Darwin and Evolution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Darwin and Evolution - Assignment Example Prior to Darwin, though some naturalists had speculated about modification of species, they failed to explain why and how species change. They also believed that evolution began with the special creation of only a fixed number of species. Partly influenced by Thomas Malthus' essay on the Principle of Population and stimulated by a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, in 1859 Charles Darwin discussed in detail the evolution of species through natural selection in his famous work titled On the Origin of Species, which totally revolutionized the previous concepts of evolutionary biology. Natural selection refers to a process in which species compete and struggle for their survival according to the limited resources and conditions of their natural environment with different adaptive abilities. As individuals in a population are not same due to difference in inherited characteristics, nature only selects those individuals that are best suited to the environmental conditions, and thus rest o f the population dies over time. As all the offspring in a population acquire characteristics from their ancestors, produced more than nature can support and have different reproductive characteristics, only those organisms will survive that are better adapted to the living conditions. This means that organisms with higher reproduction ability will remain due to higher probability of their descendants to survive, and other will eventually become extinct due to less survival rate of their offspring with the passage of time. Since environmental conditions are different from place to place, there will be variation in characteristics of species at different locations. Darwin concluded that populations extending over large areas or through migration might have been isolated resulting in variation of their characteristics according to varying environments. Over long periods of time, they may have diverged or evolved into separate species different from each other. For instance, Darwin fou nd that finches he observed on the Galapagos Islands were similar to one another than they were to finches of the mainland. He also noticed that some varieties were only existent on the archipelago islands. So, he proposed that all species might have descended from a common ancestor and increase in number of species occurred through evolutionary natural selection over time rather than special creation. Question Two Darwin and other naturalists believed that variations among individuals of a species were due to mixing of traits from both male and the female. He was not aware of the heredity mechanism and different traits were regarded to be the result of blending of characteristics through generations over time. However, the concept of blending inheritance failed to describe the survival of variety as they descended through generations with time. It also failed to describe the maintenance of specific characteristics in varieties and that how new species would emerge through blending. It was 1866, when Gregor Mendel published his experimental findings on garden peas. To experiment with pure seeds, he selected a self pollinating plant. He experimented with garden peas that were different from each other in many characteristics such as their flowers were either red or white, had green or yellow seeds, and tall or dwarf. After cross-breeding generations having different characteristics, he observed that descendants from each cross possessed characteristics of only one of the parents and blending did not happen. Mendel concluded that instead of blending of certain fluids, heredity from parents was passed on to offspring through independent discrete units, particles or factoren, which were later termed as genes. The characteristic that appeared in a descendant after cross breeding was termed

Information Managment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Information Managment - Case Study Example However, these retailing powerhouses have weaker market presence in areas where Pamida is located thus creating a competitive, first entrant and first mover advantage for the company. (Porter, 1985) ShopKo has implemented a systems application called Markdown Optimizer in order to deal with pricing of a product according to season, store location, local tastes and past demand. The software analyzes historical pricing plus sales data in order to control and price product leftovers of individual stores. Pamida overhauled its inventory management systems in order to address product shortage from its different stores. It has implemented a full service distribution system in three warehouse locations. Initially, the company experienced setbacks and low earnings caused by the implementation of the new distribution system. This was due to a inappropriate allocation of resources where Pamida focused on new technology infrastructures and new merchandising software without modernizing their back-door operations. The warehouse management system was old, inflexible and outdated. The functionalities and features of the software were not anymore aligned to the new business strategy and it cannot cope up with the growth of the company's demand. The company normalized its distribution operations when it has utilized and employed a better and flexible distribution system software. Results and Business Benefits The ShopKo operations have benefited a lot from the new application. The Markdown Optimizer increased the gross margin and decreased its payroll costs from the previous year. Importantly, it has dramatically decreased the percentage of unsold goods at the end of each season. With these benefits, the net profit of ShopKo has increased. On the other hand, Pamida performed well by maintaining a high in-stock availability of merchandise through effective warehousing, efficient distribution and modernized information systems. At the end of 2001, Pamida has turned around its operational setbacks and implemented a functional full service distribution system.. They had become successful such that the company has decided to consolidate its distribution at two centers instead of three to further save on costs. Key Learnings Information systems strategies should be aligned with the business strategy of a company. It must not focus on modernization of infrastructures alone. It is important for IS to give value to the company and compliment the business goals. As part of strategic management, information system's role in the decision making process has become very important in the organization. It functions both as support and driver of corporate strategies.(Pearlson, 2001) An effective information system needs a valuable and useful symbiosis with the rest of the management structures in an organization.(Turban et al, 1999) Case 2: What Happened to Kmart Background Kmart was the largest discount chain in the retail industry. It was established in 1962 and has expanded to 63 stores at the end of 1963 through their introduction of discount stores.

