Chilhood obsity Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chilhood obsity - Research Proposal Example On course of the research, the researcher introduces a healthy child to the study population strata to act as a control variable for validating the tests. The researcher then compares the test results obtained from the obese children and the healthy child through a comprehensive and analytic process. If the obese children’s research proves positive for the health-associated benefits, then the researcher drafts a conclusion that obesity results in the benefits. The first instrument essential for this study is the heart rate distribution recorders in the clinical set-ups in Tampa, Florida. The instrument helps in the measurement of heart rate to ascertain the health associated benefits. The device is an eight-register integrator that is applied in recording the heart rate over a long duration usually 24 hours and over. The data recorded helps in assessing the daily physical activity in children who are the target group for this research. The instrument records the cardiac beat-to-beat interval in seven registers with a range of 40 to 225 H4 per minutes. The researcher tests for validity of the instrument through simultaneous evaluation of a manual acoustic monitoring system, an established system. Comparisons of the results from both the instruments should concur thereby validating the chosen instrument for the research. The next instruments are the weighing balance and tape measure to measure the weight against an individual’s height that is usable in calculating BMI. The instruments help in the classification and identification of the obese members of the population in Tampa, Florida. The researcher validates the instruments by taking measurements using the instruments and then ascertaining credibility by checking against accredited instruments by the state. Obesity is a leading cause of deaths in America. The government strives to design and research on the best preventive measures to adopt to reduce the

Case Study 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case Study 4 - Essay Example Our objective will be to optimize the application of our dataset toward more effective CRM. The set includes both audio-visual information and electronic-data information. To focus efforts and avoid legal ethical questions, we will concentrate of the electronic-data portion. This mainly includes information gathered from telecommunications and membership cards transactions. The end product would include a GUI expressing the current trends in customer behavior and accepting inputs that translate into operational measures and investigate correlations to help optimize our influence over buyer behavior. The reasons for not using all of the available data is two-fold -- one is ethical, the other operational. The operational reason is work flow related. To avoid scope creep, we limit our focus on each component of any project. The ethical reason is about questions of personal privacy in a public way. While applying numerical data is more objective because any identifying information may be stripped from the dataset during data analysis. However, it may not be outside the scope of an expanded version of this process to apply some of the audio-visual

U.S. and China’s Future Essay Example for Free

U.S. and China’s Future Essay America is a powerful country with a developed market economy and great economic potential. American foreign policy has a great influence on the whole world. The main goals of America on the international market are to create a democratic world for American people and all other people. The era of globalization presumes the developed network of contacts with other countries and America is very successful in this aspect. China is another influential country. Big population and quick economical growth have made this country an important figure on the world political stage. Relationship between China and the United States have experienced major transformation during last fifty years. America’s foreign policy is greatly influenced by its economical and political interests. A serious test for America was The Great Depression. The Great Depression became the biggest economic fall during the history of the United States, which stared after the Stock Market Crash in 1929. Trade and personal income experienced a period of great decline during this time. Depression quickly became widespread to the most countries of the world. Economic instability finally led to the development of anti-democratic regimes in many countries, such as Germany, Italy and the USSR. The government of the United States managed to overcome the Great Depression without turning to dictatorship. Starting from the 1933 Roosevelt insisted on the necessity of a restructuring of the economy in order to avoid another depression. New Deal programs, aiming to stimulate demand and create work places, have been created. In contrast to many counties, which could not find a way to solve economical problems, the United States of America escaped this danger. This fact can explain the further successful American development on the world market. World War II has had a great impact on the position of most countries on the world’s map. After the experience of the World War I the United States of America took preventive measures when the World War II broke out. Hostility of Japan and threat of Nazi regimes to democracy made the United States of America take an active part in this war. Trying to keep neutral position the USA did not start war actions until the attack to Pearl Harbor. America being an active participant insisted on the Unified Allied Military Command for all the aliens, except the USSR because the Soviet Union did not want to declare war on Japan at first. In 1944 together British and American army attacked the Germans on the occupied territory of France. At that time the Soviets were attacking Germans in Poland and Romania (Friedman, 63). The United States of America took part in the WWII helped to stop Nazism and helped to save democracy in the world. It is necessary to note that the most powerful countries then were the United States and the USSR and so they were taking the most important strategic decisions. After the war the United Nations were created and America became one the five permanent members of the Security Council. The Cold War was another period in American foreign policy. This war was aimed to limit the USSR’s power all over the world and to find the balance. The US had established the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and got into close contact with China during that time. America was spreading its influence in every corner of the world, while the Soviet Union, being weakened after the war, was losing its power and might. By the end of the Cold War America invaded Panama and made a number of campaigns in Central America. â€Å"In 1986 the US was convicted of multiple violations of international law and breaches of treaties against Nicaragua by the International Court of Justice in The Hague† (Bunton, 64). Relations between the U. S. and Asian countries were not stable after the World War II, because of the so-called â€Å"American dominance† in the world. America was suspicious of Communist government of China making an assumption that China could invade all East Asia and so threaten America. China, in its turn, was afraid that America was going to weaken Chinese government. On the other hand, both countries saw the necessity in cooperation to escape the possible threats from both countries. Formally, America had not recognized China (Peoples’ republic of China) for almost 30 years and only after the war this conflict was