Poetic form meter Essay

Exploring how Allen Curnow portrays the search for inspiration in Continuum In the poem ‘Continuum’ by Allen Curnow, he tells us about his lack of inspiration. The theme of the poem revolves around poetic inspiration, and how he is unable to get inspiration. Allen Curnow uses a variety of stylistic devices to portray this. The title, â€Å"Continuum†, shows us that the problem Allen Curnow talks about, his lack of inspiration, is never ending and is continuing all the time, i.e., it is continuous. The first stanza signifies the first stage of poetic inspiration and also shows us Curnow’s unstable thoughts; â€Å"the roof falls behind†, as he is unable to compose poetry he is in a sense, rolling and falling all over the place so to speak. In the first line, the word â€Å"moon† is used as an image: a symbol for Curnow. As the moon is unable to shine on its own (it has to draw its light and energy from the sun), just like that Curnow depends on his writing to keep him going in life. The first stanza also tells the reader about the setting and time of the poem which is at night. The moon also evokes images of loneliness and a solitary state in that it is the only bright object in the night sky just like Curnow is the only (and therefore lonely) person awake at night. The poem has no definite rhyme scheme, suggesting to us that the poet is finding it difficult to express his thoughts, and he cannot tap into the world of imagination. The last line of the first stanza; â€Å"I am talking about myself.† Is a clear statement of his frustration and his inability to write. In the next stanza, Curnow is seeking connection with nature to find poetic inspiration. The line, â€Å"It’s not possible to get off to sleep†, tells the reader that the poet is unable to sleep which shows that something is troubling him. He tries to convey that it’s as tough to get rid of his thoughts as it is to get rid off the planet. Curnow goes out â€Å"barefoot†, to rid himself of the human material and wants to connect with nature†¦.

Interviewed Couple Essay

The family is regarded as the basic unit of society and as such, good parenting is important in order to strengthen the family as an institution. Nevertheless, the situation of every family is different. There are important factors such as age, cultural, background, financial stability, etc. that must be carefully considered in assessing the parenting style in every family. Being the case, it is necessary that the situation of families are given due importance and the most effective way to be able to understand parenting styles is through the face-to-face interaction with parents. In relation to this, Henry and Tanya Pietrkowski were interviewed when it comes to parenting their daughter, Sophia. The interviewees are Henry and Tanya Pietrkowski who are the parents of a 14 years old teenager. The first part of the interview is about the family background of the couple that involves their respective ethnicity and religion. Tanya has a German-Jewish and Russian Jewish ethnicity. She pointed out that there was a conflict between the German and Russian sides of her family. She grew up in a small town Georgia wherein Jews are regarded as a minority. On the other hand, Henry came from a family of first-generation American Jewish. His parents emigrated from Poland and were Holocaust survivors. Henry grew up in the north side of Chicago. In this part of the interview, the ethnicity and religious background of the couple is given importance because the place and way by which they grew up have a substantial effect in their corresponding beliefs and values about parenting (McDermott 4). In addition, through the conversation of the interviewer with the couple it was established that their ancestors were immigrants from other countries and regarded as a minority in the American society. Tanya even explicitly stated that she experienced living in a small town in Georgia wherein Jews are a minority. In terms of parenting, the cultural background of the parents is important, especially when it comes to dealing with teachers that will be responsible in educating their children. The parents and the teachers should be able to understand each other in terms of cultural context in order for them to properly guide the education and behavior of the child (McDermott 4). The interview with the couple also gives emphasis with the respective lessons that they learn from their parents regarding parenting. The couple explained that their parents veered away from the parenting styles of their grandparents because the latter experienced a very difficult childhood, which is why in the case of Tanya, her parents chose to live in Georgia so that she will not experience the difficulties that they went through. Both the parents of the couple are disciplinarians. Nevertheless, they were still able to maximize their skills and talents even though their parents are not financial stable. Tanya’s father was an art professor, which make it easier for her to develop her singing, running, debating, and other skills because her father provided her with private lessons with his colleagues in the academe. Tanya’s father exemplified the ability of parents to give the necessary their children by means of supporting their interests, which eventually served as a huge help in maximizing their potentials as individuals (Heath 316). Unfortunately, Tanya admitted that her parents were not able to address the issues that they have during their childhood, which makes it difficult for them to instill the necessary values to her and her brother. Furthermore, Tanya and her mother also have disagreements on the way Tanya raised her daughter, especially when it comes to financial matters and the values that she teach her daughter. The problem of Tanya’s parents in teaching values to their children is brought about by unresolved childhood issues, which is discussed by Erik Erikson in the stages of development. Tanya’s parents were not able to properly go through the different stages of development, which is why their unresolved childhood issues still affects their parenting style (Elkind 9). Moreover, the disagreement between Tanya and her mother is also caused by the failure of the mother to properly develop into an adult that has the necessary financial stability and value fulfillment (Newman and Newman 317). The second part of the interview involves the conversation about the marriage of the couple and their decision to conceive a child. Based on the answer of the couple, they were only 13 months married when Tanya became pregnant. The couple already acknowledges the idea that they will become parents but they did not expect that it will happen very soon. However, even though the child came very early in their marriage the couple was able to fulfill their respective dreams of being married first and having a stable job before having a baby. In this situation, the couple was individually fulfilled before having a baby, which is essential in their growth process as adults and eventually has a good effect in their parenting (Simon and Lambert 91). The last part of the interview is about the parenting of the couple. It is clearly observable that the couple also wants the best for their daughter, in terms of her living a better life as compared to them. The couple has their own parenting style that is different from their parents because their experienced taught them their parents lack the necessary tending in the way they were raised (Taylor 34). Moreover, the couple also moved to a part of Chicago that has Jewish community in order for their daughter not to feel isolated. They also enrolled their daughter to a Jewish school in order for her to have a strong Jewish faith unlike them. The couple admitted that they do not have any specific parenting style for their daughter wherein they did not establish any parenting roles of rules that their daughter need to follow. The couple just goes with the flow of parenting but they believed that they were able to raise their children well because they listen to her, which is important in parenting. The couple advised other parents that the right way of parenting is by trusting one’s instinct, which is actually true in the most current studies that there is â€Å"no single recipe for successful parenting† because every family have different issues, backgrounds, beliefs, and values that must be considered in identifying the right parenting style (Maccoby 451).

Can One Be Non-Religious but Still Believe in God

Can one be non-religious but still believe in God? â€Å"My grandfather believed that the greatest religion of all was to ensure that we wipe the tears from every eye and bring hope and decency to every life. If performed with utmost humility, he said, this service would grant us the magnanimity to recognize and accept the many ways we are called to see God in humanity. † –Sankara Saranam (Saranam, 2005) One can still believe in God without associating with religion.This is possible when people believe in searching for God through themselves, by choosing to distance themselves from religion because they do not want to be bound by religious ideals, and by staying away from religion due to one’s belief that the name of religion is misused in today’s time with the name of God. People often believe in God by searching for the divine power through their inner selves. God exists within every human heart in the form of the love, compassion, understanding, and oth er positive traits that the human kind is capable of, yet they choose to suppress (Saranam, 2005).Often, one does not realize that regardless of what religion one follows, God is inside each human heart through all the positive qualities and emotions that one possesses. All the emotions that one feels are God given, therefore the search to connect with him can be done through one’s reflection of their life and the choices they have made. God is everywhere, so in order to connect with Him; one can choose to worship his power and existence without involving any religious aspect to their relationship.One may choose to distance themselves from religion because they believe that indulging in it will restrict them from living their life on their own terms. Some people may choose to believe that what religious holy books teach, may tie them down to follow it faithfully. Moreover, if one decides to marry someone out of their religion, they may be accused of not being loyal enough to it. For example, Islam teaches that marrying outside of the religion is permitted only when the social and cultural values of Islam become the dominant values of the society, in which the man and the woman are living in.Therefore, if a Muslim man were to marry a Hindu girl, the girl would have to give up her religion and devote herself to her spouse’s religion. People would rather choose to believe that God accepts the union of every man and woman regardless of their race or color, because love is above all. Some people do not agree with these societal boundaries that are created by the difference of religion and that is why they choose to distance themselves from it. Some people may believe that religion is being misused in today’s time using the name of God.People who are currently having a bad phase in their life may be lured into false promises by priests of their religion that they can solve all their problems in their life and regain happiness if they conduct rel igious prayer ceremonies to â€Å"appease† the Lord. Furthermore, it can be believed that people often fear God and because of this, they believe that priests and vicars are living the right kind of life that is free of sin, a one that God would want them to.So, they become misguided and donate to these priests in hopes that that will be included as a genuine good deed and that God will be happy with them. As L. Ron Hubbard had once said, â€Å"If you want to make a little money, write a book. If you want to make a lot of money, create a religion† (Hubbard, 2012). Religion is supposed to be sacred and considered a logical explanation of how God and the world came to be, although it has been made a mockery of in today’s society.Every year, people donate hundreds of dollars to religious institutions, unaware of where their hard earned money is really going. Therefore, some people choose to not involve themselves with these religious gimmicks and choose to practice their own religion, which is their personal relationship with God. Religion is not the only pathway that leads to the divine mystery we label as God, the Creator of Everything. Due to all the hatred, ignorance, and enmity that religion has caused amongst humans, some people believe to label their religion as just humanity.This religion does not have boundaries and restrictions, instead, it teaches everyone to love and respect one another. One can still believe in God without any involvement of religion. This is possible when people believe in searching for God through themselves, keeping away from religion because they do not want to be tied down by religious ideals, and by refraining from practicing religion due to one’s belief that the name of religion is misused in today’s time using God.

