HDI measures the outcomes of the development process. Basic needs and Essay

HDI measures the outcomes of the development process. Basic needs and the Milllenium Development Goals offer strategies by which to achieve such development. Explain and discuss - Essay Example The setting of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) called for a measure to evaluate the progress. There the HDI was developed as an alternative measure of the development recorded from using per capita income as before. Using Human Development Index has been seen as a better way of developing a reliable report especially in the drafting of HDR as in the past development was measured in terms of income only (Jahan, 2001). Per capita income had been seen as a good way of doing such an evaluation as in cases where it is high it shows that the economy is strong and that should also translate to other facets of the same government. However, with the introduction of the Human Development concept in the 1990s, it has been established that there is a need to develop a better means in which the development can be measured. This was followed by the publication of the Human Development Report (Jahan, 2001; United Nations Development Program). Therefore, to realize real development, alternative methods such as the HDI are used to consider issues such as poverty, health and income which are covered in the MDGs. Pribula, P. (2010). Human Development Index: How to Cope with with its Limitations. Web. http://www.globalpolitics.cz/clanky/human-development-index-how-to-cope-with-its-limitations Accessed January 10,

ACG Group Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ACG Group - Essay Example Earnings per Share Earnings Per Share (EPS) is one of the commonly used and defines the amount of money that a business pays per share of its ordinary stock. The ratio is a significant indicator of returns on investors’ money and influences interest in organizations’ stock prices. It is computed by subtracting preference share earnings from net income after tax and dividing the remaining amount by the number of ordinary shares for an organization. The EPS is a strong profitability indicator because it is a derivative of profits. Baxter offered EPS of $ 551 while Becton offered EPS of $ 5.69. The high EPS for Baxter than Becton suggest higher profitability at Baxter than Becton because it the organization’s net profits that influence the amount offered in EPS. The difference between values of EPS offered by the two organizations is also too wide to have occurred by chance and instead indicates differences in profitability. Observed differences in the two EPS ratio ns imply that investing in Baxter is more profitable than investing in Becton (Siddiqui, 2006). Profit rate Profit margin defines the ratio of gross profits to sales and shows an organization’s efficiency in managing its cost of goods sold.

International Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

International Marketing - Essay Example Another benefit of a quality outsourced customer care is the ability to provide flexibility. Outsourcing offers most companies an opportunity to diversify when they decide to break down most of their operations and having both internal and external ways to operate. Q. 2. The main advantages of licensing as a market entry strategy according to Cateora, Gilly and Graham (2011) include: provision of supplementary profitability with an early diminutive investment, brand recognition, provision of a way of circumnavigating extra charges, attractive return-on-investment rates and finally low implementation costs. The main disadvantages of licensing include: competition, inadequate participation resulting to lack of control and the likelihood of loss in returns. Examples of companies that use licensing as their market entry strategy include Disney Consumer Products and Phillips-Van Heusen. Q. 3. According to Keegan (2002), global strategic partnership involves participants who remain autonom ous after formation of the association, share profits of the association as well as control over performance of assigned responsibilities and lastly the participants involve in making continued contributions in products, expertise and other key strategic areas. Global strategic partnerships differ from joint venture since entry strategy for a joint venture involves a single target country whereby associates end up dividing the ownership of a newly created business entity. Global strategic partnerships involve collaborative agreements with more than one target country. Part 2 Marketing Plan Atek’s mission is to base everything that they do on quality that cannot be surpassed in the industry, manufacture complex medical devices, launch new products with expertise and providing experiences and resources that contain value. This is achieved with one goal in mind, which is to improve in the core areas important to consumers. The main marketing objectives for Atek are: to help impr ove the speed of speed-to-market, product performance, and profitability in an atmosphere of high quality. This is achieved by launching millions of devices in the market that are aimed at satisfying each consumer’s specific needs so as to optimize the manufacturing process. The objectives are also accomplished by providing support that meets the consumers’ requirements. Atek’s short term plan is to be the premier manufacturer and distributor in their market country which is the U.S. According to Wind & Douglas (1974), it would be relatively easier to market a new product to a target audience in the U.S relatively than in other diversified locales if the manufacturing company is U.S. based. This is influence by factors like consumer awareness, target audience and product information. The criteria used in selecting the U.S. as a viable target market for this product was the size of the market. This market has diversity in both cultural and racial demographics hen ce making it a suitable market. Access to consumers was vital criteria since upon the manufacture of the devices, availing them to the target consumers with ease would be very important to Atek. Also the way consumers relate to product launches of this kind of nature was very important when selecting the market area. The cost of market reach is weighed against the cost of potential gain and from the past studies and researches done Atek from

Food Security in America

