Virginia Woolf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Virginia Woolf - Essay Example In the novel "To the Lighthouse", Woolf articulates her inner thoughts clearly with regards women's occupations and her notion of work. Mrs Ramsay, the main character in this novel, illustrates her creativity in social life as she finds comfort in her role as a loyal wife. Lily, however, despite criticisms hurled against female artists, evident in one of Mr. Ramsey's imprudent utterances that "Women can't write, women can't paint", firmly devotes herself to her vocation, as she is very passionate about her art. Mr Ramsey contentions about women and their vocations exemplify the Victorian assumptions that males and females have their 'assigned roles and they must adhere to it. In contrast, Mrs. Ramsey is a picture of a person satisfied with her life in her chosen endeavor. Often she would make comments about Lily and the girl's artistic leanings by saying, "With her little Chinese eyes and her puckered-up face, she would never marry; one could not take her painting very seriously; she was an independent little creature, and Mrs Ramsay liked her for it" (Woolf 17). Woolf, of course, highly regards artistry as a great occupation as she contends that, "women ought to be as well educated as men, indeed a great deal better immerses herself in an "abstract discipline" (her art). Woolf once stated that all vocations should be unlocked to anyone qualified for them regardless of gender, color or race. As Woolf defies stereotypical roles, her opinions both implicit and explicit, are fundamental in understanding life in her particular setting, and significant in comprehending her arguments on gender roles, work, profession, gender equality and social constraints on women in her generation. Woolf in these writings depicts the roles of women in nonconformist roles and careers in order to explore ideas of work and vocation. In her two works, each of the female protagonists is depicted differently. For instance, in her work, "A Room of One's Own", Woolf shows the progression o f women as they adopt a non-conventional career by 'having money and a room of their own to explore creative endeavors, actions considered taboo in Woolf's generation. In contrast, To the Lighthouse portrays a 'new woman' and her "work" or "vocation" through the novel's protagonists, Lily Briscoe who represents the new woman, adopts her professional career on professional and sincere level. Arnold Bennett stated that a "woman who adopts a professional career will be taken seriously". Lily follows this guide as she disentangles herself from the customary duties that women like Mrs. Ramsay holds, she instead shapes her artistry and stresses individuality through her vocation. In addition, Lily refuses to link her identity to that of men or husband as she has a distinct idea of marriage. The women's movement gave women the chance to cede their domestic duties and the freedom to voice up the difficulties that they were facing in life. Both Lily and Mrs Ramsey receive "vocational discouragement" from males, Lily holds onto her desires and treats her vocation like a 'god' and special gift that she

Team Work Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Team Work - Research Paper Example Most of the businesses prefer teamwork skills among an individual while evaluating him/her for the employment purpose. All companies realize that teamwork is highly essential as either the products to be manufactured are very complex and require teamwork efforts for the production purpose or a good product will be manufactured when a teamwork approach would be adapted for the entire manufacturing process. Thus, it becomes important to perform as a team while working in an organization. In teamwork, the members perform their function to meet the personal as well as the group objectives and goals. The members working in a group feel a sense of authorization and ownership while performing their functions within a group, as these members are committed towards the common goals and objectives that have been set by the group. The team members collaborate with each other and use their experiences and talents in an effective manner to improve the overall performance of the entire group. These members have the foundation of their success built on the trust towards the other members in the team where all the members in the team are encouraged to express their views, opinions, queries freely. The most advantageous part in a team work is that all the members have equal opportunity to participate in the decision making process within the organization, Moreover, there remains a level of understanding among all the members where they realize that the ultimate decision should be taken by the leader if the team as a whole cannot reach to any consensus agreement. Characteristics or features of an effective team 1. The team should have transparent goal The team goals must possess a specific performance objective, which would be expressed in a concise manner, so that it is clear to every member when the objective have been met. 2. The team should have result driven structure The team must operate and perform its functions in such manner that it produces results for the organization . If a team is allowed to develop the structure, then it provides best results. 3. The team should possess competent team members The team members chosen for participating in the group must have the potentiality of being competent enough. The members must have the ability to tackle with the level of knowledge. 4. The team should always have unified commitment All the team members must direct their efforts and to a common goal, where the individual efforts would have the ability to meet the unified commitment. The prime advantage of teamwork is the ability to combine the talents and skills. A team gets advantageous from a broad array of talent and skills, which is not possible to be possessed by an individual employee. Collaboration and leadership play important role in increasing the efficiency of the team work. It is the responsibility of a good leader to handle the team with such efficacy that it increases the performance of the entire team. At the same time, collaboration between the team members is necessary in order to improve the overall team work. The next part of the project would discuss about the importance of collaboration and leadership in teamwork. Team work and Collaboration Collaboration is one of the most important components of any team. It does not matter whether the team is big or small but collaboration is necessary in every