Without Efficient States, Productive Activity, and a High Level of Glo Literature review

Without Efficient States, Productive Activity, and a High Level of Globalization Would Be Impossible - Literature review Example Thus, the job of a coal miner in Britain might depend on events in South Africa or Poland as much as on local management or national government decisions. Although the notion does not just refer to global interconnectedness. Globalisation 'is best understood as expressing fundamental aspects of time-space distancing. Globalisation concerns the intersection of presence and absence, the interlacing of social events, and social relations "at a distance" with local contextualities' (Giddens 1991:21). David Harvey (1989:240), too, refers to the fact that globalisation describes our changing experience of time and space or 'time-space compression'. According to Jessop, phenomena firmly within an ontologically broader context of capitalist socio-economic and sociopolitical restructuring, in order to ascertain exactly how they intervene in power struggles over this restructuring. This would be in order to clarify whether or not these interventions are contingent or can be attributed to objective necessities. In this context, it makes no sense to postulate 'the market' and 'the state' axiomatically against one another, since the two really presuppose one another (Jessop 1997:50-52). Hence and indeed following Jessop, (Magnus Ryner; 2002: 101) suggest that we pose the question of globalisation with reference to the manner in which:(a) socio-economic orders become materially reproduced (or not) through the configuration of a regime of accumulation and mode of regulation;(b) Potential and tendential social conflicts are 'managed' (or not)-that is, how they are mediated, regulated, and neutralised-through socially embedded authority structures; (c) This order is (or is not) 'normalized' and stabilized through the articulation of the terms of legitimacy which engenders the social order with a stable 'consensual' 'mass base';(d) Questions (a), (b) and (c) interrelate to form (or not) a Gramscian historic bloc or sets of interacting historic blocs. The elating trade barriers, liberalization of capital markets, as well as speedy technical development, particularly in the fields of information technology, transport, and telecommunications, have infinitely improved and hasten the faction of people, information, possessions, and resources. In the same way, they have as well expanded the variety of issues which spread out the boundaries of nation-States necessitating international median setting and directive and, consequently, conference and formal discussions on a global or district scale. numerous of the tribulations distressing the world today such as poverty, ecological pollution, financial crises, organized crime and terror campaign - are ever more transnational in nature, and cannot be a pact with simply at the national level, nor by State to State negotiations.Immense economic, as well as social interdependence, seems to influence national decision-making processes in two essential ways. It calls for a transfer of decisions to the worldwide level and, due to an increase in the stipulate for participation it as well needs numerous decisions to be relocated to confined levels of government.Thereby, globalization requires multifaceted decision-making processes, which occurs at diverse levels, explicitly sub-national, national, and global, paving the way to an emergent multi-layered structure of power.

Choose any topic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Choose any topic - Assignment Example For instance, president Obama, while asking Congress to vote on his decision to act on the use of chemical weapons by Assad in Syria, manifests the truth in the statement that might is right. President Obama seeks to act on the situation simply because it poses a threat to its national security and of ‘friends’. This action will be in violation of international law that only allows the Security Council to sanction recourse to war. The President downplays the role of the UN in the matter and does not wait for its decision. From this action, it can be inferred that mighty nations can do as they wish without feeling bound by international laws. Ironically, the president states in his speech that right creates might while doing exactly the opposite. In a similar vein, former president Bush went on with pre-emptive war in Iraq even though the issue was before the UN. The reason put forward were that Iraq posed a threat to the national security of the US. This opinion fuelled the policy of the US to attack their enemies before the enemies attacked US. Similarly, Bush unilaterally decided that Iran with Nuclear weapons would be a great threat to world security. This misplaced notion that the US has the responsibility to bring change or protect the world could only stem on the operationalization of might is right. To sum it up, Kimen Valaskaki states in his article that whatever interpretation is given to pre-emptive actions leans towards the wrong assertion of the might is right concept at the expense of the weaker nations. It is indeed true that might is right is a reality in the present

Optimizing solar thermal resurce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Optimizing solar thermal resurce - Essay Example Such cities includes; Oakland 17%, San Franscisco 12% and Porland 10% (Ten top cities in U.S.A for renewable energy) . In his paper (Cleveland) explains how solar energy can be optimized. This paper represents a method of analyzing the financial costs and benefits of solar systems in commercial buildings using a model building. Assumption made are; the house is 30% below ASHRAE 90.1 standards, the owner is interested in investing on thermal technology and wanted to build the most efficient building possible, consideration of natural gases and electricity escalations as alternatives to solar energy. The model house was 50,000 sq feet and cost of building such a house in Calorina is $500,000 to 750,000 with fully installed HVAC system. Energy plus was used to map the building. The inputs for the energy plus simulation included, Raleigh, NC location, u-shaped office building of 50,000 sq ,30% energy savings among others and this led to projection output of heating system capacity 641 kBtu/hr (includes hot water usage), 87 tons of cooling capacity required, annual HVAC electricity use and annual natural gas use, hot water cooling. The model house was used to run 2 cooling scenarios one with traditional HVAC as control building and the other one with traditional cooling system and solar heating and cooling system (solar building).The sizing of thermal loads of absorption chiller was based on information sourced from energy plus and this ensured that it had that same output as HVAC system. The amount of solar thermal energy supplied to heating water, heating space and cooling the space was calculated using RET screen which is able to estimate energy production, savings ,cost, viability and risks of various renewable energy and energy efficient techniques. In order to determine the comparative value of solar heating and cooling system and traditional HVAC system, net present value (NPV) of each system

Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping (International Relations) Research Paper

Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping (International Relations) - Research Paper Example Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaopings international relations have been shaped by the order and progress of the international system- during Mao’s reign in 1949 to 1950s, China’s main concerns were war and revolution and the People’s Republic of China was opposed to the US led Imperialism by forming alliances with the Soviet Union (Cheng and Zhang 95). This partisan tactic was effective in promoting China’s continued existence, safety, autonomy and freedom. After the People’s Republic of China’s fall out with the Soviet Union, Mao was against both imperialism associated to the US and its supporters together with the Soviet Union led revisionists and as such, China’s international relations were informed by great suspicions and confrontations as opposed to the alliance and relationship. The China - US relationship at this time worsened as China was isolated and viewed as an erratic and backwards state by the US, unlike the Soviet Union whose re visionist strategy had confirmed it as a mature socialist state. Under these circumstances, China had to revise its â€Å"leaning on one side strategy† to â€Å"fighting with two fists† as it was opposed to both the US led imperialism and Soviet Union’s revisionism (Zhong 748-749). The US- Soviet Union collaboration led to the deterioration of China’s international relations with the Soviet Union, but with the conflict of interests between the two world powers - the US and Soviet Union, concerning the Vietnam War, China seized the opportunity to adjust its international relations with the US in retaliation to the Soviet Union’s military threat. This reconciliation was meant to unite all other countries against the Soviet Union’s expansion;  enhance China’s international relations with other countries (especially from the west); and cement China’s global position in the international society (Cheng and Zhang 98). Deng’s leadership of China falls partly

CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE MEDIA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE MEDIA - Essay Example Globalization, which â€Å"denotes the expanding scale, growing magnitude, speeding up and deepening impact of transcontinental flows and patterns of social interaction,†2 implies the intermingling of people from different culture and race, which makes it necessary that there is a mutual respect for each other’s cultural or racial differences, for peaceful coexistence. The term cultural diversity is exemplified by UNESCO (under Article I of Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity) as, Culture takes diverse forms across time and space. This diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities of the groups and societies making up humankind. As a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. In this sense, it is the common heritage of humanity and should be recognized and affirmed for the benefit of present and future generations.3 Cultural diversity, which in simple terms, means respecting existing cultural differences amongst various society members, can be expressed through different channels, the most potent route in this era of information and technology, being the public news media (like Internet, newspaper, radio, or TV).4 Through the news media, diverse cultural groups are able to air their opinions, and able to relate to other members with same cultural values, or even reach out to people who are not a part of their culture. However, cultural diversity in media is much dependent on the way a country’s government frames its democratic and cultural polices, and the manner in which media groups handle the issue of freedom of expression. In this context, the article first studies the importance of culture and cultural diversity within a state democracy, then examines the two cultural diversity models that exist in terms of news media,5 and lastly the model implemented in US news media

Assignment - Zara CaseQuest Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Assignment - Zara CaseQuest - Research Paper Example The management at the company understands that the industry is dynamic and many factors continue to drive the change including customer needs and supply. However, supply is second to customer demands. The top management holds that the company must provide what the market demands and not vice versa (Bower, 2002). Zara has various opportunities and resources that would help the group meet its goals in the process of satisfying clients. The company maintains close management of with tight running of the process of production. To achieve this, Zara maintains both manufacturing and design processes in-house. The only exception is having strategic partnerships situated next to the head offices. Across Europe, the company keeps more than eighty percent of its production in-house with Spain having the least at fifty because of being close to the headquarters. Furthermore, the company enters into agreements with local manufacturers to strategically chase the clients appearing elusive. The agreements help in timely delivery of products as well as services. The company maintains flexibility by designing and producing more than twelve thousand new products to the market every year (Casadesus-Masanell, 2006). This is in addition to the benefits emanating from proximity. Application of these strategies makes the work of chasing to achieve their targets besides satisfying consumer needs. Value chasers are intangible and tangib le in terms of benefits received by stakeholders. From the tangible perspectives Inditex that owns Zara operates a net margin of slightly more than eleven percentile both in the market capitalization and operational activities. The working capital in terms of its net is healthy running more than one hundred and thirty-three thousand Euros. The exemplary performance in the financial sector demonstrates the prowess of Zara to run business in the industry. Within four years up to the turn of the century, the