Food Security in America GLOBAL FOOD INSECURITY: HOW FOOD SECURITY BEEN GOVERNED IN AMERICA? INTRODUCTION Food security is understands as food that can be access by people in one’s country. Food security become a global issue even in developed countries; hence still have not managed to handle it well. Food security has become a global issue as it been taking serious and involved with economic of country. The World Food Summit (1996), has provides full illustration and explanation of food security. They defined it as â€Å"When all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life† The World Food Summit (1996). The conception of food security involved either substantial or financial access to food that meets people’s food needs and fulfil people daily dietary. Food insecurity is opposite word of food security which has profound in global issue whereas it becomes a health problem that correlated between dietary excess and health problems. Jenniffer Clapp and Mare J. Cohen (2009), in their book titled â€Å"The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenging and Opportunities† has explained food insecurity as the feeling of anxiety especially for those people who have low income salary in developing world categorized as food insecure (Clapp and Mare J. Cohen, 2009). Indeed, the food prices of food production increase and would not be able to control. Many scholars have described the meaning of food security. Nonetheless, but at the most broad level, food security is mention as the accessibility of nutrition and society’s capability to consume the right amount of healthy food. America still facing the same problem with others countries, as according to USDA there are several places that still having food insecure that above US average. There are many factors that led to food security challenges, namely population growth, demographic change, changes in food consumption patterns, rising global food prices, the development and use of new technologies in food production and global climate change. Each of these factors is consequence of food security. However, I am more concerned in this essay with the rising food prices in United State of America that been a crucial problem in this era of globalization. Even though America is developed country but hence it still facing the same problem with the developing ones. United States have their own definition to give the illustration of what has going on in America. Chris Hunt (1997) Food Program Director explained that they called food dessert as the term to describe the situation in US. Chris signifies food dessert as the place that has limited of healthy food and majority of low-income neighbourhoods. In such people in certain area may have excess to junk food than to healthy consume food such as vegetables and fruits. I shall discuss further on the rising food prices in US. FOOD PRICES GOES HIGH Rising food prices in the late of 2006 and increasingly during 2008, not everyone effort to by nutritious food because their salary remain same. Government of US implemented many programs to prevent this from spread over the nation. Jennifer Clapp (2009), in her book, she stated that food prices goes high in the mid of 2008. When there are no enough food productions, everything is in demand. The parties responsible for determining the price of goods has taken advantage by charging higher prices on to consumers due to high demand. Besides the food prices were at the high state because of the limited stock of supply. Furthermore, the staple foods by US citizens, namely corn, dairy products, wheat, grain and etc. has increasing in prices as well. I will write about the main courses of US food production. The food prices rose show grocers are starting to get ahead of their higher wholesale expenses toward customers. Paul Davidson (2014), he reported on USA Today newspaper that â€Å"†¦. Retail food prices rose 0.4% in March, the same as in February and the largest amount since September 2011. By comparison, the prices of all consumer goods rose 0.2% in March and 0.1% the month before, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Beef, pork, poultry, eggs and milk have had the most dramatic price increases as drought, a virus outbreak and rising exports have thinned U.S. supplies. Overall consumer prices rose 0.2% in March, a bit more rapidly than in recent months, and annual inflation was 1.5%, up from 1.1% in February. Annual inflation was 1.5% in March, up from 1.1% in February. Thats well below the Federal Reserves 2% target, as falling gasoline prices offset rising food costs†¦..† Practically every food staples in United States has goes up in price. Among the reasons the price increase is due to higher oil prices. Consequently import and export activities make the process of trade exchange in higher charge for example the transportation cost, the labor cost and etc. I believe that food providers also took the opportunity to raise the price of daily necessities such as the food companies, grocery stores and etc. While, according to USDA, the food insecurity in America has almost 15 percent of the populations were food insecure in the year 2010. The food insecurity is hard to measure. People with food insecurity have high risk to malnutrition, hunger and especially towards children; they might have the physical abnormal growth and mental disorder because of they have no enough nutrition to consume. I shall discuss further on this issue in the next section. RESEARCH QUESTIONS This essay will give answers to the following identified research questions below; †¢Who is governing the issue? †¢How is the issue being governed? †¢How fairly and effectively is the issue being governed? To discuss this, the next section of the essay would be devoted to literature review. LITERATURE REVIEW Research has been made previously that has discussed the food insecurity impacts on the global governance issue. Food insecurity defined as the situation where people do not have an enough access to healthy food. The concept of food security is describable as straightforward. It is to ensuring that people get enough excess to foods for their daily consume to healthy lifestyle. Rosemary Gail Rayfuse, and Nicole Weisfelt (2012), has proclaimed that to make sure that food security is not easy because there was a record stated that it has been a major problem in global issue (Rosemary Gail Rayfuse, and Nicole Weisfelt, 2012). The amount of people that has not have an enough excess to healthy food is still at the high risk. Craigh Pearson (edited by Rosemary Gail Rayfuse, and Nicole Weisfelt, 2012), he cited that the factors of food insecurity is because of food productions does not fulfil the needs of world’s population (Craigh Pearson 