Guillermo Furniture Store Scenario Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Guillermo Furniture Store Scenario - Essay Example This case study concerns the strategic challenges faced by a relatively small but successful local furniture maker in the face of a large foreign competitor with superior technology and lower prices. The salient facts are as follows. a. A new competitor entered from overseas, with high tech methods and low prices. The plant in Norway was highly automated, used very little labour (used robotics). Production could move between products quickly, and runs on a 24- hour basis (shift-differentials could be more than offset by reduction in labor). 1. Guillermo may tie up with a Norwegian competitor which did not want to operate retail outlets locally but preferred to rely on chain distributors. Guillermo, while retaining the high-end custom work, intends to represent the Norwegian company, converting his company’s primary focus from manufacturing to distribution. 2. Guillermo had a patented process for creating a coating for his furniture which was flame-retardant and, with further processing, stain resistant. There was market for the flame-retardant but not the finished coating. Budgets represent short-term financial forecast, particularly of expected cash flows, based on the business plans drawn by the company, to see if forecasted cash outflows and their timing could be sufficiently covered by cash inflows (revenues and liabilities), and if not, to allocate for future financing at the time they would be needed. Past performance reports to see the history of costs and sales, and to draw insights as to the behavior of costs and revenues given the environmental indicators. Ratios, trends and sensitivity analyses of costs and revenues compared to each other and to economic indicators is important in determining how the company will be affected by a prospective decision. Ratio analysis of historical and cross-sectional accounts are helpful

The US Exports Alot of Electronic Waste to Poorer Countries Essay

The US Exports Alot of Electronic Waste to Poorer Countries - Essay Example e, developing countries, well aware of involved environmental and health hazards, continue to import e-waste partly for cash, partly for reuse and /or recycling, and partly for acquiring "latest" technology at affordable prices. The United States, who refused so far to ratify Basel Convention, remains worlds biggest e-waste producer. China, India, Ghana, and Nigeria come at the receiving end. There has been efforts in the United States in order to impose stricter regulations on manufacturers of electronic products, especially given existing lax regulations overseen by Environmental Protection Agency. One such effort is a legistlation by Congressman Mike Thomson, notwithstanding criticisms. Aside from illegality of dumping e-waste on developing nations, European countries have, at least in theory, much more stricter rules and regulations on e-waste exportation comapred to the United States. A range of possible solutions has been proposed by non-for-profits, most prominently, Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based environmental group, as well as by experts in electronics manufacturing. Among solutions are suggestions to impose and enforce stricter regulations on e-waste products and to create-waste recycling programs (such as Dell and Apple did) in order to ensure a products lifecycle is managed in accordance with international environmental, health and safety

The Kite Runner And Atonement Analysis English Literature Essay

The Kite Runner And Atonement Analysis English Literature Essay In this semester we read many interesting books, and I chose two books to compare and to discus about them. These books are The Kite Runner and Atonement. These books have many similar themes, like discrimination, differences between social classes, guilt-innocence, sacrifice, cowardice, family broken and deceit, but the principal and the reason why I chose these books, is because both stories talk about forgiveness and redemption and how the principal characters try to repair the bad actions that they did in the past. In this essay I would compare both stories, and all the things that caused that Amir (The Kite Runner) and Briony (Atonement) committed injustices with other characters. And after a certain time they could repair their errors that they did in the past, to be in peace with their selves. First I have to give the definitions for forgiveness and redemption. Forgiveness is the action that someone does to forgive someone or something, also to give the pardon to someone. Redemption is the act of redeeming something that was done in the past. The principal characters in these novels are Amir and Briony. Amir grew up as the only son of a rich widower. During his childhood he sees his father with respect and admiration. He also tries to obtain his father admiration and love. In some way he made differences (social differences) with his best friend Hassan, by referring him as his servant and also betray him. In other way Hassan always helped Amir, and considered him as his best friend. At the beginning of the novel Briony is a young rich girl. She likes to write stories. In her childhood she made differences