The Omnivore Dilemma Part One Summary free essay sample

Industrial/Corn Summary The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, analyzes the eating habits and food chains of modern America in an attempt to bring readers closer to the origin of their foods. Pollan’s blend of humor and philosophical questions about the nature of food serves both to enlighten readers about the environment from which their food is harvested and to teach readers about alternative ways of eating. In the first chapter of Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, we are introduced to the topic of industrial corn and its origins some thousands of years ago. Originally known as â€Å"Zea Mays†, corn started off slow in biological terms but blew up after the discovery of Christopher Columbus. Now that there was corn the settlers were free from the Natives and could now support themselves on the agriculture of corn. Now in modern times we have created new types of corns to feed humans and animals but also to create over 25000 products in supermarkets today. We will write a custom essay sample on The Omnivore Dilemma: Part One Summary or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Pallon mentions in Chapter one the differences between American and Mexican diets. Stating that the Mexican diet is that of a corn-based nature, where as Americans is on the other side of the spectrum eating more meats than anything. In truth it’s the opposite, it’s the Americans that are eating more corn. It all comes down to the way we feed our animals and process our foods. Americans feed their livestock with corn, and pump corn-based products into readily available food. Whereas Mexicans although they eat a wide variety of corn and grains still feed their animals with grass and sweeten with sugar cane versus corn-based sweeteners. So the Americans really do beat out the â€Å"Corn walkers†, I guess you could say they’re walking corn from the high levels of corn consumption. Pollan pulled me into chapter one with the information he provided about corn. I was enlightened by this chapter and decided to do some research of my own. I started looking into several different food and products that are corn based and animals that are corn fed. For example, corn feeds the steer, chicken, pig, turkey, lamb, and some fish, we eat; corn is in processed foods, like a chicken nugget contains corn starch, corn flour, corn oil, as well as lecithin, mono-di- and tri-glycerides, and citric acid, which all contain corn; Corn is contained in soft and fruit drinks, alcohol, mayonnaise, mustard, margarine, salad dressing, cereal, toothpaste, cosmetics, disposable diapers, trash bags, cleaners, matches, batteries, magazine covers, linoleum, fiberglass, wallboard and gasoline (ethanol). Needless to say, corn is everywhere! In chapter two, Pollan visits a small farmer in Iowa owned by George Naylor. Most of the 470 acre farm is used to grow corn, to ensure a high yield rate for the season. While at the farm Pollan sets out to understand the mysteries of the Industrial Corn world and to get an in depth look at the life of a farmer’s life after corn surpluses have been put in. Last, in chapter three, Pollan visits the great grain elevator not far from the Naylor farm in Iowa. He goes in-depth with the governments funding and the living of a farmer on the subsidies. To be perfectly honest, I was expecting â€Å"The Omnivore’s Dilemma† to be boring, overly written and full of words I could not only pronounce but did not know the meaning of but I found it to be well defined and though out in terms of the structure and sentence transitions. Many writers attempt to grab the reader’s attention with over-inflated words, when a simple description is adequate, and quite sufficient to convey the though, idea, or concept, that the book is about. I was thrilled reading about corn, which was not expected, and it made reading the book that much more enjoyable.

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists essays

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists essays Before long, the Articles of Confederation proved to be insufficient in establishing law and order in early America. A Constitution was drafted, giving more power to the national government and setting up an intricate system to balance this power. Federalists, supporters of this constitution, debated with their opponent Anti-Federalists regarding whether or not to ratify the newly proposed system. Federalists advocated allowing the national government to pass laws and later judge their constitutionality. In order to accomplish this without the government getting too powerful, the proposed regime was broken into three branches, each keeping the other two in check. Under this system, the government would be able to create laws which apply to all the states. Individual states would still have the power to pass their own laws. Anti-Federalists responded to this with criticism. Richard Henry Lee stated that the checks and balance system would be too restricting on the different branches, resulting in progress being extremely difficult to impossible. Further, he conjectured that the people of all the states must be willing to come together and follow the same laws, which in his opinion is unlikely. Luther Martin argued that the constitution should be developed by the states, providing the example of the peaceful state-led compilation of the Articles of Confederation. Protecting the minority was a Federalist priority. In the proposed system, representative legislature would prevent smaller factions interests from being completely ignored. To Anti-Federalists the system seemed fundamentally flawed in that the legislature could be influenced by a few powerful men, changing power from the hands of the many to those of the few and thus ignoring most peoples interests. Lee stated that Federalists wanted to adopt the constitution only as a stepping stone to give themselves more power and influence. Further,...