resolved. After the Korean War, in which the United States and the PRC were enemies the relations between these two countries became frozen. â€Å"The Soviet Union was more of a factor than the Peoples Republic of China in instigating the 1950 North Korean invasion of South Korea. In response, the United Nations Security Council undertook to assist by military means the Republic of Korea† (Vogel, 167). All in all, this war has not had an official end but it has had a great impact on the relations between China and America. After it the relations became distanced, two countries had stopped any cooperation. America was even doing its best to prevent China from entering the United Nations. It imposed an embargo on trade with China and encouraged other countries to stop their cooperation with China. In the middle of the last century the situation has changed. The United States wanted to spread its influence in Southeast Asia in order to have an access to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and the only way to do it was the improvement of relations with China. America also required the Chinese market of over one billion consumers. In the year 1969, America removed an embargo on trade with China and took a number of measures to develop a bilateral contact. The negotiations lasted till the year 1972. In this year President Nixon visited Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou and, as a result, two countries signed to the Shanghai Communique. According to this agreement China and America stated that they shared their views on foreign policy. Its main aim was to normalize the relations between tow countries (Harding, 143). All in all, America did not get all the profit it supposed to get from this agreement, as the American products could enter the Chinese market only in a few decades and their economic cooperation was very slow. To analyze the further perspectives of Sino-American relations, it is necessary to get some information about China’s economy. China presents a significant part of the world’s economy because of its geographical position, demographic factor and unique methods of economic development. The population of China makes 20. 7% of the world total, the territory of China is 3. 70 million square miles, GPD annual growth is 7. 05% on average. China being under transition and developing in a unique way can give good lessons for other young developing countries. To analyze the position of this country in the rate of modern economy today it is necessary to get acquainted with the history of China’s development. The first period on the way of its development is so-called â€Å"Five-Year Plan; 1953-1957† when the emphasis was made on the development of heavy industry following the Soviet Union example. The second step was â€Å"Great Leap Forward; 1958-1960†. This period is characterized by raising of agricultural and industrial production following an own program, not the Soviet one. In 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution took place and, as a result Mao’s theory of self-reliant economy and political struggle and its pursuit appeared. In 1978 started the process of economic reformation that continues till now. This process is aimed to reform the planned economy into the market-oriented one (Buxton 219). China’s reforms are often called â€Å"economic miracle†, as such progress and success is just unbelievable but the results are visible. Only in year 1978 60% of one billion population lived below poverty and China was concerned as one of the poorest countries in the world. Beginning from the year 1978 China started its transition from a command economy to a market one and from the rural society to the urban one. China has chosen one of the fastest rates for economic and agriculture development and succeeded in it. The rapid economic growth is the result of combination of part reforms and constant experimentation. There were made reforms practically in all areas but agriculture was the most reformed area. Agriculture played a very important role in eradication of poverty. â€Å"By international standards, Chinas social indicators as reflected in close to universal access to primary education, low infant mortality and high life expectancy have been outliers, in view of Chinas low initial per capita income† (Hsieh, 37). The first actions that were taken about agriculture were the privatization of farming, intensification of industry and liberalization of markets for many goods. The process of transition to urbanization took the US, for example, 47 years while China managed to double its income twice just in 10 years (1978-1996). If to compare economic geographical factors of the USA and China from the first point of view they seem absolutely different but it is only first impression. In fact, both these countries occupy large territory, which is rich in numerous mineral resources. Nature is represented by lowlands, highlands, mountains and valleys and this fact contributes to excellent conditions of economic development. Geographical factor is one of the factors which can explain such rapid and such successful development of the both countries. It is quite another matter that countries have chosen absolutely different ways of the economic development. According to the statistics of 1987 China was on the fifth place of long-run of Economic Growth while America was on the forth after Japan, Brazil, Canada and Germany (Mankiw, 237). Nowadays the situation has not changed very much and both countries sit tight on their positions and develop successfully. China was not in an enviable position after World War II. Due to American efforts it was isolated not only from America but also from a number of European countries. Sino-Soviet Split was the last straw and there were even military tensions on the Soviet borders. It was necessary to improve relations with America because China’s security was in danger. The rapprochement with the United States was of great importance for China. Now China was in security during the Cold War and could extend its foreign policy. China was by American side in the Soviet war in Afghanistan and Cuban movements. China and the United States had little political interaction until the middle of the last century. They did not even have direct diplomatic contacts. Only after the 1960s the USA and China began active economical partnership. At the present moment they are major trading partners. These relationships survived confrontation during Taiwan crisis and Tiananmen massacre of 1989. Economic relations are not the only point, which unites these two great nations. It is hard to underestimate the impact of China, as the most populous country of the world, especially after rapid economic development (Mann, 146). At the same time the United States of America is one of the most powerful counties of the world. Relationship between these two counties guarantees not only economical privileges for both of them, but also becomes important for maintaining peace in the world. The United States wanted to use China as a counterweight to the USSR during the period of the Cold War. It was difficult to develop relations between such closed political, social and economical unit as China, but President Nixon put much effort to develop this relationship. Henry Kissinger, State Secretary of the USA also put much effort in building relationship with China. His mission to Beijing was aimed to build the basis for future fruitful relationships between two countries. Relationships between the U. S. and China have become so useful for both countries that they continue them after the end of the Cold War. Economy is a strong basis for Sino-American relationships but conflicts between two values systems