with the people of lower position. She ´s a little mean girl, and with the time she become an adult girl who mature and think over her bad actions that she did when she was a child. Although that Amir and Briony had a different personality, they born in a high position. And I think that because of this difference they had to act as the rich people and not get involve with their servants. That ´s why I think that both stories have a part of discrimination, because the characters or the events that happened in these novel where referred to the differences of the social class. Also I think that it causes that both grew up with the idea that they couldn ´t get involved with their servants, or consider them as friends. Two examples of this actions could be when Assef told Amir and Hassan that they couldn ´t be friends, because Hassan was just Amir ´s servant (The Kite Runner). In Atonement, when Cecile did not defend Robbie, when he was captured by the police man. She did not confess the true about what happened between them. Other theme that these novels have in common is guilt versus innocence. In The Kite Runner, Amir blames Hassan, when Amir accused Hassan of stole Amir ´s father watch and Hassan falsely confessed. Amir did this because he observes that his father have affect for Hassan, and if he knew that Hassan acted in a brave way by confronting Assef, Baba ´s love to Hassan will increase. So, Hassan did not have other option and he left Baba ´s house, even though that he was innocent. In the Atonement, Briony accused Robbie of rape his sister, Cecile. She was a little and confused girl, because she did not notice that between Cecile and Robbie existed more than a sexual attraction. Also the events that happened before and after Robbie and Cecile having sex, made that Robbie were find guilty of Lolas rape. Also Cecile did have the courage to defend her love for Robbie, even though that she can prove Robbies innocence or Lola knew the true and she did not say anything, because she knew the person who rape her (Paul Marshall). These novels have also examples of sacrifices. The principal characters have to give up to something important. In The Kite Runner, Baba and Amir had to leave their hometown for the invasion of the Russians. Also Hassan made many sacrifices, like when he was rape by Assef just to defend Amir ´s kite. Other sacrifice that Hassan did was when he died by defending Baba ´s house. In the novel Atonement, I think that Robbie did the sacrifice of not defending himself by not saying the true. I think that he did that to protect Cecile ´s reputation. Also I think that in some way Briony made a sacrifice by consoling the French guy, who was dying. I think that the biggest sacrifice in this novel was the one that Cecile and Robbie did, by been separate. Another theme that these novels have in common is deceit. Many of the characters of these stories live in a deceit, in a certain time they confront it, because the past can ´t be forgotten. In The Kite Runner has an example of deceit. It is that Amir during his childhood he live in a deceit, because he did not know that Hassan was his half brother. Baba knew the true, but he did not say anything. In the novel Atonement, the biggest deceit could be when Lola lied about who was her rape. She was forced to confess that someone raped her. Briony though that this person was Robbie, so Lola said that Robbie was this person. Cecile did not believe in what she said, but the rest of the family did, so Robbie was sent to jail. Another theme that these novels share is Cowardice. Both novels have examples of this theme. For example in The Kite Runner, cowardice is presented when Hassan was raped by Assef. Amir was watching this action but he did not do anything to help Hassan, even though that Hassan acted in a brave way to defend Amir ´s kite. Also I think that Baba was coward by not saying the true about Hassan, he did not have the courage to say that Hassan was also his son and give him a better life. In the Atonement novel, cowardice is presented when Lola did not say the true about who was the guy who rapes her. That was an act of cowardice, and even though Lola got married with the person who really raped her. Also I think that Cecile was coward by not explaining Briony what was happening between her and Robbie and even more when Robbie was send to jail. I also found that in both stories exists a broke family. I mean that after a certain point or for some reason the relationship between the family members is broken. It happens in The Kite Runner, when Amir knew the true about his half brother, Hassan. For this action Amir felt betray by his father. And the admiration and the respect that he felt for his father become resentment. In the Atonement novel, Cecile was the person who decided to cut with her family. After that Robbie was send to jail, she was disappointed and angry. She left her house and never come back. Ceciles family will not be united anymore. These novels also talk about forgiveness. In atonement, Briony wants to fix the injustice that she committed when she was a child by writing a novel about a love story with a happy ending. At her short age she was confused about the events that she saw. She was too young to understand what happened