Korea culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Korea culture - Essay Example In relation to music, Korean pop (K-Pop) is arguably the closest and greatest integration of the Korean culture. K-Pop music started around 1885 with the settlement of missionaries that taught a mixture of American and British folk songs to Koreans. However, the songs were sung in Korean lyrics implying that K-Pop is an integration of Western melodies sang in Korean. However, at this time the name K-Pop was not used as in the modern day and the music was commonly referred to as ‘changga’. In the later years during the Japanese rule, K-Pop was used as a mode of expression mainly targeting the oppression of the Japanese rule. For example, the song ‘Huimangga’, meaning the Song of Hope, was quite popular during this period. However, the rapid advancement of K-Pop was derailed by confiscation of the existing K-Pop records such as lyrics books. Nonetheless, there were some developments such as composition of songs that were a mixture of Korean traditional songs a nd gospel music taught by the missionaries. After the liberation of Korea from the Japanese rule in 1945, Korea was divided into two with major western settlements such as US troops focusing mainly on South Korea. During this time musicians like Marilyn Monroe took some performances to South Korea where there was further integration of Korean and Western music. This saw the rise of new Korean musicians such as ‘The Kim Sisters’ thereby increasing spread of K-Pop to different parts of the world. In 1970s there was increased focus on the younger generation such as in Universities. The younger generation was heavily influenced by the Western culture leading to a transformation of K-Pop following incorporation of guitars and the American hippie fashion style. In the 1990s K-Pop musicians such as ‘Seo Taiji and Boys’ adopted some aspects of the like rap, rock, and techno from the American music

Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease Research Paper - 1

Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease - Research Paper Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that food is not only important for the maintenance and development of an individual, but also in the performance and reproduction of life. It has been estimated that during a person’s entire lifetime, a person consumes approximately 30 tonnes of food on proportion in professedly endless dietary categories. However, as digestion takes place, the food is broken down into basic nutrients necessary for the well being of the individual. Therefore, it is safe to assume that food is chemistry. In the process of digestion, the mixture of chemicals present in the food is broken down into four basic categories: nutrients, non-nutritive naturally occurring components (which include antinutritive and natural toxins), man-made contaminants and additives. Taking that into consideration, it is safe to say that nutrients make up for more than 99.9% of the food contents. Nutrients can be classified into carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, fats, and min erals. These constituents are referred to as macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients can be described as primary sources of strength and building elements for humans, whereas micronutrients, on the other hand, are only required in comparative volumes. Micronutrients can be obtained in vitamins, minerals and trace elements, and are still essential in ample amounts to ensure proper performance of all body cells. Furthermore, micronutrients such as water do not necessarily provide individuals with energy. The majority of micronutrients are critical nutrients for life processes, often synthesized by the body. For that reason, these necessary nutrients can be received from the food that we eat. Most significantly, macronutrients are constituent and indispensable ingredients of our diets, often found in carbohydrates, water, fat, and protein.

Expensive purchase Essay Example for Free

Expensive purchase Essay I bought my first laptop when I was doing my bachelors and when the circuits shorted out on the laptop and the engineer at the service center told me that it would be too expensive to replace the motherboard, I had to make a decision as to whether I was going to buy a second laptop or a desktop. My first laptop had been Toshiba and I had been to the service center several times in the past to get replacements for the first laptop now and then. All that time the service center had provided a level of service that was beyond reproach. As a result when I found out that the first laptop was not going to work any more, I did not go shopping any more. I began to check out the prices at the sales center that was also part of the service center. There was one model of Toshiba that was particularly cheap and I immediately purchased that model knowing full well that if anything went wrong, the people here provided great after sales service. But still, immediately after purchase I began to have doubts as to whether I had done the right thing. But the doubts began to evaporate as I began to use the model which had several additional features that the previous model did not have. The service center sent me a letter of appreciation a few days later to thank me for the purchase and to assure me of their continuing cooperation. Now all doubts were laid to rest. It is clear from the above that I had developed a brand loyalty for Toshiba. When the first laptop stopped working finally, I could have gone shopping for other models such as Dell. But I decided to stay with Toshiba because they had provided such wonderful support during the four and a half years that I had used the first laptop. Toshiba representatives had always been there to give me advice on how to best proceed whenever I needed a decision to make about replacing some part of the previous laptop. This makes me think that computer hardware manufacturers must focus on making their after sales services the best that they can. This area represents the core of competitiveness in the computer hardware manufacturing industry. An important factor that helped to resolve my doubts about making such an expensive purchase was also the warranty. There were lots of second-hand laptops available which were much cheaper. But if something went wrong with those laptops, then there would not be any services available to fix the problems. Toshiba had provided such great services during the years I had used the first laptop that I had no doubts that the best thing to do was to buy a second Toshiba laptop. The process by which Toshiba had gained a loyal customer like me was to follow the marketing strategy of providing not only a product of high quality but also high quality support throughout the life-cycle of the product.

