Govindarajan & John, 1989). Question 3: Table 4 shows a rather elaborate and detailed analysis of variances of operating factors such as total market share, market share of the firm, sales mix, selling price and costs. The analysis considers almost all, if not all, the factors that are of interest and importance to management. Why is this analysis incomplete Answer 3: An important aspect of variance analysis is the implementation of strategic goal settings and the constant comparison of actual performance with the targeted strategic goals. This method is connected with strategic analysis and aptly manifests the significance of integrating strategic planning with the assessment of the overall financial performance. The performance evaluation, which is a critical component of the management control process, needs to be embedded into the strategic structural framework of the firm for optimum results. In a Company, the different strategiesimplies different specialized tasks and requires different corporate behavioral patterns for effective performance. In such a

Describing Hulga Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Describing Hulga - Essay Example She holds no compassion for anyone including her mother towards whom she continuously makes rude remarks. An important part of Hulga’s character is her missing leg. Initially she used to be insecure and fearful because of her wooden leg but as she grew up she realized that it was an inevitable part of her. She does not allow anyone to come near it nor allowing anyone to see it, indicating her possessiveness towards her artificial leg. Despite her professed beliefs, Hulga had some reservations about her looks and age as she always wanted to portray herself younger than she actually was. Mrs. Hopewell â€Å"thought of her daughter as a child though she was thirty-two years old and highly educated† (271).   Moreover Hulga showed similar childish behavior. â€Å"all day [she wore] a six-year-old skirt and a yellow sweat shirt with a faded cowboy on a horse embossed on it† (276).   When Manly Pointer requested her age, she replied seventeen (283).   The first me ntion of Joy in the story is as Mrs. Hopewell’s daughter, as a â€Å"large blonde girl who had an artificial leg† (271).  Joy is totally dependent on her mother because of her physical disability. When she was ten, Joy lost her leg in an accident during hunting. In addition to her physical disability, she had heart problems because of which she could not go away from her home. In short, her health confined her to her home with her mother as her only caretaker.

Profit Variance Analysis A strategic Focu Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Profit Variance Analysis A strategic Focu - Essay Example Although, prima facie, it would seem that the Company is growing at a fairly good growth rate and is in good financial health, this may not bring out the entire picture. It is very much possible that certain key indicators of business performance, like market shares, Contribution, net worth, ROI, and P/V Ratio, that is Profit volume ratios may not be as desired, but these vital parameters lie buried under the avalanche of profit statements. The Analysis reported in Table 3 fails to address certain key questions regarding the marketability of products. If the Company is a single product catering to a single market, things are easy. But, if the Company is multi-producted, having, say two or three diverse product lines, would it be logical to assume that they have the same markets and customers. This may not be true. Different products may have different markets, diverse customers and separate market shares. To club all together, would be inadequate and misleading. Therefore, different market strategies, financial costing, and management accounting principles would have to be used for the different product lines. Only then would a clear and correct picture emerge regarding contribution, PV Ratio, ROI product wise, market share and estimation of fixed, variable, semi-variable and step-fixed variable costs be correctly estimated and determined. Question 2 : Does a favorable variance imply favorable performance Answer 2 : A favorable variance, or adverse variance, does not always imply favorable or adverse performance. The connection between favorable and adverse variance on the one hand, and the favorable and adverse performance on the other, would depend upon the laying out of the strategies in the context of business, and it is only after evaluation of execution of these business strategies that it could be possible to adjudge, whether a favorable or adverse variance necessarily implies favorable or adverse product performance. (Govindarajan & John, 1989). Question 3: Table 4 shows a rather elaborate and detailed analysis of variances of operating factors such as total market share, market share of the firm, sales mix, selling price and costs. The analysis considers almost all, if not all, the factors that are of interest and importance to management. Why is this analysis incomplete Answer 3: An important aspect of variance analysis is the implementation of strategic goal settings and the constant comparison of actual performance with the targeted strategic goals. This method is connected with strategic analysis and aptly manifests the significance of integrating strategic planning with the assessment of the overall financial performance. The performance evaluation, which is a critical component of the management control process, needs to be embedded into the strategic structural framework of the firm for optimum results. In a Company, the different strategiesimplies different specialized tasks and requires different corporate behavioral patterns for effective performance. In such a

Pablo Picasso & Cubism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pablo Picasso & Cubism - Essay Example The essay "Pablo Picasso & Cubism" investigates the influence of Pablo Picasso on Cubism movement. The evolution of Pablo Picasso’s artistic styles and forms over the course of his long and fulfilling career provides us with interesting insights into the psyche of the man himself. Along with his contemporary Braque, Picasso is credited with the invention of the Cubism. This invention is not pre-conceived. Picasso or Braque did not set about radically altering norms of art; rather the circumstances of life of these gentlemen have had a significant effect on the way their minds conceived their paintings. Furthermore, Picasso is famous for the number of self-portraits he did. Hence, the biographical and the artistic are intricately linked. The rest of the essay will expand on this theme capture the essence of Cubism through its inventor. Picasso’s artistic career effectively started in the year 1900, when he first displayed his works in a Barcelona tavern named Els Quatre Gats. The fact that a defining figure of twentieth century art should start his dialogue with the rest of the world at the turn of the century is very symbolic. The beginning was a remarkable affair, for Picasso was still only nineteen and has proven his talent for drawing as a vehicle for ideas. After this initial success, Picasso grew in confidence and questioned orthodox views of education and social conduct. Adopting a radically different lifestyle, Picasso showed that behind his art was a profound caring for humanity.