can become a serious problem in the future. All hopes of American government that Chinese authoritarian political system will gradually be transformed, like it has happened in other authoritarian countries, have gradually faded away. America, which serves a democratic ideal for the rest of the world, has to tolerate bad violations of human rights in China. In the 1960s, when relationships between these two countries were only developing the American government had very strong determination that China would turn to Western value system and switch to democratic principles. â€Å"Stolidly eyeing the authoritarian reality behind all the fine words and sumptuous banquets that Beijing bestows on influential visitors, it is necessary to remember how sorry has been Chinas record on human rights in recent decades and how cravenly Washington has sought to sweep that record under the carpet† (Mann, 112). China shows strong determination in its ruling regime and value system. Since situation is not likely to be resolved in the nearest future, it depends mostly on the United States: how long it will tolerate such state of events. Directed by economic profit, the United States during the long period closed eyes on the political aspect of the problem. If such a tendency continues, the U. S. will experience a threat to lose a status of the carrier of democratic ideals all over the world. Close relations with the one of the most authoritarian counties of the world will finally compromise the United States. Governmental regime which exists in modern China is a mixture of communism and Nazism. Such a regime has nothing to do with western democratic ideals. In addition, China used such tricks as military and industrial espionage against the USA. The concept of human rights practiced in these two countries are completely different and even incompatible. Nowadays it becomes more and more evident that Sino-American relationships are based on completely different goals. During the long period of time the U. S. was expecting liberalization of the Chinese government and modernization of its policies. As to China, it gladly accepted any kind of help in modernization but did not let interferer within inner policy of the country and rejected any attempts to liberalization. Since it becomes more and more evident that China is not going to change its governmental regime and economic structure, the United States has to choose if it is ready to prolong its relationship with this country or not. One of possible solutions would be a picky attitude, proclaimed by Harding. He proposes to develop realistic and nuanced policy toward China, and I agree with him. (Harding, 214). It is quite evident the U. S. will not be able to break its relationships with one of its major trade partners. On the other hand, it also evident that China becomes a dominant power in Sino-American relationships and if the situation is not changed recently, it will gain more and more power and knowing about the authoritative nature of Chinese governmental power, it is hard to predict all possible bad consequences of such interaction. First of all it is necessary to get rid of romantic vision of China as a country with the â€Å"developing† democracy. Rational attitude to China, as to an independent counterpart in a complex balance of power » can help the United States to renew health balance in these relationships (Harding, 217). In this way in 10 years Sino-American relationship will depend on the role the U. S. chooses inside of these relationships. It is quite evident that such kind of relationship is satisfactory for China and not satisfactory for the United States. If the U. S. does not agree to stand its role in these relationships any more, it will have to build a thoughtful strategy aiming to make China accept not only economical interaction, but also political ideas. If this happens, relations, despite they will be transformed, will stay in the form of close partnership in many fields. If this does not happen we can expect cold and estrangement in the relationships between these two countries. It is obvious that such close economical ties, which exist between China and the United States can not be broken in one day but they will be gradually reducing and this short down will be initiated by America. By that time China will have to make a difficult choice. It is evident that it needs American support and funding for the economical growth and development. On the other hand China is very reluctant to seek any compromises when it comes to internal political changes. In the case this country does not decide to make any changes towards liberalization, we will most probably face the decline of Sino-American relationships. This crisis will be hard to overcome, so America has finally to get rid of its idealistic hope that China will turn to liberalization and democracy. It will count only on concrete facts and numbers and if China does not provide sufficient proves, crises will not be overcome. So, next ten years promise to be very important for Sino-American relationships. After these ten years we can expect two results. Either China turns to liberalization and enters world of Western ideals of democracy as a peer, or it returns to its estrangement from the world culture, policy and economy. The impact of these two scenarios on the Sino-American relationships is evident. In the first case (if China turns to liberalization and democracy) these relationships will become even closer and bring profit to both countries. In the second case these relationships will gradually decline and even lead to serious conflicts. Works Cited: Bunton, T. S. , and Kathleen J. Michels.â€Å"2005 REPORT TO CONGRESS OF THE U. S. -CHINA ECONOMIC AND SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION. † 2005. China Economic and Security Review Commission. 27 April 2007 http://www. uscc. gov/annual_report/05_annual_report. php. Buxton, Leonard H. China: The Land and the People. New York: Gallery Books, W. H. Smith, Pub. , 1988. Cohen, Warren. America`s Response to China. Columbia University Press, 2000. Eckholm, Erik. Clinton Urged to Meet Top China Dissident. New York Times 20 June 1998. Friedman, Milton and Anna Jacobson Schwartz. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. New York: Gallery Books, 1963. Harding, Harry. â€Å"A Fragile Relationship: The United States and China Since 1972. † Brookings Institution Press, 1992. Hsieh Chiao-min and Jean Kan Hsieh. China: A Provincial Atlas. New York: Macmillan Publishing, U. S. A. , 1995. Mankiw, N. Gregory, et. al. , Principles of Marcroeconomics. First Canadian Edition, Dryden, Harcourt Brace Company, Canada, 2003. Mann, James. About Face: A History of America`s Curious Relationship with China, from Nixon to Clinton. Vintage, 2000. Vogel, F. Ezra. Living With China: U. S. /China Relations in the Twenty-First Century. W. W. Norton Company, 1997..

The Development of Korean Pop Culture