2012). Craigh emphasized that many factors that led to the food insecurity for example, insufficient of food stocks, ineffective of transportations, globalization of trade, economic and political factors as well. Food security has become a global issue since twenty-first century as it is the crucial problem that situated at the bond of environment, culture and technology. There are a lot of challenges facing through the era globalization. The more the world become globalize the more challenges facing to maintain the food security. Bryan L. McDonald (2010) provides full illustration and explanation of food security. According to Bryan (2010): â€Å"†¦rising food prices have motivated unrest in many parts of the world and increased the number of people who do not receive proper nutrition to levels not seen in decades. Agricultural and food production activities have been recognized as key drivers of environmental and climate changes at the same time that studies had revealed that food production could face significant and widespread impacts from these changes in coming decades†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The statement shown the rising food prices may lead to the problems of food security because not everyone is effort to buy food when the prices increasing. Especially for the poor households’ family definitely would not effort to buy the same food that have nutrition as rich households’ family. Smil 2000; Pinstrup 2007; Brown 2009 quoted by Bryan (2010), the key drivers that led to food insecurity which is meant that the absence of secure of food, as a daily realism for billions of citizen everywhere in the world making their live less secure. Food security is basically come out from three supports namely food availability, food access and food consumption. In other words, people need to have an enough access of healthy food at all the time to be food secure. Otherwise, those have not have enough access to dietary food is considered as food insecure. Rosemary G. and Nicole V. (20) edition of the book title The Challenge of Food Security: International Policy and Regulatory Frameworks, they said that food availability is not the problem of the food insecurity. The problem was the inability for the poorest people to buy food at the affordable prices. Even though the food stocks are available to access but yet, when the prices are high, people with low income salary would not be able to afford it. I shall discuss this in the next section of this write up. RQ 1: WHO IS GOVERNING THE ISSUE? The food security has been governed by a few bodies of international governmental organization, namely UN, WTO, USDA, FAO, and World Bank. The body that responsible in governing this issue is surely government of United State of America. The government of America itself has formed a society called United States of Development and Agriculture (USDA). USDA function as the body that helping rural citizens in America to flourish, they help to promote agriculture production to maintain the needs of Americans and at the same time providing others throughout the sphere with healthy food as well. Hence, USDA has contributed a lot towards the food security problems in their country. This body responsible to make sure that their people get enough nutrition food. Guaranteeing the food security has been a vital feature of world governance responsibility to encourage the sustainability of whole nations. I will discuss further of this on the research question number two â€Å"How this issue being governed?† Besides that, United Nations has played a crucial role in maintaining the food security in whole global. There are many agencies under United Nations that focusing on maintaining this food security policy. UN has their agency that work on this issue which is FAO. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is the agency that has 194 members of United Nation. FAO is responsible to make sure that people in the world get sufficient amount of food and get access to high-quality of healthy food. Nevertheless, FAO is responsible to eliminate food security, hunger and malnutrition in the world. I namely other organisation that has an important role in governing this issue which is World Trade Organisation (WTO), is the body that accountable in trade policy as well as food trade. The WTO is the membership organisation where independent nation-states assemble in order to extend regular policy for worldwide trade. Hence, the policy is the consequence of extensive processes of deliberation between member states. The agreement among member states normally without voting but they using common agreement between them. All these aforementioned governing bodies shall discuss more in the next research question. RQ 2:HOW IS THE ISSUE BEING GOVERNED? How this issue is being governed, I will elaborate it more details according to the functional bodies discussed previously. Government of United States has implemented many ways to try to overcome the food insecurity problems of their citizens. USDA has made research on the households that facing the food security problems and has the low income salary per capita. Discussing on how it is being governing, there are scholars according through their thesis, Alisha Coleman-Jensen, William McFall, and Mark Nord (2013), they have rightly observed that USDA have implemented an assistance programs in order to improve children’s food security by providing low-income households with access to a healthful diet and nutrition education. These programs by USDA are to support the amount of children that facing food insecurity. Children is the main asset of the world, so when there is limited excess to nutritious food, it might be effected the physically and mentally of the children itself. That is why government really concerned on this issue. The global food prices were on rise especially on the main food resources such as corn, wheat, cooking oil and grain. This really affected on media, economic, political agendas. Because of this factor, people of low income salary have limited access to the healthy dietary food. The government itself is trying at their level best to give the subsidies to their citizens through the many programs. The government of United States, Craig Gundersen (2012) in his article, he explained that to addressing food insecurity in U.S, they have to do some indication on how fundamentals, food banks, legislator, program bureaucrat and campaigner which can be use as the way to lessen the food insecurity. Craigh (2012) believed with these programs held by government