Fiction as History Essay Example for Free

Fiction as History Essay He was known as â€Å"Gabo† to the people living in Colombia and to those who knew him by his reputation. He was not only a short-story writer, a novelist and a screenwriter by profession for he was also a journalist—these were only among the many things which gave him the honor as among the famous writers of Latin America and one of the most significant 20th century authors. At the age of 65, Gabriel Garcia Marquez was given the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982: the product of the combination of an early life largely influenced by his grandfather and a life lived through the ways and means of journalism after quitting law school (Williams, p. 135). Gabo is considered to be a pioneering author in the Latin American â€Å"Boom† during the 1960s, stemming from the fame he achieved through his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude and his indispensable presence and role in Latin American literature (Maurya, p. 54). One Hundred Years of Solitude has been significantly understood by critics and literary scholars as a history of Gabo’s rendition of the circumstances during the strike that happened back in 1928 in Colombia (Posada-Carbo, p. 401). That magnus opus of Gabo is said to scrutinize the Colombian regime’s repressive nature as well as the strike itself which claimed the lives of many workers. Throughout the course of his career, the literary style known as â€Å"magical realism† has been largely attributed to Gabo as he was the one who popularized the literary technique of using magical events and elements so as to give real experiences the fitting explanations (Hinds and Raymond, p. 897). Gabo is also said to have been an influential writer not only for his fellow Latin Americans but also for fresh authors and budding writers from other nations. For Gabo, reality is a very significant theme and ingredient in his writings, especially evident in his works â€Å"In Evil Hour,† â€Å"Big Mama’s Funeral† and â€Å"Nobody Writes to the Colonel† (Aizenberg, p. 1239). These three works of Gabo reflect the kind of Columbian society where he lived inasmuch as they also reflect the reality of life in the nation. The theme of reality is the foundation for the rational structure of the books of Gabo, although European readers may tend to be less aware of the reality that Gabo wants to send across and tend to be more inclined to interpret his works as testimonies to his magical realist craft. The first few years in the career of Gabo Marquez saw a struggling journalist in him. He was literally a travelling journalist simply because he was always on the move, transferring from town to town across Latin America and Europe. At one point, he worked for El Espectador back in 1955 as a correspondent reporting from Rome and Paris. Although the newspaper was shut down by the dictator Rojas Pinilla which took away his position as a journalist, Gabo nevertheless was able to pick up on where he was left and continued his writing career in Mexico City. In the City, he did not only work as a journalist; he also worked as a screen writer and as a publicist before moving back to Barcelona during the 1970s. Although Gabo was a well-travelled writer, it can be said that he never fails to at least think about his hometown and reflect it on what he has written. Evidence to this is his constant use of the town â€Å"Macondo† in his many stories which reminds the readers of the town of Aracataca where Gabo was born and lived his childhood days (Molen, p. 4). This was true right from the time when Gabo began writing to the time when he was able to considerably attain success in the literary limelight. Nonetheless, the time when Gabo began writing was a significant event for the literary scene in Hispanic American societies because the literature in those regions was characterized either by realist-modernist or super-regionalism during the middle part of the twentieth century. Those were the times when Latin American writers were busy either writing as a modernist or as a realist—both having the tendencies to categorize themselves as ‘regional’ writers or writers who either depict or mask reality in their respective places. Maurya Vibha further suggests that there is an apparent â€Å"absent history in the Third World conditions of Latin America† and a â€Å"link between postcolonial fiction and a desire to think historically† in the works of Gabo (p. 54). If Vibha is indeed right, then there is strong reason to believe that what Gabo did in his works is to provide that link and, in the end, to capture the significance of those ‘third world conditions’ into a piece of literature which depicts the stark reality in Latin American societies. Apparently, the works of Gabo, if not the course of his life, present the struggles faced by Latin Americans in their own territory as well as in others. In effect, it can be said that Gabo’s ‘magical realism’ is indeed a combination of the depiction of the social realities that the author saw in his lifetime and of the literary magic that he used in depicting those realities. Although European readers may get the impression that the literature of Gabo is ‘magic’ in itself, it should not be the case that the substance of his works be confined to that magic alone for it transcends the barriers of that magic by portraying reality at its highs and lows. Works Cited Aizenberg, Edna. Historical Subversion and Violence of Representation in Garcia Marquez and Ouologuem. PMLA 107. 5 (1992): 1239. Hinds, Elizabeth Jane, and Raymond Leslie Williams. Interview with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. PMLA 104. 5 (1989): 897. Maurya, Vibha. Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Social Scientist 11.1 (1983): 54. Molen, Patricia Hart. Potency Vs Incontinence In The Autumn of the Patriarch Of Gabriel Garcia Marquezpotency Vs Incontinence In The Autumn of the Patriarch Of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature 33. 1 (1979): 4. Posada-Carbo, Eduardo. Fiction as History: The Bananeras and Gabriel Garcia Marquezs One Hundred Years of Solitude. Journal of Latin American Studies 30. 2 (1998): 401. Williams, Raymond Leslie. The Visual Arts, the Poetization of Space and Writing: An Interview with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. PMLA 104. 2 (1989): 135.