Hotel Tour - the Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Hotel Tour the Evaluation Essay Remington Hotel is located near NAIA 3, beside the Resorts World Manila. The hotel is good but has some flaws that has a need to work on knowing the hotel is rated as 4-star. As a hotel, they must repair and maintain facilities as it is needed. But when we arrived to the hotel, one of their interior design is not functioning, which is a demerit for their hotel. And no personnel from the department of repair is fixing it. The hallway of the hotel is very simple, as a 4-star hotel, being classy yet elegant is a must, but then, we felt like we are in a dormitory as we walked through the hallway and corridors. The elevator is well functioning, the good thing about their elevator is their ving card system, where in a guest can only go to a certain floor where his/her room is located. The room is okay. I cannot say that is very good since it doesn’t has a mini bar which is one of the requirements of a guest room, also, the bathroom is not spacious, and it does not have a bath tub. Also, I did not saw their spa and gym, which I doubted they have as well as their convention halls. Their personnel are accommodating, good looking, and practice being hygienic. The female personnel’s hair are in bun, they wear a light make up, and proper uniform, while men personnel’s hair are properly trimmed, and they wear proper uniform. Another thing I am concerned with is their reception area is far from the doors of the hotel. Which I think will not work because the guests will still look for it instead of seeing it upon entering the hotel. Resorts World Manila is such a very elegant, luxurious place for unwinding, relaxation, and of course, for entertainment. It is an all in one establishment. It has a casino, a lineup of first class bars and clubs, restaurants, and the Newport mall. But, there are some downsides. In order to enter the establishment, you must be 18 years old and above, or accompanied by an adult, you must have enough money to roam around the vicinity, of course, this is a place for rich people. The Seminars we attended when we had our hotel tour is very beneficial for each and every one of us students especially when we already entered the Tourism and Hospitality Industry. From Meal Management, though it is not that good because it is very basic, and it has been already discussed by our dearest Prof. Elizabeth Guevarra. It is beneficial for us in the sense that when we wanted to enter FB sector, we know how to operate it and how we can serve our guests finely. We are able to serve them in the best way. In FB sector, mastery of the skills is a must in order to get appreciated by the large number of guests coming in to your food establishment. The Purchasing and Cost Control Seminar we had at Genting Star Tourism Academy (GSTA) is very helpful for us when we chose to have our own food establishment in the near future or we want to be a purchaser of a restaurant or in the hotel. We can use what we learned form the seminar to fit in with the standards of being a certified purchaser or a food establishment owner. The Front Office Management seminar we had again, at GSTA, is one of my favorite seminars we had, we learned a lot, and it is very beneficial and favorable for some who wants to be in front desk of a hotel or Cruise ship. We learned that there is a separate reservation system from hotel and cruise ship. There is Opera Full Service, and Fidelio Cruise. Both used as a reservation system and it is easy to use. The House Keeping Seminar we had at GSTA helped us a lot since we knew that lots of General Managers or at least top employees in the hotel are from the housekeeping department because they know most of the circulations in the hotel. In the lecture, the speaker told us that as a house keeper who needs to make up 16 rooms in 2 hours, he must acquire a number of assistant to help the house keeper out and not making himself being in a hurry. When cleaning a guest room, a house keeper must clean first the ceiling, then the walls, and lastly the floor. As we had our bed making demonstration from one of the graduates and employee of GSTA, we learned that when you make the bed, you must work complementing being fast and working with grace. To be more efficient, a housekeeper must work in the way that he/she will be more comfortable with. We learned that it is much easier to miter the linens if you use your knees to lift the mattress. Also, a house keeper must wear comfortable clothes to move freely and make the bed very well. After the said demonstration about housekeeping, we got the chance to try making our own beds in our hotel rooms. When we get back to our respective rooms, we are ordered to make the bed and take pictures for documentations. But sadly, the house keeper and other staffs of Remington Hotel and Marsman Drysdale designated 15 students in one bed which made us a bit annoyed because we will not be able to execute our trial very well. Here’s our photo documentation for bed making: My roommates are Jerome Paul Misa and Richard Mark Oliveros. Martin Tioseco is not our roommate but he decided to have his bed making trial with us since the employees are rushing us and we have no time to make the bed group by group. a.Before Return-Demonstration Procedures b. While working on Bed Making Procedures c. Finish Product of a Well-Made Bed Set-up The theme park is not just for Lodging, Casino, Malls, and Bars, they also have the Newport Performing Arts Theatre in where we watched the King and I show, it is also a great experience for us to enter the theatre of Resorts World Manila. Also, they offer free shuttle service for guests who checked-in in their corresponding hotels: Maxims Hotel, Marriott Hotel, and Remington Hotel. Also, it is offered free for Resorts World Member which we got on the night of day 1. Resorts World Manila offers free membership card for everyone to earn points and as an ID to enter the Resorts World Manila.

