Mexico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mexico - Essay Example Mexico is situated at around 23 °N and 102 °W in the southern section of North America. The total area of Mexico covers around 1,972,550 square kilometers, where 1,923,040 square kilometers are covered by land and 49,510 square kilometers are covered by water. Northern Mexico is recognized to be dry as well as desert-like while the southern region of Mexico is covered by mountainous jungle. Moreover, Mexico is known as one of the major bio-diverse nations of the world. Mexico’s economy is recognized as the world’s thirteenth biggest economy which is almost the same size as Russia’s as well as South Korea’s economies. Moreover, Mexico is considered as a ‘free market’ economy which comprises a mix industry, services, as well as agriculture (Foreign & Commonwealth Office, â€Å"Mexico: Country Information†). Major Regions of Mexico Mexico consists of nine major topographic regions, these include the ‘Mexican Plateau’, the Gulf Coastal Plain, the Pacific Coastal Lowland, the Southern Highland, the Sierra Madre Occidental, Baja California, the Cordillera Neo-Volcanica, the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Yucatan Peninsula. Moreover, Mexico comprises a wide variety of geographical regions as well as climate variations. The 31 states including Mexico City run the gamut from high desert and scrubland to verdant tropical jungles and stunning sea-coast provinces (Foreign & Commonwealth Office, â€Å"Mexico: Country Information†). Central Mexico is mainly known as a volcanic plateau, which is enclosed by huge mountain ranges. The entire Mexico City is known as â€Å"Old Mexico† for its major agricultural activities which comprise small town and attractive colonial cities that have made Mexico a famous global heritage site. Southern Mexico is renowned as an ecotourism sanctuary which consists of sea coasts, jungles, marshes and mangrove forests that provide adventure as well as beautiful natural s ite for any tourist. Pacific coast is considered as the ‘jewel in Mexico’s crown’ which provides historic attraction such as Acapulco (Foreign & Commonwealth Office, â€Å"Mexico: Country Information†). Groups of People That Make up Mexico According to the present scenario, Mexican people are a blend of descendants from Spanish as well as other various immigrants. From 16th century onwards, people mainly from Europe had started to settle in Mexico and created Mestizos (a group mixed with European and indigenous ancestry). Religion of Mexico comprises 89% of Roman Catholic, 6% of Protestant and 5% inhabitants of other denominations (Foreign & Commonwealth Office, â€Å"Mexico: Country Information†). Languages Spoken in Mexico In Mexico, Spanish is considered as the official language. Moreover, there are around 62 native languages that are still spoken by one-third of the population. The Spanish language which is spoken by native Mexicans is quite dif ferent from the Castilian Spanish which is the original language of Spain (Foreign & Commonwealth Office, â€Å"Mexico: Country Information†). Five Most Popular Dishes in Mexico ‘Cabrito’ is a very famous and traditional dish of Mexico. This dish is prepared with baked baby goat which is gradually cooked over ‘mesquite coals’ which comprise several of Mexican herbs and spices (All about Mexico, â€Å"Culinary†). Another popular dish is ‘

Group Decision Making Essay Example for Free

Group Decision Making Essay Abstract Group decision making is imperative for deciding what action a group should take. This paper aims to define the process of group decision making and examine the discipline, theory, paradigm, and methodology that dominate approaches to group decision-making research. Furthermore, it provides an outline of the research’s perceptual process and endeavors to address an appropriate alternative approach to this research problem, and an evaluation of qualitative and quantitative research designs for this area of research. These are discussed in connection with selected empirical data. Critical Review of Group Decision Making Research Group decision making is one of the most significant and methodological ways of overcoming and/or resolving certain conflicts with the aid of other individuals. It becomes a more controversial in deciding what action a group should take due to the varieties of systems, which are acknowledged in order to solve a particular conflict. Decision making in a certain group is frequently evaluated in a separate manner, as the issue with regard to the process and outcome is concerned. While such a process of group decision making refers to how every member of a group interacts with the others, the outcome is the result of preferred method or action that the entire group has taken. A number of masters from prestigious universities have been arguing with regard to the critical review of group decision-making research since the 19th century. One of the world-renown masters of that time was James Stoner who observed that group decisions are more speculative than the earlier exclusive decisions of the members of a particular group or organization (Stoner, 1961). During the period subsequent to the time when he released his masters’ thesis and scholarly articles concerning the critical review of group decision-making research, numerous researched studies with empirical bases have shown that such a perilous modification is omnipresent or ubiquitous occurrence. Moreover, there is the presence of judiciousness on certain group decisions than the members (Moscovici Zavalloni. 1969; Myers Lamm, 1976). However, the tendency of people to make decisions, which is extreme when they are in a group as opposed to a decision made alone or independently, will take place as a commencing disposition of an individual group members toward a specified way is increased subsequent to the given group decision. For instance, a group of pro-feminist women will be more powerfully pro-feminist subsequent to the given group decision (Myers. 