International Trade and Globalization Essay Example for Free

International Trade and Globalization Essay According to Hill, globalization refers to the shift toward a more integrated and interdependent world economy (2009). Globalization has several facets, including the globalization of markets and the globalization of production. Globalization of markets is to the merging of historically distinct and separate national markets into one huge global marketplace. Globalization of production is to the sourcing of goods and services from locations around the globe to take advantage of national differences in the cost and quality of factors of production (such as labor, energy, land, and capital) (Hill, 2009). There are several traditional international trade theories that would support the concept of globalization. The first theory is free trade that refers to a situation in which a government does not attempt to influence through quotas or duties what its citizens can buy from another country or what they can produce and sell to another country. Another theory is mercantilism, which is an economic philosophy advocating that countries should simultaneously encourage exports and discourage imports. The final theory is the theories of Smith, Ricardo, and Heckscher-Ohlin. Smith, Ricardo, and Heckscher-Ohlin show why it is beneficial for a country to engage in international trade even for products it can produce for itself. According to Adam Smith, â€Å"countries should specialize in the production of goods for which they have an absolute advantage and then trade these good for the goods produced by other countries† (2009). Heckscher-Ohlin theory predicts that countries will export goods that make intensive use of those factors that are locally abundant; while importing goods that make intensive use of factors that are locally scare (2009). Finally, Ricardo’s theory suggest that countries should specialize in the production of those goods they produce most efficiently and buy goods that they produce less efficiently from other countries (2009). There are two major factors that drive globalization. The first driver is the decline in barriers that allow the free flow of goods, services, and capital that has occurred since the end of World War II (2009). For example with the decline in barriers, countries can export merchandise freely without any disruptions in hipments. During the 1920s, many of the world’s nation-states erected formidable barriers to international trade and foreign direct investment (2009). Many of the barriers to international trade took the form of high tariffs on imports of manufactured goods (2009). The second driver of globalization is technology change (2009). For example, the constant change in technology allows companies the ability to produce more, which in turn allows other countries to participate the building of developments. Another example is throughout time, the progress in technology permits communication to be more advanced by allowing people to access the Internet and the World Wide Web. The final example of technology change is the change in transportation. The change in technology such as commercial aircrafts and freighters that are tractor trucks and cargo ships that allows shipments to be packed in containers and shipped across the world. The effects of globalization have impact to the military, especially during a time of war. Armed Forces Network (AFN) is the main source of television communications throughout Europe. AFN supplies network to the military in Afghanistan and Iraq so the troops can unwind and watch television. AFN provides cross-border flow of television services. Another effect of globalization that impacts the military while being deployed is food services. Food that the local nationals transport to different military posts in Afghanistan is shipped in from other countries and cross through Iran. The third effect on the military of globalization on the military is the acts of violence against the military overseas. A poor country such as Afghanistan, rely on their local grown produce but instead is being taken over by products foreign product verses using the locals products. The final effect of globalization that impacts the community is the problem of outsourcing jobs. American’s have a high unemployment rate due to the lack of jobs in the market. The military is over strength because of citizens not able to find work. In the deployment zone, many civilians are risking their own lives to work as a contractor for the government because they cannot find work.