Developing a Compensator using Cerrobend Materials

Developing a Compensator using Cerrobend Materials ABSTRACT In external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), dose optimization is achieved by conforming the dose distribution to the shape of the intended target whilst minimizing radiation to normal tissues in close proximity to the target. This is achieved by modulating the intensities of the radiation across the radiation portals forming the irradiation geometry used for the treatment. Compensators may be used to achieve the above effect and can be used to approximate the fluence map by appropriate linear attenuation coefficient of individual beamlets making up the original open beam fluence. This may be done with a treatment planning system (TPS) with inverse planning capabilities or with a bolus placed on the surface of the patient at the beam entrance point. This work describe the procedures for designing, constructing and dosimetric considerations of cerrobend compensator for high energy photon beams, using the bolus option on the surface of the phantom planned with Prowess Panther TPS. Also correc tion factors that account with effects of field size, treatment depth and changes in thickness ratio because of using bolus were introduced. The cerrobend compensator was adjusted to account for beam divergence and reduction in dose contributed by scattered radiation. The correction factors were applied to the thickness ratio for determination of appropriate thickness of cerrobend that mimic bolus. The measurements were done in Theratron Equinox 100 cobalt-60 teletherapy unit using Cerrobend slabs constructed to account for divergence of the beam for the maximum field size considered in this research (3030 cm2). The narrow and broad beam linear attenuation coefficient for cerrobend were determined using simple attenuation model, varying the field size from 44 cm2 to 3030 cm2 field sizes in air, and also varying the thickness of cerrobend from 0.5cm to 4.6cm. The value found was 0.4574cm-1 and also the field size dependence of linear attenuation coefficient were investigated. The sca tter produced by cerrobend was accessed and evaluated. The scatter-to-primary ratio dose contribution was found to be negligible for small field size as reported by Dimitriadis (2002), and can cause error in the final dose calculation up to 13.3% for 3030 cm2 and 4.09 cm thickness of cerrobend. The cerrobend compensator was successful designed and constructed. The dosimetric accuracy for constructed cerrobend compensator was found to be deviating with that predicted with Prowess Panther Treatment Planning System with percentage error ranging from 0.365 to 25%, which is associated with limitations in producing precise thickness of cerrobend with the same accuracy of that generated by the equation 3.04 and limitations in generating flat surface topography and also the presence of air bubble in the cerrobend compensator which was not investigated in thiswork. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND Cancer is a significant health care problem. On average about half of all cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy worldwide (IAEA, 2004). Radiotherapy, also referred to as radiation therapy, radiation oncology or therapeutic radiology is one of the three modalities used to treat malignant disease (cancer) the other two being chemotherapy and surgery (Suntharalingamn et al, 2005). Radiotherapy uses ionizing radiation to eradicate cancerous cells with the least possible damage to normal tissues. The first therapeutic use of ionizing radiation was demonstrated in 1897 by Wilhelm Alexander Freud, a German surgeon before Vienna Medical Society when he demonstrated the disappearance of a hairy mole following treatment with x-ray (Hall, 2000). The first recorded experiment in radiobiology was also performed by Becquerel when he advertently left a radium container in his vest pocket and subsequently described the skin erythema two weeks later (Hall, 2000). The modalities of radiotherapy are divided into two types, tele-therapy and brachytherapy. Brachytherapy is a method of treatment in which sealed sources are used to deliver radiation at short distances by interstitial, intracavitary or surface application (Khan, 2010). Tele-therapy is a treatment modality in which the source of radiation is at a distance from the patient, also called external beam radiation therapy, it uses photons ranging from kilo voltage to megavoltage photons, and electron beams from linear accelerators or Co-60 tele therapy units. In External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT), the methodology of treatment depends on different factors, which may include the shape and size of the tumour to be treated within the patient, sparing of normal tissues within the vicinity of the target from excessive irradiation, financial constraints and the quest of optimization of radiation dose to the target. There are different treatment techniques ranging from 2-D conventional radioth erapy to more advanced Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). IMRT is a