of US helps to reduce food insecurity problems. For example, the contribution in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as the Food Stamp program, contribution in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), besides the use of crisis food assistance programs; decreasing the food prices; and improving financial management skills can all lead to reductions in food insecurity. Furthermore, the government of America has implemented the food assistance program which is considerable remote food assistance system which called as food banks. Food banks or distinguished as Feeding America, Craig (2012) in his writing, stated that there was 201 food banks and it is roughly 80 percent of all the food banks in the United States and food banks has served more than thousands of organisations (Craig 2012). These food banks have received straight contributions from food product companies, retail stores, restaurants, individual contributors as well as donations. When food banks received all donations from these parties, they managed to reduce the food insecurity in their country. World Trade Organisation the independent organization that deal with the international trade and food trade play an important part in governing this issue. The rising food prices in US, is because of high demand of the goods in global. In addition, WTO needs to control the trade activity between nations. WTO works on food security by implemented WTO Agriculture Committee in order to make sure how effectively the trade policy in ensuring the supplies of food. Trade policy and food security really related to one another. Christopher S., Romilly G., Jane K AND Stephen D. (2000) in their edition book, â€Å"The WTO Agreement on Agriculture and Food Security†, they believed that trade liberalisation really gives direct or indirect effects on food prices. The food prices might be affected due to the multilateral trade agreements. As WTO controlled over the duty and tariff of the goods, import and export, hence WTO needs to ensuring that the duty and taxes are acceptable and will not affected the government policies on the food prices. The effectiveness of these governing bodies is still questionable that I will discuss on that in next write up. RQ3: HOW FAIRLY AND EFFECTIVELY IS THE ISSUE BEING GOVERNED? Based on the current trends of the globalization, I personally think that this issue is not fair enough and still ineffectively being governed. Why I said so it is because of the citizens that comes from different background but still have to surrender to the rising prices of crude that not everyone can afford it. The goods increases due to insufficient natural resources are a major cause prices to rise sharply. People have limited access to staple foods because the human population is increasing and the food’s stock will not be able to meet the needs of all citizens. People need to prepare their own food needs and there must be sufficient amount of basic requirements and nutrition foods to meet their daily consuming dietary. Therefore, it is questionable whether the world can provide sufficient amount of foods to world’s population? The increases in prices of goods that are not constant and adoption from free markets are found ineffective ways to prevent food insecurity problems in the United States. There are still many people in United States who had to go through life without enough vigorous food. The government of United States itself is not being fair towards their citizens. The fairness is hard to achieve since rising food prices involving the global governance issue and it is global food prices. So far there is still no way of reduction made by the government in view of the increase in prices of goods remains in place. Even though there were programs handling in United States, I still believe there is no fairness regards on this issue as the foods are not distributed fairly. CONCLUSION Food security seems a lot tougher than before because of the increasing of world’s populations. The government and all agencies involved really have to take it in their nerves when the stocks of supplies are not enough to feed the populations. The food security problem has become a critical issue and the issue continuously happen through years. Food security References Bryan L. (2010) Food Security; Polity Press. Christopher S., Romilly G., Jane K. Stephen D. (2000) edt, The WTO Agreement on Agriculture and Food Security; Commonwealth Secretariat Craig G. (2012), Addressing U.S Food Insecurity; University of Illinois http://www.hungerfreecommunities.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Gundersen_AddressingtUSFoodInsecurityFINAL.pdf Jennifer C. and Marc J. (2009) edt, The Global Food Crisis; Governance Challenges and Opportunities; Wilfrid Laurier University Press. Paul Davidson (2014); USA Today; April 16, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/04/16/cpi-shows-food-prices-rising/7742669/ World Trade Organisation (2013), Food Security; Retrieved from http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/food_security_e.htm. 9th Jan 2015. USAID (2015); Agriculture and Food Security; retrieved from http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security Rosemary G. and Nicole V. (2012) edt, The Challenge of Food Security; International Policy and Regulatory Framework. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Ancient Olympics Essay -- essays research papers fc

History of the Ancient Olympic Games The Ancient Greek Olympics were not only sporting events, it was a celebration to honor the great and powerful Zeus. The Ancient Olympics were held every four years at the famous Olympia, a district of Elis, here all free Greek men were allowed to compete. The first record of the Olympic Games was held in 776 B.C. The main sports were the Pentathlon, the Equestrian Events, Pankration, and Boxing. The Pentathlon was the name for the five events in Greek gymnastics: running, jumping, wrestling, discus throwing, and javelin throwing which began with the 18th Olympiad. In the wrestling event, wrestlers were anointed with oil, dusted with powder, and forbidden to bite or gouge one another. Wrestling was looked upon as a weapon-free military exercise. Since there was no weapons wrestlers that competed used their weight and strength as an advantage especially since there were no weight categories. The Javelin was thrown in the same form back in ancient times as it is thrown today. The first recorded Olympic Games had one event, a race, called the stade which is a measure of the distance of the length