Assessing Poverty in South Asia

Assessing Poverty in South Asia Introduction UNDP has taken an initiative to publish SOUTH ASIA POVERTY MONITOR periodically to assess the poverty situation at national grassroots level through the existing national expertise in South Asia. As part of this initiative a country report will be prepared for Bangladesh as well. The Bangladesh country report will be prepared through both quantitative and qualitative approach. Unnayan Shamannay is proposing to conduct the qualitative part of the study. Rationale for Qualitative Approach Statistical data do help very little in understanding what the variation means. Qualitative data, on the other hand, illustrate the value of detailed, descriptive data in deepening our understanding of individual variation.They give rise synergistically to insights and solutions that would not come about without them (Palton 1990:15-17) Qualitative approach can provide a depth of understanding of the issues associated with poverty that the more formal and statistically valid approaches may not. This class of studies includes the increasingly popular techniques of rapid and participatory rural appraisal and beneficiary assessment (WB 1992: 8-4). Objectives The objectives of this study are as follows: Assess poverty through qualitative methodology Complement the quantitative approach with qualitative one. Add qualitative dimension to the Bangladesh Country Report. Scope The scope of this qualitative study will be to: Identify indicators of poverty through a participatory approach Identify and monitor changes in the poverty situation Assess the impact of some of the poverty alleviation measures Analyse the findings Topics/Issues to be Addressed Poverty profile and poverty indicators are some of the important components of poverty assessment. Poverty assessment will be carried out in participatory manner. Broad topics on the extent of poverty, identification of sub-groups, nature of poverty, characteristics of the poor and risk management have been included in the proposed research agenda. Moreover, poverty monitoring will also be conducted periodically and it will act as a barometer to measure the changes in various socio-economic and welfare indicators relating to the lives of the poorest households. Methods to be Used All major qualitative research methods will be used in the study. Interview will be extensively used in the study including its key variants, namely participatory group discussion, focus group discussion, standardised open-ended interview and case study (Figure 1). In addition to interview, other methods of qualitative inquiry, namely observation and document analysis will also be made use of in the study. Selection of Sample Areas Qualitative exercises will be conducted in both urban and rural settings of the country. To cover the greater diversity in socio-economic environments, three different regional configurations of northern, central and southern parts of the country would be accommodated in the study. A total of six villages including two from each part would be covered under the study. In urban area, at least three slum areas would be covered to facilitate the comparison and triangulation of data and information. However, for monitoring of poverty in the selected six villages and three urban slums, certain number of the poorest households will be selected from each of the study sites. Out of six villages, three will be selected in such a manner where at least anti-poverty intervention by government is in operation. These three villages will serve as programme villages and they will be drawn from the three parts of the country including one from each. Besides, other three villages will also be selected nearby where there is no poverty focused government intervention. These three will serve as control villages in the three parts of the country. Sample Size Most of the topics would be addressed at the community level and no specific number of participants are needed to be ascertained beforehand. For poverty monitoring, a total of 120 poorest households will be selected  ¾ 90 from six villages and 30 from three urban slums. The poorest households will be selected through consultation with the respective community members. Tools to be Used In selecting tools desirable characteristics namely easy, simple, visual, non-verbal etc., must be taken into accounts. As PRA tools are recognized to have all these desirable characteristics, most of the tools will be drawn from its repertoire. Important PRA tools that will be extensively used in the poverty assessment include scoring and ranking, matrix ranking, wealth/well-being ranking, time line, social mapping, pie chart and so forth (Figure 1). Validity and Reliability Although the qualitative data are essentially based on the perception, opinion and judgement of the participants, the quality of data would be, nevertheless, refined through of the triangulation principle underlying the research design of this study. A combination of multiple sources, researchers/facilitators and on-the-spot cross-checking of data through discussion, debate and deliberation among the community participants would minimise the degree of error and bias of data to the minimum. Besides, the field observation by the researchers would in addition , act as a guard against any major inconsistency and biasness of data. Activities to be Undertaken For conducting the study a number of activities will be undertaken. The activities include: Identifying and reviewing available literature Now-a-days wide ranging literature on poverty is available. Different facets of poverty have been discussed in those literature. The indicators, measurement process, sampling frame etc. also differ. For a qualitative study for monitoring poverty, the volume of the problem further increases. The approach is not only different but gives a deeper insight. To make it complement the qualitative approach the literature on poverty needs a review. For this purpose all available literature on poverty will be reviewed. Analyse presently used indicators Before finalising the indicators for assessment of poverty there is a need for analysing the presently used indicators. This will provide a rational basis for the use of the indicators in the qualitative study. Pre-testing The indicators and tools to be used in the study will be pre-tested in the field. This will help understand the effectiveness of tools. Primary field visit Before starting field work a primary field visit is