Stocking the Online Community :: Internet Web Cyberspace Essays

Stocking the Online Community I must have a net worth of one million dollars by the time I'm forty. Sounds like a plan to me. Retirement, living the good life. My plan would be to go to school full?time, quit the job, and move into the country. (Not necessarily in that order) The Ad's I see have to be working for someone. The internet and stock trading were meant for each other. More and more people are getting on the band wagon so get on early. "But these hot High?tech stocks and you can't miss," followed by, "The next five winning I.P.O.'s free, just log onto www...." Sure there is some risk involved but people are making a ton of money and I want my share. Show me where to buy. I have some cash put aside I can risk it, I'm young. I can go online find a couple reputable communities, put out the feelers and take the plunge. The help will be free, I'll just give them my email address and they can send me junk mail. It's not hard to delete it. I will have to do some research to find someone to purchase stocks thro ugh that does not charge too much. In addition, I'll need a source for researching which stocks to buy. One or two emergent stocks, buy and sell at the right time and I'm on my way to early retirement. The operation I buy the stocks from will need to have a low price for trades and a low starting balance. It must be quick and easy to trade stocks and I will need quick confirmation to know how much money I've made. Not through the web but in a magazine article I found a rating of six online trading companies they are Scottrade, E?Trade, Suretrade, Smith Barney, Charles Schwab and DLJ Direct. The two most important things to me are the cost of a trade and the amount and quality of access to research. Scottrade has the lowest trade price of $5.95 and Smith Barney with the highest at $24.95. The research is especially good with Smith Barney and Charles Schwab slightly below in quality is Suretrade. Another thing I learned is that most of these companies require a minimum balance to start, E?Trade wants $1000 while Smith Barney starts with $2000. While Suretrade requires no minimum and Scottrade requires only $200. Stocking the Online Community :: Internet Web Cyberspace Essays Stocking the Online Community I must have a net worth of one million dollars by the time I'm forty. Sounds like a plan to me. Retirement, living the good life. My plan would be to go to school full?time, quit the job, and move into the country. (Not necessarily in that order) The Ad's I see have to be working for someone. The internet and stock trading were meant for each other. More and more people are getting on the band wagon so get on early. "But these hot High?tech stocks and you can't miss," followed by, "The next five winning I.P.O.'s free, just log onto www...." Sure there is some risk involved but people are making a ton of money and I want my share. Show me where to buy. I have some cash put aside I can risk it, I'm young. I can go online find a couple reputable communities, put out the feelers and take the plunge. The help will be free, I'll just give them my email address and they can send me junk mail. It's not hard to delete it. I will have to do some research to find someone to purchase stocks thro ugh that does not charge too much. In addition, I'll need a source for researching which stocks to buy. One or two emergent stocks, buy and sell at the right time and I'm on my way to early retirement. The operation I buy the stocks from will need to have a low price for trades and a low starting balance. It must be quick and easy to trade stocks and I will need quick confirmation to know how much money I've made. Not through the web but in a magazine article I found a rating of six online trading companies they are Scottrade, E?Trade, Suretrade, Smith Barney, Charles Schwab and DLJ Direct. The two most important things to me are the cost of a trade and the amount and quality of access to research. Scottrade has the lowest trade price of $5.95 and Smith Barney with the highest at $24.95. The research is especially good with Smith Barney and Charles Schwab slightly below in quality is Suretrade. Another thing I learned is that most of these companies require a minimum balance to start, E?Trade wants $1000 while Smith Barney starts with $2000. While Suretrade requires no minimum and Scottrade requires only $200.