of the track. By 724 B.C. a two-length race was added and by 700 B.C. there were longer distance races. By 720 B.C., men participated naked, except in the foot race in armor that weighed between fifty to sixty pounds. The outfit included a helmet, greaves, and a shield that helped young men build speed and stamina in preparation for war. The Pentathlon included three running events such as the Stade, the Diaulos, and the Dolichos. The Stade was a 200 yard foot race, was the first and only Olympic event for 13 Games. The dolichos was a variable length foot race averaging twenty stades or four thousand yards for the fifteenth Olympiad. The Diaulos was a four hundred yard foot race that was instituted for the next Olympic Games. The discus was considered by ancient Greeks, an event of rhythm, precision, and finesse of a competitor to throw the discus was as important as his strength. The discus was made of stone, iron, bronze, or lead, and was shaped like a flying saucer. The Sizes were different for the boys' division, since the boys were not expected to throw the same weighted discus as the men. The athletes who competed in the jump event used lead or stone jump weights called halteres shaped like telephone receivers to increase ... ...rces, but in the historic years their founder is said to be Oxylos whose descendant Ifitos later rejuvenated the games. According to tradition, the Olympic Games began in 776 B.C. when Ifitos made a treaty with Lycourgos the king and famous legislator of Sparta and Cleisthenes the king of Pissa (Coote p. 13). The text of the treaty was written on a disc and kept in the Heraion. In this treaty that was the decisive event for the development of the sanctuary as a Panhellenic centre, the "sacred truce" was agreed, that is to say the ceasing of fighting in the entire Greek world for as long as the Olympic Games were on. As a reward for the victors, the cotinus, which was a wreath made from a branch of wild olive tree that was growing next to the opisthodomus of the temple of Zeus in the sacred Altis, was established after an order of the Delphic oracle. Works Cited Coote, James. A Picture History of the Olympics. London, England: Tom Stacey Limited, 1972. Kristy, Davida. Olympics How the Games Began. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lerner Publications Company, 1995. Grolier, the Associated Press. The Olympic Story. Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier Enterprises INC., 1979.

Digital Technologies Essay Temp Essay

‘Will the challenges emerging with digital knowledge contexts, for which digital literacy is being deployed, open new horizons for the human art of thinking and creating knowledge?’ (Belisle 2006, p.55). Reference: Harvard Style Knowledge can be interpreted in different ways where one scholar defines knowledge as a learnt education another interprets knowledge as intelligence. Knowledge is continuing a process commencing at birth. Belisle (2006) states Knowledge is much more than the transmitted or acquired information. It is the awareness and understanding of facts, truths or beliefs resulting from perception, learning and reasoning. A thorough knowledge is gained through education as well as real life experiences. Dependency on digital technology has increasingly changed the lives of individuals. In the modern era, knowledge is also gained from digital technologies such as computer, smartphones, televisions and the Internet. This essay will discuss the possibilities of digital technologies for knowledge and the negative impacts of the technologies by examining increased use of visual aids, access of information and by identifying if a dependency on digital technologies creates health issues and cultural an d social impacts as society replaces traditional technologies with digital. In the modern era, technology helps in creating, storing and managing of information digitally. A survey conducted in 2010 by Records management practices and arrangements reported that time and cost benefits in accessing archival information, the better security of information and improved compliance with legislation and procedures to ensure privacy is maintained (National Archives of Australia 2015). In the past, with the use of print media, people would spend time utilising mail, handbills and posters for immediate and focused distribution of their information. Today digital media gives us social media such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter that connects people instantly and information is disseminated at low cost being judged and monitored on a ‘click’ basis. Effectively if it is available on the internet, it can be accessed and distributed by  keystroke with no actual physical labour. Obviously this lowers the cost of the information and enables distribu tion to a wider audience. Access to the abundance of information on the internet and speed at which any individual can access any information from any location has meant that the net generation and internet users prefer quick information and spend less time evaluating information. People tend to use data anywhere at anytime due to faster and easier access. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012) published that 13.3 million people accessed data from home for such tasks as emails, doing research, browsing news and general interests and utilising online banking. They also used the ability of the internet to share material with diverse interest groups. Twitter in particular was viewed as useful for this purpose as it is global, responsive and provides a source of relevant links enabling people to publicise their blogs and to follow those of others using hash-tags (Lupton 2014, p.30). Modern data analysing, using photos and illustrations is a very efficient way in gaining knowledge in abundance. The use of digital technology is enabling the continual development of visual aids. This is magnified greatly using Windows, interfacing technology and other imaging tools, more so than contemporary books and papers. Visual information helps in the decision making process providing a definite interpretation of information. In the past, learning and teaching was primarily text-based reflecting traditional teaching based on cognitive or behavioural science (Sims, O’Leary, Cook & Butland 2002). It is now possible to support visual and multimedia formats on wireless devices at anytime to anyplace (Sims, O’Leary, Cook and Butland 2002). Visual images such as tables, graphs, photographs and maps can be presented in the form of a report. These visual images are used