Current Events Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Current Events - Essay Example However, the company has had to make many changes since it acquired Zain Africa in a deal that involved more than ten billion dollars (Campbell 416). The main reason was the existence of established mobile operators in individual countries and across regions. One of examples is the West African region where MTN has acquired a considerable stake of the market. However, apart from this, the high operating costs, a low-income market, political instability, and restrictive government policies have been among the major reasons for Airtel Africa reengineering. Despite the numerous changes that have faced this company the short-term achievements are exceptional (Campbell 417). The incentives the company has offered, such as low calling, texting, and Internet rates, have ensured the constant rise of the number of its subscribers. Moreover, the recent roll out of 3G Internet speed for its users has been its most successful promotional methods so far. The success achieved in the African market has established it among the five top mobile operators in the world. In conclusion, Bharti Airtel reengineering has been beneficial not only for the company but also for the African people. In a general business outlook, it is one of the main contributors to making Africa one of the fastest growing telephone markets in the world (Pan 14). Consequently, as shown by Bharti Airtel, reengineering is one of the most effective methods to expand, increase profits, and accelerate the growth of a

Business Structures Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Structures - Coursework Example General corporations exhibit unlimited life. They continue to exist upon the death of the shareholders. It is easier to transfer the ownership of a general corporation. Such transfer take place through sale of stock and does not affect the management of the business. As a business structure, general corporations have limitations. Relative to sole proprietorship, general corporations are expensive to start due to the large capital base required. The formation of general corporations entails more legal formality. They are also subject to many federal and state rules and regulations during their operations. Formation of S Corporation businesses depend on the decision of the owners to avoid income tax while at the same time keep enjoying the advantages associated with limited liability of corporations. In terms of advantages, the S corporations exhibit the same benefits as the general corporations. Distinction between the advantages of the two businesses structures sets in when it comes to tax issue (Jamison, 2009). S corporations enjoy exemption from double taxation that is mandatory for the general corporations. S Corporations escape from double taxation because reporting of incomes occurs once during the filing of personal tax returns of the shareholders. The liability of shareholders in S Corporation is limited. The major disadvantage of this type of business structure is the dominance in decision-making by the majority shareholder. At times, .the decision made may not be to the best interest of other shareholders. The shareholders in the S corporation must come from the United Stat es. Aliens do not have the right to run the business type. During formation of this business structure, certificate of incorporation is a requirement. A limited liability company combines limited liability features of corporations and limited taxation of sole proprietorship.