The Teacher as a Hero

The teacher as a hero LESSONS PLANNED from the teacher's pen (The Philippine Star) Updated October 01, 2009 T here are heroes and heroes, national and local. Some of them are born, others are made. Many are still living while many others have long been gone. It is to the latter that monuments and museums were built to keep alive their memory in our hearts and mind. Public buildings, parks and plazas, streets and a few provinces have been named after them. Important dates and events are usually marked red in the calendar to remind us of their birth or death anniversary. During the celebration of these events, program speakers take turns extolling to high heavens whatever good they had done for the country. Sad enough the hero who is apparently taken for granted and therefore unsung is the poor teacher. Not having a pedigreed name, she has no influence, no power. She is regarded as belonging to the marginalized sector of society. Tactless people look down on her with contempt saying, â€Å"She’s only a teacher. † After all, unlike OFWs, teachers do not contribute to the national economy. What many do not seem to realize is that a teacher is truly a hero in her own way. For a teacher is not only about her lesson plans, her teaching methods, strategies and techniques. A teacher is also about her personal character, her values and her attitude. And more importantly a teacher is also about her missionary work which entails a great deal of sacrifice on her part and her family. Indeed, the pro-bono services that she renders involve numerous risks to life and limb. We have heard of teachers who were kidnapped for ransom, forced into marriage under pain of bodily harm, physically abused and the unfortunate, even beheaded. I remember a male teacher who reprimanded a student for provoking trouble in class. That afternoon the huffy father with fire in his eyes sought the teacher in school and mercilessly hacked him to death. I had a relative who was summoned to the Comelec office in Manila and made to explain her inadvertence to affix her signature on a pair of election forms. The financially distressed teacher was forced to take a long-term loan which she used to pay for her transportation fare, board and lodging while in Manila. In the meantime her family had to be sparing and frugal in order to tide them over until such period that the loan was fully paid. While other government employees are off after five, the teacher spends long hours of work at home writing lesson plans, checking test papers or preparing visual aids and similar teaching devices. Compared to those who work in the comfort of their office, thousands of our teachers go on long hours of journey to their far-flung stations over hill and dale, many times in harsh weather condition. It is no wonder that many of these teachers become decrepit long before their age or they get pitifully sick before retirement from the service. And yet their take-home pay is a mere pittance. Any increase in their starvation salary comes far apart and in trickles because this is dependent upon the members of Congress who remember the teachers only on election time. Come May of next year teachers will again be called upon to man the electoral ramparts of our democracy. They will be there to help safeguard the sanctity of the ballot, armed only with the nobility and integrity of their profession. Whatever people say to the contrary, the teacher as a hero is ready to lay down her life for the sake of country sans a loud flourish of trumpets. I salute our teachers as heroes, living or dead! ANTONIO A. MORAN of Camalig, Albay is a retired general education supervisor of the Department of Education.