between Cecile and Robbie, when they were having sex at the library, Briony though that it was an aggression to her sister. So, she told the police what she saw. Briony contributed to send Robbie to jail. Also I think that for the events that Briony saw like when Cecile and Robbie where at the fountain and the letter that Robbie wrote to Cecile, made that Briony had a bad impression about Robbie. These actions made that Briony started to feel hate and fear for Robbie. The time pass and she grew up and mature, these things made that she reconsider her actions against Robbie. Also she remembered that Paul Marshall was the person who raped Lola. So, Briony wanted to amend the damage that her lie caused to Cecile and Robbie, she wrote a novel about Cecile and Robbie with a happy ending. Also she wrote something that she couldn ´t done, it was that she apologized with Cecile and Robbie; it was like a wish, because she didnt do that. These actions should be considered as redemption. In the Kite Runner, forgiveness is presented when Rahim called Amir and told him all the things that happened to Hassan and his family. He gave an advice to Amir, and it was that he could amend all the damage that he caused to Hassan by rescue Sohrab, Hassan ´s son. Rahim also told Amir that by doing this could be the only way to be good again. He considered what Rahim told him, so he decided to go back to his hometown and rescue Sohrab. I consider this action as an opportunity that the life offers to Amir to be good again, and in some way to thank and reward Hassan for all the help, the support, and friendship that Hassan gave to Amir. Also I think that rescued Sonhrab, was Amir ´s obligation, because Hassan died by defending Baba ´s house. It was a debt that Amir needed to pay. I think that both characters received a punishment in a certain time of their lives that made them to pay for their bad actions. For example when Briony was working as nurse, she lived something that made her to reconsider about what she did and what she should do to be in peace with herself. This happened when she was with the French guy, who was dying. She felt alone and without love, she felt like if she were in the same place of the soldier. In The Kite Runner, Amir also received a punishment for a certain time. It was that he couldn ´t have family. I think that for Amir to have his own family was important. Because he expressed his wish to have children. I consider this as a punishment to Amir, because he was a selfish person with Hassan, because he did not want to share his father love. And I think that the destiny charged this action to Amir by not having his own family. At the end of the novels forgiveness is reached by Briony and Amir. They have to do something to obtain the pardon of the people that they hurt, to find a way to be good again, to be in the right way, to feel what the people that they hurt suffered and be in peace with the others. They have to do a little sacrifice to reach the redemption of their selves. Briony and Amir wanted to amend what they have done in the past. Both did what they tough that was correct to reach the forgiveness of the people that they hurt. Amir and Briony were looking for an interior peace that they needed. They need to be free of sins to have a better life, to clear their conscience. They needed to amend their errors, to apologize with the people that they hurt. At the end of the novels both characters, Amir and Briony could be in peace with their selves. They did what they thought that was right to amend their mistakes and injustices. In The Kite Runner, Amir could rescue Sonhrab. Amir gave Sonhrab the right to have a united family, to have a mother and a father again. And Amir let himself to have a complete family, to have a son. To protect and defend Sonhrab as he couldn ´t do with Hassan, when he was rape by Assef. Also to not commit the same mistakes that her father, Baba, did with Hassan. In Atonement, Briony related the love story about Cecile and Robbie. She gave her sister the best end to her love story. The end of Cecile and Robbie ´s love story deserved. Even though that in reality it was impossible, because Briony never confront Cecile and Robbie by telling them the true, and also she never apologize herself for what she did. Briony did what she thought that Cecile and Robbie will tell her to amend the consequences that her lie did to Cecile and Robbie ´s lives. She thought that the readers would like to read a happy ending in her novel. Also she demonstrated that as writers we have the power to change the things and do them in the right way. Both novels show us, the readers, that saying lies bring us bad consequences. Lies could ruin the life of other people; lies could hurt people, could hamper the happiness of a person and also could change your life. These novels teach us that saying lies are not good to the person who is saying them neither for the people who we are telling the lies. The themes that I mentioned like, discrimination, differences between social classes, deceit, sacrifice, guilt, innocence and cowardice are related to forgiveness and redemption in these novels. These themes were involved in the routine lives of Amir and Briony. In some way these themes are involved to the bad actions