needed to get acquainted with the actual field condition. Training of field/research officers The field/research officers who will be engaged in this study are competent and experienced. Even then the field/research officers need training/orientation for doing such work. With this purpose they will be imparted in-house and field training. Processing of data/information The data/information processing in qualitative study is not similar to that of quantitative one. The information generated through qualitative approach is processed in a different manner. Different factors and aspects of reality are considered while classifying these information. Field activities The field activities to be undertaken in this study will require two types of work: a. in rural area and b. in urban area. Rural area: The activities in rural area will require identifying the group/sub-group, building up rapport with them and conducting the sessions. These activities have to be co-ordinated with the day-to-day activities e.g., ploughing or rowing time etc., of the participants. Rrban area: In urban area conducting participatory session is a difficult task. Urban life makes it difficult for the participants to spare time for such research. Besides building up a better rapport, tools need to be designed and adjusted accordingly. Document analysis Significant insights can be found through document analysis. Even discrepancies between reality and pronounced goals can be identified. CHAPTER X PROBLEMS IDENTIFICATION AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT BY THE POOR Problems and Needs Assessment By the Poor Problems facing the poor were identified by the poor themselves, and a list of felt needs were the outcome of the participatory discussion, debates and consensus among themselves. Two sets of problems and needs were assessed in a participatory manner each for the urban and rural areas. Urban Setting To the urban slum poor, homelessness and eviction from slums are the topmost problems. Other serious problems identified by the poor include lack of good health and water facilities, employment opportunities, security, education, latrine, gas, etc. (Exhibit 38). Regarding the needs assessment, the urban poor listed and prioritized their felt needs. Some of the most important are, latrine, shelter, drinking water, electricity, gas, security, rationing, employment and so on (Exhibit 39). Rural Setting Agricultural inputs, irrigation and culverts are considered to be the topmost problems by the rural poor. Apart from these, some other most serious problems mentioned by them are related to health, electricity, unemployment, flood, drinking water, industrialisation, veterinary facilities, silting up of rivers etc. (Exhibit 40). According to the needs assessment and prioritization by the rural poor, some of the most important needs as articulated by themselves are industries for employment, agricultural inputs at a fair price, rural roads, irrigation, electricity, school and madrasa, medical facilities etc. (Exhibit 41). Chapter IX Monitoring THE Impact of Public Expenditure on Poverty Objective The primary objective of monitoring of impact of public expenditure on poverty in this chapter is to understand the living condition of the poor. This is more of an illustrative exercise rather than a whole sector monitoring of poverty. The issue of representativeness has to be, therefore, viewed in this context. One of the stated objectives of the development strategy of both present and previous governments is to reduce poverty. A growing share of public expenditure is claimed to have been allocated to the development activities ostensibly aiming at poverty reduction in the recent past, and this is likely to be continued in the future. Against this background of increasing the public expenditure allocation to poverty alleviating projects, it is needed to know the effects and impacts of these expenditure on poverty alleviation. In this section a number of key questions have been addressed: Does the benefit of the public expenditure reach those lying at the bottom of the income scale ? Is there any sign of improvement in the condition of the poorest of the poor ? How do the selected poverty indicators behave ? Do they improve, deteriorate or oscillate ? In case of improvement, at what pace do they improve ? Based on the findings from these questions, an attempt will be made to assess the quality of public expenditure in terms of a set of selected indicators. To understand the trend of the impact of public expenditure on poverty, we started monitoring the behaviour of some selected indicators of poverty in both the urban and rural areas since 1993 as the base year. The qualitative and quantitative data generated throu gh the participatory tools have been used for this poverty monitoring. This is the first round of the periodic monitoring of poverty in a participatory manner. Poverty Assessment and Monitoring: Peoples Views The poverty assessment carried out under this study has two components. The community members actively participated in the assessment of their well-being by listing and categorizing of all the households by themselves in several groups based on their own criteria. This is, in fact, a subjective assessment. Secondly, after categorization, all households were arranged in descending order on the basis of well-being scores of each of the households resulting in the identification of the poorest of the poor in the respective communities lying at the bottom of the scale with quantitative precision which was again vetted by the community members/participants. The poverty of some of the poorest households in the community has been monitored on the selected indicators. As this monitoring is based on hard data, it, therefore, gives us an objective assessment of the living standard of the poorest. (Figure 9.1) The poverty sitution in the urban and rural areas has been assessed in a participator y manner. Instead of applying any pre-conceived ideas, standards, measures or categories by the researchers to measure poverty as is done conventionally, the criteria used in this study has been developed by the people at the community level. The basic question relating to poverty measurement or assessment is who is poor and how to identify him/her. Based mainly on qualitative data information Based mainly on quantitative data information Criteria Unlike a single standard or formula as applied in the conventional methodology, the community-members consider it appropriate