treatment planning and delivery technique that can greatly improve the process of conformal radiotherapy which refers to the process of blocking a beam with irregular shaped beam portal so that the dose delivered corresponds more closely to tumour whilst reducing the dose to normal tissue. In developing countries, most of the centrees are restricted to a Co-60 tele therapy unit with basic treatment planning and simulation capabilities. Patients present irregular surface topographies and tissue heterogeneities. According to Chang (2004), a compensator is a traditional tool for modern application and is an alternative IMRT delivery technique. In IMRT, the compensator is used not in the sense of compensating for missing tissue or tissue heterogeneity but as beam intensifier like dynamic wedges and multileaf collimators (MLC). The goal is to achieve dose uniformity throughout the whole target volume and, more importantly to spare critical structures according to the dose and dose volume constraint prescribed by the clinicians for specific patients (Jiango et al, 1998). Therefore, compensators are designed to produce an optimized primary fluency profile at the patient’s surface. This is achieved by modulating the intensities of the radiation across the radiation portals forming the irradiation geometry used for the treatment. There are various methods by which compensators can be made. According to Williams and Thwaites (2000), the three main types are grid-blocking system, contour system and a system using machined compensator. The first compensators made by Ellis et al. (1958) were constructed by stacking aluminum pillars. Another method reported by Lam et al. (1983) describes the construction of compensators from thin sheets of lead. Today compensators are more commonly made from molds filled with molten alloy or wax. Using molds is advantageous since it results in compensators with smoother surfaces and thus greater accuracy. To make a compensator for an IMRT practice, it is required to calculate the effective attenuation coefficient () of its materials, which is affected by various factors as field size, depth, off- axis distance, compensator thickness (Haghparast et al, 2013). A number of elements have been used to form compensators which include tungsten-epoxy mixture (Xu et al, 2002), Lucite (Khan et al, 1970), gypsum (Weeks et al, 1988), tin-wax (Van et al, 1995), tin (Chang et al, 2000), cerrobend (Waltz BJ et al, 1973), steel (Van et al, 1995), aluminum (Ellis et al, 1959), brass (Ellis et al, 1959; Tess, 2014), lead (Leung et al, 1974; Cunnighan et al, 1976; Andrew et al, 1982; Spicka et al, 1988), coper (Tess, 2014). In this study, a cerrobend compensator will be constructed using a simple attenuation model to determine its effective attenuation coefficient. Film and an ionization chamber will be used for dosimetric measurements and for verification of measured dose distribution and compared with those calculated with the PROWESS Panther TPS software at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. PROBLEM STATEMENT In external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), dose optimization is achieved by conforming the dose distribution to the shape of the intended target whilst minimizing radiation to normal tissues in close proximity to the target. Most dosimetric measurements are done on flat surface and homogenous medium, however patients surface is highly irregular and internal tissues are heterogeneous. The main aim of radiation therapy is to deliver uniform dose distribution within +7 % and –5 % (ICRU report 50, 1993) of the dose prescription without exceeding the tolerance dose of the critical structure around tumor volume. To achieve this goal, the above irregularities should be corrected. Thus different studies suggested and implemented bolus which is a tissue equivalent material placed at the surface of the patient to compensate the missing tissue. However, this technique doesnt spare the skin beneath the bolus. This is because, the buildup region is in the bolus and Dmax (depth of maximum dose) will be at skin surface. To solve such complications compensators have been introduced by different people on different approaches to correct both surface irregularity and tissue heterogeneity which is now done by using MLC based IMRT. Advanced technological innovations in anatomic and functional imaging modalities (CT, MRI, PET, and US) have led to improved visualization and the delineation of tumour. Radiation treatment planning and delivered techniques have also seen a marked improvement. Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) provides a high degree of dose conformity to the planning target volume (PTV) and the conformal avoidance of organs at risk. Therefore radiation field is not only geometrically shaped to conform to the outline of the planning target volume at the beams eye view, but is also intensity modulated. The National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) presently uses paraffin wax for construction of a compensator and cerrobend for shielding blocks, but there is a need to implement physical compensator based IMRT using materials which are available in the Centre and is inexpensive. This research will focus on design and construction and dosimetric considerations of cerrobend compensators to modulate the intensities of the radiation across the radiation portals forming the irradiation geometry used for the treatment. OBJECTIVES GENERAL OBJECTIVE The general objective of this work is designing and constructing a compensator using cerrobend materials. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES To clarify the effect of scattered photons generated within the compensator on head scatter factor. To evaluate dosimetric accuracy and dose coverage. To compare and evaluate measured and predicted data. To evaluate the variation of dose distribution by the compensator. SCOPE AND LIMITATION The scope of this thesis is in the area of the IMRT by means of physical compensators specifically using cerrobend which are manually fabricated. In most centres which are practicing IMRT, the construction of the compensator to provide the needed modulation is done by generating a fluency map of the radiation portal needed. This is done with a treatment planning system (TPS) with inverse planning capabilities or with a bolus placed on the surface of the patient at the beam entrance point. The bolus option will be used in this research as currently there is no TPS in the country that can do inverse planning. In this case, the cerrobend compensator will be used to replicate dosimetric effects of the bolus placed on the surface of the patient. According to Jiang et al (1998), the calculation of compensator thickness profile (an optimized primary fluency profile) is straightforward typically using the exponentially attenuation model. With reference to this, the shape of the compensator w ill be adjusted to account for beam divergence and reduction in dose contributed by scattered radiation. Thus the dosimetric considerations is part of the scope of this research. The measurement will be made from a Co-60 tele therapy machine at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH). RELEVANCE OF THE PROJECT WORK In radiation oncology, a patient should get the best treatment option as much as possible in order to improve quality of patient care. So the expected results such as correction factors to account for reduction in scatter for using the cerrobend compensator to mimic bolus would have immense contribution to scientific and technical knowledge. From this work, it will be possible to implement IMRT delivering technique at National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear medicine of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. The clinical implementation of IMRT technique requires at least two systems (Khan, 2010), which are: treatment planning computer system that can calculate non-uniform fluence maps for multiple beams directed from different directions to maximize dose to target while minimizing dose to critical normal structures. This may be done with a treatment planning system (TPS) with inverse planning capabilities or with a bolus placed on the surface of the patient at the beam entrance point. The s econd one, is a system delivering a non-uniform fluence as planned, so each of these systems must be appropriately tested and commissioned before the actual clinical use. The bolus option will be used in this research as currently there is no TPS in the country that can do inverse planning. The cerrobend compensator will be used to replicate dosimetric effects of the bolus placed on the surface of the patient. Similar research was done using different materials by Teclehaimanot (2014) in which the results were not in the clinically acceptable levels, so with this work we are expecting to reach such clinical levels with deviation less than 5%. Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is widely used in clinical applications in developed countries, for the treatment of malignant and non-malignant diseases. This technique uses multiple radiation beams of non-uniform intensities. The beams are modulated to the required intensity maps for delivering highly conformal doses of radiation to the treatment targets, while sparing the adjacent normal tissue structures. This treatment technique has superior dosimetric advantages over 2-dimensional (2D) and conventional 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) treatments. It can potentially benefit the patient in three ways. Firstly, by improving conformity with target dose, it can reduce the probability of in-field recurrence. Secondly, by reducing irradiation of normal tissue, it can minimize the degree of morbidity associated with treatment. Finally, by facilitating escalation of dose, it can improve local control (Cheung, 2006). Compensator based IMRT has a lot of advantages over MLC, many literature reported by Taherkhani (2010), report that the penumbra regions created by MLCs are larger than those generated by cerrobend blocks. Compensators provide more consistent dose, impose no limitations on the dose delivery rate, reduce skin surface doses, and because of the high