1975). Therefore, on decisions that present to every individual group and/or member, a reasonable disposition in a specified way comes along with a group decision, which belongs to a more reasonable disposition in the same way. Critical Review on a Group Decision Some other conceptualization with regard to the tendency of people to make decisions, which is extreme when they are in a group as opposed to a decision made alone or independently, will be superfluous due the number of outstanding reviews and/or conceptualization until 1970s (Myers Lamm, 1976). Throughout this time, the arguments concerning such a conceptualization have become remarkable. Hence, numerous researchers contributed various ideologies and significant contributions to produce group decisions, which are more speculative than the earlier exclusive decisions of the members of a particular group or organization. In latter years, vehemence for group research with regard to disposition has begun to lessen; it has believed that a thorough retrospective view or survey will contribute to the reorientation of research in such a field. In addition to this view, reassessment will also incorporate the tendency of people to make decisions, which is extreme when they are in a group as opposed to a decision made alone or independently, with other gregarious or communal imaginary and cognitive phenomena. Thus, this research concludes by proposing a few significant matters of desegregation. Moreover, basic cognitive process will be involved in obtaining and storing more knowledge and insights upon demonstrating convincing disputation and communal distinction intervening the doctrine that all natural phenomena are explicable by material causes and mechanical principles within the bounds of group decision making. Study of this consequence shows that subsequent in time of taking part in a discussion group, every member tends to propose greater whereabouts; the demand for more perilous procedures of exploit than individuals who do not take part in any such discourse becomes inevitable. This incident has given birth to the perilous modification of group decision making. Moreover, the tendency of people to make decisions, which is extreme when they are in a group as opposed to a decision made alone or independently, is used in order to explicate and give light to the decision making of a panel or a group of people legally selected to hear a case and to decide what are the facts. Contemporary studies of world-renown scholars and savants show that subsequent in time to meditating into a single group, simulated panel of experts frequently determines retaliatory impairment prior to deliberation. Hence, the studies showed that when the favor of the panel of experts is given to an individual that bears insufficient facts and/or explications with regard to the extant issues, matters of argumentation might lead to a more compassionate outcome. While the panel of experts is influenced to ordain an efficacious or disastrous treatment, such contemporary discourse could yield severe and arduous circumstances to cope with. Progress in Analysis of Group Decision Making Brown’s (1965) innovative discourse of such a perilous modification, one of the vital vindications of selected changes, has been a communal juxtaposition. Based on the entire view of this conceptualization, people are regularly encouraged both to identify and to introduce themselves in a gregarious suitable illumination. To do this, every individual should be constantly preparing knowledge and insights with regard to how other groups of people introduce themselves, and changing his/her personal investiture. Some adaptations of social comparison theory shows that the number of people wishes to be understood as more advantageous than what other groups of people comprehend to be the standard movement. In one case that every individual distinguishes how most other people demonstrate and/or introduce themselves, he or she present him/herself in a reasonable illumination or awareness. Whenever all members of a colluding group involve in the same examination of such a methodological or systematic procedure, the outcome, therefore, is a mean modification in a way of valuable community. There is the presence of two fluctuations of the said temporal arrangement; one is that highlights the displacements of cognitive contents, which have multiple numbers of aspects, while the other one concerns the practice of keeping one jump ahead of a friend or competitor. Based on the studies of such a pluralistic ignorance, every individual or group of people introduces itself and/or its own positions as a settlement of differences in which each side makes concessions in the interval of two different proclivities—the petition to be bound by mutual interests, loyalties, or affections to an individual’s own conception of absolute perfection. In addition to this view, the desire not to be aberrant from the notion of the inner direction of a certain group is also acknowledged. Thus, prior to group discussion review or argument, every member of a particular group trivializes the standards of the group ab initio. Evaluation from the primary valuations of their personal standards becomes distant to some extent or degree. Throughout the argumentations, which are unfolded by the entire group, every individual or member of the group is acknowledged nigh to the right standards; hence, an instance of divergence or disagreement by the common action of how good a group member is and how he or she likes to be ostensible. On delving into the second set of options, a group member directly changes to a more idealistic thought or matter of argumentations. As such, the strategic method of group decision making with most group members is acknowledged. Therefore, the theory concerning pluralistic ignorance is that it prevails for the mere reason of precise exchange of information with regard to the true beliefs of most members of the group in spite of the fact that it might be due to the preconception, which has a basis in or reducible to empirical factual knowledge (Jones Nisbett, 1972). Other evaluators made a thorough explication concerning the possible outcomes of procedures in relation to the social comparison. These evaluations have become a more controversial along the issue concerning such matters of argument in which the group of people are encouraged by an aspiration to be unique from the other groups of people in a more precious and significant way or direction of feelings and/or thoughts (Fromkin, 1970). Moreover, these people are also encouraged to introduce themselves in a more advantageous way than the other groups of people. Briefly, such a group of people desires to be unique and become better than other groups of people. As an analogy, Brown expresses his own feelings by acknowledging the fact that when creating pre-valuations in a certain aspect, every individual member of the group gives him/herself a valuation, which is moderately advantageous than the valuation that he or she takes for granted—the norm or standards the mean group member will share. For a better comprehension with regard to this conceptualization, when a member directly or indirectly deducts the precise standards, he or she then develops his or her personal valuations; hence, making the general options with regard to the perilous modification becomes inevitable to acknowledge. Inasmuch as the technical aspects of making the perilous modification in cognitive contents, which have multiple aspects, the technical aspects concerning a current or fashionable trend is a settlement of differences in which each side makes concessions by