The Development of Korean Pop Culture Korean pop culture has risen as the most developed pop culture in Asia over the last ten years. American pop culture does not dominate Asian cultural market anymore. Asians are giving their attentions to the cultural media in which they can find their identities. Many have recently preferred Korea pop culture, which is fresh, trendy, and something that contains Asian sentiments. More and More people in Asia are selecting to listen to Korean pop songs, watch Korean movies, and travel to Korea to visit places shown in Korean dramas. The sudden rise of Korean pop culture in its popularity and its dissemination throughout Asia is innovative, unprecedented, and fascinating. This cultural flow in contemporary Asia is called the Korean Wave. Starting point of the Korean Wave in China The term Korean Wave refers to the phenomenon of Korean popular culture, disseminated primarily through the mass media and enjoying a broad popularity outside of Korea. It includes Korean dramas, movies, pop music, fashion, games, and any other cultural contents. Public media began recognizing Korean popular culture in mainland China in 1997, when the Korean television drama Star Is in My Heart was broadcast in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other Asian countries. China broadcasting company broadcasted the drama throughout Asia under its Chinese title, and the drama aroused broad popular appeal especially in mainland China. Among many elements composed the drama, the main actor, Ahn Jae Wook, caught peoples attention by his good looking. Ahn Jae-Wook, therefore, became a symbol of the Korean wave in China. Following to Star Is in My Heart, Autumn Story, Winter Sonata, What Is the Love and many other drama fascinated people in China.  [1]   Korea pop music has also taken a huge role of the Korean Wave from the beginning. Young dance music groups, H.O.T and Clone ignited the Korean Wave in China in 1999. Various radio stations in China began to create programs specializing K-pop. Moreover, it is known that the number of fans of H.O.T. was eight million only in China in 2002. Afterwards, at least 50 different Korean pop albums were produced in China, and more than three million albums in total were sold by 2002.  [2]   Beyond simply consuming the media contents, Chinese teenagers repeated Korean pop songs and imitated Korean actors and singers fashion and hairstyle. In addition, Korean restaurants in China became popular among people who were enjoying Korean pop culture.  [3]  Through the indirect experience of Korean food in television drama, people became familiar to it and such familiarity made people walk to Korean restaurants. As the effect of the Korean Wave, the national image of Korea was recognized as positive. As a result, Korean products raised their own value as well. Samsung mobile phones and LG air conditioners and microwaves took bigger portions at Chinese market as people demanded more of such products.  [4]   Started with the drama, Star Is in My Heart, and Korean pop music sung by H.O.T and Clone in China, the Korean Wave outstretched to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, and other Asian counties. The Koran Wave started to link Asian regions in a huge boundary of cultural kinship. The Second round of Korean Wave in Japan Even though people in most Asian countries showed deep interests in Korea pop culture, Japan, which is geographically the nearest neighbor, was not affected by the Korean Wave until Winter Sonata hit Japan. In 2003, the Korean drama, Winter Sonata, was first shown on Japanese television in twenty episodes. It captured 22% of the prime time viewing audience. In 2004 Winter Sonata had its second showing. This time it captured 24% of viewing audience.  [5]   Japanese response to the Korean drama was not passive but aggressive. Japanese positively embraced the Korean drama, especially the television drama Winter Sonata and its Korean associations. Some of the Japanese fans elevated Winter Sonata to cult status. For example, the DVD of the Winter Sonata series sold out within few hours of its release in 2003.  [6]  Korean actors in many dramas become celebrities in Japan. Indeed, the male leading actor in Winter Sonata, Bae Yong Joon, was addressed as Yon Sama, an honorific usually assigned only to royalty in Japan. During visits to Japan actors and actress of popular dramas were mobbed by their fans. Demand by fans for Winter Sonata merchandise has created an industry with an annual turnover in Japan and Korea worth 2.3 billion US dollars.  [7]  The industry produces clothing, accessories, jewelers, stationery, magazines, books, DVDs and supports fan clubs. Significantly this interest extended beyond the characters of Winter Sonata toward a more general interest in Korea. The Korean Wave greatly affected to the tourism industry in Korea. In 2004, Japan was the source of nearly half of Koreas 5.6 million overseas visitors, and was its major source of tourists. In 2006 Korean Air announced special film in flights from Japan so that Japanese fans could have more information of the Winter Sonata location sites. In the same year, NHK television media and publishers announced an increase of its annual sales of its Korean language textbook to 20,000 copies.  [8]  As Japanese have enjoyed the Korean cultural media, their interest toward Korea in general also grew. Three main reasons why the Korean Wave became popular in Asia The good quality of cultural media comes to the foremost reason. According to the Chinese local analysis, Korean dramas have outstanding storylines, well designed characters, and sophisticated directing system.  [9]  Plus, original background music (OST) are excellent as well. Whether Chinese or Taiwanese dramas repeat the obvious storylines making people already bored by watching only the first episode, Korean dramas own various styles and types of story raging widely. Their creativities in developing stories fuel peoples curiosities to see the next episode. Korea actors handsome appearance, stylish fashions and hairstyles, and outstanding acting abilities are said to the best among Asian actors. Improved technology in film producing helps background settings and music to be wonderfully assimilated to each other. Camera walking and well designed composition of pictures improve overall quality of the video. The second reason is that the economic decline of Asia forced television producers to seek out products cheaper than Japanese and Western products. The drama series were the starting-point of the Korean Wave in Taiwan. The Korean Wave arose mainly because of the media liberalization that swept across Asia in 1990s, when the economic crisis made Asian buyers prefer the cheaper Korean products compared with Japanese and Hong Kong products. The primary producer of K-Pop Entertainment at Gala-TV in Taiwan told that the main reason that GTV began programming Korean dramas was because of their cheap prices compared to Japanese products, and Korean dramas were even cheaper than domestic ones.  [10]  According to her, Korean dramas were of much better quality then Taiwanese products, but were much cheaper, so GTV dubbed in Mandarin and aired the programs as if they were locally made dramas.  [11]   In 1999, GTV began buying old dramas from the Korean Broadcasting System under the considerations that it costs less than the domestic dramas and the quality of the Korean dramas could be guaranteed. GTV was informed that KBS had invested a huge amount of money in production. Indeed, Korea has long invested in dramas, and after 1993 it has encouraged the investment of private capital in the media industry. Therefore, to supplement domestic dramas, GTV introduced Korean dramas of low cost and good quality.  [12]   Thirdly, Korean movies, dramas, and sometimes even pop music show virtue and kindness. In Korean movies and dramas, people are amiable, and families are harmonious. Juniors respect elders and elders cherish juniors. Lovers love sweetly each other, and spouses care for each other. Korean dramas illustrate the harmonious and pure-hearted feelings. First of all, such heartwarming stories attract wide age groups. It is appropriate for elementary school kids to elder grandma and grandpa to watch altogether. Most western dramas or movies contain suggestive scenes to express passionate love between lovers which made family members to be apart to watch them. However, all family members gather around and can watch Korean dramas or movies which mostly depict pure-hearted loves between friends, families, and lovers. Second of all, pure love between lovers especially attracted Japanese women. Winter Sonata which delivers the story of pure love between main characters evoked Japanese Womens memories of their first love. Since purity in love was already old-fashioned culture in Japan, women who watched Winter Sonata brought out their nostalgic feelings toward pure love. Husband and wife do not talk a lot because Japanese people do not directly reveal their emotions and feelings to others which were regarded as the most secret part of individuals.  [13]  The actions, that spouses sincerely care for each other, stirred desires of Japanese women to be loved from their love directly and in a gentle way. Lastly, the family value commonly dealt in Korean drama evoked nostalgic feeling toward family among Chinese people. Through the Cultural Revolution and through the national campaign, One family, one child, large families were exterminated in China. Naturally, the older generations miss memories they had in large families. The older generations in China could be vicarious satisfaction as they enjoy Korea drama. Even though Asian countries are bound with the similar cultures and traditions, purity in love and family value were lost in Japanese and Chinese society. Pure-hearted feelings and harmonious aspects of Korean society reflected on drama played the significant role to promote the Korean Wave in two societies. The Range of Economic Effects Since the Korean Wave is a Korean pop-culture syndrome, the exportation of cultural industry is at the core of its economic effects. To calculate the whole economic impacts, however, the exportation of cultural industry is not fully satisfied. The derivative products due to the Korean Wave, ripple effects on national economy, and immeasurable effect such as diplomatic effect should be regarded as economic effects that the Korea Wave brought.  [14]   Category Range Cultural industry (effect of direct exp.) Movie, broadcast, music, game, book, concert Derivative products (effect of indirect exp.) Cosmetics, tour, accessories, clothes, mobile phone, home appliance, automobile, food Ripple effects on National economy Active production of cultural industry and derivative goods, creating jobs Immeasurable effects Hangeul, Korean food, diplomacy, national image Table I. The Range of Korean Wave Products First, cultural industry includes movie, broadcast, music, game, book, and concert at which people directly show their enthusiasm. Second, derivative products are products such as cosmetics, tour, accessories, clothes, mobile phone, home appliance, automobile, and food which are indirectly linked with the cultural contents. Automobile that one Korean star drove in drama or the place where the drama was directed are in this category. Third, ripple effect on national economy is that effect on the other economy as cultural industry and derivative products are exported. For example, if the cultural contents were exported and therefore if the mobile phone meets the great demand, the mobile phone company needs to employ more people to produce the phone. As a result, more jobs are created in domestic market. This is a ripple effect on national economy. Fourth, immeasurable effects is, as it says in its word, it is not measurable by numeric values or by statistics. It is invisible effect suc h as people who are big fan of Korean culture learning Korean language. The Effects of Cultural Industry Table II. Exports of Cultural Industry in 2005 unit: million KRW Korean exports in cultural industry to overseas amount to eleven million dollars in 2007. It shows 11.3% of annual growth from 2005 to 2007. In the case of movie industry, the movie, in which Bae yong-Jun (Yon-sama) acted in 2005, was exported at a high cost to Japan. The success of this movie resulted out exporting 76 million dollars. However, the following year reported the exports of only 25 million dollars which fells 68%. Japan China Asia Other Total Movie 48,479 436 5,393 327 54,634 broadcast 74,235 12,473 23,241 642 110,592 Game 120,854 60,188 41,669 3,021 225,732 Music 2,661 461 186 3,308 Book 14,461 2,726 5,152 1,767 24,106 Concert 1,004 50 1,054 total 261,694 76,285 75,455 5,993 419,427  [15]   Table III. Exports of Cultural Industry in 2006 unit: million KRW Japan China Asia Other Total Movie 7,944 344 5,036 260 13,584 broadcast 61,141 9,475 43,656 1,137 115,409 Game 101,981 75,768 50,462 4,296 232,507 Music 2,079 1,821 6 3,906 Book 9,330 2,510 47 11,887 Concert 937 956 47 1,939 total 183,413 90,874 104,454 7,354 386,094  [16]   Table IV. Exports of Cultural Industry in 2007 unit: million KRW Japan China Asia Other Total Movie 4,723 696 5,281 329 11,028 broadcast 83,154 11,208 29,365 1,188 124,916 Game 110,634 112,121 45,079 4,411 272,246 Music 1,604 1,153 18 2,775 Book 7,246 3,938 11,803 1,800 24,787 Concert 911 929 46 1,886 total 208,273 130,046 91,528 7,792 437.639  [17]   The broadcast industry is especially strong in Japan than any other Asian countries. While the broadcast industries in Japan and China show fairly steady outcome, other Asian countries and non-Asian region suddenly consumed the doubled volume of Korean television dramas in 2006 compared to that of 2005. The game industry, which takes the biggest portion in the cultural industry, gradually increased it exports. The Effects of Derivative Product Derivative products are not the cultural contents; however, they are closely related to the Korean Wave. The car appeared in drama or the cosmetics which Korea celebrities advertising are included in the realm of derivative products. Therefore, they are second biggest part in calculating the economic effects of the Korean Wave. Korean cosmetic brands such as The Face Shop and Misha rapidly grew in size in the international market and exported three hundred million dollars in 2005 and three hundred fifty million dollars in 2007. Cosmetic brands are sensitive to their models; therefore, companies frequently change the models to the most popular one at the time. Interestingly, Korean cosmetic brands use male Korea celebrities who are at the center of the Korean Wave because, in this way, it is easier for companies to appeal to female Korean fans in overseas. This is the strategies Korea cosmetic companies are using to target the international market. In the case of clothes, clothes industry resulted out the exports of twenty-three million dollars in 2005; however, exporting volume has been gradually decreased to seventeen million dollars in 2007. Decrease in home appliance exports can be explained by the increasing supply of Chinese products with the developing qualities in China mainland. When the exports of clothes, accessories, mobile phone, and home appliances were decreasing, automobile industry stretched its competitiveness in the international market with the grow rate of 12.5%. Koreas developed technology in automobile production and positive image toward Korean automobile brand established such consequence. Abroad fans interest and familiarity to Korean food helped its industry internationally. Japan China Asia Growth rate Cosmetics 306 319 346 6.3 Tour 1,139 935 791 -16.1 Clothes 2,313 1,9556 1,705 -14.1 Accessories 405 320 296 -14.5 Mobile phone 19,095 16,799 18,644 -1.2 Home appliance 14,656 14,553 13,433 -4.3 Automobile 27,256 30,597 34,482 12.5 Food 875 1,030 1,154 14.8 Table V. Exports of Derivative Products unit: million KRW, % 18 Table VI. Inflow of Foreigners Tour expenses 2005 2006 2007 Growth Rate(%) Number of tourists 6,022,752 6,155,047 6,448,240 3.5 The rate of tourists due to the Korean Wave (%) 14.2 11.8 10.0 Number of tourists due to the