density of the cerrobend allows improved skin sparing with low production rate of secondary electrons (Gray, 1979; Hine, 1951) reported by Shery (1987). It gives continuous intensity modulation, high spatial resolution, gives room to treat large field size, easy quality assurance (QA), shorter treatment time delivery with some drawbacks which are lack of automation (Chang, 2004), but there are some disadvantages like the therapist having to go to the treatment room to change the compensator in multiple fields and production cost, being labor intensive and time consuming. But now these drawbacks have been fixed in many developed countries by introducing a milling machine which is incorporated with the Treatment Planning System (TPS), and an automated compensator-IMRT technique (Javedan et al. 2008). Other main advantage of using cerrobend in this research are: its low melting point of 1580F (700C) which makes it easy to be recycled. It is readily available, inexpensive, high density (9.8g/cm3) and is used as shielding blocks in EBRT where doses are reduced by 95% or 99% of their initial value. As a material for compensation with high energy photons, cerrobend provides several advantages over tissue equivalent material (Shery, 1987). In the past, Cerrobend had not been considered as an excellent compensator material despite its high density. Recently Chang et al (2004) found that there are cerrobend filling techniques that produce smooth and accurate compensators with consistent density. Solidified Cerrobend in the compensator mold becomes one of the top choices of compensator material. And it can be easily shaped to the intended form with uniform density using the technique described by (Chang, 2004). Chang et al (2004) showed that compensator-IMRT technique has several benefits for delivering continuous intensity modulation and have shown that the finer resolution compensator-IMRT technique can also produce dosimetry that is closer to the ideal IMRT treatment (without any delivery limitation) compared with the segmental MLC IMRT technique. From this work the patients treated at the National Centre of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine will benefit from all the advantages of IMRT techniques mentioned above. Consequently patients will also get a better and inexpensive treatment option.

Gap Exploitation Essay -- essays research papers

Gap Inc. was founded in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher in San Francisco, California, with a single store and a handful of employees. Today, they’re one of the world's largest specialty retailers with three of the most recognized and respected brands in the apparel industry - Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. Gap Inc. has more than 153,000 employees supporting over 4,200 stores in more than 3,100 locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Germany. Their 2004 Sales were well over $15 billion, bringing in a net income of $1.03 billion, a 115.7% income growth from previous year. Gap Inc contracts factories in 64 Countries, allegedly also making clothes within the US . And by â€Å"Made in the USA,† they mean, â€Å"Made in the indigenous countries that, out of desperation, joined the United States in hopes of gaining more stable government regulations, yet remain excluded from basic employment rights and minimum wage laws.† The â€Å"guest workers† from countries like Saipan, who joined the United States in 1975 to be citizens of the â€Å"land of the free,â€Å" commit themselves to conditions that are simply shameful to basic human rights. Once committed, workers who toil for 12 hours daily behind barbed-wire fences, eat infested food, sleep on cots in dormitories that they are forced to pay more "fees" for, and work "off the clock" hours that they aren't paid for, can’t escape from the madness, unless they can pay a mandatory $10 thousand dollar fee for this â€Å"privilege.† Despite over 1,000 citations over a mere 5 years in Saipan, GAP remains stern on their refusal to pay a settlement with exploited workers. One worker was quoted: â€Å"Before 1997, we called for the strike because we were forced to work overtime with no opportunity to take a holiday, we wanted to go home for the holiday. But now we have so many holidays, and we have no money to go home. There is nothing in balance†¦ I have no question why people commit suicide.† Of course, not all of the factories that GAP contracts could possibly conduct themselves like that, right? They have model factories like the Shin Won factory in Guatemala, acclaimed by industry reps and retailers, as well as winning several exporting awards in recent years. From afar, Shin Won is just an average factory ... ...other loan for $20 from a loan shark.† To think that these are just individual problems or â€Å"special cases† is outright foolish. 24 of 27 factory workers in Lesotho said that they owed money to loan sharks. Even more shocking, many loan sharks are supervisors at the factories in which these people make a living. This means that the supervisors can deduct money from the checks of people who borrowed the money. What does this mean to the workers? Weeks of work without pay, and the need to, you guessed it, borrow more money. How could so much corruption ensue in these factories when the Gap’s 90 inspectors are paid to keep tabs on violations of their Code of Conduct? One Lesotho worker had this to say: â€Å"In our factory we have this policy that we have two separate time sheets, one for the buyer and for the owner. Whenever the buyer comes, they show that person a sheet which does not have our actual salary. The management does not show the buyer our original time sheet, the one which shows what we are actually paid. We have two time sheets, and we have to sign both sheets. If I don’t then I will get fired. I have no other option but to sign both sheets.†