Kettle Foods Marketing Plan

Kettle Foods Marketing Plan Potato chips as a product has been a major snack being consumed around the world but most predominantly in is consumed English speaking countries and some West African countries as well. Potato crisps were first developed in New York, Saratoga Springs in the year 1853 to be precise. It gradually became popular as time went on. The industry has faced several challenges over the years especially in the UK due to the economic difficulties (recession) faced by the country and consumers are also now aware of the health issues that arise due to excess consumption of such snacks which decreased the level sales level of such products. However, the industry still stands and is still leading among snack industries. There are various reasons and factors in industry still remained important and one of such is the health aspect. Many manufacturers and companies over the years have been trying to come up with a solution to the response of consumers to potato crisps as a snack product that contains a high level of fat and sodium which can lead to a high blood pressure or blood sugar and tooth erosion if consumed excessively. As mentioned above, one of the companies which have decided to come up with a solution to the problem that affects potato chips health-wise is Kettle. Kettle has been in the business of manufacturing potato chips naturally without the use of GMO ingredients. Our analysis as will be discussed will focus on the potato chips industry using Kettle Chips as a case study. Kettle was originally founded in 1978 in Salem by Cameron Healy. In 1987 accompanied by his son, Cameron went on a 6 week motorcycle adventure which led them to discover how much the British really liked chips. A branch was later established in the UK, Norwich (1988). Kettle foods today are one of the biggest potato chips manufacturers and have maintained their originality in taste and natural ingredients till date. The Kettle Brand potato chips was perfected in 1982 and have been improving and even expanded their line of production to include Baked Potato Chips, Kettle Brand, Tortilla Chips and Kettle Brand in order to meet varying tastes of their costumers (Kettle Foods Inc., 2009). 2.0 UK MARKET DATA British Population is the biggest snack eaters in Europe amid growing health concerns about savory treats. As a country it consumes an estimated 6 billion packets per year, that equivalent of almost 100 packets of crisps per person. Its a national obsession with crisps and nuts, which means that they spent  £55 per person on them last year, more than double the  £22.50 of nearest rival, Germany. This is projected to climb to more than  £80 in 2014. Overall, they munched through 300 tons of the snacks in 2010, worth  £2.47billion and a quarter of all sales in Europe. Report author James Manley, of leading market analyst Mintel, said: The UK is king in the European crisps and salty snacks market. Eating occasions are unlimited and snacking is rife throughout the day. Though the health credentials of crisps are questioned, it still holds 48 per cent of sales in UK. Other snacks, including tortilla chips, popcorn and pork scratching make up the remaining 52 per cent. UK Potato Crisps Snacks Market to hit  £2.61bn by 2014 Says New Report. As per past records and analysis, in 2006 the UK market value of crisps, salty snacks and nuts was around 2500 million pounds. It has been noticed that the consumption of the chips is continuously increasing that too at a constant pace. As per current data i.e. 2011, the market value is 3176 million pounds. In Fig1.1 diagram, there is a forecast given for four years that is from 2012 to 2016. As per Mintel forecast it is estimated that UK market share for 2012 will be around 3300 million pounds and further increasing to 3500 million pounds in 2013 and so on. The end of 2016 estimates the total UK market value for this to be 4183 million pounds. By taking all the provisions it can be concluded that in the best case scenario maximum UK market value can go up to 4627 and in the worst case scenario it can go down to 3853 in 2016, keeping in mind all the different confidence level. Thus, analyzing all the past data and future forecast of UK retail sale of crisps, salty snacks and nuts it can be concluded that UK market has got huge potential for the consumption of the crisps and all and this can be taken as an opportunity for the existing market players of crisps and they can all increase their own market share by adopting several strategies. Most of the market share is captured by walkers so this can be an opportunity for kettle chips to snatch walkers customers by putting all the marketing efforts or kettle can put such strategy to attract new different groups of customers. 3.0 INTERNAL ANALYSIS THE MARKETING MIX Marketing can quickly and simply be defined as the process of making a product or service available to the consumer at the right place, price, and time (James and Carlson, 1996-2012). This usually involves the careful analysis of the product or service in four different aspects known as the 4Ps (McCarthy, 1960) before proceeding. You as a marketer has to consider what the consumer wants or what their needs are, the environment or location of your business, if the price of the product or service youll be offering will be too high or too low and finally but not the least, how to promote the product or service. Now we will be taking a look at Kettle Chips and how they market their products putting the 4Ps, which are Product (Service), Place, Price and Promotion into consideration. Before we go into the full analysis, it is good to have in mind the aim and objective of the companys (Kettle Chips) product which is to provide for the consumer the best healthy, nutritious and tasty potato chips for them to enjoy and now we will see how they have managed to achieve this so far. Marketing Mix An effective marketing mix has to match consumer need, corporate resources and to create a competitive advantage. A market-oriented firm always keeps an eye on its environment. The environment is divided into the microenvironment and macro environment. In microenvironment, the key actors are suppliers, management of the company i.e. the company itself, customers and competitors. Micro environment are internal to the organization and the organization has sufficient controls over it. Macro environment consists of economic, social, legal, physical and technology forces. Macro-environments are usually out of the companys control. (Jobber and Fahy, 2003) Four Ps of marketing mix: 3.1 Product This part of marketing mix mainly focuses on what exactly consumer wants. Under product, we have to consider what the consumer needs are and what exactly consumers wants. For developing marketing mix of Kettle Chips we need to consider the part of the market being targeted by Kettle. Kettle Brand targets health conscious customers, which imply that their product has to be health inclined in order to appeal to the consumers and also to satisfy its customers. Secondly, Kettle, since 1978 produce their chips using only natural ingredients (Non-GMO products) in order to give their consumers extra reassurance of steps they take to ensure ingredients with integrity (Kettle Foods Inc., 2009). Findings from research, (Mintel, 2009) provides us with information showing an improvement in the sale of crisps due to the fact that they are more healthy in terms of calories and fat than they were before. The Non-GMO project stated Kettle Brand Chips as the first potato chips being produced without the use of GMOs in 2009. Their chips are gluten free and they use expeller pressed oil for their products in order to give their consumers a safe product to enjoy. Kettle Chips arent just bent on the health aspect of their products and ignoring how tasty their chips should be. They offer different seasonings of potato chips such as Sweet Onion, Tortilla Chips, Lightly Salted Sea Salt and Vinegar, Spicy Thai, Unsalted, Jalapeno, Red Chili etc. All of these are produced naturally to meet different tastes of consumers. Product Life Cycle This is simply a principle that suggests that every product has different stages that it must pass through before it is eventually pushed from the market. Introduction: This is when the product is first introduced into the market and as a result of that, a large number of the consumer market are unaware of the product so its profits are low at this stage. Normally in this stage the company or manufacturer will try to cover its high cost of production, which will result in the product becoming less affordable for the average consumer.(Vernon, 1966) According to product life cycle theory, the Kettle Chips products in this section are Jalapeno chili, Mexican Potato Bake, New Kettle Ridge Chips, Sour Cream, Corn, Tomato, Avocado and lime dip, Peach and Coriander Salsa. (Kettle Foods Ltd., 2012) Growth: This is the stage that usually determines if the product will survive or not. The producers at this stage will try to bring down the cost of the product as to make it more affordable for the average consumer by coming up with ways to cut down the costs of production and present better offers. In addition to this, the company will have to make use of a strong approach in advertisement and promotion strategies in order to catch the attention and interests of their customers.(Vernon, 1966) Under this section, Kettle Chips have products such as Mature Cheddar Multipacks, Ridge Chips, Tortilla Chip. (Kettle foods Ltd., 2012) Maturity: The third stage is only attained assuming the product has survived the previous stage (Growth Stage). At this stage, the price must have fallen to a more affordable level for more customers to purchase due to standardized production. Here, production and technology may also be exported to underdeveloped and developing countries where production costs will be lower and developed countries can focus on innovation to make the product better.(Vernon, 1966) Examples of kettle chips products that are currently in this stage are Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar and Lightly Salted. These are among the most demanded Kettle Chips seasonings.(Kettle Foods Ltd.,2012) Decline: This is the last stage. The product begins to fade out of the market, demand, and production and of course, profits begin to crash as well due to new technologies and new products coming up. It usually still survives for a while in the underdeveloped and developing countries but is eventually completely pushed out over time. (Vernon, 1966) The Boston Consulting Group Theory (BCG) Bruce Henderson founded this in the early 1970s. Initially, it was designed as tool to be used for financial management but was then put to better use in marketing. Boston Matrix considers products in two dimensions: relative market share and market growth rate. (Cranfield School of Management, 2000) Boston Matrix categorizes products in four boxes, which are Star, Cash Cow, Problem Child/ Question Mark, and Dog. Star: Building market shares as sales improve. Products here are cash neutral. They generate cash as volume and revenue builds rapidly, but they usually require special attention in funding because they are new products. Usually, aggressive marketing is required for such products. Cash Cow: The products in this box have high a high market share but low market growth, which implies that they are mature products. These generate cash that is needed to support other aspects of the business. Problem Child/ Question Mark: These are products that do not hold a dominant market share but are high in market growth. These are often newly introduced products that have a high tendency of failing in the market. They usually require large amounts of cash to fund their development. Dog: These are products that were once on top but have declined and now generating low cash flow and in some cases, even become liabilities to the business. Henderson advises that such products should be discarded. (Cranfield School of Management, 2000) In the following diagram some of the Kettle Chips products are categorized according to the Boston Consulting Group Theory. BCG MATRIX Fig. 1.2 3.2 Place When considering place, one have to consider the location of the business, how accessible it will be to the customers and probably the distribution channel or channels that will be used. Kettle Chips products are found almost everywhere around the world but predominantly in European and West African countries. The Kettle Foods office in UK supports a network of independent distributors which make their products available in the Middle East and European countries outside UK such as Denmark, Belgium, Greece, Austria, France, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Ice land, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Italy, Malaysia, Malta and Luxembourg (Kettle Foods LTD, 2012). Distribution Channel Kettle chips are found in various supermarkets and retail shops around the world making it easy for their consumers to access their products. There are various distribution channels that can be used by any business that produces consumer goods such as: ProducerÆ’Â  Consumer ProducerÆ’Â  RetailerÆ’Â  Consumer ProducerÆ’Â  WholesalerÆ’Â  RetailerÆ’Â  Consumer ProducerÆ’Â  AgentÆ’Â  WholesalerÆ’Â  RetailerÆ’Â  Consumer Source: Figure 9.8. Introduction to marketing theory and practice (Palmer 2004:357) Kettle Chips use wholesalers as well as retailers but do not use agents in their distribution channel. They sell directly to their wholesalers. Their distribution channel would appear like this for example: Kettle ChipsÆ’Â  TescoÆ’Â  Off-license shopsÆ’Â  Consumers (Kettle Foods Ltd., 2012) 3.3 Price Under price, there must be consideration of if the price of your product or service will be too high for your consumers or too low for the company to turn in profits. Kettle as a company usually build their facilities upon locations with good vegetation and natural resources that supports their business such as the Green building mentioned above under place and their facility in Salem, Oregon which is located adjacent to a nearly 2-acre wetland (Kettle Foods LTD, 2012) . These in turn enables them to avoid extra expenses that would have been spent on purchasing some raw materials and gives them the ability to keep a low cost on their products while making sufficient profit to grow the business. Kettle Chips products are not the cheapest and can still put up more effort in bringing their prices to a lower level. A minimum level of price should be maintained with a good quality in production because the lower the price, the higher the demand. This will give an organization an edge over its competitors that offer a higher price for the same quality or even lesser quality. (Kettle Foods LTD, 2012) Kettle Chips Pricing Strategy Kettle Chips came into the market in 1978 to be specific and at this period, they were not many companies manufacturing chips, especially in the UK and so, they decided to penetrate the market with their naturally made potato chips and were selling them at a high price. Kettle Chips had very little competition at this period so they were able to sell their products to high income earning consumers at high prices while having a low promotion. In other words, they used the Slow Penetration strategy to penetrate the market. This was possible for them because their kettle style cooking was unique at this period. Presently, Kettle Chips have a strong brand, so they maintain a Slow Skimming strategy because they have a strong brand. Being already established, they are relaxed about promotion and that is one of the reasons why more recent companies such as Walkers have a higher market share. Consumers are more aware of companies that spend a lot on promotion. 