the common action of self-enhancement and self-abasement. Indeed, however, it may be quite arduous to acknowledge these two technical aspects theoretically. Nevertheless, there are respective imbrications on the pluralistic ignorance and current or fashionable trends. To support such an argument, the general reference for social comparison comes from presentations that coherent knowledge and insights with regard to the standards of other group members is able to make conformation bias. It takes place when combined or neutral vestige is used to reinforce an already made and intelligibly one-sided point of view. Consequently, every member of the group on both sides may therefore make an action or any movement farther apart, when he or she is presented with the same combined vestige. Such e strategic effect is called ‘mere exposure’ effects in which numerous researched studies have tried creating this terminology for further explication of the denotations of the perilous modification within the group decision making. Processing the Information that Affects the Group Decision Making A number of scholarly studies with regard to the group decision making from different pats of the world have been published; now, it remains one of the global contemporary issues. The original perilous modification research of Stoner (1961) has been globally recognized upon the use of certain outlines of the summary with a dramatic or literary work—the scenario, which shows the value of perils that a group member thinks what action he or she should take. For a better comprehension, it is explained with the best example, which Stoner used. He shows such a perilous modification through playing with a chess—the moves, careers shifts, professional shifts etc. In addition, other studies concern the probability of such a perilous modification. It is showed through the frequent exposure of conditions in which it is more likely to be substantial than any moderate exposure of such conditions; mixed with non-significant. Some studies argue that a certain member’s option or a standard on the matter of argument is methodological function of numerous pro and con debates. It is acknowledged as an individual calls back the memory when hypothesizing his or her personal thought or standards. Therefore, in forming an opinion or estimation of the guilt or innocence of an accused person after careful consideration, a body of citizens sworn to give a true verdict according to the evidence presented in a court of law comes to pre-deliberation decisions in accordance with the respective number and strength of the pro-guilt and pro-innocence statements. Consequently, a formal discourse on a topic or an exposition becomes the cause of an individual’s modification of his or her thought with regard to the running skepticism in the court. During the period subsequent to the time when the conceptualization of the power to induce the taking of a course of action or the embracing of a point of view by means of argument or entreaty is acknowledged, a number of studies distinguish the characteristics of statements, which lead them into being convincing. Moreover, some studies express the denotations of perilous modification. They show this through presenting deputations on the statements within the group members. For a better comprehension concerning this ideology, a specified group may or may not change the way, which has given to it. While every member thinks of producing a good outcome, the arguments take place from the other members of the group. Thus, the function of originality is certainly and specifically determined. However, if such statements or arguments are given from the fact that the individual member is already acquainted with such matter of argumentations, he or she then cannot modify or change his or her position or standards of thinking or sharing his or her thoughts with the other members of the group of choice (Kaplan, 1997). Evaluating Qualitative and Quantitative Research Designs As such, if new convincing arguments are given, but opposing the way that has been pre-approved by the group member, their standards will be modified reversely. Hence, a body of citizens sworn to give a true verdict according to the evidence presented in a court of law who pre-approved one who is justly chargeable with or responsible for a usually grave breach of conduct or a crime will come to regard a more guilty opinion or treat him or her with favor. This occurrence takes place only if he or she is liable to the new statements, which give favor to the fact of having committed a breach of conduct especially violating law and involving a penal. The condition of being peculiar to a particular individual or group, as the issue with regard to the process by which other studies or scholarly researched articles produce, accommodates two general empirical bases. One is that concerns the given correct information. To understand better, such studies or scholarly articles anticipate the methodological system and extent of selecting the thought to be unfolded on the matters of argumentation whether they are breaking up into opposing factions or grouping, or causing to become partially or wholly unbroken up to opposing factions. In addition to this statement or argument with regard to the critical review of group decision making, the number of studies make it easier to bring out the conceptual coordination of mental processes into a normal effective personality or with the individual’s environment, or the operation of finding a function whose differential is known and/or solving a different equation. In view of that fact, the fundamental technical aspect is the same for statements, which have been processed in a more advanced and secure system, or in a mutual or reciprocal action or influence with the other people or group members. Therefore, to support the entire conceptualization of this view, the vestige for the proposition that convincing statements alone may yield choice modification and a position of polarization, which has been assumed for a specific purpose—boldly supported by advanced explications of polarization (Pruitt, 197la. 1971b). Conclusion I have learned substantially from the said research and conceptualization of contemporary argumentations with regard to the critical review of group decision making and it impelled me to seek various means to learn the more advanced and methodological process of critical thinking and evaluation on the group decision-making. First, I have learned to perceive more contemplatively. This means, prior to making decisions or establishing beliefs, a group member must be aware that he or she has personal biases about certain things and he or she should not let this get in the way of arriving at an accurate perception and wise decision. Second, I have learned that by being more involved and