How Mercantilism Helped to Shape the American Nation :: American America History

How Mercantilism Helped to Shape the American Nation In the Middle Ages, the definition of wealth was based on the amount of productive land. According to this definition, France was the wealthiest and therefore the most powerful of the European nations. During the sixteenth century the definition of wealth began to change. As the ability to conduct profitable foreign trade increased, so did the amount of cash. Thus, the new definition of wealth came to mean the gain of cash or specie. Specie included gold, silver, or bullion. The wealthiest nation became the one with the most cash, and therefore, the most powerful nation. As the redefining of wealth took hold, there was an increased desire and ability to conduct foreign trade on a larger scale as cash became the new medium of exchange in contrast to bartering. Mercantilism began to take hold of the countries of Europe. Mercantilism was characterized by the governmental regulation of industries, trade, and commerce. This was especially true with foreign trade, and was determined more b y national aims rather than individual or local interests. This new quest for trade began the Age of Expansion in the early fourteen hundreds. This era ushered in a search for new sources of revenues, and focus turned toward the colonization of the New World. The Portuguese, Spanish, and English directed many efforts of colonization and development toward this new land in an attempt to establish themselves as the economic leaders of the world. As mercantilism began to change, so did the power flux of the European countries. Thus began the shaping of North America as we know it. The Age of Expansion brought many changes to medieval Europe. During this period, the countries of Europe began to look beyond their borders. In Europe, there was nowhere to grow. This being the case, the only place to turn was west. Portugal came into existence in the early 1400's. It is a small country bordered on one side by the sea, and by Spain on the other. Out of necessity the Portuguese became the masters of the sea. They began to acquire a great knowledge of the sea and advanced in navigation, sailing, and map-making. They also founded an academy of navigation in Lisbon. In the early 1400's, the Portuguese began exploratory voyages. The Portuguese wanted to establish themselves in large-scale international trade. The four things most desired by the people of Europe were spices, sugar, precious metals, and silk.

The History of Crayola Crayons

For nearly a hundred years children have used crayons to express themselves and their creativity. This is largely due to the brilliant inventors of one American company; Binney & Smith Inc. Edwin Binney and Harold Smith founded Binney & Smith in New York City in the 1800’s; around 1885, Joseph’s son, Edwin Binney, and nephew, C Harold Smith formed the partnership of Binney & Smith. The cousins extended Their company’s product line by including shoe polish and printing ink. The company purchased a stone mill in Eastern PA in 1900, to produce slate pencils for schools.This began the cousins to begin  research into non-toxic and colorful drawing materials for children to use. They’ve already accomplished inventing a new wax crayon used to mark milk crates as well as barrels, however the materials were covered with carbon black which was too toxic for children to use.Despite this concern the cousins were confident the pigment and wax mix they developed could be converted for a variety of safe colors. And, in 1903, a new brand of superior crayons tucked inside a yellow and green box of â€Å"eight† was introduced to the public- Crayola Crayons. (In French â€Å"Crayola† oleaginous means â€Å"oily and crayons â€Å"craie† meansâ€Å"chalk†). Generations later, thanks to its innovation in manufacture and excellent marketing by extending on their success by creating more colors inside bigger yellow and green boxes and changing with the times: In 1962, the color flesh, changed to peach, since everyone’s skin color wasn’t the same as well as a variety of other colors. Because of this adjusting to the changing times Binney & Smith are still king at the market they created decades ago.-Works Cited-Author: Mary Bellis;Inventors, Crayola Crayon History. WWW. inventors. about. com/library/inventors/blcrayon. html