3.4 Promotion Kettle advertises their products through the use of e advertising (internet), Television and radio broadcasts, and public relations such as their community giving. Kettle makes donations of money, product and time to local organizations. They donate chips for fundraising events at local schools and give more than 175,000 pounds of potatoes to local hunger relief agencies every year. They also give out their brand products to organizations and schools. Kettle Chips successfully created a significant uplift in sales from existing, lapsed and new purchasers through a brand campaign in newspapers. They are now looking more confident than ever, their market share has increased as a result of this (Kettle Chips: The Story, 2012). The result of the campaign is as follows: Newspapers immediately boost sales by over 20% During the newspaper campaign, Kettle Chips sales of featured products were 20.5% higher among people in the public who saw the adverts, compared with a matched unexposed sample and maintained sales impact In the 12 weeks post campaign, newspaper advertising continued to increase the sales by 19.5% (Kettle Chips: The Story, 2012). Newspapers engage all types of buyers KETTLE Chips advertising successfully increased penetration and frequency of purchase as well as reengaging lapsed users. (Kettle Chips: The Story, 2012) Newspapers are brilliant for making big bold brand statements Kettle Chips simple but confident campaign captured readers attention and increased their emotional brand involvement. This was very beneficial in the sense that it gave their customers a sense of affiliation with the product and of cause; this encourages loyalty to the brand as well. (Kettle Chips: The Story, 2012) 4.0 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS Fig 1.3 The Marketing Environment. Source: Jobber, D and Fahy, J. (2003), New York: Mc Graw Hill Education UK LTD Micro Economics Introduction: Creating customer value and satisfaction is the main key to build relationships with customers. It is not a one man task.so there are many actors playing role to build micro environment. Marketing success requires building relationships with other company departments such as competitors, suppliers, customers, various publics and marketing intermediaries .All these are combined to process effective delivery network. Components of micro environment 4.1 Competitors Marketing concept is based on believing better customer value and satisfaction than its competitors. Thus the company should adopt itself to the needs of consumers.one of the important aspects of gaining strategic advantage is by positioning their offerings strongly against competitors offering in the minds of customers. All companies have their different marketing strategy based on their size and industry positioning. In the context of kettle chips, the three most powerful competitors for kettle chips are Walkers (PepsiCo), Pringles (PG), and McCoys (UB). The following table describes the leading brands value shares in crisps and salty snacks from 2009 to 2011. From the table it is clearly visible that Kettle Chips stands in the 5th position in the market of crisps and salty snacks. Fig 1.4 4.2 Customers Customers are the most important element in the companys microenvironment. The main aim of the entire delivery system is to serve customers and build strong relationship. There are five type of customer market and the company may target any or all of them. To start with the customer market, first type is consumer market, which consists of individual and households that buys product for personal consumption. Business market consists of buying the goods for further processing or in the production process whereas reseller market buys goods for the purpose to sell them at profit. Government markets consist of government agencies that buy goods for public service or to transfer them to others who need them. International market is made up of buyers in other countries who may be consumers, producers, resellers or government. Kettle chips has established itself as a premium brand for chips and thus these chips are mainly for a specific targeted customers whose income level are little high than others because as compared to walkers kettle chips are slightly costlier and kettle chips believes in delivering good quality crisps and consumers who are really health conscious go for kettle chips. Consumption of crisps, salty snacks and nuts in the last six months, by type, by demographics, November 2011 Fig 1.5* small sub-sample (75-100) SOURCE: Toluna/Mintel 4.3 Suppliers Suppliers are important link in the companys overall delivery system. They are the source of resources needed by the company to produce its goods and services. Supply shortage can cost sales in the short run but it can hamper customer satisfaction in the long run. Most marketers today treat suppliers as their partners for generating customer value. The people who make Kettle Chips have always believed that the simple approach to good food is best. So the highest quality potatoes are sourced locally, and no artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or MSG are added to the process. Only the best potatoes are used to give the distinctive golden colour, crunch and flavour of a Kettle chip. Kettle Chips source 75% of the brands potatoes from its home county of Norfolk, and 90% from East Anglia. Kettle Chips are made in the Kettle Foods Ltd factory in Norwich, where the company has been ever since it was first launched in the UK. Nelson County Potatoes is a bespoke growers group to Kettle Foods Ltd- makers of the famous hand-cooked KETTLE ® Chips, a premium quality product made using the finest potatoes. Its Norfolk-based growers produces more than 65000 tonnes of potatoes each year, a large proportion of which go in to kettle chips at the kettle foods limited base in Norwich. From this part about 100 million bags of kettle chips are produced each year and distributed across the country to all the major supermarkets and other food store. 4.4 The company For designing the marketing plans, the company has to interrelate and coordinate with all the departments within the company like top management, finance, research and development purchase, operations and accounting. The duty of the top management is to set the companys mission, objective, strategies and plans. Marketing managers work closely with other departments. Kettle chips takes pride of being a well-known and growing business with its roots based in the local community.it has got wide diversity of people from all backgrounds, working hand by hand to one common goal of making better chips. The company provides great working conditions and friendly management and this helps company retain the employees. Currently the managing director of kettle Foods at Diamond Foods, Inc. is Dominic Lowe, the Cadbury man who became Green Blacks managing director last year, moving from a  £1bn-a-year business to a  £40m-a-year one, believes the public is more concerned about the deeds of an ethical company than its ownership Macro-Environment: Introduction The macro environment comprises of forces that do not immediately affect the business but it may have effect in the long run, as time goes on. As these environmental changes take place, macro-environment affects the micro relationships of the business as well. The micro environment is complex and interdependent. (Palmer, 2004) Components of macro environment 4.5 Political/Legal factors In UK, food products including the Snacks are heavily influenced and controlled by legislation relating to composition and labeling requirements, such that consumers can be confident of the wholesomeness and value for money that they represent (Van Horn, 2002). On a world perspective, the availability of safe food is an increasing problem in fast-growing urban populations. Meeting this need by the provision of new food product is a major opportunity for UK as these markets develop. These refer to government polices such as the degree of intervention in the economy. What goods and services does a government provides, To what extent does it subsidized firms, What are its priorities in terms of health of the people, Political decisions can impact on many vital areas for business such as the education of the workforce, the health of the nation and the quality of the infrastructure of the economy such as the road and rail system. In developed economies, government intervention is inevitable in order to uphold the consumers trust and faith in the governments systems. Over the years, consumers lifestyles have become eclectic and the culture of ready meals and snacks has become popular. This has lead to several lifestyle diseases. Children studying in primary and secondary schools are the largest buyers of sweet and savory snacks. It has been observed that such snacks formed an integral part of their lunch boxes. Due to the adverse affects of snack food on childrens health, the government, through its Better Regulation Commission, has proposed certain standards for school food. The standards restrict the sale of confectionery, savory snacks except nuts and seeds, and deep fried snacks like crisps and burgers. (Better Regulation Commission, 2007). The government in the United Kingdom has become proactive in promoting healthy eating and balanced diet patterns to the citizens. The government, along with various other organizations like the NHS, initiated several awareness campaigns to tackle the growing problem of obesity. The campaigns promote the reduction of fat, salt and sugar the consumers daily diet. This move by the government can lead to a projected decline of 4.1% in the sweet snacks market and 3.4% in the savory snacks market over a period of five years (Just Food, 2009). 4.6 Economic factors These include interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates. Change in these factors can lead to a major impact on a firms behavior. Like Higher interest rates because it costs more to borrow. A strong currency may make exporting more difficult because it may raise the price in foreign currency. Inflation may provoke higher wage demands from employees and raise costs. Higher GDP growth may boost demand for a firms products. The market value of Snacks companies in the UK represents a further contribution to wealth, both in the holdings by private shareholders and in those held by institutions. The balance of trade arising from Kettle products is positive because the major materials are already found and created in UK plants. Also, the nature of the product cost structures is not ruling out significant inter-country shipment of such low price-dense, high bulk packs. The United Kingdom was faced with two unfortunate economic crises in the second half of 2007. The tumult in the financial markets along with steep increase in the fuel and food prices severely affected the business and commerce, as well as consumer confidence. The consumers have become relatively conservative in their approach to spending on consumer goods. The sweet and savory market has however shown a steady growth in sales. This reason could be attributed to the nature of these products. Snacks are particularly seen as indulgent and impulsive products with a low unit price. Snacks are also low involvement products unlike other consumer goods. In the United Kingdom, the market for crisps and snacks grew by 5% since 2007. This is mainly because the snacks companies have responded well to the consumers needs in this fragile economic environment. (Mintel, 2009) In spite of positive growth signs, the manufacturers still have to struggle due to the existing credit crunch, coupled with the rising costs of wheat, flour, maize and potatoes, and instability in crude oil prices. All these factors put a strain on the manufacturers profit margins. (Research and Markets, 2008) 4.7 Social factors / Cultural Changes in social trends can impact on the demand for a firms products and the availability and willingness of individuals to work. In the UK, for example, the population has been ageing. This has increased the costs for firms who are committed to pension payments for their employees because their staff is living longer. It also means some firms such as Asda have started to recruit older employees to tap into this growing labor pool. The ageing population also has impact on demand: for example, demand for sheltered accommodation and medicines have increased whereas demand for toys is falling. There is now a wealth of evidence to show that consuming a high salt diet brings with it increasing health problems. High salt intake is linked to increasing blood pressure, which causes strokes and heart disease, with other less well-known effects including stomach cancer and osteoporosis. Basically, these issues are advantage for Walkers since majority of their products are potatoes. Potatoes are low calorie and excellent for people that are health conscious. The sale of sweet and savory snacks thrives on consumption patterns of younger consumers aged between 15-34 years. Due to persistent efforts by the government to encourage consumers to adopt healthier lifestyles and eating habits, the demographics of main consumers of snacks has changed. Fewer children are attracted to crisps and snack. The Government regulations as mentioned above have also been a cause in making crisps and other sweet and savory snacks unpopular among children. 4.8 Technological factors Technology can reduce costs, improve quality and lead to innovation. These developments can benefit consumers as well as the organizations providing the products. Online shopping, bar coding and computer aided design are all improvements to the way we do business as a result of better technology. In the process of building this successful brand Kettle Chips, the business found that it had developed a reporting problem in lower management. The company system consisted of 70 to 80 spreadsheets, which were constantly being updated and sent back and forth between departments. The reporting process took at least eight weeks, and if any modifications needed to be made, it took a minimum of two days. Employees also had difficulty creating their own reports, and would have to rely on an IT software developer to do the job for them. This ended up taking most of the developers time, which would otherwise have been spent on other pressing IT needs. After a long search for a solution, Kettle Foods Ltd chose IBM Cognos Express, along with Logicalis UK as their IBM Business Partner. Kettle chips selected IBM Cognos Express because it combines the planning and modeling strengths of IBM Cognos TM1 and the reporting strengths of IBM Cognos Business Intelligence in a value-for-money offering; providing a complete planning, reporting and scenario-modeling toolset. 4.9 Environmental factors Environmental factors include the weather and climate change. Changes in temperature can impact on many industries including farming, production cost and Product life. With major climate changes occurring due to global warming and with greater environmental awareness this external factor is becoming a significant issue for firms to consider. The gener