History and Purpose of the Commonwealth of Nations

As the British Empire began its process of decolonization and the creation of independent states from former British colonies, there arose a need for an organization of countries formerly part of the Empire. In 1884, Lord Rosebery, a British politician, described the changing British Empire as a Commonwealth of Nations. Thus, in 1931, the British Commonwealth of Nations was founded under the Statute of Westminster with five initial members - the United Kingdom, Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, and the Union of South Africa. (Ireland permanently left the Commonwealth in 1949, Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949, and South Africa left in 1961 due to apartheid but rejoined in 1994 as the Republic of South Africa). Commonwealth of Nations Rebrand In 1946, the word British was dropped and the organization became known as simply the Commonwealth of Nations. Australia and New Zealand adopted the Statute in 1942 and 1947, respectively. With Indias independence in 1947, the new country desired to become a Republic and to not utilize the monarchy as their head of state. The London Declaration of 1949 modified the requirement that members must view the monarchy as their head of state to require that countries recognize the monarchy as simply the leader of the Commonwealth. With this adjustment, additional countries joined the Commonwealth as they gained independence from the United Kingdom so today there are fifty-four member countries. Of the fifty-four, thirty-three are republics (such as India), five have their own monarchies (such as Brunei Darussalam), and sixteen are a constitutional monarchy with the sovereign of the United Kingdom as their head of state (such as Canada and Australia). Although membership requires having been a former dependency of the United Kingdom or a dependency of a dependency, former Portuguese colony Mozambique became a member 1995 under special circumstances due to Mozambiques willingness to support the Commonwealths fight against apartheid in South Africa. Policies The Secretary-General is elected by the Heads of Government of the membership and can serve two four-year terms. The position of Secretary-General was established in 1965. The Commonwealth Secretariat has its headquarters in London and is composed of 320 staff members from the member countries. The Commonwealth maintains its own flag. The purpose of the voluntary Commonwealth is for international cooperation and to advance economics, social development, and human rights in member countries. Decisions of the various Commonwealth councils are non-binding. The Commonwealth of Nations supports the Commonwealth Games, which is a sporting event held every four years for member countries. A Commonwealth Day is celebrated on the second Monday in March. Each year carries a different theme but each country can celebrate the day as they choose. The population of the 54 member states exceeds two billion, about 30% of the world population (India is responsible for a majority of the Commonwealths population).