more in our everyday life as a teaching resource in school or a visual reference in a business presentation. Visual images make the written data and oral presentation easier to understand and assist in the decision making process. Good decisions are based on research, digital information and Records management contribute to making decisions based on fact. Timely decisions are facilitated by ready access to information. Understanding past decisions is  assisted by access to the digital data that originally supported the decision (National Archives Australia 2015). In the transition from literature to digital and from text to visual, an individual has to be aware that a dependency on digital technology can create issues. The internet is a bundle of information that allows the expression of ones’ self. This expression on a personal web page is likely to be a more considered controlled impression than one gained from an offline or public encounter. A web page can provide an emotional release enabling artistic ability to be incorporated in its layout. Chatrooms are a form of communication that gives the opportunity to speak to someone in a different country without the cost of long distance phone charges. It is instant and not like the olden times where an individual had to wait for mail to be delivered. Technology makes it easy to communicate when we wish and disengage at will. Educational websites offer phenomenal information covering a wide range of topics that vary from completing assignments to studying ones ancestry. People depend on the web when dealing with emotions. Some simply use the web to replace a paper diary recording their thoughts and responses or seeking to rationalise experiences through the web. Physiological changes have been seen in the more impressionable, such as children, who may overuse technology and exhibit changes that mimic changes scene in high stress states, such as high heart rates, fast paced breathing and hyperacute hearing and vision (Rowan 2010). It has been suggested playing violent video games leads to increased aggression and reduced empathy suggesting these games may desensitise children to violence (Rowan 2010). People have a tendency to retain the information that supports their ideas or viewpoint. Having access to technology that enables access to pages of information creates a situation where people search only for collaborating information and promote misinformation supporting their beliefs irrespective of social impacts. As we search the Internet we need t o be aware of its perils such as identity theft and fraud but the biggest effect is cultural and social effects. Family and friends can find themselves competing with digital technologies for time and attention. Time spent with an ipad, tablet or computer is a  minute lost that could have been spent interacting with the world around them whether it be a friend, family, or peers and react to extra senses such as articulation in voice or body language both which can be lost in the digital world. Face to face contact has become a thing of the past. People maybe not spending as much time as they used to or could be together. Properly used technology helps us advance both as an individual and a civilization but improperly used, it can alienate us from each other and even hinder our physical and psychological development. Emotional distress, alienation and loss of privacy can all be experienced if, for example, intimate images are spread perhaps virally beyond the intended recipient or depiction in texts of individuals who may be targeted by their peers for social and emotional abuse because of the wide distribution of information whether visual or text (Ives 2012, p.46-47). This sort of unsocial interaction could have a widespread effect on children at school and work colleagues, the lasting psychological effects could be carried into future generations. This may lead to suicides, charges and withdrawal from society. The advancement of digital technology has become the centre of our information behaviours with the amount of available information online surpasses anything previously known and many of us have this information at our fingertips. So the challenge is to apply our thinking to this available information, our awareness and understanding of facts, truths and beliefs resulting from perception, learning and reasoning and the result is knowledge. Social media and database archives never before have been more connected to the modern world. Socially a lot of people benefit from the virtual world, and some people are suffering because of it. Digital mainframe and archives are helping to preserve our knowledge for future generations, but in the event of a web crash or system error, it also shows how fragile this digital age is. This basic process of turning information into knowledge has not changed but now is made more difficult by the sheer volume of information or data to access. References Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, How Australia accesses and uses the Internet, cat no. 1301.0, ABS, viewed on 02 February 2015, Belisle, C 2006, ‘Literacy and the Digital Knowledge Revolution’ in A Martin &D Madigan (eds.), Digital literacies for Learning, Facet, London, pp. 51-67. Ives. EA 2012 iGeneration: The Social Cognitive Effects of Digital Technology on Teenagers, viewed 25 January 2015, Lupton, D 2014, ‘Feeling Better Connected’: Academics’ Use of Social Media. News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra, p.30. National Archives of Australia 2015, Benefits of digital information and records, viewed 01 February 2015, Rowan, C 2010, ‘Unplug-Don’t Drug: A Critical Look at the Influence of Technology on Child Behaviour With an Alternative Way of Responding Other Than Evaluation and Drugging’, Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 12, no.1, pp. 60-68. Sims. E, O’Leary. R, Cook. J & Butland. G 2002, Visual Literacy: What is it and do we need it to use Learning Technologies effectively, Learning Technology Support Service, University of Bristol, United Kingdom, viewed 05 February 2015,

How A Larger Role in Today’s Church Is Helping Young Women Essays