Samsung Galaxy Smartphones Decreased Demand

Samsung Galaxy Smartphones Decreased Demand Samsung Electronics is one of the Koreas top electronics company which was founded in 1938. It has grown from small business to be one of top leading electronics and Technology in the world. It makes many kinds of consumer devices, including DVD players, digital TVs, and digital still cameras; computers, color monitors, LCD panels, and printers; semiconductors such as DRAMs, static RAMs, flash memory, and display drivers; and communications devices ranging from wireless handsets and smartphones to networking gear. However, they are mostly popular for their Smartphones (Galaxy), which is considered as one of its mains products. Samsung Galaxy includes categories such as Galaxy Note series, Galaxy Tab Series and Galaxy S series. Samsung from several years are relaying mostly on its smartphones sale to maximizing its profit, as other products sales are showing decline such examples include home appliances and LCD TV. Unfortunately, currently Samsung are struggling to sustain their sales and profit from Galaxy smartphones. Samsung profits have been on declining demand since 2013. Despite the company being the greatest in the world when it comes to production of smart phones, the pressure that it continues to receive from the market can no longer be denied. In this year second quarter Samsung Galaxy smartphones have shown even huge profit and demand drop for its smartphones. As you can see below the chart clearly shows the Samsung profit have been going down from year 2013 and was worst in the second quarter of this year. http://www.statista.com/statistics/237093/samsungs-operating-profit-quarterly-figures/ There are various reasons for this downfall, Samsung has always used a huge marketing budget. Nevertheless, in the last quarter, its budget was far larger in ways that were not favored by the company. The company has been compelled to use huge amounts of money on promoting the older and lower-end gadgets that have been congesting its warehouses because of weak demand† . This fall in trade, together with the extra money spent on publicity has catalyzed the firm’s dwindling fortunes. Actually having, fewer shipments of high end phones, has also resulted in having and investing to market the old models has helped demand decreasing for Samsung’s. More importantly the market competition that Samsung is facing from its main rival Apple IPhone smartphones and other competitors has also contributed in weakening the demand. Decline in demand also can be attributed to their exorbitant price of smart phones. Because the Price elasticity of demand for Samsung is high, increased prices has result in less demand for its smartphones. Also, Samsung’s competitors, which are mostly based in china, are producing phones that have features that are essentially similar to those of Samsung. They are however, offering these phones at prices that are much cheaper and affordable. This has, therefore, beat the purpose of purchasing Samsung phones that are unnecessarily expensive and shifted people demand from its smartphones to their rivals’ cheaper smartphones. The decline of the sale and the demand of smart phones is caused by inability of Samsung to be more creative. For example, when it comes to the features that are contained in their many smart phones. Their S series smart phones are the typical. The cheaper ones have fewer features though. The difference in the ones that are more expensive is their size. Since the release of the S3, the subsequent ones S4 and the recently released S5 are similar in several ways. Consumers are starting to feel that these S phones are overrated and over advertised, which coincidentally has been said of the reasons Samsung is investing a lot in over advertising. This strategy is geared towards trying to get their products out of the warehouses and into the market to be purchased by the consumers. Unfortunately, this have resulted not only in having a negative impact on the sales, it’s also reduced their profit margin due to overspending and less demand. As an economic consultant observing Samsung Galaxy smartphone declining demand, I will try to recommend solutions to fix this economic problem by analyzing the root reasons. Searching and analyzing the market it was found out that there was a lot of factors that influenced Samsung smartphone sales which made it gone down in the third quarter of the year. First of all consumer taste and preference for better improved technology products. The fact of the new technology, and the willing to adapt new features and devises that made Samsung to be the second choice of its customers. In addition to that, the strong rival competition and all consumers being aware that there are other substitute smartphones that have similar even better featured, such as the IPhone, which gives negative impact on demand. For example, when Apple IPhone 6 has launched in the market, it has made major shift in demand from Galaxy to IPhone smartphones. How Samsung’s Demand could be increased In order for Samsung to recover from its decreasing demand, it should do several things such as offering prices that are competitive in the international market. Whereas the number of clients obtaining smartphones is still raising, it is growing harder for the company to tap new market for its high-end devices. This therefore suggests that the firm will have to minimize its prices in order to sell these gadgets. However, this will still reduce its profit margins. Samsung should focus its attention on shifting its product mix towards low and middle iced handsets. Under the prevailing situations, the company will have to wait and observe how it will uphold its profitability in the future. Additionally, Samsung needs to rollout new products that will stave off gains made by Apple on the larger-screen iPhones; especialty the Galaxy developer has dominated (Sakr, 2014). According to the firm, the rollout of fresh mobile models will embrace new technology that will assist to scale down production cost and comparatively that will assist to give cheaper price products. Moreover, the firm should utilize an assessment on the prices of the smartphones and come up with figures at which demand will rise for their smartphones (Sakr, 2014). By offering incentives such as headsets and phone covers, the company will be able to improve its sales. Finally, Samsung can increase its demand by offering competitive prices and embrace new technology that will assist to scale down production costs. Alternatively, if Samsung was not able to compete in market against it rival IPhone and will give up to invest any more in Smartphone. We highly recommend that it should invest more in developing and improving its tablets as it score to have a higher demand than the smart phones. Obviously by improving Samsung Smartphones quality and increasing its decreased demand, will help in raising the reduced turnover for its third quarter. Samsung makes about two third of its profit from its smartphones sales. Which means any drop in smartphones sales will have a huge impact on the company’s turnover. If Samsung was able cope with shifting market preferences that will help them stand out among competitors like Apple. Samsung deals mainly with Technology which is one of fast moving and updating things and to survive in the market, Samsung should be always ready to offer fast new technology features in their Smartphones. It mainly include keeping an eye on it main competitor â€Å"Apple IPhone† and try to offer features that are unique or at least which are offered by Apple IPhone to be able to compete in the market. This idea has been successful with IPhone when they have took over Samsung’s advantage of having big size screens which was one of reasons of people smartphone shifting demand to Samsung. IPhone has been successful to offer that feature in its IPhone 6 Plus by which it attacked Samsung’s main unique feature over IPhone. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/in-the-battle-for-best-smartphone-apple-still-beats-samsung/?_php=true_type=blogs_r=0 http://www.mobileworldlive.com/slowing-demand-reported-for-samsungs-galaxy-s4 http://recode.net/2014/07/07/samsung-says-second-quarter-tablet-sales-sluggish-as-smartphone-growth-slowed/ http://maps.yankeegroup.com/ygapp/content/10fed569fe2f4661ba2b7f2d01df77e6/50/DAILYINSIGHT/0

Romeo as an Irrational and Impulsive Young Man Essay -- Papers

Romeo as an Irrational and Impulsive Young Man "Romeo and Juliet" is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in 1592. It is set in Verona, were a bitter feud between two rival families, the Montague's and Capulet's. The main characters, Romeo and Juliet, are the children of the two rivals, who meet and fall in love at the Capulet's ball. Nevertheless, the relationship of these "star-crossed lovers" ends in tragedy as they are unable to fulfil their love. The feud between the two families forces the two lovers to take their own life. However this act allows the families to forget their pointless feud. Romeo described to us by his cousin, Benvolio, as irritable. "gladly shunned who gladly flied from me" Benvolio is saying Romeo is avoiding him. This is because Romeo says he is in love. "In sadness, I love a woman" Romeo says he is in love but is he really? Romeo uses dull and depressing language and a series of oxymorons: "cold fire, heavy lightness, sick health" Romeo is depressed because his love for Rosaline is not returned. Romeo first irrational act is when he enters the Capulet's ball despite their bitter hatred and the fact they would kill him if they find him in their house, he still enters the ball. He is prepared to take a risk to see his love, Rosaline. But, when he lays eyes on Juliet he falls in love with her. "I never saw true beauty until this night" It almost seems as if Romeo is being inconsistent in that he can forget Rosaline so quickly when he was infatuated with her just a couple of minuets ago. Was he really in love with Rosaline? If his love for Rosaline ended so quickly could... ...irritated beyond endurance but, when he realises what he has just done, he is shocked. At this point, we see Romeo's actions reflect his love for Juliet. Finally, as he stands before Juliet and gazes at her, he shows no sings of synthetic emotions or trivial behaviour he displayed at the start. In a respectful speech, he addressed Juliet's death which has dealt such a cruel blow. As he takes the poison Juliet arouses and kills herself when Romeo dies; the depth of his feelings for Juliet is finally established Romeo is being true to his convictions. Overall Romeos has an irrational and impulsive nature; this got him into a great deal of dilemma. However if Romeo was not irrational and impulsive he would have never found or experienced true love and the bitter feud between the Montague's and Capulet's would persist.

Minor League Baseball: Boom Or Bust To Communities? :: essays research papers

Minor League Baseball: Boom or Bust to Communities?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Despite the occasional disappointment, minor league baseball provides many communities with economic development and an improved quality of life. Communities as small as Elizabethtown, Tennessee or as large as Phoenix, Arizona have shared the common bond of being the homes of major league farm teams. This is referred to as the National Association of Professional Baseball, or more commonly known as the â€Å"minor leagues.† As the popularity of major league baseball seems to be decreasing due to the recent player strike, free agency, and anti-trust labor laws, minor league baseball has generated excitement that can only be associated with baseball in the good old days. This excitement is a purity of spirit which the majors no longer possess. â€Å"It is baseball in its simplest form-- just ball, bats, gloves, and lifelong dreams. The parks are generally small, the players, hardworking young men whom local fans are likely to run into the next day at the mall or maybe the corner bar. A family of four can see a game, eat dinner--maybe even pick up a souvenir or two--without having to consider a second mortgage. No lockouts, no holdouts, no five-dollar beers, and the umpire is the only one who can call a strike. â€Å"Just the national pastime, played the game it is,† says one editor of The Minor League Baseball Book.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are currently 156 teams that are part of the National Association of Professional Baseball. This number will grow in the next few years with the addition of two expansion teams at the major league level. There have also been a number of independent leagues formed which are said to be the â€Å"future of minor league baseball.† The success of these teams have shown how the value of these franchises have grown over the past ten years. In the past, class AAA teams would sell for three hundred thousand dollars while a smaller class A team went for fifty thousand. Today the class AAA teams are being sold for as high as five million dollars while class A teams are going for around one million. The best example of the fact that franchises have grown in value over the years is the Reading Phillies. Joe Buzas, a minor league baseball entrepreneur, has owned and operated twelve minor league teams in seventeen cities since 1956. In 1976, Buzas bought the Reading Phillies franchise for $1. Ten years later in 1986 he sold it for $1,000,000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The addition of minor league baseball to communities can provide many benefits. The greatest benefit is the overall economic lift that minor league

Brave New World and Blade Runner: Concern for humanity and its relationship with the natural world