to use a set of socio-economic criteria to assess the economic and social status of a household. For this purpose, the researchers and facilitators involved in the study initiated a series of group-level discussions and community-level validations. The community people developed their own criteria (Box 9.1) to assess the status of their own members and also to categorize them into a set of social classes. The more important criteria developed by the rural people in the selected villages are, among others, the amount of land owned and cultivated, the number of earning members, cash in hand, the housing condition, the amount of fixed assets, the family size, other sources of income, whether a household is female or male headed, etc. Prevalence of poverty Based on the above criteria, the community people identified the poor (moderate poor) and the poorest (extreme or hardcore poor) households in their own community. As poverty was assessed at the household level, the status of all the households in the community was assessed and categorized into four classes, namely well-off, medium, poor and poorest. In the urban slums, 72 percent of the households were found poor (moderate: 51, hardcore: 21) and 28 percent non-poor (middle: 19, well-off:9) (Tables 9.1 and 9.2). The incidence of poverty was, however, found to be widely different in different slums. In one sample slum there were no well-off households in 1996 although there were many in another sample. In the rural area, 75 percent of the households were classified as poor (moderate: 20 and hardcore: 55) whereas 25 percent were classified as non-poor (middle:14 and well-off: 11) (Table 9.3). Regionally, the incidence of poverty was more acute (moderate: 17, hardcore: 60) in the central part compared to that (moderate: 25, hardcore:47) in the northern part. The findings generated by the PRA exercise were further validated by the people in the respective community. So the scope of subjective bias, if any, was greatly reduced. Poverty Monitoring Using Panel Data Set (Quantitative) Being a value loaded term, poverty as such cannot be measured quantitatively/objectively. The debate on the issue abounds in the literature. But the symptoms and aspects of poverty can be measured and monitored by means of a series of socio-economic indicators that proxy the level of well-being of people. That is why, an attempt has been made in this section to measure and monitor poverty through a number of indicators/variables in two different years i.e., 1993 and 1996. Most of the indicators used for monitoring were suggested by the community members (Box 9.1.). The number of indicators used here are meant to have satisfied the desirable criteria, namely, unambiguity, consistency, specificity, sensitivity and ease of collection (Carvalho and White, 1994). Change in Demographic and Socio-economic Profiles of the Poorest Households During 1993-96 Demographic and Social Characterstics Family size and composition The population of the poorest households and their average family size grew by 5 percent over the monitoring period 1993-96 (Table 9.4). However, the populatioin growth rate is found to have been higher at 7.2 percent for the urban poor compared to 4.4 percent in the rural area over the same period. The family size of the poorest households in the rural area is, however, found to be higher at 4.2 in 1993 and increased further to 4.4 in 1996. The family size of the urban poor was lower at 3.5 in 1993, and it grew to 3.7 in 1996. In the rural area, the family size of the FFE-households is found to be much higher at 6.0 on an average in both the central and northern parts compared to those for the non-FFE households in both programme and control villages in 1996 (Table 9.5). Another important demographic characteristic of the poorest households is their family composition. In 1996, the FFE households are found to have a male majority  ¾ 61 percent compared to 49 percent and 41 percent for the non-FFE households in the programme and control villages respectively. The family composition is, however, found reverse for the poorest families in the urban slums. The poorest households had a female majority at 62 percent in 1996 (Table 9.6). The above findings pose some questions challenging the appropriateness of the main thrust of the development strategy being pursued by the government in the country. The much-publicized motto two children are enough seems to have been irrelevant so far as the poorest people are concerned in both the urban and rural areas. The increasing growth rates in populatioin and family size suggest that under the existing socio-economic conditions, their economic and social securities lie not in smaller family but in larger one. Earning members and incidence of child labour The poorest households and their different groups are found to have peculiar characterstics in the composition of their earning members. Overall, close to half of the earning members are men, and one-fourth are women and boys each in 1996 (Table 7.17). Against this general distribution of the earning members, the poorest families in the urban and rural areas are found to have different compositions of earning members by age and gender. In the urban slums, female earning members accounted for 43 percent (women: 36% and girls: 7%) among all the earners compared to 24 percent (women:23% girls:1%) in the rural area (Table 7.17 and 9.7). Female children are not found to have been as active in income earning activities previously as they are found to be in 1996. The preponderance of male income earners is found to be more prominent among the poorest households in the rural area. At the disaggregate level, the difference is more revealing in the rural areas. The participation of girls in income earning activities is found to be very minimal throughout the rural areas (Table 9.8). Among the FFE-households, womens participation in income earning activities is very small (3%), but it is widely observed (33%-36%) among the non-FFE households . Among the FFE households, the preponderance of male child labour is observed, and this remained unchanged throughout the monitoring period despite the programme intervention in the rural areas. The incidence of child labour among the earning members of the FFE households is found to be 40 and 41 percent in the central and northern parts respectively of the country, and this remained unchanged in both the areas during the period 1993-1996. The poor impact of the FFE programme on the incidence of