Korea Wave (KOR) 855,231 726,296 644,824 -13.2 Total consumption due to the Korea Wave (million KOR) 1,166,329 893,419 735,099 -21.6 19 The number of tourists is increasing from 2005 to 2007 with the growth rate of 3.5%. However, the number of tourists who visited Korea because of the Korea Wave is decreasing with the rate of -13.2%. Winter Sonata sensationally hit Japan in 2003. Thus, the rate of tourists, who came to Korea by the influence of the Korean Wave, in 2005 is comparatively higher than in 2006 and in 2007 as the aftereffect of Winter Sonata. As Japanese tourists who were deeply impressed by Winter Sonata increases after 2003, interesting thing happened in the streets in Korea. The shops near the locations appeared in Korean drama have Japanese explanations on each products. Moreover, the shop assistants in Myung-doing streets tout people in Japanese. They speak Japanese more than Korean to tout Japanese tourists. The decreasing number of tourists due to the Korean Wave does not mean that the Korean Wave has less impact on other cultures. Rather, people, who already visited Korea, would not make a second trip in near future. Therefore, it is quite natural that the number of people visiting Korea due to the Korean Wave gets smaller and smaller, regarding the huge impact of Winter Sonata in 2003. Instead, increasing number of tourists shows the general perception on the image of Korea is improving and it is ultimately the result of the Korean Wave. Therefore, I conclude that the Korean Wave yet fosters the tourism industry in Korea. Riffle Effects on National Economy Through the Korean Wave, Korean international economy was vitalized. Growing demands of Korean cultural contents from abroad have increased supplies, and therefore, Korean cultural industry has grown in a large scale. Numerous companies which create the cultural contents require more labor force as they extend their business. The Korean Wave not only vitalized the Korean economy but also opened the labor market to support industry. Considering the fact that companies, which directly or indirectly related to the Korean Wave, inevitably employ more labors, unimaginable number of people would come into the economic activities, relieving unemployment and boosting the national economy. The Korea Wave started with few dramas and pop songs now controls the whole national economy. Immeasurable effects Korean fans outside of Korea often learn Korean language and eat Korean food. More and more people have interest in Korean culture and favorable impression toward Korea. These sociological phenomena raise the power of Korea very softly everywhere in the world where the Korea cultural syndrome has hit. This is the Soft Power that Korean has. Conclusion The Korean Wave hit China in 1997 for the fist time and now its influence prevails all over Asia. By watching the same drama, by reading the same comic book, and by listing to the same pop songs, people have a strong sense of solidarity. Reflecting on my own experience, Asian teenagers become intimate to each other easily by sharing their cultural interests. In the fact that cultural contents take the large portion on students lives, there is nothing better which connects the students so tightly. They would forget the time flying away when they talk about their own favorite dramas and celebrities. The Korean Wave was directly connected to the domestic economy. Numerous cultural industries have expanded their influence in Asia and related manufacturing industry also has been thrived. The cultural industry established the average exports of 414,387 million Won from 2005 to 2007 and the derivative industry reached to the average exports of 2,204,567 million Won from 2005 to 2007. The whole economic impacts including the ripple effects during the past few years are tremendous in Korean domestic economy. There are several shortages of the Korean Wave that the Korean cultural contents overwhelmingly attract female but only mimic influence to male and that the current Korean Wave is not as sensational as the past few years. The Korean dramas and movies mostly deal with romantic love stories which women love and do not take action or thriller genres which men like. To embrace a broader range of people, Korean production companies need to develop creative and interesting scenarios in various genres. Plus, the economic effects are diminishing in many sectors of industry such as clothes, home appliance, and mobile phone. It is because there are recently no big contents such as Winter Sonata and Dae Jang Geum which rose fanatical boom about Korean media. The more efforts to create the high quality cultural contents enable to continue the glory of Korean Wave in 2004 and 2005. Asian countries and people have never gathered and shared the same cultural contents before as they do these days. Even though there are worried voices that Asian cultures are losing diversity in arts and culture, I valued more on the Korean Waves positive effects that connecting many countries and people in Asia in a close bound. I hope the unified the cultural market in Asia region would be the chance for cultural industries in each Asian countries to cooperative each other to create more developed cultural contents opening up new visas of the future.

Short Story Essay -- Papers Creative Writing Essays

Short Story Once in a small cottage deep in a thickly overgrown forest there was a young boy who lived with his mother, his father and his elder sisters, two of the most beautiful girls in the whole of Ireland. This forest was different to the many others that form a blanket over this enchanted land. The young boy often quarrelled with his sisters and felt that their talents overshadowed him. The two beautiful girls were not only very fair of face but also always endeavoured to do well in their studies and were a great help to the mother around the cottage. One day, a day which seemed unusual to the young boy from almost the moment he woke in the morning, something happened which changed the life of the boy and the life of every Irishman here after. The day had begun with the young boy hearing his mother calling his name in a rather frantic tone. "Luke", "Luke", she called. The young boy feeling the sense of importance rushed down stairs to be meet by his father, mother and grandfather. His mother told him that neither of the girls had been seen since bedtime the previous night and asked him did he know where they might be or why they may have wandered off. The evening before this influential morning his sisters had decided to take a walk into the forest that surrounded the cottage. Luke did not wish to not be included in their adventure and so tagged along but always keeping a few paces behind so as not to be seen by the girls and to be told to return to the cottage. He had over heard the girls talking about small creatures that lived in solitude i... ... into a banshee that he must suffer the penance of a horrific death and a eternal spell of bad luck upon any Irishman who hereafter dared to disturb a hidden fairy. It wasn't until preparing for the funeral of Luke that the Parents remembered his delirious rant but still dismissed it as the senseless ramblings of a dying child. However it is said that at the funeral of Luke O'Riley that above the wails of his parents and other mourners could be heard the distinct high-pitched cries of several Banshees. It is also said that Two tiny creatures identical to his sisters could be seen wandering the dark hills around the cottage that was once their home crying in bereavement of their brother which they had taken for granted and would eternally join the other Banshees wailing at the funerals of every Irishman hereafter.