How A Larger Role in Today’s Church Is Helping Young Women Essays How A Larger Role in Today’s Church Is Helping Young Women Essay How A Larger Role in Today’s Church Is Helping Young Women Essay Even in today’s 21st century, there is a debate on the role that women should play in the American Christian church.   Some believe that women should be relegated the traditional background roles that they’ve been subjected to in the past.   Others say that women should play more active roles, especially in regards to church leadership.   Despite the controversy over this issue, one must admit that the women’s liberation movement in America has had a profound impact on how women have advance in today’s contemporary American church. As American society began to make gradual steps like granting women the right to vote in Wyoming in 1890 and passing the 19th Amendment, which allowed all American citizens the right to vote, the church, which played an instrumental role in the development of our country, also began to make changes on the behalf of women.   In 1968 when affirmative action was passed, barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, many church leaders also began to ease the restrictions on women as it relates to accepting their ministerial credentials. After the late 1960s, women have made more strides towards gender equality in the church and in the American workplace.   In fact, thousands of women have accepted the call to minister in their churches and several women televangelists have taken their mega ministries to millions of people through television and the internet.   Nevertheless, female ministers continue face resistance from older denominations like the Baptists and some Pentecostal churches.   Other ministers preach small minded sermons that focuses on limiting women’s choices in the type of make up, hairstyles and clothing that they can wear.   This, in turn, discourages younger women from developing their spiritual lives.   As women have become liberated socially and economically, the church must minister to their needs.   Thus, as women continue to rise to leadership positions in the church, the Christian community will become more effective in ministering to the need of today’s young Americ an women. Some church leaders argue that allowing females to have a greater role in American churches would cause confusion and undermine the Christian concept of male leadership.   These leaders focus on verses from biblical scripture which include Ephesians 5:22-23, â€Å"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.   For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.†Ã‚   (The Holy Bible 1665) These leaders justify promoting a passive image of how women should behave in the church.   This passive image certainly does not include permitting them to take a leadership role like teaching or preaching to a congregation.     Furthermore, those who argue against female leadership also use scriptures like 1Corinthians 14:34 which states, â€Å"Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law says.†Ã‚   (The Holy Bible 1636) Accord ing to Christian freelance writer Nathaniel L. Williams, this scripture does not forbid female Christian leadership in the 20th or 21st Century. Some of the things that Paul wrote (such as a similarly misinterpreted verse in 1 Corinthians 14 about women keeping silent) were written in the interest of keeping peace in newly formed Christian churches, as Jewish traditions were being reinterpreted in light of the Gospel.   These verses were also based on cultural norms of propriety at the time that the letter was written. (Williams 25) Other church leaders oppose the idea of women taking a greater role in churches because they feel that women do not possess the mental fortitude to lead or minister to a congregation.   Those who subscribe to this philosophy cite that women are by nature emotional creatures and it takes a rational mind to properly lead a congregation.   However, women from Wesleyan churches in the late 19th Century began to defy these stereotypes by preaching powerful evangelistic sermons.   Methodist Bishop James M. Mobun attributed Amanda Smith’s powerful evangelistic preaching to â€Å"that invisible something that we are accustomed to call power and never possessed by any Christian believer except as one of the fruits of the indwelling Spirit of God.†Ã‚   (Stanley 73) Thus, preachers like Amanda Smith had mentally strong to defy church leadership and follow their personal convictions. Preachers like Amanda Smith had to be courageous to follow beliefs because they were confronted by principalities and powers that are pervasive Christian institutions and traditions as well as their cultural generation.   These types of women were truly courageous because they came against the authorities of their day. (Stanley 71) Phoebe, who was mentioned in the book of Romans by Apostle Paul, was also a pioneer for women who lead in church leadership.   The verse states: â€Å"I commend to you Phoebe our sister who is a servant of the church in Cencherea. That you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many an of myself also.†Ã‚   (The Holy Bible 1619) Some Greek scholars have said that Phoebe was one of the first deacons.   However, the Greek terminology for the word â€Å"servant† in the previous verse means â€Å"minister.†Ã‚   This scripture proves that women are capable of serving in leadership positions within the Christian church. As women take a greater role in today’s church, they will be able to use their positions of authority to remedy some of the social ills that impact America.   A recent report from Norway states that women have played a tremendous role in rearing healthy Christian families.   If these Christian women could devote some of their energies toward developing programs to fight worldwide problems like illiteracy, poverty and AIDS in communities across this country, our nation could alleviate some of these problems.   Wesleyan women like Jennine Fowler were instrumental in the Temperance Crusades, which discouraged communities from overindulging in alcoholic beverages.   â€Å"These women were strengthened by The Holy Spirit, besieged tavern owners and boldly confronted the customers, demanding that they forsake alcohol and turn to God.† (Stanley 72) Reports show that Wesleyan women were also involved in mission work, which consisted of door to door poverty campaigns.   The women who participated in these outreach programs offered financial services as well as practical advice to families who were trapped in poverty.   As our nation embarks upon a new decade in two years, more people will begin to look to a church that has a balanced male and female perspective to pressing problems like gang violence, domestic abuse and joblessness. As more females take greater roles in today’s church, it would eliminate the stigma of sexism that currently exists in the Christian community.   