child labour at large in the rural areas is also revealed sharply if we focus on the trend in the incidence of child labour. Overall, 25 percent of the boys of all ages were involved in income earning activities in 1993, and this remained almost at the same level (24%) in 1996. As the boys, the incidence of female child labour among the earning members is found to be at a much lower level (1.2%) in 1993 and this remained at that level 1996 as well. The above findings raise an important question to the fore: why is the FFE programme found to be ineffective in reducing the incidence of child labour ? The answer to this question should be searched not in the programme itself but in the economics. For the poorest households, the opportunity cost of sparing a boy from education is around Tk. 14 a day (wage rate) in 1996 (Table 9.9). The financial benefit gained from the FFE programme by a rural poor household is found not so significant at Tk. 4.85 (Tk. 0.81 per capita per day) a day for a boy (Table 9.10). The participatioin of a poor family in the FFE programme causes a substantial income loss to that family. As the benefit under the programme cannot offset the income loss that an extremely poor family has to incur, the appeal of the programme to a precariously income-poor family is found to be weak. This finding is found consistent with that of other studies (Ahmed and Billah,1995). Female-headed households One of the important demographic features of the poorest households is that close to one-third of them were female-headed during the reference period (Table 9.11). More than half of the sample households (55%) are found to be female-headed in the urban slums compared to 23% in the rural households during the same period. Another important demographic feature of the three groups of the poorest households is that only 5 percent of the FFE households have been female headed compared to 25 percent and 40 percent for the non-FFE households respectively in the programme and control villages in 1993 (Table 9.12A). This composition remained unchanged even in 1996. The above findings suggest that the FFE households are found to be relatively stable not only in respect of assets (details later) but also demographically. The preponderance of female-headed households among the non-FFE household groups imply that these households are not only income-poor but also subject to a higher degree of vulnerability and defencelessness both economically and socially. In the urban slums, a significant portion of the poorest households happened to be female-headed during the monitoring period (Table 9.12B) The gender focus of poverty is found more pronounced among the poorest segment of the slum-dwellers compared to those in the rural area. Table 9.11 shows that more than half (55%) of the sample households have been female-headed compared to that (23%) among the rural counterparts during the same period. Begging households Altogether, 6% of the poorest households are found engaged in begging. In the urban slums, none of the poorest households is found in this category (Table 9.13) and all begging households under our sample belong to the rural area. Besides, all these households are found among the non-FFE groups. (Table 9.14). These households are more vulnerable and extremely poverty-ridden mainly due to some unfavourable demographic factors. The households engaged in begging are relatively small (3.8) in family size compared to the sample average (4.2) in 1996. Moreover, the dependancy ratio for the begging households is lower (2.7) compared to that for the sample households (3.0) in 1996.The predominance of women among the earning members points to the poor income level of these households. As the dependency ratio is very low, it implies that most of the family members are forced to go for earning activities due to their poverty. Income Source of income The poorest households have limited sources of income. The urban poor are usually engaged in unskilled manual labour. Similar is the case with the rural poor (Table: 9.15) as well. Sale of labour has been the main source of the rural poor accounting for 82% of their total income in 1993. This has marginally increased to 84 in 1996. Agriculture is the second most important source of income making up only 12% of the total income of the rural poor in 1993 and 10% in 1996. Only 1% of the income of the rural poor has been derived from livestock, a new source of income, in 1996. Nominal income In the rural area, the income of the poorest households has been found to be miserably low during the monitoring period. The per capita daily income of these households was Tk. 6.9 in 1993. This increased to Tk. 7.4 in 1996 showing an 7% growth (Table 9.16). Their per household daily income grew by 12% from Tk. 29 in 1993 to Tk 33 in 1996. The higher growth rate of nominal income is mainly due to a positive growth of the nominal wage rate (12%) alongwith a growth of the number of earning members (5%) of the poorest households. The low per capita income is partly due to the large family size and its growth over the monitoring period. The low income of the poorest households is the result of a number of socio-economic factors, e.g., low wage rate (Table 9.9), poor asset base, poor human capability due to illiteracy (Tables 7.31 and 7.32), low access to economic opportunities, etc. The impact of the FFE programme does not seem to have been appreciable on the level of income of the programme households. Although the programme has had some positive impact on the growth of income (15% in per capita and 18% in per households terms during 1993-1996), its contribution to the growth is difficult to ascertain. However, other findings indicate that the contribution of the programme to the income of the programme households is insignificant (Tk. 0.81 per capita/daily, Tk. 4.85 per household/daily, 15% of the average household income) (Tables 9.10 and 9.16). The per capita nominal income of the poorest households in the urban slums was Tk. 12 a day in 1993 and increased to Tk. 19 a day in 1996 representing a 31 percent growth (Table 9.17). The per household daily income of the urban poor increased by a higher rate of 40 percent from Tk. 41 a day to Tk. 58 during the same period. The income of the urban poor increased by a much higher rate than that of the rural poor in both per capita and per household terms because of the higher growth rates of wage (29%) (Table 9.9) and of earners per household (17%) (Table 9.7), lower family size (3.7), etc. Moreover, gainful economic opportunities are greater in the urban area relative to the rural area. Real income The income of the poorest households in real terms (in kilogram of coarse rice) is found to have declined across the board during the monitoring period. In the rural area, the per capita real income of the poorest households declined by 22% on an average from 0.9 in 1993 to 0.7 kilograms of coarse rice in 1996 (Table 9.18). Barring the FFE households, the per household real income has registered a sharp decline during the same period irrespective of differences in regional diversity. Due to the income support under the FFE programme, the FFE households could avoid the sharp fall of income. The per capita real income for the FFE households has declined by 13% against a 20 to 25 percent decline for the non-FFE households over the same peiod. Overall, despite an 7% increase in per capita income in nominal terms on an average during 1993-96 (Table 9.16), the corresponding real income took an appreciably higher downward trend (22%) (Table 9.18) caused by a 24 to 43 percent price hike of c oarse rice in the rural areas during the same peirod (Table 9.19). The per capita real income of the urban poor remained unchanged, whereas, the per household real income marked an upward trend (5%) during the monitoring period (Table 9.20). The per capita real income of the urban poor is almost double at 1.4 kg a day of that of the rural poor in 1993 which remained almost unchanged during the same period. The per household real income of the poorest households stood in urban slums at 4.7 kg and 5.0 kg a day in 1993 and 1996 respectively recording a 5% growth. The poorest households in the urban slums are relatively better off than their rural counterparts in respect of per household real income which declined by 16% for the latter during the same period (Table 9.18). Wage rate The unskilled wage rate is considered to be an important indicator for monitoring poverty. The wage rate of all categories of unskilled wage labourers is found to have increased in both the rural and urban areas (Table 9.9). In the rural area, the daily nominal wage rate increased by 11.7% from Tk. 17.2 in 1993 to Tk. 19.2 in 1996 (Tables 9.7, 9.16, 9.24 and 9.25). The wage rate is found to be much higher for the urban slum-dwellers, and it grew by 29% from the level of Tk. 35.8 in 1993 to Tk. 46.1 in 1996 (Tables 9.9, 9.21, 9.22 and 9.23). Although the wage rate for unskilled labourers increased during the monitoring period, the purchasing power of the poor labourers did not rise due to a higher rate of price increase in the case of coarse rice. The average wage rate for unskilled wage labourers, in fact, declined across the board in real terms during the monitoring period. However, the poor in the northern part had to sustain a much higher rate of fall (22%) in real wage rate compared to 14% for those in the central part during this period (Table 9.24). Consumption Consumption of food The consumption of rice and wheat  ¾ the staple food items of the poorest households  ¾ is found to have recorded opposite trends among these households in the urban and rural areas. In the urban slums, the per capita daily consumption of food (rice and wheat) was 442 grams in 1993 and it rose to 514 grams in 1996 representing a 16 per cent growth (Table 9.25). The increase in the consumption level of food in terms of both per adult equivalent unit and per household units has also been substantial, 18 and 25 percent respectively during the monitoring period. These findings, however, conceal the substantially low level of food intake observed in one of the slums where poverty is found to be more acute (Table 9.26). In the rural area, the trend in food consumption is, however, found to have consistantly sunk during the monitoring period in per capita and per adult equivalent and per household terms (Table 9.27). The per capita daily consumption of rice and wheat declined from the level of 585 grams in 1993 to 566 in 1996 showing a 3 percent decrease. The food consumption per adult equivalent unit is found to have been at a much higher level  ¾ 797 grams in 1993 and 786 grams a day in 1996 – recording a relatively small fall during the period. Per household consumption, likewise declined during the same period. The declining trend in food intake is true of both the programme and non-programme households during the same period. The consistent fall in the level of consumption of food is largely due to the fall in real income and expansion of the average family size of the poorest households during the monitoring period. Box 9.2: Food Security: A Quantitative Assessment In order to assess the poverty status of sample households, the heads of the households were asked to make self-assessments in respect of poverty. Their self-assessed status may be categorized as follows: Chronic deficit households reporting food shortage throughout the year; Occasional deficit households reporting food shortage occasionally in a year;

Creative Solution to the Energy Crisis Essay -- Methane Digestion Cow

Creative Solution to the Energy Crisis Picture yourself driving along the winding country roads in central Vermont, it is early fall, your windows are open and Joni Mitchell is gracing the airwaves with her soulful melodies. You are at one with the world, you take a deep breath, inhaling the crisp autumn air and then it hits you- the smell. At first it’s just a whiff, a hint of something sour. In no time you’re rolling up your window as full on nausea engulfs you. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year there is one certainty: cow shit. The more tasteful term is manure, but for all of those in the world who live in areas with more bovine citizens than human ones, the smell merits no such enlightened vocabulary. Incredibly, some innovative minds have begun putting bad smells to good use. Cow power is a new undertaking of Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) and has been gaining popularity as a way to create electricity and supplemental incomes for dairy farmers in Vermont. Th ere are methane digestion initiatives similar to the one in Vermont being instituted all over the country. The adaptability of the methane digestion process makes methane digestion a viable option for producing electricity with low environmental impacts. Methane digestion is not a new technology; it was first implemented in India in 1859 and has recently begun to gain popularity among farmers in the US due to rising energy costs but still remains a largely unknown energy source (Gardner 2006). The science behind creating electricity from cow manure takes advantage of the natural gasses which are produced by the digestion of manure by bacteria. First the manure is collected (usually by a mechanical floor scrapp... ...s. Methane digestion is one of the only methods of energy production that utilizes the waste of human activities. It appears to be an obvious solution to many problems. Using animal manure to power our lights and appliances reduces the output of concentrated amounts of waste into the environment, eliminates unpleasant odors and reduces the need for fossil fuels on farms-everyone wins. However, the financial stumbling block that has tripped up so many farmers must be surmounted in the future if methane digestion is to become a prevalent source of electricity. Perhaps as the strain on our available energy sources continues to intensify more unorthodox methods for energy production will become more worthy of government support. Methane digestion, with its unique advantages, is bound to be one of the most successful alternatives to current energy production. Creative Solution to the Energy Crisis Essay -- Methane Digestion Cow Creative Solution to the Energy Crisis Picture yourself driving along the winding country roads in central Vermont, it is early fall, your windows are open and Joni Mitchell is gracing the airwaves with her soulful melodies. You are at one with the world, you take a deep breath, inhaling the crisp autumn air and then it hits you- the smell. At first it’s just a whiff, a hint of something sour. In no time you’re rolling up your window as full on nausea engulfs you. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year there is one certainty: cow shit. The more tasteful term is manure, but for all of those in the world who live in areas with more bovine citizens than human ones, the smell merits no such enlightened vocabulary. Incredibly, some innovative minds have begun putting bad smells to good use. Cow power is a new undertaking of Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) and has been gaining popularity as a way to create electricity and supplemental incomes for dairy farmers in Vermont. Th ere are methane digestion initiatives similar to the one in Vermont being instituted all over the country. The adaptability of the methane digestion process makes methane digestion a viable option for producing electricity with low environmental impacts. Methane digestion is not a new technology; it was first implemented in India in 1859 and has recently begun to gain popularity among farmers in the US due to rising energy costs but still remains a largely unknown energy source (Gardner 2006). The science behind creating electricity from cow manure takes advantage of the natural gasses which are produced by the digestion of manure by bacteria. First the manure is collected (usually by a mechanical floor scrapp... ...s. Methane digestion is one of the only methods of energy production that utilizes the waste of human activities. It appears to be an obvious solution to many problems. Using animal manure to power our lights and appliances reduces the output of concentrated amounts of waste into the environment, eliminates unpleasant odors and reduces the need for fossil fuels on farms-everyone wins. However, the financial stumbling block that has tripped up so many farmers must be surmounted in the future if methane digestion is to become a prevalent source of electricity. Perhaps as the strain on our available energy sources continues to intensify more unorthodox methods for energy production will become more worthy of government support. Methane digestion, with its unique advantages, is bound to be one of the most successful alternatives to current energy production. Creative Solution to the Energy Crisis Essay -- Methane Digestion Cow Creative Solution to the Energy Crisis Picture yourself driving along the winding country roads in central Vermont, it is early fall, your windows are open and Joni Mitchell is gracing the airwaves with her soulful melodies. You are at one with the world, you take a deep breath, inhaling the crisp autumn air and then it hits you- the smell. At first it’s just a whiff, a hint of something sour. In no time you’re rolling up your window as full on nausea engulfs you. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year there is one certainty: cow shit. The more tasteful term is manure, but for all of those in the world who live in areas with more bovine citizens than human ones, the smell merits no such enlightened vocabulary. Incredibly, some innovative minds have begun putting bad smells to good use. Cow power is a new undertaking of Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) and has been gaining popularity as a way to create electricity and supplemental incomes for dairy farmers in Vermont. Th ere are methane digestion initiatives similar to the one in Vermont being instituted all over the country. The adaptability of the methane digestion process makes methane digestion a viable option for producing electricity with low environmental impacts. Methane digestion is not a new technology; it was first implemented in India in 1859 and has recently begun to gain popularity among farmers in the US due to rising energy costs but still remains a largely unknown energy source (Gardner 2006). The science behind creating electricity from cow manure takes advantage of the natural gasses which are produced by the digestion of manure by bacteria. First the manure is collected (usually by a mechanical floor scrapp... ...s. Methane digestion is one of the only methods of energy production that utilizes the waste of human activities. It appears to be an obvious solution to many problems. Using animal manure to power our lights and appliances reduces the output of concentrated amounts of waste into the environment, eliminates unpleasant odors and reduces the need for fossil fuels on farms-everyone wins. However, the financial stumbling block that has tripped up so many farmers must be surmounted in the future if methane digestion is to become a prevalent source of electricity. Perhaps as the strain on our available energy sources continues to intensify more unorthodox methods for energy production will become more worthy of government support. Methane digestion, with its unique advantages, is bound to be one of the most successful alternatives to current energy production.