by listening to and observing people a particular member of the group, who joins the arguments while discussing the best things to gain favorable outcomes, would be able to gain a broader perspective, if not a holistic view, of people and circumstances as a whole. This means that he or she should not only be satisfied with what he or she sees or wants to see but endeavor to look further and probe deeper into what is actually happening that he or she could not directly sense. Moreover, he or she should also verify his or her perceptions and the conclusions he or she has reached through critical thinking by communicating and learning more about the entities involved. These helpful hints have caused substantial improvement in my critical thinking process relative not only to the office works but to all the other daily activities as well. They have led me to perceive accurately, think critically and gain greater understanding of people and contemporary events. References Brown. R. (1965). Social psychology. New York: Free Press. Fromkin. H. (1970). Effects of experimentally aroused feelings of indistinctiveness upon valuation of scarce and novel experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 16. 521-529 Jones, E. E.. Nisbett R. E. (1972). The actor and the observer: Divergent perceptions of the causes of behavior. In E. E. Jones, E. E. Kanouse. H. H. Kelley. R. E. Nisbett, S. Valins. B. Veiner(Eds. ). Attribution. Perceiving the causes of behavior. Morristown. NJ: General Learning Press. Kaplan. M. F. (1977). Discussion polarization effects in a modified jury decision paradigm: Informational influences. Sociomeir): 40, 262-271 Moscovici. S. , Zavalloni. M. (1969). The group as a polarizer of attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 12. I25-135. Myers, D. G. (1975). Discussion-induced attitude polarization. Human Relations, 28, 699-714 Myers. D. G. , Lamm. H. (1975). The polarizing effect of group discussion. American Scientist, 63. 297-303. Pruitl, D. G. (197 la). Choice shifts in group discussion: An introductory review. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 20, 339-360. (197lb). Conclusions: Toward an understanding of choice shifts in group discussion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 20. 495-510. Stoner, J. A. F. (1961). A comparison of individual and group decisions involving risk. Unpublished masters thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge, MA.

Encroachment in the North East Region of Nigeria

Encroachment in the North East Region of Nigeria DESERTIFICATION OR DESERT ENCROACHMENT can result from a change in climate or from human action, and it is often difficult to distinguish between the two. This has commonly led to confusion and misconceptions. A temporary or long-continued deterioration of climate may accentuate the harmful consequences of human occupation of the land and vice versa. It has often been suggested that mans activities have resulted in climatic deterioration, but this is difficult to substantiate. In any case it is important to attempt to assess the relative contribution of climate and man in the process of desertification in order to decide on the ameliorative measures that can best be taken and to estimate the likelihood of their success. Deserts are not expanding everywhere in Africa. Irrigation has converted what had been desert into highly productive cropland; afforestation has at least locally reclaimed the waste. However it is widely thought that the Sahara, the Kalahari and other desert and semi-desert regions are expanding. Why should this assumption be made? It has not always been based, I would suggest, on sound evidence. Students of classical writings in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were led to conclude that North Africa had been much more highly productive in Roman times. Many of them were inclined to explain the deterioration in terms of desiccation, though as early as 1828 the Copenhagen botanist Schow showed that it was unlikely that the temperature and rainfall of the region were very different in classical times from his own. Colonial administrators in the early twentieth century, comparing conditions at the tropical desert margins with those described by late nineteenth century explorers and seeing the ruins of ancient imperial capitals in the Western Sudan, also convinced themselves that the rainfall was diminishing Foresters and agriculturalists dismayed by the destructive land use practices of cultivators and graziers, so different from those they knew in north-west Europe, warned the governments of the African colonies of the dangers that threatened. As a result the idea of desert expansion, of an advancing Sahara, became firmly rooted  in the minds of the public at large. At the present day we find popular works on environmental deterioration conveying the same messages. Thus the Ehrlichs write the vast Sahara desert itself is largely man-made, the result of overgrazing, faulty irrigation, deforestation, perhaps combined with a shift in the course of a jet stream. Today the Sahara is advancing southward on a broad front at a rate of several miles per year. The recent dry years and their consequences may seem to substantiate such crude assessments of the situation. The African deserts are not man-made dustbowls; they are to be ascribed primarily to the continents geographical position. Africa lies almost entirely within 30 ° of the equator and a large part of its total area is occupied by dry descending air and receives little rain. Furthermore, the temperatures at low altitudes are generally high throughout most of the year so that water losses from land and water surfaces are high, especially in the tropical regions of low rainfall and relative humidity. The Sahara and the Kalahari are to be explained primarily in these terms. The Namib desert is associated with the cold Benguela current offshore, and in East Africa locally dry and semi-desert areas lie in the lee of highlands which have already drained the moist air masses from the oceans. Nevertheless, there are very extensive marginal areas where land use practices determine whether they shall be productive or unproductive in the long term. A great deal has been learned about African deserts in the last few decades. Aerial and space photography and the work of scientists in a number of fields have greatly extended our ability to appreciate the nature of the desert lands and the processes at work on their margins. We have the long series of publications of UNESCOs Arid Zone Research Symposia; there have been WMO and FAO studies of semi-arid regions; the University of Arizona has published Deserts of the World, an appraisal of research into their physical and biological environments (1968) and Arid Lands in Perspective (1969). The publications of the Pan-African