Welcome to the second session of the â€Å"Reach to the Future† student conservation conference. The ethical issues reflected in this graphic are representations of humanity's interaction with nature in two futuristic literary creations; novel â€Å"Brave New World,† by Aldous Huxley, 1932, and film â€Å"Bladerunner: The Director's Cut† directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1992, a decade after its original. It has been in my experience in my post-graduate study of ethics and nature in futuristic texts, that many composers expose technological advancement and economic pressure as origins of environmental degradation. However, Huxley and Scott expand this concept, creating imaginary worlds where technology has also caused a loss of humanity and change in ethical standards. But are the concerns of these worlds purely imaginative? Or have Huxley and Scott simply analysed the advancement of technology and consumerism in their own contexts, in order to create a future world that is dehumanised and unnatural? Consider our context Year 12, and welcome to the future. By deliberately contrasting the setting of the ‘conventional' world state, to the ‘wild' Malpais, Huxley challenges the humanity's value in a genetically engineered world. In Chapter One, we are oriented to the technologically ‘perfect' world state of â€Å"Community. Identity. Stability (BNW, pg. 1) ,† 632 A. F. Imagery like â€Å"Cold for all the summer beyond the panes (BNW, pg. 1),† helps to describe a world that is natural to its inhabitants, but ethically disfigured for readers. However when Bernard and Lenina enter the Malpais in Chapter Seven, we adjust to a world that is similar to ours, yet is deemed â€Å"Queer (BNW, pg. 96)† by Lenina, a product of the genetically engineered World State. A birds eye view, accompanied with sensory imagery of sound, â€Å"rhythm of †¦ heart, (BNW, Pg. 96)† and touch, â€Å"eagle flew †¦ blew chill on their faces, (BNW, Pg. 96)† produces the contrast that enables Huxley to express that science and stability occur at the expense of humanity. This concern was evoked by his father's work in science, and also the 1930's Victorian view that science was developing at the same rate as humanity, later encapsulated in Orwell's novel â€Å"1984. To illustrate the erroneous nature of the contextual view, Huxley presented ethics and a connection with nature in a human, but diseased land that has been marginalised due to global advancement. In our context, scientific advancement at the expense of humanity is questioned in creating ‘designer babies' through IVF. Our ethics, and connection with natural practises are queried when numerous embryos are disposed of in the process of creating one ‘perfect' human. It seems much too like the marginalisation of the Malpais and nature to create a ‘perfect' society in the World State of BNW. Similarly, a contrast of scenes is used in Bladerunner to illustrate Scott's concern that consumerism is a primary cause of inequality in humanity and nature. The atmospheric setting in the opening montage illustrates a pervading darkness, with fearful synthetic sounds and a high camera angle zooming down onto the streets of fiery urban decay titled â€Å"Hades, Los Angeles, 2019. † The bird's eye view, like in BNW presents a dystopic vision, soon contrasted when Deckard visits Rachael at the Tyrell Corporation building. As Deckard's lift ascends, the camera scales the building from a slight angle of depression. The rain and lack of natural light is replaced with a golden glow, and once inside, musical director Vangelis ensures a soundtrack shift to peaceful wind chimes which successfully juxtapose the tranquillity of the corporate elite to the dystopic array of the cityscape. Globalisation, a 1980's contextual fear is expressed through setting as the essence of the destruction of humanity and nature in BR. The ‘little people' in Bladerunner, live with the pollution and unequal spread of resources that globalisation has caused. Similar is our own context, as due to economic globalisation more than half of the female population in Latin America live below the poverty line1. Advanced behavioural conditioning for economic capacity occurs in the World State of BNW, regardless of its effects on nature and humanity, which is another of Huxley's contextual concerns. After learning of ‘hypnopaedia' and the ‘neo-Pavlovian' conditioning of children to ensure an association of pain with nature, the structured juxtaposition of two conversations in Chapter Three further explains Huxley's concern. In Chapter Three, the hypnopaedia of the conditioning centre â€Å"I do love flying†¦ new clothes,(BNW, pg. 43)† is reiterated in Huxley's narration, â€Å"The voices were adapting †¦ future industrial supply (BNW, pg. 43). † This is further expressed in Mond's teachings in the garden as he states â€Å"under production†¦ a crime against society. (BNW, pg. 46)† Through structure, Huxley's concern that manufactured goods are deterring humanity's interaction with nature is unequivocal. Contextually, Huxley is criticizing the era of Fordism and the loss of values experienced in post WW1. Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motors, initiated an era of mass production of goods in the 1920s, advancing society's consumerism. Ford and economists grasped the level of spiritual emptiness apparent after WW1 and suggested purchase as a method of relief. Huxley witnessed human behaviour change as the appreciation of nature was noted as disadvantageous for industry. Huxley's concern advanced to Scott's era as well as our own where globalisation and mass production are the basis of our economy. Furthermore, our current level of technology allows many to live without human interaction, and much human behaviour involves expenditure, not the conservation of nature. Like structure in BNW, Symbolism works in Bladerunner in illustrating behavioural conditioning as detrimental to human behaviour, a concern that continued from Huxley's era to the 1980's. In the opening sequence, a long camera shot places our focus on a symbol of consumerism, epitomised by the ‘geisha' Asian woman ‘pill popping' on an animated billboard. When considering BR's setting, the continual reappearance and placement of the billboard on a skyscraper, Scott typifies consumerism as holding precedence over nature and humanity in Los Angeles, 2019. This consumerism symbolises the rise of the Asian trans-national corporations of the 1980s which was feared as an economic form of communism. The world was constantly reminded of the benefits of purchasing yet was rarely informed about the state of the environment which led to the considerable level of environmental degradation, including acid rain. Today, most developed countries have signed treaties regarding the environment. For example, the ‘UN Kyoto Protocol' urges all developed countries to reduce their Greenhouse Emissions by 5% every five years starting from the year 2008. However, the lack of ratification of this treaty, our material world, and the inescapable nature of advertising are still threats to our environment and also to the natural behaviour of human beings in the year 2004. Each character in BNW has a definite purpose in exploring Huxley's warning about humanity's detachment from the natural world. However, Mustapha Mond further explores Huxley's notion by also articulating the loss of humanity's values in a scientifically advanced setting. Mond is the mouthpiece of the World State, devoid of human values and thus his expressive dialogue and mannerisms clinically justify a society where everything can be standardised, mass produced and therefore stabilised. In Chapter Three, Mond talks with the students about families and the plight that emotional freedom caused in times before ‘Our Ford. Mond devalues emotion as â€Å"reeking (BNW, pg. 35),†and describes natural reproduction, families and monogamy in language â€Å"so vivid†¦ one boy†¦ at the point of being sick. (BNW, pg 32)† Dismissive nonetheless, Mond is merely encapsulating the change in human behaviour that scientific advancement has caused, and therefore communicating Huxley's concern. As Huxley toured Europe before completing BNW, Mond is modelled on post WW1 dictators such as Hitler and Mussolini. His personality also portrays the loss of values and spiritual emptiness experienced by many people in post WW1. In BR, Deckard is devoid of human values like Mond but unlike ‘John the Savage' from BNW, it is a replicant with no connection with nature, who exerts human values in Bladerunner. The rise of robotics in the 1980's influenced the character of Batty, and also Deckard. Batty exemplifies the ‘human robot' that science dreamed of in the 1980's, whereas, Deckard symbolises the loss of humanity that ethicists feared because of robotics. Roy Batty's â€Å"more human than human† genetic disposition allows him to exert intelligence, evident in his quotations of Blake â€Å"fiery the angels fell†¦ their shoulders roared,† and to exert physical duress, but only in the course of his four year life span. In the last scenes of the film, Batty's heightened self awareness and desire for emotion and life surpass his genetic limitations casting him as a Christ figure and also a fallen angel as he looks fruitlessly to his creator for a sense of meaning. With his final words, â€Å"Memories †¦ ost like tears in the rain,† Roy is cast as a tragic hero, and allows Scott to illustrate that when there is no longer an environment to exploit, like in the world in LA, 2019, those who possess desirable qualities will be oppressed, this ultimately leaving the world more inhumane. In our context, the empathy we feel for Batty, questions our ethics, asking what makes us human. Huxley skilfully satirises the social construct of the 1930's using ‘Soma' to express his concern for the conditioning of humanity against nature. The World State in London is a strangely benevolent dictatorship through Mond, where all aspects of an individual's life are determined and controlled by the state in the name of, â€Å"Community. Identity. Stability (BNW, pg. 1). † Another way to ensure stability is the encouraged use of the mind-numbing drug ‘Soma'. In the Malpais, Chapter Nine, Lenina â€Å"embarked for lunar eternity(BNW, pg. 127) † on an eighteen hour soma holiday to escape the reality of nature and humanity. ‘Soma' satirises the post WW1 regimes of Totalitarianism throughout Europe. The doctrine of Totalitarianism denied people intellectual stimulation, freedom of thought and a relationship with nature. Huxley introduces ‘Soma' to show a future world where the denial of a relationship with nature can be self induced. In BR's 1980's context, severe industrial pollution and urbanisation resulted in the detachment of people from nature In 2004, though Totalitarianism is a violation of basic human rights, many people choose to deny themselves' a qualitative relationship with nature by choosing to live in environmentally isolated, but grossly populated urban areas. The use of contextual irony in Bladerunner is contrasting to the use of satire in BNW as Scott's irony questions the ethical behaviour of humanity regarding technology. In the 1980's, robotics and computers were the result of technological advance, and robots were promised to take the place of humans in the workforce. In Bladerunner, Ridley Scott epitomises technology and humanity through the Nexus-6 Replicants, who are â€Å"more human than human† Human beings in Bladerunner live as second class citizens in desolate, socially inept conditions as we see J. F Sebastian and Deckard both living in solitude. Humanity in 2019 has no sense of the value of interaction, and consequently Ridley Scott placed the capacity for these human qualities in the Replicants. Ironically though, when the Replicants begin to show human emotion and need, such as Batty's need to ‘meet his maker,' they are ‘retired' by the human, by ultimately inhuman character, Deckard. This irony illustrates Scott's concern for a scientifically advanced world, with a dismal appreciation of human qualities and value. The same concern is expressed in the 1997 futuristic popular culture film, â€Å"Gattaca,† where your personality is irrelevant as genetic composition guarantees an you an occupation. Huxley and Scott have established quite a few concerns for our future. Strangely though, they have also warned about issues that are in need of conservation now. Again, close your eyes and imagine the natural world that you want in the future. Consider our context year 12, and help to create an ethically harmonious world for the future.