Network Installation Proposal

Network Installation Proposal The purpose of this document is to specify the project plan to setup Network Infrastructure for Heath Robinson Web Hosting Company. This document outlines a brief plan about, on how the project is to be shaped and also includes the milestones and deliverables. Heath Robinson Web Hosting Company has acquired second floor in a building, in East Anglia Industrial Estate. The project deliverable is to design and implement the overall setup, which includes refurbishing/construction, Software design and development, Network design and implementation, Hardware and Software testing. The Project plan for time management, cost estimation, resource planning and roles and responsibilities needs to be provided as part of the deliverables. Project goal Objectives The high level goals and objective of the project is to efficient evaluation of the required planning, methodology and approach to achieve the following scope of work Investigating requirements of new installations of required equipment, network cables and software needed for running the network system Constructing/refurbishing the acquired buildings where new equipment will be installed; This part of the project is contracted to a building company and managed by the construction manager who is a part the project team Designing the network for the new building based on the business requirements of the company Investigating and purchasing appropriate hardware and other equipment required for the new installation Developing the software required for the network system Installing the network and computers in the new building Testing Hardware and Software Assumptions and Constraints As the Project Manager for the Project, I have the defined target time for the project completion. The Project needs to start from 1st of April 2010 The Project execution should be in 30 day The approved project budget from the Management is  £200, 000 The Financial Advisor, who is part of the project, has advised a budgetary costing of  £500, 000 to be fixed for project. Any deviation from the approved budget needs approval from the Management committee. Project Deliverables The list of project deliverables is as follows Project Management Plan Cost Estimation Project Feasibility Construction /Refurbishing Software Design and Specification Network Design and Implementation Hardware Software Testing The Team Roles Responsibility The Project Team consists of the 10 members, each from a specific domain and with precise skill set. Each resource will be responsible for completing their task and reporting back to project manager. As the Project Manager the task here is to submit a project proposal for approval by the Company Managerial Committee, with a detailed feasibility analysis report, in particular the economic feasibility of the project, supported with financial calculations of the net profit, payback / bread-even period, return on investment, net present value and internal rate of return for the project. The Roles and Responsibility of the 10 individuals is as follow 1 computer hardware specialist responsible for hardware-related task 1 financial advisor responsible for control financial resources available to the project 1 network designer responsible for designing the network for the company 2 software developers for developing software required by the new installation 2 office assistants, one in charge of purchasing computers and other hardware equipment and the other dealing with paperwork in the office and produce project-related documents 1 construction manager responsible for building and refurbishment work 1 software testing engineer 1 hardware testing engineer Tasks Activity and Miles stones Cost Estimation / Time Management The Project Manager along with the Financial Advisor has come up with the following Cost estimation. The Following are the cost allotted for various activities, which would be one time setup cost, Capital expenditure. Material Cost Cost Allotted Construction ( Material)  £ 30,000.00 Network (Servers, Desktop, Cabling)  £ 20,000.00 Software Development ( Licenses)  £ 20,000.00 Testing( Software hardware)  £ 15,000.00 Office Maintenance  £ 5,000.00 Other Services  £ 5,000.00 Total Cost  £ 92,000.00 The following are the cost allotted for resources, Operational Cost (Direct cost) Resource Resource Cost /Per Month Construction manager  £ 5,000.00 Software Engineer (2)  £ 15,000.00 Hardware Engineer  £ 4,000.00 Network Engineer  £ 6,000.00 Testing Engineers (2)  £ 7,000.00 Office Assistant (2)  £ 2,500.00 Financial Advisor  £ 8,000.00 Total Cost  £ 47,500.00 The following are the cost allotted for office maintenance, Operational Cost (Indirect cost) Utility Cost /Per Month Electricity  £ 750.00 Sanitary  £ 400.00 Stationary  £ 300.00 Maintenance  £ 500.00 Petty Cash  £ 500.00 Total Cost  £ 2,450.00 The Total Project Costing Costing Total Material Cost  £ 92,000.00 Resource  £ 47,500.00 Administration Cost  £ 2,450.00 Total Cost  £ 142,500.00 Project Execution Activity List The whole project execution will be divided into sub- category of activities The Project Execution is sub-divided into following sub -tasks Construction Hardware structure Cabling Network Design Implementation Software Design Coding Testing Construction The Construction is the first task of the project. The activity will begin from the 1st of April and estimated time from is one week. The Construction Manager is designated to take the complete responsibility of planning the construction activity and over look all the activities. The following list of activities will be done during the constriction phase Floor plan Roof and ceiling construction Painting and carpentry Provide Water, Electrical, Pressure air and gas services Install Cabinets Install Wall Cabinets Paint Cabinet Paint Walls Ceilings Hardware structure Cabling As per the project plan, Five Servers will be installed in the server room and the required cabling and racks need to be installed in the switch room. The Hardware engineer along with Network Engineer will be planning the activity and the requirements are as follows No of Data Ports 30+ 5 No of Voice Ports 30 ports No of Redundant ports 30ports The structured cabling activity is planned to start from the 2nd week , 7th of April 2010 and estimated to complete by 10th of April 2010. Network Design Implementation The Network design activity starts parallel to the structured cabling activity and the implementation would kick off as soon the server room wiring is complete. The Implementation activity would start from the 3rd week of April 2010 and estimated to complete