Congresses on Prehistory and the Quaternary, of ASEQUA (Association Senegalaise pour lEtude du Quaternaire de lOuest Africain), and of Dr van Zinderen Bakker in his series on the Palaeoecology of Africa have  brought together the results of the investigations of a host of geologists, geographers,  archaeologists, botanists and other specialists, all of whose w ork has a bearing on the subject we are considering. Soil scientists and hydrologists, foresters and agriculturalists, anthropologists and historians have all made their contributions to our pool of information and we should now be in a much better position to view the whole question of desertification in its true perspective than were our predecessors a generation ago. Let us try to do this, by examining first the question of changing climates, then the nature of human interference, and finally the ways of measuring desert encroachment and the possible means of taking action against it. It has not been found possible to distinguish clearly any simple long term trends or regular periodicities in the climate, though many attempts have been made to do so, and it is necessary to adopt an empirical historical approach to the subject. In tracing what is known of the history of Africas climate it is useful to gain perspective by looking at the changes over the last century against the background of the last several thousand years. As pointed out by R. O. Whyte, we should distinguish major changes in climate, in or out of pluvial lasting thousands of years, from minor changes lasting hundreds of years, and from variations or trends which are experienced for 10 to 50 years.1 Each time-scale has its own biological significance. The shorter period variations are superimposed on the longer period fluctuations, and we must recognize  that as we attempt to penetrate further into the past, so our ability to distinguish minor oscillations diminishes and only the major changes can be detected. The role of man:- Mans role in desert encroachment is a very ancient one. He has known how to make fire since late Acheulian times; for almost 10,000 years he has herded his animak at the desert margins and grown his crops in the more favoured areas. He has established large settlements and cut wood for fuel and buildings over a similar period. Burning of the vegetation is possibly not a very important agency in the process of desertification; grass and trees in vulnerable areas are generally too sparse to burn readily. An exception to this general rule might be woodland alongside watercourses which has probably been largely eliminated in many semi-arid regions of Africa, possibly by fire. Gallery forest is a prominent feature of the savanna lands, and the concentration of what vegetation there is in deserts like the Sahara alongside watercourses is very striking. In the intermediate zones, streamside vegetation is sometimes less evident than one might expect it to be. Burning might possibly be the ex planation. A careful study of ERTS imagery would throw much light on the timing and areal incidence of burning. Heavy grazing by wild animals cannot be entirely ruled out as a cause of desert encroachment in the past. Certainly the eighteenth and early nineteenth century accounts of the enormous herds of antelope at the margins of the Kalahari and in the arid parts of Kenya, for example, suggest that their effect on the vegetation must have been very great. Animal populations increase and decrease in waves and the peak populations may not coincide with the maximum availability of food. However, the balance between available food and the bio-mass is probably better kept by wild animal species with varied food preferences than by man and his livestock. It seems likely that browsing and grazing by wild animals may maintain grassland conditions and that with their replacement by domestic animals woodland made up of thorny species of shrubs and trees may replace the grass. This seems to have occurred notably in the Karoo of southern Africa in recent decades. Bush has moved east and north replacing sweet grass veld, while extensive areas in the west are said to have become virtual desert. The nomads and their herds of cattle, roaming the margins of the Sahara, resemble game animals on Serengeti in adjusting their movements to the availability of water and pasture. However their movements have been increasingly restricted by political frontiers, taxation arrangements, and the occupation of grazing land by agriculturalists. Particularly important in this respect are the dry seasons grazing lands that have been taken over for irrigation. At the margins of the Kalahari, the pastoralists of eastern Botswana live in large villages and take their herds out over the extensive gracing land to the west in the dry season. This seems to be a sensible response to the natural conditions. However, there is always a tendency for the herds to build up in good years and then the numbers are kept high in dry years so that the pastures are eaten out. In recent years the risks of desertification as a result of overgrazing has increased as a result of three factors: The increase in numbers of livestock in many areas, e.g., north-east Nigeria. It would be useful to have more information about this. Doubling of numbers in a decade seems to have occurred in some areas, although livestock numbers are notoriously inaccurate. The increasing proportion of cattle in small herds often belonging to sedentary cultivators and herded by small boys, who cannot wander far, resulting in local overgrazing while other areas with pasture -main ungrazed. The provision of water in certain areas, such as parts of the artesian basin near Lake Chad, resulting in cattle remaining near wells and eating out the grazing round about instead of moving off to the rivers and other areas with dry season water and grass. The risks of serious deterioration are greatest when a succession of good years is followed by a period of long-continued drought. Woodcutting is a serious matter in many areas. Pastoralists are partly to blame. In places like Tibesti they cut foliage to feed their camels and use branches to build enclosures for their goats. However it might be noted that a considerable part of the woody growth in some areas springs from posts that were used for the enclosures and have taken root. Another threat comes from the demand for fuel in towns. The people in the surrounding countryside find the sale of wood to the townpeople a useful supplement to their meager cash incomes. K. J. Mortimore and J. Wilson have estimated that nearly three-quarters of Kano citys firewood consumption of some 75,000 tons per year for its population of 300,000, is brought in by donkeys mainly from within a radius of about 20 km. Although there is a return cargo of manure (over 10 per cent of the total applied to