Gender Analysis of Chronicle of a Death Foretold Essay

Write an essay that explores Garcia Marquez’s implicit themes about relationships between men and women in Chronicle of a Death Foretold In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold there are several types of relationships between men and women that, although opposites on the moral compass, coincide well. These relationships include prostitution and honor, utilitarian marriage and desire, as well as sexual expectations of men and women. These uniquely corresponding relationships present a number of themes regarding gender throughout the selection, and are able to grant us a greater understanding of the circumstances surrounding the small town in the story. Prostitution and honor are almost opposites by definition, so why is it that they exist in harmony throughout the selection? The reason that these two different things are able to coincide is the distinctive values present in this story. The brothel is a â€Å"house of mercies†(45) that is well attended; as to prove a point at how widely accepted this place is. The sexual expectations of men have a lot to do with these values as men are expected to be experienced come marriage, bringing great honor if the wife is pure. The relationship between prostitution and honor reveals the theme of use of women as property whose value is determined by appearance and purity. The theme of the use of women as property is further elaborated in the relationship between sexual expectations of men and women. The sexual expectations of men and the sexual expectations of women are very different. Men are to be experienced and should have visited the brothel and gotten past the initial hesitation and fear of sex by the time that they are married, making the theme of a patriarchal society very clear. On the other hand, women are supposed to be pure until the time of marriage comes, so that they may bring honor and prestige to themselves, their family and their husbands. If they don’t they may end up being punished by their punished by being beat with †such rage that it might seem as they aim to kill†(46) by their mothers. The brothel is one of the only alternatives for women who have not respected this social rule, and serves as a punishment for refusing social norms and keeping their family from advancement. The ever-present struggle between desire and utilitarian marriage serves as the missing factor in the equation of life in this society. A violation of the sexual expectations of women through desire can end in prostitution, reflectively the compliancy of expectations can bring honor resulting in marriage. In conclusion, this patriarchal society has a unique set of rules with predetermined destinations that give a better understanding to the motives of characters such as the Vicario brothers and their sister.

Essay about change Essay

Period 5 Change can be a journey for everyone because the world is constantly changing and we have to adapt to these changes. Sometimes change can be a good thing, like getting a promotion at work. Sometimes change is disappointing or sad, such as a close family member dying. Either way, change is something that happens to everybody all the time. I think that in this era more things are changing more rapidly. This generation has to adapt to many changes in culture and our society. Because things change so rapidly, sometimes you need a chance to slow down and live in the moment. In this essay, I will explore how change is a journey that everyone takes. The first word in the Change category is â€Å"forward.† I think the word can inspire people to change their lives for the better. When you think about the word â€Å"forward†, you picture aptitude and change for a better world. Moving forward in life is about being passionate in what you do. People who don’t have a passion for anything lead boring lives. To move forward you also have to have lots of positive experiences. Being positive is always good for you because if you are negative you can’t have the outlook on life that positive people have. I think the word â€Å"forward† can apply to me because I try to stay positive and passionate in life. The next word that I can apply to my life is â€Å"excitement.† Everyone loves to be excited, because it’s the opposite of being bored, and your brain does not like to be bored. I think that excitement can fuel the brain to do things it would not be capable of in boredom. A lot of life is about being excited. Excitement relates to change because to make any major changes in life you have to be excited, or positive, about what you do. I think the word relates to my life because I am not usually bored. I try to stay emotionally active at all times. The final word I will discuss is â€Å"possibility.† Possibilities in life only come to those who can adapt to changes in the world. People who can find  niches in life and make a profit from them know how to adapt and make possibilities for themselves. Change and possibilities are similar because when things change new possibilities always arise from them. People can apply the word possibility to their lives because possibility is vital to your success as a person. To conclude, nearly everything in life revolves around constant change. A modern example is the stock market, where nothing is really permanent. Another example is death, a natural process of change. Changes also happen within people. As a person grows up and matures, his or her personality changes greatly. â€Å"There is nothing permanent in life except change,† said the philosopher Heraclitus. Some call change or variety â€Å"the spice of life.† Change is the very nature of being. Every new day is different from the previous day. Tides come and go. Sometimes a whole river changes its course. Changes that take place in nature we have little or no control over. However, changes in our personal lives can be manipulated to some extent, and if you’re careful, it can turn out well for you. Change is just a fact of life, and in order to be successful, you must learn to adapt to changes.