in 5 days. The Network is designed using industry standard Star topology. The New floor requires Voice, Data and Video wiring and electronic facilities to support newest form of telecommunications. The Switch room, which houses the Servers, Networking equipments (Switches, Routers, and Firewalls) connects to the each terminal (Desktop) via Horizontal Cabling. The option for Vertical Cabling can be enabled in future for connecting multiple switch rooms The list of activities is as follows Network design Server Installation and mounting Server application configuration Domain and Active directory setup User profiles setup Access privilege creation Network Overview Heath Robinson Web Hosting Company http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBO9d3_iaiMZfK9Tq1JQUgEbrG7Zt5ay336Cm3ZL2ANMIkAREt=1usg=__amDzGGGK51fLYfo3QCeIcL6XCYA=http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBO9d3_iaiMZfK9Tq1JQUgEbrG7Zt5ay336Cm3ZL2ANMIkAREt=1usg=__amDzGGGK51fLYfo3QCeIcL6XCYA= http://www.sycamorecomputers.com/img/networkdiag.jpg Software Design Coding The software developers will be assigned the task of designing the software customized to the requirement. The Design and coding activity is intended to start from mid 3rd week after the servers are configured and installed. The activity is estimated to take 5 days. Two Software developers were appointed for creating bespoke software that is tailored specifically to companys need as it is a web hosting company the software were used are .net, Java, PHP and C++.The software developers are skilled on various programming languages and are proficient in design and development of the bug free software. The list of activities for the software developers team is as follows Software design Software coding Software compiling Software Release Testing One hardware testing engineer and software testing engineer were appointed their responsibilities is to setup of test processes including hardware and software deployment, provide technical support and training when required advanced testing, performing complex diagnostic tests on faulty computer. Software testing technician execute test plans to evaluate the performance of software applications and information and telecommunication systems. The Testing will be done by 2 Engineers, one will be conducting Software Testing and the other will be conducting Hardware Testing. The activity will be handled by each individual post Hardware and Software implementations. The Software Testing activity will include Code review Design Review Test Plan Manual Automation Testing Code tweaking and Regression Hardware Testing Activity will include System Definition System Testing Fault Testing Load Testing Office Assistant: The 2 Office assistant were appointed for essentially do whatever office tasks are needed so that the professional doesnt have to. One office assistant will purchase hardware needed to the office and other will do paper works. The Project plan Time Management Project Futuristic Aspect The success of any project is based on few parameters which portrays the efficiency of the project in terms of the objective achieved and sets bench marks for the future project undertaking The followings are very important from the project efficiency point of view Return of Investment Net Present Value Break Even Point The calculations of the above are as follows with respect to the project Return of Investment (ROI) Net Present Value Return of Investment is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments with respect to a project. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio ROI = Gain from Investment Cost of Investment __________________________________ Cost of Investment Net Present Value or NPV is used to decide financial viability of an investment. The difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows. NPV is used in capital budgeting to analyse the profitability of an investment or project. Here the NPV and ROI are calculated. The following tables show you the NPV and ROI value. The Project cost and the profit for next five years is as follow. A 30% growth is assumed for our calculation Taking the above The return on investment formula: ROI = Gain from Investment Cost of Investment __________________________________ Cost of Investment ROI = 10,82,725 554,000 - 554,000 = 1.21 Return on investment is a very popular metric because of its versatility and simplicity. That is, if an investment does not have a positive ROI, or if there are other opportunities with a higher ROI, then the investment should be not be undertaken Break Even Point for the First year First year Sales  £1, 75,000 First year Cost (Direct + indirect)  £50,000 Yearly Net Cash Flow Cumulative Net Cash Flow = Yearly Net Cash Flow  £1,75,000  £50,000 = 1,75,000 = 0.79 BEP (1 year) Payback Period: The cumulative cash flow curves above show roughly the point in time when the cumulative cash flow breaks even, that is, when cumulative incoming returns exactly balance cumulative outflows. This point in time (point on the horizontal axis) is Payback period .The payback period is 1 years RISK ASSESSMENT The Risk assessment and the mitigation measure are very important for smooth completion of the project. The Risk assessment phase is carried out at the initial planning phase of the project .The risk assessment need to be continuously monitored and updated throughout the life of the project INITIAL PROJECT RISK ASSESSMENT CONTROL PLAN Requirements Control Plan When changes are to be made in the requirements after the project plan has been released, the changes shall be brought to the attention of the committee and discussed. Any changes that are to be made will be with the prior approval of the committee and only if feasible and permissible within the constraints of the project mentioned Schedule Control Plan If the work scheduled gets behind, the stake holder is ready to spend extra time on the project in between and after the schedules and also to make up for the lost time and deliver the final project on time. Budget Control Plan Any changes to the budget need to be updated to the management committee Quality Control Plan The Project Manager will be assessing the quality of work for each of teh stake holder and will ensure that the required level of quality is achieved in the given time frame Closeout Plan All the details about the post-mortem debriefings, report on the lessons learnt, project objectives and the milestones achieved would be mentioned as part of the Project documentation at the end of the project. The analysis and the lessons learnt will be used for future project success.