It Is Contagious :: essays papers

It Is Contagious "Traces of the Stealth_c Virus have been found in memory. Reboot to a clean system disk before continuing with this installation." This was the message staring back at me from one of the computer monitors at my office. Questions raced through my mind. "Stealth_c?" "What's a system disk?" "How am I supposed to install anti-virus software if the computer system already has a virus?" As a discouraging feeling of helplessness came over me, I thought of all the people who had loaded something from disk on this box or who had used this box to access the Internet. Because there was no virus protection in the first place, it was going to be very difficult to determine how many floppy disks and hard drives had been infected. I wished I had learned about computer viruses a long time ago. What is a computer virus, anyway? Is it a computer with a cold? A computer "virus" is called a virus because of three distinct similarities to a biological virus. They are: ? They must have the ability to make copies of, or replicate, itself. ? They must have a need for a "host," or functional program to which it can attach. ? The virus must do some kind of harm to the computer system or at least cause some kind of unexpected or unwanted behavior. Sometimes computer viruses just eat up memory or display annoying messages, but the more dangerous ones can destroy data, give false information, or completely freeze up a computer. The Stealth_c virus is a boot sector virus, meaning that it resides in the boot sectors of a computer disk and loads into memory with the normal boot-up programs. The "stealth" in the name comes from the capability of this virus to possibly hide from anti-virus software. Virtually any media that can carry computer data can carry a virus. Computer viruses are usually spread by data diskettes, but can be downloaded from the Internet, private bulletin boards, or over a local area network. This makes it extremely easy for a virus to spread once it has infected a system. The aforementioned Stealth_c virus was transported by the least likely avenue; it was packaged with commercial software. This is an extremely rare occurrence, as most software companies go to great lengths to provide "clean" software. There is a huge commercial interest in keeping computers virus-free. Companies stand to lose literally thousands of dollars if they lose computer data to a virus. An immense amount of time can be lost from more productive endeavors if someone has to check or clean each computer

BPO: The Boon with a Twist Essay

The India business process outsourcing (BPO) ‘success story’ needs to be tempered with a strong dose of caution. The two issues that this paper seeks to raise viz. employees’ welfare and working at the lower end of the value chain, need to be addressed if indeed the BPO phenomenon is to be called a ‘boon’ for India. The paper discusses the state of the industry in India and the reasons why BPO is the ‘Big Wave’. However, the emphasis of the paper is on another aspect of the story that at best ignored and at worst completely discounted. Some vital questions have been raised like- what is the impact that this newly spawned industry is having on the millions that is now employs? Also, it is not just about the health of the individual that is of concern here. It is about the entire social, physical and psychological fabric of a nation that is slowly changing. From the perspective of the companies also, the high staff turnover must makes it increasingly expensive for India based operations to maintain and improve their quality of service. Another dark side of the story is that India is still working on the low end of the value chain of the business-processes. Over time India’s success will depend on moving up the value chain and make the competitiveness non-replicable by other low cost countries. Read more:  BPO Management System The paper concludes with some solutions to the above-mentioned problems, concentrating primarily on the employee welfare and moving up the value chain. This requires the concerted efforts of both the industry and the government. BPO: The Boon with a Twist â€Å"Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today I wish that man would go away† The Sunrise Sector: An Introduction There have been various studies and papers highlighting how the BPO is the best thing to happen to the Indian youth since the Internet. And not without reason. McKinsey and Co. tell us that by 2008 India will have a whooping 5 million people employed in the BPO sector and will be able to boast of additional revenues in excess of $57 billion. We need this opportunity like never before. However, there is another aspect of the story that is relatively ignored by both, the industry captains and the popular press alike. This paper looks into that aspect of the BPO industry in India and attempts to question the ‘blind faith’ in the sector. It raises some vital questions like- what is the impact that this newly spawned industry is having on the millions that is now employs? Are the reports that we keep hearing, about over-stressed 22-somethings leaving their jobs and the irritable alienated-from-friends-and-family youngsters true? It is not just about the health of the individual that is of concern here. The entire social fabric of a nation that is slowly changing as fresh graduates suddenly find themselves with lots of money due to these sunrise sector jobs, but no time or energy to spend it. The Bright Side The major driving force in the BPO sector is money. In his or her first job, an Indian back-office recruit can easily earn between Rs.15, 000 and Rs.20, 000 a month, which may only be a tenth of what their US counterparts earn, but considering that in terms of the World Bank-calculated purchasing-power parity, $1 can buy four times as much in India as it can in the US, Rs.15,000 per month is certainly a lot more than pocket change to an average youngster. Competition, sense of achievement, and financial freedom are the other driving forces, say BPO professionals. A brief snapshot of how the BPO industry operates puts forth some very interesting facts. The BPO industry is built around the raison d’ etre of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. With the current focus on core business capabilities, many companies in the Western world are outsourcing select business functions to expert partners. BPO takes a set of activities and takes on the responsibility of reengineering the entire way the operation is done. The most popular BPO activity currently outsourced to India is Call Centre operations. Companies selling products or services very often promise 24Ãâ€"7 support through telephones, email or the Internet for their wares. These require a large workforce to constantly be ready at helpdesks with answers to questions customers may call in with. The cost of setting up a call center in the US combined with the cost of wages is 10 to 20 times the cost of setting up a center in a developing nation like India. Hence, these companies re-route the calls made to helpdesks for their products to Indian call centres. These calls are handled by Indians sitting in India and donning an identity (and an accent) similar to their US counterparts. In pure economic terms it is much more sensible to run cost centres like these out of India. The average savings are in the region of 20-30%. And in an age when a penny saved is a penny earned these savings can be used to fuel further growth. The Not So Bright Side: The Human Face One of the reasons that provides India this opportunity is that Indians have readily adapted to – and are working entirely in the US time zone. This phenomenon has only increased over the past few years, popularly known as working the ‘Graveyard Shift’. In its eagerness to pave the way for the BPO boom, the government is infringing on protections bitterly fought for, like the eight-hour day.1 Labor legislation governing employment of workers in this sector is being amended to allow for night-shift work, work during notified holidays in India, staggering of weekends off and the like. Registered trade unions already struggling against this onslaught. Various researches on this darker aspect present some hard facts: * There is an increasing number of BPO employees who leave because they can’t handle the pressure and schedule of jobs * For most of them stress at work is their biggest source of discomfort * Most of these stressed-out employees suffer from sleep-related disorders and have digestive disorders. * Women who work the night shift face an increased risk of breast cancer of up to 60 percent2. * Stress is leading to impairment of conventional social and family life. Difficulties are particularly acute for women with child-care responsibilities. The high stress and irregular hours are taking their toll on many of the mostly just-out-of-college employees. Nutritionists, doctors and psychiatrists say there has been a dramatic increase in call center employees coming to them with problems like hair loss, ear infections from contaminated head phones, ulcers