Gemstone and Diamond Mining Through the Years

Gemstones have been a symbol of wealth from the ancient times up to the present. These stones with their own characteristic, unique and special properties have always been associated to beauty too. Popular and famous persons throughout history, especially those from the noble family have used gemstone to adorn not only themselves but their dwellings as well. In the United States, mining of these stones has been for recreational activity only for collectors and hobbyists since 1935 (Gemstones Production, USGS). Nevertheless, as the value of gemstones inflated, large scale mining operations have been initiated. In this paper, we would explore the world of gemstones; what truly fits the word gemstone, how are they classified and the methods of mining.GemstonesThe word â€Å"gem† actually came from the Latin word gemma, which means â€Å"bud† (Microsoft Encarta). It is a very fitting name since gems seem to bud out of the earth’s crust like flowers in a garden. Gem o r gemstone means any mineral or organic material that can be used to decorate one’s body, for display or can be considered an object of art due to its unique properties it possesses such as beauty, rarity and durability. Colored and diamond gemstones are subcategories of gemstones. Basically, colored gemstones are all other stones except diamond such as amber, coral and shell (Olson 32.1).On the other hand, natural gemstones are minerals, stones or any organic matter that can be cut, polished, or treated for use as jewelry or other personal ornament (Gemstones Terms, USGS). Gemstones can be further classified as precious or semiprecious gemstones. Precious gemstones have beauty, durability and rarity, while semiprecious gemstones have only one to two of these characteristics (Gemstones Terms, USGS). Diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, aquamarine, topaz and opal are classified as precious gemstones while others are treated as semiprecious (Gemstones Terms, USGS). Since gemstones are rare, they are not plentiful and these stones do not form ores like other mining products. They tend to be scattered throughout a large body of rock or can be crystals found on small cavities of rocks (Gemstones Environment, USGS).Gemstones are primarily found from Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Oregon and Arizona (Gemstones Specialist 64). However, most gem diamond reserves are not found in the United States. Diamonds are usually mined from Southern Africa, Russia, and Western Australia (Gemstones Specialist 65). The very first used as jewelry were amber, amethyst, coral, diamond, emerald, garnet, jade, lapis lazuli, pearl, rock crystal, ruby, serpentine and turquoise (Olson 32.1).In the US, the commercial gemstone industry consists of individuals and companies that mine gemstones or harvest shell and pearls, firms that manufacture synthetic gemstones and individuals and companies that cut natural and synthetic gemstones (Olson 32.1). Worldwide, the industry is only composed of two sectors: diamond mining and marketing and the production and sale of colored gemstones (Olson 32.3).Throughout the year, few of the diamonds mined are of gem quality; much of them are of near-gem and industrial in quality. Gem quality diamonds display high standards of excellence in quality and can be sold as jewelry. Clarity of such diamonds is from flawless through to visible inclusions. On the other hand, near-gem quality represents diamonds that fall between gem and industrial quality and thus can be used for either purpose.   Clarity of this set is from visible inclusions to industrial. Lastly, industrial quality diamonds are of low quality and cannot be used as jewelry or adornment. These diamonds are suitable only for industrial use such as dentist’s drills and earthmoving equipment (Mining Diamonds).Diamonds are formed beneath the earth’s surface and required tremendous pressure and temperature. Like diamonds, most gems are crystals forme d by cooling hot gases, solutions, and melts. As the earth’s soil surface weathers and erodes, and rivers forcefully flow through, gemstones may be exposed and be unearthed where one can even simply bend over the riverbank and pick them up (Microsoft Encarta).MiningOne of the two primary industries of early civilization is mining. Like agriculture, it is one of humankind’s earliest endeavors (Introduction to Mining 1). In 3400, Egyptians in Sinai did the first ever-recorded mining where they have found turquoise (Introduction to Mining 7). Usually, gemstones are excavated at the surface. However, through the years, underground mining especially for diamonds have been developed. Unlike surface mining, underground mining is more complicated and expensive. It involves the efficiency, safety and permanence underground (Introduction to Mining 11).Mining is the process of obtaining useful minerals from the earth’s crust. Its process requires excavations in underground mines and surface excavations in open pit or open cut mines. Thus, it involves physical removal of rock and earth to acquire gems and other important minerals. (Microsoft Encarta). Mining consists of four stages. These stages are prospecting or search for mineral deposits, exploration or the work included in evaluating the extent of economic value of the deposit, innovation or the work of preparing access to the deposit so that the minerals can be extorted from it and exploitation which is the process of extracting the minerals (Microsoft Encarta).Methods of MiningThere are several methods of mining. For gemstones, they are usually obtained on rivers and shores. However, there are also other ways of obtaining them in large scale mining operations. Exploitation methods can be classified into two categories based on setting which are surface and underground mining. Surface mining operations consists of mechanical excavation techniques such as open pit and open cast or strip mining. T here are also aqueous methods such as placer mining and solution mining. On the other hand, underground mining is usually categorized into unsupported, supported and caving methods (Introduction to Mining 11).Placer mining involves excavating loose or alluvial such as sand and gravel. The sought after gems are separated from the sand or gravel by a series of screens, jigs and sluices. This type of mining is usually used for diamonds and rubies (Microsoft Encarta). At present, surface mining involves production of blastholes 3-15 inches in diameter by rotary or percussion drills for the placement of explosives in order to remove consolidated rock. The explosives are then inserted and detonated. The material then is loaded and hauled for transport (Introduction to Mining 15).Diamond MiningDiamonds are mined by pipe or alluvial methods. In pipe mining, extraction of diamonds is done from volcanic pipes. Unlike other gems, diamonds are usually found underground and on volcanic rocks and lands. In diamond pipe mining, large areas are exploited wherein an average of 250 tons of volcanic rock is mined just to produce a one-carat gem quality polished diamond (Mining Diamonds). Due to this intricate and costly process, diamonds are really rare and precious. Diamond pipe mines are composed of kimberlite material called blue ground. At the start, kimberlite is dug from the surface by rough opencast mining. Nevertheless, as the surface deposits are exhausted, pipe mining is employed by sinking shafts into the ground at the edge of pipes and tunnels are driven into the deeper parts of the pipes. By doing so, diamond-bearing rock is excavated and is then transported for screening (Mining Diamonds).Another method of diamond mining is alluvial mining. In this method, diamonds are extracted from riverbeds or ocean beaches. It is true that diamonds are made inside volcanic pipes and lands, however, millions of years allowed that some of the diamonds formed are weathered out of the volcanic pipes and carried to great distances by rivers and oceans. Thus, the process of alluvial mining involves building a wall that holds back the surf. About 25 meters of sand is demolished aside to reach the diamond-containing level in the ocean and riverbeds. The diamond-containing sand is then acquired and transported to screening plants (Mining Diamonds).In screening plants, diamonds with kimberlite are cleaned and purified. Separation of the diamonds from the kimberlite ore involves a process much like the panning of gold. The kimberlite ore is put into large funnels along with a heavy fluid and is then, mixed in a rotating manner. Since diamonds are heavier than the other materials from which it is mined, they sink into the bottom of the funnels and spill out. After this process, the diamond is almost free from other waste (Mining for Diamonds).Diamonds can then be washed on shaking grease-covered tables. Uncut diamonds then adhere to the grease while the other fragmen ts of waste ore are vibrated past and are discharged to tailings pile. The tables are then scraped for diamonds in the grease and then are boiled to melt the grease and separate the diamonds (Microsoft Encarta). Finally, these diamonds are separated into different grades or quality as industrial, gemstone or near-gem grades.After-Mining OperationsRough uncut diamonds do not actually look attractive. Such diamonds are needed to be cut and polished before anyone can see their beauty and relevance in personal adornment and jewelry. The process of cutting and polishing originated in India where Indian natives discovered a way to make rough diamonds glisten by simply grinding another diamond against it (Mining Diamonds). Diamonds are known for their hardness, no material has ever been found which is capable of cutting diamond until the Indians found out that diamonds could actually be cut and polished by diamonds. The process of cutting and polishing typically lasts for several hours to several months. After which, the diamond will turn out lighter for at least half of its original weight (Mining Diamonds).Diamonds are first carefully examined before cutting. Diamonds are popularly cut into round brilliant since this shape gives the greatest possible brilliance with the minimal weight loss. Cutting uses an instrument similar to grinders. This cutting instrument is made of a paper-thin metal disc coated with diamond dust revolving at a fast speed. Lasers can also cut diamonds nowadays. The corners of the diamonds are then rounded by grinding another diamond producing some dust that can later be used in polishing. Diamonds are then polished to make them sparkle brighter. The diamond dust from the cutting is placed on a turntable made of iron and oiled. The cut diamond is then grinded against the turntable until it sparkles beautifully (Mining Diamonds).ConclusionGemstones are treasures not only of powerful people but also of mighty and ancient civilizations. As human kind became civilized, gemstones such as diamonds and sapphires became symbols of prosperity and elegance. Their crystalline structure, the rarity, and the arduous process of mining them have lived up to their symbolism throughout the years and continue to do so.Works Citedâ€Å"Gemstones Environment.† 18 June 1997. United States Geological Surveys, USGS. 30 April 2008 < http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/gemstones/environment.html>.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Gemstones Production.† 18 June 1997. United States Geological Surveys, USGS. 30 April 2008 < http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/gemstones/production.html>.â€Å"Gemstones Terms.† 18 June 1997. United States Geological Surveys, USGS. 30 April 2008 < http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/gemstones/terms.html>.â€Å"Gemstones†. Gemstones Specialist (703) 648-7721, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 1996. USGS. 30 April 2008 .â€Å"Introduction to Mining.† 30 April 2008. .â€Å"Mining.† Microsoft Encarta 2007. 1993-2006 Microsoft Corpora tion. CD-ROM.â€Å"Mining Diamonds†. 30 April 2008 .â€Å"Mining for Diamonds.† 30 April 2008 .Olson, Donald. â€Å"Gemstones.† USGS 2000 Yearbook. USGS. 30 April 2008