Oftentimes, the messages that come from pulpits across America reflect the voices of male and how they view society.   Thus, the female perspective on issues like childrearing, dealing with sexual temptation and how to help manage healthy households are nonexistent.   Nevertheless, popular television evangelists like Juanita Bynum, Joyce Meyers and Paula White are ministering in a manner that addresses some of these issues and they are inspiring millions of women on a daily basis. Prophetess Juanita Bynum, an African-American female minister, is known as a bold minister who preaches candidly about her experiences with sexual sin and her recent failed marriage to a widely known minister who was accused of physically abusing her.   â€Å"She’s a great speaker and she’s not afraid to deal with hard relevant issues,† says Lesley Powers, who is currently enrolled in a local ministerial training program.   Bynum has preached to large crowds of 52,000 at â€Å"Woman Thou Art Loosed.† a popular conference hosted by successful televangelist T.D. Jakes.   â€Å"All churches especially traditional churches need to deal with issues that Juanita Bynum addresses during her meetings,† Powers adds.   â€Å"God has deposited something in her spirit and she is impacting the body of Christ with it.†Ã‚   Some attribute Bynum’s success with the release of her sermon, which became a book called â€Å"No More Sheets.†Ã‚   The book highlights Bynum’s struggles with sexual promiscuity and encourages women to become celibate until they are married.   â€Å"Many churchgoers say her straightforward message is bringing Christians and unbelievers to repentance,† Powers adds.   To reach more people, Bynum hosted a television program called â€Å"Morning Glory† which was seen on 15 television stations throughout the country. Joyce Meyer, a noted Bible teacher has also gained notoriety since launching her ministry over 20 years ago.   Meyer, who suffered sexual abuse as a child and endured an emotionally abusive first marriage, uses her ministerial platform to instruct people on how to use Biblical principles to be successful in life’s struggles.   She has authored over 70 books and conducts over 20 conferences around the world.   In February 2005, she was selected by time Time Magazine as one the top 25 evangelical leaders in America.   â€Å"Joyce Meyer speaks candidly with a sense of humor.   Its good that she tells the audience about her own shortcomings,† Powers says.   In her recent book, â€Å"The Power of Simple Prayer,† Meyer shows readers how to effectively communicate with God and shares the impact that prayer has on changing hopeless situations. Meyer works well with the public and has an instinct for what the public wants and will respond to them.   Having a financial â€Å"nest† is not especially important to Joyce and she appears to invest more emotional energy into her career or public life than her private life.   (Gaines 37) Paula White, who co-founded mega church, Without Walls, with her ex husband, began to receive national acclaim in the late 90s.   Like Meyer, she was reared in a dysfunctional home in which her father committed suicide and her mother was an alcoholic.   White also claims that caregivers physically and sexually abused her as a teenager.   Nevertheless, her ministry which includes a national television, Paula, and it is broadcast on Trinity Broadcast Network, The Miracle Channel, The Word Network and Daystar Television.   She has also been featured on numerous broadcast television shows like ABC’s 20/20, Benny Hinn’s â€Å"This Is Your Day† and The 700 Club.   â€Å"as   young women early in my Christian experience, I could relate to Paula White because we had some of the same experiences and struggles,† says Powers. Paula White’s story reverberates with men, women and children-from the business executives to the unemployed, from the rich and famous to the impoverished and poverty stricken.   She is a voice for the 21st Century:   a voice for the voiceless, boldly proclaiming a message of hope, truth and wholeness. (Gaines 42) Lastly, when women have a more active role in churches across the country, ancient Biblical prophecy will come to fruition.   In the second chapter of the book of   Acts, the   described the apostle’s experience of receiving the Holy Spirit, which Jesus Christ left to the disciples who believed that He died and was resurrected after three days. After Peter received the Holy Spirit he said, â€Å"And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My spirit and your sons and daughters shall prophesy.†Ã‚   (The Holy Bible 1550) This period in which Peter gave this speech marked the birth of the Christian Church after the day of Pentecost when the first believers were filled with The Holy Spirit.   The word â€Å"prophesy† is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as uttering by divine inspiration.   In other words, Peter was saying that men and women would be able to speak messages from God under divine inspiration in the future.   In the Christian church, those who speak under divine inspiration are ministers or leaders.   Thus, Peter foretold a time in which both men and women would serve as leaders in the church.   In addition, Jesus told his disciples after returning to earth subsequent to his death, â€Å"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.   Go the refore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.†Ã‚   Christian leaders need to realize that they have the responsibility of teaching nations in the 20th and 21st century, which have liberated women socially, politically and economic from male oppression.   These nations like the U.S. will not be receptive to messages which continue to keep women in religious bondage. In essence, as women take their rightful leadership roles in today’s church, the Christian community will continue powerful impact on young females as well as other facets of American society.   In the past, Christian women have demonstrated the ability to solve complex social problems.   Furthermore, popular televangelists like Juanita Bynum and Joyce Meyer have proven that women are capable of leading productive ministries that impact millions of people on a daily basis.   And finally, ancient Biblical prophecy foretold a time in which women, who have historically served in the background, would rise to positions of authority in the Christian world.  Ã‚   Thus, as feminist and women’s rights activists carved out a powerful voice for women in our country throughout the 20th century, female ministers will continue to represent the concerns and issues that young and old women face in the future.