and digestion problems, piles and sleeplessness. All this is having far reaching consequences on the lives of the individuals who are working in this industry. The Not So Bright Side: The Value Chain Outsourcing – a job that no graduate or educated person in the US wants to do is shifted to low wage developing countries like India where there are ‘high quality’ graduates to do the job. In fact that’s the main USP of India – English speaking, ‘high quality’ people being employed for work that may not require half their potential. If we take our best and brightest and put them in dead end outsourcing jobs, where is this country headed? NASSCOM is touting the BPO industry as the new wave. There is no denying that it creates jobs. However the real question is for how long and what kinds of jobs? The government is spending huge resources to educate the highly talented young people only to relegate them to mindless transaction processing. The lucre of these jobs can be ascertained from the disinterest shown the educated people in Europe and US. In these ‘sending countries’ its seen as a part time job – something a college dropout or housewife with time to kill would do. India needs to worry about her youth. The best and brightest go to the US and work there which is an intellectual drain for India. The others – and undoubtedly a lot of bright ones do remain – seem to be sucked by into this BPO machine. India cannot afford continue working at the lowest end of the value chain. Sooner or later Indian companies will have to realize – and fight for – the fact we need to do a little more of the ‘value-added work’. In the long run, the business model of Indian BPOs will become unsustainable and unless they re-engineer a transformation the entire sector will fail to exist as an industry3. Taking a Moment As BPO employees soon find out, money and the college-like ambience is not everything. Cultural shifts, loss of identity, stress due to continuous night shifts and adverse effect on health were only some of the problems that cropped up in several interviews with employees of BPOs. For youngsters it’s a trade-off between what they gain in poise and confidence, and what they lose out in family life and social circle of friends who were not part of this field. Suffering severe sleep disturbances, headaches and even blackouts, most spend all their time away from the job sleeping. And the only long-term solution they can suggest is to quit. Hence, it is of serious concern not only for the employees but also for the companies. The issue of quality of service is raised by the very high staff turnover rates in India, especially at call centres, where annual turnover is said to exceed 50 per cent. High staff turnover is reported even amongst the more established, employee friendly IT companies, some of whom offer stock options and residential accommodations to entice employees to stay on. High staff turnover must make it increasingly expensive for India based operations to maintain and improve their quality of service. This is due to the rising costs for hiring and training and the higher wages needed to attract quality employees. It costs an average of Rs.20,000 to train every Call Center employee4. With the attrition rate so high this is hitting the bottom line for these companies very hard. Moreover high dropout rates have much larger implications for maintaining consistent quality standards. It is impossible to maintain a high quality of service when the entire workforce turns over every 3 years.5 The Road Ahead This section deals with some proposed solutions to fight the two challenges. Improving Employee Welfare: In some countries where the call center industry has been there for a while, e.g. UK and Australia a lot of understanding on what this unique workplace entails and what needs to be done about it, has evolved. For instance, in the UK, the government intervened a while ago with a local authority circular called ‘Advice Regarding Call Center Working Practices’. This circular lists in detail the stress factors and ailments peculiar to this industry, and has various measures to deal with them. However in India, no understanding of the problem exists. This is a serious concern not only from the employee’s end but also from the company’s perspective. The employers incur huge costs of agent attrition due to stress. It’s high time that the Indian government and the industry made some concerted effort on the lines of the above-mentioned countries and brought forth proactive measures of dealing with employee issues in call centers. Role of Companies Companies need to get their act together quickly if they have to arrest the high rate of inflation and avoid the high burnout rate among employees. One of the things to be understood is that the BPO sector is not yet being looked at as a career but rather as a stop-gap arrangement till a better job comes up. Unfortunately as is turns out the next ‘non-bpo’ sector job for most of these individuals turns out to be a fairly less paying one as well. Towards this end taking care of the employees well being becomes a priority for the companies. Most companies are already moving in this direction with well established programs that take care of the all round well-being of the employees with regular health checkups, reduced work hours, adequate training programs and a concern for the employees growth in the organization. Employee welfare will work on three factors each of which need to be understood by organization. Towards this goal an integrated strategy for employee welfare can be developed. Some specific recommendations regarding ensuring employee well being can include regular mental and physical check-ups for employees, periodic counseling on career regulating the number of night shifts worked in a row etc. More importantly, such programs wherein certain employees can avail of funding to aid further studies should be introduced. Role of Government An important part needs to be played by the government in regulating the industry with regards to labour laws. Although the government’s provisions to make it easier for the industry to grow at the pace it has are commendable, this growth cannot be had at the expense of human capital. It is necessary to safeguard the interests of the employees through enforced regulations to ensure sustenance. Specifically the government needs to re-look at * Specific regulations monitoring night-shift work * Monitoring work during notified holidays and weekends * Review of policies regarding food arrangements at workplaces * Policies regarding working of women at night – ensuring safety Moving up the value chain: Despite the fact that the world’s athletic shoes are produced in low-wage environments, their design remains firmly rooted in developed nations. Even today, despite all of the electronics manufacturing located in developing nations, the bulk of the value-added design remains in the developed nations. Taking on the ‘risks’ of the business-processes instead of simply reengineering them is one of the surest ways of convincing outsourcing companies to give greater value added work to the Indian firms. Similarly, it is important to forge alliances and partnerships of the outsourcing companies to convince them to trust us with their core processes instead on taking on fringe work. To summarize, in the end there are only two sustainable end-game models for companies in the BPO segment – the first is insight driven and the other is a platform model. Both of them leverage on proprietary capabilities of individual companies. Over time, a country’s competitiveness will eventually be commoditized and therefore become replicable. India is at that stage. For further growth a company will have to differentiate itself from the labor arbitrage and country competitiveness gamut and build on in-house capabilities that sets it apart. When Indian BPOs move away from the ‘replication’ model and start providing specialized value-added services for clients, they have a far greater chance of surviving, he said. The issue of differential time zones that forces Indian employees to take on jobs with permanent night shifts seems to be completely non-negotiable. However, by shifting the nature of work away from real time to delayed time, this too can be man aged in some companies over a period of time.    1 The Karnataka government has â€Å"simplified† labor legislations: Several barriers, including employment of women at night, flexible working hours, mandatory weekly offs have all been removed by necessary amendments to relevant laws to create an â€Å"optimal environment† for the growth of the BPO sector in the State. 2 A study (2001) by the Seattle based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in association with the National Cancer Institute 3 Presentation on the BPO landscape and possible end-game models at the NASSCOM ITES-BPO Summit in Bangalore in June 2003. 4 McKinsey-Nasscom study 2002 5 Went for Cost, Stayed for Quality: Moving the Back Office to India, paper by Rafiq Dossani, Senior Research Scholar, Asia/Pacific Research Center, Stanford University