the intensely cultivated fields around the city), this trade represents the felling of thousands of trees every year. As Kano and simi lar towns grow at rates of 5-10 per cent annually, one can expect the woodland around to become very sparse. Alongside roads, at a distance from the larger settlements, wide areas are also being cleared by people who add to their income by making charcoal which is then carried into town by passing lorries. When the woodland has disappeared from such areas only animal dung remains for fuel for local consumption, and all the sylvan produce, honey, fruits and beans, medicaments and so on, are lost. Woodland in agricultural areas, as in the Sudan zone and the Sahel, is particularly important. It provides foodstuff for animals and man; it brings up nutrients from below that are released to the base-poor sandy soils from the decaying leaves and from the substances washed off the leaves; it brakes the speed of the wind, reduces the rate of evaporation at the end of the rains and the risk of soil blowing away towards the end of the dry season, and it provides shade for man and beast. Not least, it has an aesthetic value in improving the appearance of the landscape. Particularly important is the Winterthorn, Acacia albida, which is in leaf during the dry season and yields beans from great woody pods before the rains come. Multiplication of this tree should be  encouraged throughout the Sudan and Sahel. Cultivation in marginal areas during periods of higher than normal rainfall is especially dangerous, and is perhaps the main cause of desertification against which it may be necessary to take preventive action. When dry years follow years of relative plenty, ploughed soil-or soil from which the sparse cover of natural plants has been eliminated by cultivation-is at the mercy of the winds. The fine clays and silts are carried away as dust, and the sand drifts into dunes.The effect is likely to be irreversible except at great cost. Measuring the rate of desert encroachment In 1882 land classified as either desert or wasteland amounted to 9-4 percent of the total land on Earth. In 1952 it had risen to 23-3 percent. I give this quotation not because it is true but because it is meaningless. No definitions are given and it is not dear whether the difference between the figures is the result of the spread of desert conditions or, much more likely, whether definitions of desert and availabi lity of knowledge were different on the two occasions. However, it does bring out the point that it is extremely difficult to measure and state in numerical terms the rate of desert encroachment-though less difficult now than it was in the past. In the past there has been a good deal of reliance on such indicators as the  movement of towns and tribes, and on the chance observations of travelers and the tales they were told. Writing in 1921, F. Migeod noted that the capital of Kanem was shifted to positions successively further south; Bovill brought together additional historical evidence of the encroachment of the Sahara on the Sudan. Both were writing soon after the dry period of the early twentieth century. In 1935 E. T. Stebbing produced a map of West Africa showing the present advance of sand and attempted to estimate its rate of progress. The basis for all such calculations was very flimsy, but figures of 200 km. in 200 years were commonly given. The rainfall gradient from south to north in West Africa is remarkably regular and mean values diminish northwards by about 100 mm. per 100 km. in the Sahelian zone, so that the kinds of changes in the precipitation that are likely to have taken place cannot alone explain suc h a shift. All the writers pointed to the depredations of nomads, firing of forest lands and so on. Similar alarm bells were rung in East and South Africa and in all these areas government commissions were appointed to investigate. They confirmed that rainfall was not progressively decreasing, but agreed that the vegetation cover was deteriorating and in some areas water-tables were falling and rivers drying up. There is an interesting exception to the usual story of Hearing of the vegetation  being followed by a fall in the water-table. It was found in northern Nigeria in the 1950s that in spite of the spread of cultivation and the destruction of woodland in western Bornu, in the preceding 25 years the water-table had risen phenomenally, levels rising in some wells by more than 100 feet and perennial springs breaking out to feed small lakes.84 It was postulated that the destruction of woodland, by reducing the loss by transpiration of water brought up from depth by the tree roots, had increased the volume left to percolate deeply into the pervious sedimentary rocks. Similar reports come from West Australia and East Africa, and it seems that we may not be able to use the height of the water table by itself as a sound indicator of desertification. On the whole we are concerned with the vegetation cover, its completeness or  otherwise, its composition and its productivity. In assessing the rate of change in any or all of these we are faced with the difficulties of very great variability over short distances according to soil, slope, availability of water and, above all, intensity and manner of land use. Quantitative assessments of the plant cover at a particular place and at a particular time can now be made by using suitable sampling and statistical procedures, and extrapolating from the sample areas by using aerial photographs and other methods of remote sensing. It may be possible to monitor changes in the situation from season to season by satellite observations. Changes over a long period of time can now be assessed by comparing air photographs taken at intervals of 25 years in many of the  desert marginal areas. The Trimetrigon photography taken by the US Air Force of much of Africa during the Second World War could b e particularly useful in this respect (consisting of strips of vertical photos with obliques on either side). In some areas, such as Morocco and parts of southern Africa, photographic cover is available spanning an even longer interval of time. Opportunities for comparative studies of this kind do not seem to have been widely exploited and might be encouraged. One of the more interesting attempts to use air photographs to trace the shifting of the edge of the desert  is that of M. Clos-Arceduc who, from a study of the nature of the vegetation patterns in the Sahelian zone known as brousse tigree has come to the conclusion that they indicate a shift south of the vegetation zones through 150 km. in the Niamey region over 2 centuries or less. Combating Desert Encroachment Except for arid areas that yield oil, and the limited irrigated areas near the Nile, Niger, Senegal and Lake Chad, the lands at the margins of African deserts