that Amir and Briony did against other characters. Because Briony and Amir had a better style of life, they had everything, and they grew up with the same ideas that their social class have about their servants. As humans we always judge poor people and we have a bad image of them. We always commit injustices toward the poor people, we discriminate them by thinking that we are better than them, and we also thought that they are weak people, who would never understand us. The people with a high position think that they can blame the poor people, and we end up that they are the bravest people and that we are the cowards. So to amend our errors we have to look for their forgiveness, to be free of any fault. In my personal opinion I consider these novels a lesson of life. The principal characters committed injustices and acted in a mean way with people who did not deserve to be excluded. At the end both characters, Briony and Amir, reconsider what they had done and were looking for forgiveness. That ´s something that humans do, we always commit injustices with the people that give us love and understanding. Some of us do it lately, but I think that never is too late to mend our errors. I also think that to obtain the pardon of someone we have to do something notorious, which can prove that we really wanted to be forgiven. In my personal opinion, I think that the character that success is Amir. Amir did a big effort to be forgiven; he also could amend his errors by rescue Sonhrab. Amir also will learn the role of be a father. I don ´t like the Briony obtain the forgiveness by the right way, because she should have the courage to look for her sister and confront Lola to made her to say the true. These novels made think that the past is always behind you and that some day it can reach you. We have to always amend our injustices, we have to repair our mistakes, and we have to do some sacrifice to be forgiven. Also I learn that the mistakes that you committed in the past, the future will charge you them in an expensive way. We have to try to be good with the people that are around us, to not commit injustices, to always mend our errors and to look for forgiveness. urse_banner Teacher: CJ. Macho Student: Guadalupe Aquino B. Title: Similar themes and focused in Forgiveness in the novels The Kite Runner and Atonement Date: December 14, 2009.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Essay -- Amazing Adventures

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a story of defiance, of successfully breaking and escaping the oppressive mores of society with skill and tenacity, and an embodiment the novelistic tradition of disregard for the monolithic structure on which our world is based. The book is set up around the theme of â€Å"the carnivalesque†, and shows how this rebel attitude can be taken up like a mantel, so a character can make change and find happiness in an oppressive world. These characters come to realize that the carnivalesque is the true way to live, and it is only when they wear the mantle full time that they find satisfaction in their life. In the German occupied Prague, the Jews have been earmarked for hardship and extinction at the hands of the Nazis. Joseph Kavalier, a young man of a bohemian Jewish family, spent his youth under the tutelage of a great escape artist. Fascinated with slight of hand tricks, stealth, and lock picking, Joseph is taught all manner of clandestine skills. It is with these abilities, that he is able to revel in the carnivalesque and escape where others are constrained by their insistence on following the rules. The great protector of the Jews is the golem of Prague from ancient myth, a fantastic example of the Carnivalesque in the form of a Cabalic defiance of power. With the knowledge of how to activate the Golem lost to time, the secret society charged with protecting it must smuggle their massive charge out of Prague before the Nazis discover its location. Young Joseph, already hoodwinked by a bribed Nazi emigration offical, sees in the Golem his opportunity to escape. With the Golem dressed in an enormous suit and posed as a dead... ...tions that determine the structure and order of ordinary . . . life are suspended . . ." (Kohl) Oppressed as he is, Joe fails to embrace the carnivalesque and so fail his family and his love ones. Only by escaping his place in the order and suspending the rules can he manage to make change. As you can see, the Carnivalesque is key to these characters. Though Sam finds that by putting on the cloak of the Carnival, he finds satisfaction, Joe, despite his excellent talents, fails to make the final leap of logic in time to make meaningful change. His family dies and he goes without his loved ones for years because of his failure to take up the mantle of the Carnivalesque. It is not until he returns, soiled as his repuation is, to his old love and son, where their strange new family unit is questioned and mocked by the world, that he finally finds his satisfaction. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Essay -- Amazing Adventures The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a story of defiance, of successfully breaking and escaping the oppressive mores of society with skill and tenacity, and an embodiment the novelistic tradition of disregard for the monolithic structure on which our world is based. The book is set up around the theme of â€Å"the carnivalesque†, and shows how this rebel attitude can be taken up like a mantel, so a character can make change and find happiness in an oppressive world. These characters come to realize that the carnivalesque is the true way to live, and it is only when they wear the mantle full time that they find satisfaction in their life. In the German occupied Prague, the Jews have been earmarked for hardship and extinction at the hands of the Nazis. Joseph Kavalier, a young man of a bohemian Jewish family, spent his youth under the tutelage of a great escape artist. Fascinated with slight of hand tricks, stealth, and lock picking, Joseph is taught all manner of clandestine skills. It is with these abilities, that he is able to revel in the carnivalesque and escape where others are constrained by their insistence on following the rules. The great protector of the Jews is the golem of Prague from ancient myth, a fantastic example of the Carnivalesque in the form of a Cabalic defiance of power. With the knowledge of how to activate the Golem lost to time, the secret society charged with protecting it must smuggle their massive charge out of Prague before the Nazis discover its location. Young Joseph, already hoodwinked by a bribed Nazi emigration offical, sees in the Golem his opportunity to escape. With the Golem dressed in an enormous suit and posed as a dead... ...tions that determine the structure and order of ordinary . . . life are suspended . . ." (Kohl) Oppressed as he is, Joe fails to embrace the carnivalesque and so fail his family and his love ones. Only by escaping his place in the order and suspending the rules can he manage to make change. As you can see, the Carnivalesque is key to these characters. Though Sam finds that by putting on the cloak of the Carnival, he finds satisfaction, Joe, despite his excellent talents, fails to make the final leap of logic in time to make meaningful change. His family dies and he goes without his loved ones for years because of his failure to take up the mantle of the Carnivalesque. It is not until he returns, soiled as his repuation is, to his old love and son, where their strange new family unit is questioned and mocked by the world, that he finally finds his satisfaction.

Bullies Are Criminals Essay

Bullying is a constant problem in school’s today. It starts with annoying comments, but escalates to more severe matters. We’ve seen it happen, and a lot of us known how it feels. None of us like it. People might say they are just ignorant kids, but bullies truly are criminal’s, stealing self-esteem and at times ending lives. 56 percent of students have personally felt some sort of bullying at school between 4th grade and 8th grade. Some say that it is estimated that more than 160,000 kids miss school everyday due to fear of being bullied by other students. According to disability, harassment, civil, and criminal laws, bullying can be easily become a crime. First of all, bullying is a crime, because of the serious effects it can have on an individual. â€Å" and, once robbed of their self-esteem they can suffer from mental and physical problems, drop out of school and even commit suicide.† many adults still get teary recalling their humiliating days at the hands of the class bully, mainly because bullies don’t operate alone. They pick up sycophantic disciples along the way and that multiplies the victim’s pain. The old saying goes, â€Å"sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.† This isn’t necessarily true, word’s do hurt. Maybe not physically, but when kids already have insecurities, bullies don’t help. They build on those insecurities and insult the different qualities of kids. No one likes the way insults feel, and this is why bullies are criminal’s and deserve more severe consequences. The most common cited for being harassed is student’s appearance and or body size. 2 out of every 5 teens feel that they are bullied because, of the way that they look. It is stated that more parents are allowing their young children to undergo plastic surgery to combat bullying. For example a little girl in the 1st grade, went under surgery to get her ears pinned back to prevent her from being bullied. Over 30% of children who suffer a food allergy have been bullied at school. While verbal abuse was the most common form of bullying, 40% reported having been physically threatened, such as having allergen thrown or waved at then or being touched by the allergen. Food allergies affect an estimated 3 million children. Secondly, bullying can end up in a tragic death. Though it does not happen often, it has happened. The usual event is suicide of the victim, or a violent act by the bully that may end in murder. For example, a 15 year old girl hung herself after being harassed by classmates who called her names, picked on her, said she was fat, she had been bullied her whole life before this occurred. There was also a teenager named Larry king who was shot in the head in front if a teacher and a whole classroom full of students. These horrible event’s can start for many reasons including jealousy, gender bias, or racism, It just isn’t right. Bullies are criminal’s they terrorize and harass their victims, ripping apart their self-esteem and attacking their insecurities until the unthinkable happens, violence or even a tragic death. Bullying is a symptom if bad behavior. There is a correlation of bad behavior to incidents of murder, suicides and vandalism. This Is bad behavior can happen anywhere, schools, home, work place, shopping malls etc. it is not until the victim has been seriously affected that people I n authority finally find out by this time it has already affected the victim and all students who watch have bad behavior. Incidents of bad behavior may lead to minor or more serious situations. 