The War Of The Vietnam War - 974 Words

Edward R. Murrow once said, â€Å"Anyone who isn t confused really doesn t understand the situation,† (Quotes About Vietnam War). The entire basis for the Vietnam War was to suppress communism. Citizens of the United States as a whole did not understand communism. Communism was a newer concept and had mainly been seen in reference to the Cold War with USSR. Often times with confusion comes anger. Many soldier were angry that they were sent to war, while others went out of curiosity. The story of Mary Anne Bell’s time in Vietnam is representative of the curious soldiers who volunteered for the Vietnam War. When Mary Anne Bell arrives in Vietnam she is innocent and is, â€Å"just a kid,† (O’Brien 90). Rat also points out that Mary Anne is wearing a pink top and white culottes. (O’Brien 90). Pink is a combination of white and red. White symbolizes purity which depicts her innocence at the beginning of the story (The Meaning of Colors). The name Mary represents innocence (The Name of Mary). Mary is the name of the Virgin who gave birth to Jesus. Virginity represents purity. Red is both a symbol of strength, danger and passion (The Meaning of Colors). This depicts that Mary Anne had two separate paths to choose from. How to Read Literature Like a Professor states, â€Å"The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge,† (Foster 3). Mary Anne was able to explore both paths before choosing one path for her quest. At first Mary Anne is with Mark and her life is mostly quiet and innocent. SheShow MoreRelatedThe War Of Vietnam And The Vietnam War1525 Words   |  7 PagesThe war in Vietnam is The United States and other capitalist bloc countries supported South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) against the support by the Soviet Union and other socialist bloc countries of North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and the Vietcong of war. Which occurred during the Cold War of Vietnam (main battlefield), Laos, and Cambodia. This is the biggest and longtime war in American history during the 1960s (Best 2008). It is also the most significant war after World War IIRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1475 Words   |  6 Pageson one such event, the Vietnam War, came from entertainment-based programs and the play Miss Saigon. Despite heavy coverage in such well-known comedic films as Forrest Gump and Good Morning Vietnam , the true events were anything but a laugh for those involved. In spite of the relative recentness of the events in Vietnam, many of today’s youths know little about the topic. The events in Vietnam raise the ever-present question on the ethics of third party involvement in a war otherwise unrelated toRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1729 Words   |  7 Pagesspread of communism all around the world. This is what lead to the gruesome war that lasted over a decade in Vietnam. A great deal of social changed happened all over the world, but particularly in America as the Vietnam War dragged on. As people became more aware of the atrocities going on in Southeast Asia, the endless domestic support turned into widespread explosive protest. During the first few years of the Vietnam conflict, Americans full heartedly supported the United States and its governmentRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1379 Words   |  6 Pagestensions over the Vietnam war caused many americans to become divided on the actions taken by the government across seas. Americans questioned whether the government could be trusted. The feeling of betrayal and government secrecy created the â€Å"Credibility Gap,† in which many americans believed that the government no longer was for the people, but for anything else that would benefit the government. The Vietnam War exacerbated the gap between the pro-war traditionalists and anti-war liberals along withRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1430 Words   |  6 Pagesended in 1989, the Vietnam war is still being fought, but on a different battlefield, one of public opinion. Some call this war an atrocity, a war the United States should never have joined. Others call it a crime, committed by the power hungry politicians of the U.S. Now that new information from both sides of the war has surfaced and the wounds of battle have had more time to heal there is yet another opinion emerging. The Vietnam War was in fact only one of many proxy wars fought under the umbrellaRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1155 Words   |  5 PagesThe Vietnam War cost many Americans their lives in the 60s and 70s. Many were drafted into the war by choice and others selectively chosen to join to help America. The contributions made had a major impact on the American side of the Vietnam War. Though many contributions were made none stand out any more than others. It is sometimes said there is always a hero in the war who helped the victory. Wars, however, do not have war heroes because a hero is making an undeniable contribution to the war andRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1592 Words   |  7 PagesThe Vietnam War was said to be one of the most significant wars in the twentieth century. This w ar took place from November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975. It was at the time, the longest war in American history. Much of the conflict was centered in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. During that time, approximately 58,219 US troops were killed in action. The reason America got involved in the Vietnam War was to stop the spread of communism in South East Asia and beyond. â€Å"America’s involvement in Vietnam derivedRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1204 Words   |  5 Pagesus†¦ When that is the way you are, how do you conduct your life?† The Vietnam War killed over fifty eight thousand Americans and over 61% of the men killed were 21 years or younger. Most Americans are conflicted with the fact whether the Anti War Movement played a factor in prolonging the Vietnamese War. â€Å"In every story there are two sides and in between lies the truth.† Anonymous The United States become involved in Vietnam after the French withdrew when the Republican President Dwight EisenhowerRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War877 Words   |  4 PagesAnother big difference in this war was that the Vietnam War was had more disapproval and was more expressive within the American public, unlike the Korean War. The ANITWAR MOVEMENT started in the 1960s this group was never enacted until this era. There was not a group like this in Vietnam, but there were many groups that opposed the war. The main object of these revolts was the American military presence in Indochina. The ANITWAR MOVEMENT caused an influence not only socially, but also in the realmRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War1421 Words   |  6 PagesIn July and August of 1972, Jane Fonda made radio broadcasts from Hanoi that changed the way Americans thought of the Vietnam war and of her. To this day, many people view her as a traitor and criticise her actions in Vietnam; however, some people we re truly inspired by her words and what she had to say. Despite people s personal opinions, Fonda was a powerful speaker and knew how to convey her message to her audience. She tried to convince people that the American government and military were the