are poor and not likely to be highly productive. There is little to be said in favour of great schemes for climatic amelioration involving, for example, the diversion of great rivers such as the Zambesi and the creation (or reconstitution) of great lakes like those that existed in the humid periods of the Pleistocene. Such lakes would be extremely expensive to make, they would flood land which is now productive, and it is unlikely that they would lead to an increase of rainfall that would yield returns in any way commensurate with the costs involved. It is conceivable that the destruction of rain forest in the Congo basin, for  example, may have reduced the rainfall of areas further from the equator; by how much it is impossible to say. There is no question of afforestation in such a region on a scale sufficient to restore th e situation. In special circumstances cloud-seeding may be found to be rewarding, and it is possible that in the future ways will be found of modifying the general circulation advantageously. I would not regard any of these as being of much concern to us at present. At present, populations in the semi-arid lands of the continent are increasing at rates of about 3 per cent annually, as they are elsewhere in Africa. In the near future, however, it is possible that the rural population, especially the pastoral population, may decline. This has already happened in parts of the Sahara and Libya affected by oil production. There are three trends that are more generally effective. Firstly, young people going to school are becoming literate and have greater expectations than their parents had; secondly, people are consuming more and have the desire to consume more than they did; thirdly, people are congregating more near roads and in large towns. It is just as important to keep track of these changes in the human geography of the desert margins as it is to monitor changes in the vegetation cover and to calculate trends in precipitation. If effective measures are to be taken against desertification, the people involved must be persuaded of the advantages to themselves. Wherever possible measures should be of a positive rather than of a restrictive character. Thus, if it is inevitable that people are going to concentrate in large settlements in sensitive areas, then as well as attempting to regulate the felling of trees for fuel and timber, authorities may be able to cheapen alternative supplies of fuel and construction materials, provide young fruit trees at low cost, and so on. Perhaps the main problems are presented by pastoralists, whose traditional  systems do not fit neatly into the framework of a modern state. Nomadic flexibility is an advantage to people living in fluctuating, marginal environmental conditions, and nomadic mobility allows good use to be made of variable grazing. Settlement of pastoralists is expedient politically and has some economic advantages, but the greater rigidity seems to involve considerable risks of disaster when the drought years come again, as they will. In UNESCOs Use and Conservation of the Biosphere, it is noted that nomadism as a careful pastoral continuum is the least traumatic of human influences and as a form of husbandry utilizes areas which could not be utilized by man in any other way. I think we have yet to find a better alternative.

Essay --

Hypnosis Hypnosis is like guided daydreaming, a form of relaxed concentration. What is relaxed is first, the body and second, the conscious part of the mind. Hypnosis can be helpful at any age. Getting a good night's sleep, or conquering a phobia, are just two of the benefits you can bring to yourself with hypnosis, whereas other benefits include controlling pain, dealing with disease, positive idea about illness or serous diseases, reduction of medications, getting a good night’s sleep, overcoming guilt, resisting disturbing memories, improving relationships with family members and those around you are some of the benefits and positive uses of Hypnosis. Hypnosis has also been defined as a form of conditioning. A person learns, through direct experience or the media, how to behave 'hypnotized.' Another way to see hypnosis as something learned is to assert that a person becomes conditioned to a word stimulus such as "Relax." Once having allowed himself to relax, the client is thereafter conditioned to repeat the experience of relaxing upon hearing the stimulus-word. Yet another definition of hypnosis, one that has wide support among researchers, is that it is a form of dissociation. That is, that in some as yet unexplained way, the mental functioning of a person is compartmentalized and one part can be isolated from the others. The art and science of hypnosis is at once both old and new. Old, because it was used in ancient times and has a pedigree that stretches back to the beginning of mankind’s conscious development. New, because only over the past 100 years has it been subject to the full force of scientific scrutiny, after the discovery (re-discovery) that the unconscious mind, emotions and personal history directly affect ... ... 75-year-old who had no trouble sleeping at night but who found he could no longer enjoy his afternoon nap. At the root of his difficulty in letting himself sleep in the afternoons was a fear that he might never awaken. This was easily dealt with by providing Harold with an audiotape that put him into a pleasant state of hypnosis, with positive suggestions about enjoying a deep, refreshing sleep and awakening at the time he chose. Now Harold drifts off to sleep whenever he wants. Hypnotherapy is very effective in helping a senior who, many years ago, suffered sexual or other abuse. Even when the trauma has caused you decades of distress you can free yourself from its suffocating aftermath. This is done with the remarkable ability of hypnosis to, in a sense, rewrite your history. So you know the event happened, but you are no longer tormented by it. Bibliography

Strategic Management and Lego