1 out of 10 students drop out if school because, they are bullied. A victim of bullying is twice as likely to take his or her own life compared to someone who is not a victim. 30 percent of students who say they have been bullied said they sometimes had brought a weapon to school. In 2007, the five worst states for bullying in kindergarten -12th grade are California, New York,, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Boys tend to bully accordingly to groups, such as â€Å"athletes† .vs. non-athletes.† Girls tend to bully accordingly to gro ups, such as â€Å"popular .vs. non-popular.† Teens who are gay are often subjected to such intense bullying that they do not receive an adequate education. They’re often embarrassed or ashamed to report the abuse. A girl named Megan hung herself 3 weeks before her 14th birthday in 2006 after receiving cruel messages on Myspace. A mother of one of her friends had created a false Myspace account to send Megan harassing emails. The bullying mother was indicated on the incident but was acquitted. Two students involved in the 1999 columbine massacre were described as gifted students who had been bullied for years. During the school shooting, they boys killed 13 people, injured 24 and then killed themselves. This should show you how terrible it is if you are bullied. There was just a recent shooting in Connecticut. Where a student that went there years ago, took his mothers guns and went to the school and shot 27 children, some survived and some did not. The principle was shot and killed, the physiologist was shot as well. Las tly, People often think that bullies don’t see the effects of their actions, or that they don’t understand what they are doing to others. The thing is, bullies understand what they are doing. Whether the bullies are kids or adults, they know it is wrong. Bullying someone is abuse. Some people might say, â€Å"Bullying is really common. What are we going to do, send half American kids to jail?† Half of American kids wont end up in jail because there are other alternatives. For instance, bullies could be required to do community service, therapy, or be made to visit a prison to be shown what their future may be. In addition, parents, schools, and kids need to work together. The problems wont go away on their own. We need to look at the facts of each case and take appropriate action. 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will not intervene 4 percent of the time. 57 percent of students who experience harassment in school never report the incident to the school. 10 percent of those who do not report stay quiet because, they do not believe that teachers r staff members can do anything. As a result more than a quarter of students feel that school is an unsafe place to be. Schools with easier understood rules of conduct, smaller class size and fair discipline practice report less violence than those without such features. Researchers have found that bullying roles (those who bully their victims) remain fairly stable throughout school. For example, even switching to a new classroom, victims of bullying continued to be victims. However, by the age of 23, the roles become less stable and victim of bullies are not harassed or socially isolated. Research by flight Crime/invest in kids reports that 60 percent of boys who bullied from first grade through ninth grade were convicted of at least one crime by the age 24 and 40 percent had three or more convictions by age 24. In conclusion, bullying needs to stop! Bullying is a criminal act. Bullies harass, make threats, terrorize, and use verbal and physical abuse on their victims. We nee to stand up to bullies and not let them strip us of our self-esteem. Bullies must face the consequences of their actions with either therapy or some version of criminal punishment. Maybe if we take a group of bullies to visit a jail to show them how rough their life could turn out, they may rethink their behavior and ways. Bullying is a constant problem in school’s today. It starts with annoying comments, but escalates to more severe matters. We’ve seen it happen, and a lot of us known how it feels. None of us like it. People might say they are just ignorant kids, but bullies truly are criminal’s, stealing self-esteem and at times ending lives. 56 percent of students have personally felt some sort of bullying at school between 4th grade and 8th grade. Some say that it is estimated that more than 160,000 kids miss school every day due to fear of being bullied by other students. According to disability, harassment, civil, and criminal laws, bullying can be easily become a crime.