Psychology vs Sociology Essay

Psychology and sociology have their differences and similarities. However, this essay will mainly focus on the differences between their approaches and how they are applicable in the real world. Psychology, fundamentally, is the study of behaviour and of the functions and processes of the human mind, especially relating to the social and physical environment while sociology is defined as the study of social life, social change and the social causes and consequences of human behaviour. Psychologists are more interested with what occurs within people, which includes emotions, perceptions, learning, personality and thinking. Sociologists, on the other hand, mainly focus on what occurs among people. These occurrences could be things such as interpersonal relationships, negotiating conflicts, and the effect of social systems like education and politics on personal and group behaviour (Benokraitis, 2009). Psychology focusses on the human mind and how and why people think and behave they way they do. Sociology examines groups of people, communities, societies and even nations. They might research on things such as changes in population, effects of events on entire communities and culture. One way to look at it is that psychology is more about the individual or small groups and sociology is more about larger groups of people such as communities, societies. While the difference is significant, these two sciences do have similarities as well as an intersection between them. They are both beneficial to the society and see etiology, the study of causation or origination, as of great importance (Ellis, 2010). There is also a sub-field in psychology known as social psychology that is a discipline which uses scientific methods â€Å"to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined and implied presence of other human beingsà ¢â‚¬  (Gordon Allport, 1985). Social psychology looks at a wide range of social topics, including group behavior, social perception, leadership, nonverbal behaviour, conformity, aggression, and prejudice. It is important to note that social psychology is not just about looking at social influences. Social perception and social interaction are also vital to understanding social behavior. Prev Page Next Page

Identity in Art Essay

Identity is a central concern of contemporary life. Identity plays a large part in societies and individuals lives; however it has not just become a central concern. For the last couple of hundred years identity has been a central concern. This central concern of identity is and has been portrayed, explored and discussed through art. In contemporary art there are multiple different art techniques, styles, codes, conventions and forms of art which explore and express identity. In the classical era of art the privilege of having a self-portrait created by an artist and displaying it in your house defined the identity of those people. In the last 100 years identity has been explored, portrayed and expressed in art through the use of different techniques, styles and forms of art. Different techniques such as rendering, shading, colour usage, and the softness or hardness of the lines are some of the ways in which artist are expressing and exploring the idea of identity. There are multiple different styles being used to express, portray and explore identity, some of these are abstract, cubism, expressionism, impressionism, realism, surrealism ect. These styles allow artist to create new and more in depth and meaningful artworks that can have a deeper, complex and relevant message behind the artwork. Modern artist also use different or mixed forms of art, for example sculpture, printmaking, photography, drawings, paintings, charcoal ect. The artist Kathe Kollwitz is a German artist (1867-1945). She created artworks that depicted the effects of war and the society’s identity throughout the war. This identity was of famine and starvation, one of fear and confusion and one of death and depression. Throughout the harsh period of the war she created sketches on paper using charcoal. The use of the expressionism in her artwork depicted her society’s identity and issue that was brought from the war and it effects. She focused on the identities that had changed due to the wars, either from directly being involved or form indirectly being involved, for example the identity change from one losing their loved one due to the harshness and effects of the world wars, or having no family or job that would be able to provide for you or your child so you have been forced to take up a life of begging on the streets for food in attempt to not to die of starvation. Kollwitz’s art resounds with compassion as she makes appeals on behalf of the working poor, the suffering and the sick. Although Kathe Kollwitz’s work is mainly portraying the identity changes and effects of both World War 1 and World War 2 she also took a liking in depicting with in her artworks the role and identity of women in a family. She mostly used the same materials of charcoal on paper when she created this work, but also used different media to create some of her artworks. When working on expressing and exploring women, their identities and their roles in society Kollwitz was able to express the changes to a women’s identity if she had a family to look after, and to high light the importance of the women’s identity when it came to interacting with their child. She also focused on women who were barely able to care for or nourish their children. This was able to depict the difficulties with handle children and the identities that un-worthy parents had. In the era that Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Richard Franklin was painting, the artwork being produced were more classical art. Any other types of artist that produced different artworks like cubist artworks or expressionist artworks were frowned upon. The classical artworks that they created were based on the identity of the figure in their artwork. Most of the artworks created by the classic artist were created on demand from the wealthy, high up in society citizens that could afford the artworks of themselves. The portraits were used to express and define the figures identity with in society. The portraits would be shown off at the buyers large villas and the artworks would be only there to define and express to others that the house owner or his family members and figure in the painting were of an upper class back ground and that their identity in society was quite high up the social ladder. The artworks were informing of the status and identity of the figure in order to depict to others their wealth and that they were from the upper class and their identity mattered in their society. They would also create sculpture and paint paintings that were asked of them by the upper class citizens in the society of that era. The artistic style used was classical. It was seen as great work to be able to create something so realistic and to create realistic things that would be part of the identity of the figure and of the society when the renaissance period was over and other styles and forms of art were more accepted in society. Identity is not just a central concern of contemporary life; it was also a central concern of the older life style from decades ago. The idea and concept of identity has been carried through society and has been explored, discussed and expressed through the use of art.