1st CASE STUDYWinter term 2012/2013Student: Aitor Martin SantanaProfessor: Ravinder Kaur-LahrmannSubject: Management Tools| THE LEGO GROUP 1. In this case I have identified some key characteristics that are in relation with the strategy that LEGO has been following. In the 1970-1980 decades, environment was hostile. There was a huge oil crisis, and there were too much difficulties. However, LEGO maintained its philosophy, and their image of unique and iconic brand. Competence was also hard, with Mattel and Hasbro in the market, but LEGO sustained its powerful position.If we focus, for example, in the strategy that they carried out between 1995 and 1998, an interesting fact is that their objectives (become the best known global brand, increase the sales, etc. ) are set in a long term direction. Another important point is that they wanted to expand the scope of their activities. They entered in new areas such as films, games†¦ and they also built new LEGOLAND parks. However, the t urnaround attempts that happened between 1999 and 2003 forced this company to check their strategy. Different factors such as the changing environment, lead times†¦ affected negatively LEGO`s strategy.This shows that the uncertainty of strategic decisions is also decisive. If we look at the exploring strategy model, we can see that the strategic decisions have affected the three main elements (position, choices and action). Regarding to the strategic choices for example, we can mention the corporate-level and the business level strategies. I think that LEGO took some correct decisions, such as changing their relationship with retailers, renewing their supply chain†¦ 2. There are many external features that have more or less influenced LEGO`s strategy development.One of this factors has been the competitor`s influence. Due to the high competitiveness in the toy market, LEGO has to make a big effort in strategy in order to be one of the leaders of this industry. Other import ant issue is the supply and the distribution. The main reason of changing their strategy is that sales were seasonal and they had to adapt their supply system to this. Concerning the distributors we can state that retailers were putting too much pressure on the company, so the solution consisted on bringing their positions in order to achieve better results.Maybe one of the reasons of starting a digital strategy was the obsolescence of their products. There are other influences worth mentioning, such as the economic (crisis and bad cost management) and social (criticism of the public). 3. Improvements of the capital structure were important resources that have enabled LEGO to achieve their successful results. If we focus on intangible resources, we can say that the reputation of this firm is key element, especially because they created an image of a family-run company, which give consumers, shareholders, suppliers†¦ a feeling of trust.Kjeld played an important role. On the othe r hand one of the most important competences of LEGO is their brand. This is one of the oldest and better known toy companies in the world, so we can say that their brand is iconic. In my opinion, this is the main core competence of LEGO. 4. I think that the various internal and external factors responsible for problems were the key element in the development of those alternative strategies. They forced Kejld to take those decisions.The previous years were adverse, and there were internal problems such as financial and logistic difficulties, longer lead times, etc. Also external factors such as competitor`s rising power and problems with suppliers were determinant in taking the strategic decisions. In my view, two were the most important strategies: focusing on cost and the supply chain and innovating. Managing the costs efficiently is very important, especially for companies that produce seasonal products. This gives security. Innovation provides a company an extra value.Inviting t he consumers to participate in product development was an excellent idea, because in the toy market is necessary to have lots of ideas. LEGO needed new, better and more ideas. 5. In order to approach future strategy development, they could focus on one of the four strategic lenses (strategy as a design, strategy as experience, strategy as ideas and strategy as discourse). If they chose the design lens, their managers would have to take rational decisions with a high grade of legitimacy such as those related to costs, their product`s marketing, etc.They also should take a look on economic performance, which is very important in LEGO Group. Also, they could focus in the experience lens. Focusing on this lens would be a possible decision, because LEGO has a lot of individual and collective experience. Although LEGO could focus on this lens, I personally think this would not be the best option because LEGO needs innovation and new ideas for the future, and this lens states that the futu re has to be made based in the past. The next would be the ideas lens. This would be, with the design, the ens which better would fit with LEGO Group`s strategy, and the one that they should develop most. I say this because in the market where this company competes new ideas are very important, in order to maintain competitiveness. Finally there would be the discourse lens, which I think could also be a good strategy for LEGO, but not the best, because we have to remember that LEGO doesn`t want its managers to have too much power and legitimacy. Their work should be more focused on teamwork and cooperation between higher and lower power levels in the company.

Litigation, mediation, dispute, process from state to supreme court essays

Litigation, mediation, dispute, process from state to supreme court essays Pursuing a claim through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") begins with the logical requirement of having the complainant actually file the charge in a given case. This charge can filed in person, by phone, or by mail at a local EEOC office, or by calling a toll-free national line if there is no local EEOC office. The charge, if it pertains to a claim based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, The Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), or the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), must be filed within 180 days of the offense that has given rise to the complainant's charge ("Filing a Claim"). After the claim is filed, the EEOC will investigate and evaluate the degree to which the claim does or does not seem justified. If the claim seems reasonable and is allowed to continue with the EEOC's support than a variety of options are possible. One possibility is that the claim itself may never proceed to trial, but would instead end up in some form of Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR"), such as mediation. In this case, the EEOC requires that both parties agree to a mediation proceeding, in which a qualified third-party would sit-in to hear the claim in question and decide on a reasonable settlement for the parties. Mediation is often advantageous, because it avoids long legal battles and related expensive legal fees. Businesses often like mediation as well, because the payout of a settlement in mediation does not actually qualify as an admission of guilt in relation to any laws and the amount of the settlement is not a If ADR is not pursued and the EEOC does handle the claim, then the matter would not typically be handled in local courts. I suppose it is possible that some states' Superior Court might be able to hear such claims, if there are local and state laws regarding Employment Discrimination that are applicable. In such cases, it mi ...