Analysis of Newspaper Article Essay

Exercising daily is beneficial to a person’s health. While many people exercise for this reason, they are seeking methods to improve endurance and performance. In an attempt to offer durability and better endurance, sports drink manufacturers have started to add protein to their products. â€Å"Sports drinks improve performance during prolonged exercise because of two key ingredients, carbohydrates and sodium (Preidt, 2006). † The carbohydrates provide the fuel and the sodium aids in maintaining fluid balance. While sports drinks may be helpful during exercise, added protein may or may not increase performance. Gatorade and Accelerade sports drink companies sponsored two studies to determine if this is true. One study thinks that adding protein increases performance, the other does not. Type of statistical procedure used Sometimes individuals are aware of the experiment and may not be honest about the results from the test. In this test, experimenters were trying to avoid the placebo effect. The placebo effect is when people improve because they think that they are receiving useful treatment (Bennett, Briggs, & Triola, 2003). To rule out the possibility of the placebo effect, the athletes were told that some of the drinks will contain protein; they were not told which ones. The placebo effect would alter the test and the results would be biased because the athletes would claim performance improvement, thinking that their drinks contained protein. When using a placebo, the athletes must know that the drinks may or may not contain protein. But, they must also know that they will not be able to tell the difference in taste. The placebo appears to be the same but lacks the active ingredient; in this case there was no protein present in some of the drinks. The participants were not aware of which drinks had protein, thus their answers would more likely be real. The studies The studies used 10 trained cyclists to determine if adding protein to sports drinks would increase performance and endurance. In the studies, the cyclists did not know which sports drink they were consuming. In both studies the cyclists were given one of three drinks. They were either given a regular sports drink, one with protein added, or a placebo. This trial was taken on three different occasions. Findings The Canadian study, sponsored by Gatorade, found that adding protein does not improve exercise performance (Preidt, 2006). Martin Gibala was the lead researcher for this study. Of the three sports drinks, the results showed that sports drinks overall did improve performance when compared to the placebo. But, the study also showed that the sports drink with the protein was no more beneficial than the regular one (Preidt, 2006). Gibala states â€Å"our study shows that protein confers no performance benefit during ? real-life’ exercise when athletes consume sufficient amounts of sports drinks. † While the Gatorade study does not believe that protein increases performance, Accelerade’s study states otherwise. Accelerade’s sports drink contains carbohydrates, sodium, and protein. The athletes in their study lost about 2. 5 percent of their body weight through exercise-induced sweating. According to the researchers for this study, Accelerade with protein rehydrated the athletes 15 percent better than those drinking Gatorade and 40 percent better than those drinking plain water (Preidt, 2006). Appropriateness of findings Because the cyclists in the studies were trained and all received the same drinks, I think that the results are inconclusive. Gatorade’s results state that adding protein does not improve performance while Accelerade’s results are not given. Accelerade’s study only states that its sports drinks rehydrate better, but does not address the issue of performance. I think that more research should be done and untrained athletes should be used as well. Because more than just trained athletes consume these beverages, a broader group should be trialed. While the study only addresses those trained cyclists, its results may differ for other athletes. Conclusion When studying the affects of adding protein to sports drinks, one must look at all factors. Factors include age, weight, athleticism, and product consumed. One must also determine if the protein actually increased performance. While Gatorade made a conclusive decision, Accelerade did not. If an athlete was going to make a decision on whether or not to purchase a protein-infused sports drink, he or she would not be able to make a decision based on Accelerade’s research. References: Bennett, J. O. Briggs, W. L. , & Triola, M. F. (2003). Statistical reasoning for everyday life (2nd ed. ). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Preidt, R. Health Day News. (Aug 2006). Studies Divided on Value of Adding Protein to Sports Drinks. Retrieved September 4, 2006 from http://www. medicinenet. com/script/main/art. asp? articlekey=63522.

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buy custom Education and Technology essay This literature review assesses the current researches on the impact of modern technology on education practices. Russel et al (2003) assesses the extent to which technology is used for instructional purposes. The research by Russel et al explores the different attitudes that are adopted by newly recruited teachers compared to their experienced counterparts. The paper also analyzes the influence of mobile wireless technologies in higher education settings as highlighted by Kim, Mims Holmes (2006). These researchers found out that PDAs, wireless computers and web-enabled mobile phones are the most commonly used wireless mobile technologies in higher education settings. The research literature review also reviewed the findings of Teo (2008), whose focus was on the beliefs about the effects of technology among teachers and students. Russell et al (2003) collected survey data from 2,984 teachers within 22 Massachusetts districts for use in the analysis of the extent of technology use for instructional purposes. Their study provided evidence that teachers use technology more for purposes of preparation and communication than for the delivery of instruction or assignment of learning activities that require technology use. However, important differences were found among newly recruited teachers compaed to their colleagues who were more experienced. New teachers, according to Russell et al (2003) tend to be more comfortable with use of new technology for preparation compared to experienced teachers. The experienced teachers, according to the research appeared comfortable using technology during delivery of instruction or stimulating students to engage in learning activities. Kim, Mims Holmes (2006) carried out an assessment of the various types of mobile wireless technologies that are used in higher education. There of the most popular mobile wireless technologies that were examined include PDAs, wireless computers, and web-enabled mobile phones. In each of these technologies, a unique technical infrastructure is needed for access to network resources. However, all of them share many benefits in higher education environments, such as real-time and anywhere access, simplicity in installation, less wiring, reduced cost, flexibility, improvement in communication, scalability and spherical access (Kim, Mims Holmes, 2006). However, before mobile wireless technologies can be adopted in higher education settings, all related issues and challenges should be addressed. The most critical concern is security-related (Kim, Mims Holmes, 2006). In their current stage, mobile wireless technologies are wiithout any security feature. Doubts on the technologies security underlies their slow uptake in the world of business. Meanwhile, the technologies are increasingly being used in higher education institutions because the main reason for their use is provision of a mobile-learning environment to both learners and educators, unlike in the business sectors (Kim, Mims Holmes, 2006). For many people, mobile wireless technologies are yet to be use in everyday life, like in the case of calculators and computers. In order for these emerging technologies to become useful, they must not be greeted with uncritical excitement. Rather, administrators, students and educators have to think critically so as to determine how these technologies can be used for the achievement of their educational goals. According to Teo (2008) todays learning environments are characterized by many beliefs about the effects of technology. Both students and teachers harbor many different beliefs about technology and the influences that it has on education. These beliefs have a significant effect on the approaches that teachers adopt when making use of technology in classroom situations. However, says Teo, the traditional teaching approach is only significant to modern technology use approaches when correlated negatively to the modern teaching methodologies. Buy custom Education and Technology essay