The Naturalist and Christian answers to Foundation Worldview Questions Assignment

The Naturalist and Christian answers to Foundation Worldview Questions - Assignment Example When first studying a worldview, it is often helpful to review a variety of definitions for that belief system. Each author brings a different emphasis, providing a fuller understanding of that worldview. Naturalism is the belief that nature is all there is. There is nothing outside of nature, or if there is, it is unknowable. All phenomena, whether physical, biological, psychological, or even spiritual, can be completely explained by laws of nature. God, in this metaphysical system, is inherently a product of human imagination, and therefore a relic from prescientific times, when humans knew no better than to attribute to a supernatural being their own existence and that of everything else they encountered (Johnson, n.d.). In contrast, the question is answered with a resounding "Yes" by someone with a Biblical worldview. Unlike the naturalist who says that matter is eternal, the Christian says that only God is eternal and all matter was created by God. The idea that there is no God has significant impact on the naturalists ethics. If there is no God, then there is no objective, external standard for ethics. There is no way to objectively define right and wrong outside of mankind. Since there is no standard for ethics outside of mankind, ethics are defined by ones culture and society.

Civil society and religious figures in Saudi Arabia - literature review

Civil society and religious figures in Saudi Arabia - review2 - Literature review Example Finally, some see civil society as a loose public arena for deliberation and reason rather than ascription or inherited advocacies (Hermida, 2013; Karskens, 2008). Throughout the spectrum of definitions, the most salient characteristic of civil society is that it represents the interest and benefit of the general population. The definitions vary in terms of nature (bureaucratic and institutional versus grassroots), origin (government-established or spontaneously organised), and source of funding (government or private). The overlap with state bureaucracy and funding often raises the question as to the independence of civil service organisation. Arab monarchies generally see no problem with CSOs pursuing the civil goals of government, as government goals should be aligned with the people’s best interest (Bellin, 1994). Western countries on the other hand feel that CSOs must be a party separate from the government and free from intervention, in order to truly represent the welfa re of the public free from political interest. It is evident that the concept of civil society continues to remain ambiguous, and the particular meaning given to it shall be imbued with the context of the society in which the civil society organisation operates. 2. Soviet Union Democracy transformation in 1998 There are two notable aspects of civil society in the context of post-soviet Russia, according to Jagudina (2002). One is the â€Å"doubled† character of the Soviet public sphere, and the other is about solidarity through exchange of favours. The so-called double character refers to the co-existence of (1) a ‘rigidly regulated economic and social framework’ under Soviet leadership, and (2) the ‘dynamic disparate networks and local environments’ comprised of families, neighbours, colleagues, and close acquaintances. When the rigid political framework collapsed in the late 1980s, the public sphere evolved into a vacuum that was quickly turned int o a space where new informational technologies took over, fostering confrontation, ambiguity, and manipulation by clerics and activists (Jagudina, 2002). The other aspect is that of â€Å"solidarity through exchange of favours.† The aforementioned disparate networks of families and close associates operating beyond the range of the heavily regulated social framework, and provided reference points and communication channels for circulating information that were considered more reliable than official channels which towed the government line (Jagudina, 2002). This â€Å"traditional society† is comprised of â€Å"networks of solidarity based on primordial communities, kinship and patronage† (Roy, 2005, p. 1006). In the early 2000s, after the collapse of the Soviet regime, there eventually arose 250-300 organisations that perceived themselves to be the new burgeoning Russian civil society, springing from the underground networks that former operated under the radar o f the Soviet regulatory framework. Explicitly political, these organisations provided a critical voice in government by airing the grievances of the broad segment of the population. These organisations operate in an environment where mass media is unsupportive, state authorities are unresponsive, a general

Evaluation of Two New Assessment Methods for Selecting Telephone Case Study - 1

Evaluation of Two New Assessment Methods for Selecting Telephone Customer Service Representatives - Case Study Example Other statistics were also close except r-value with work sample (C), and this could be treated as an outlier. A significant level of consistency is also evident in statistics for results for work sample (T) and results for work sample (C). In all the three results, consistency exists in significant r-values and the use of quantitative approach in analyzing the data further establishes reliability because of freedom from barriers such as effects of emotions. The study’s sample size is also large enough to establish internal consistency and its value that is greater than 30, suitable for normal approximations and relatively large for the population size, explains this. Data collection also included a second rater throughout the process, a factor that eliminated bias. In addition, the replication was done within a short period and therefore eliminated maturation confound. The use of predetermined evaluation criteria for the work sample tests also eliminated possible examiner bia s or uninformed and arbitrary evaluations. These features therefore establishes internal reliability of the evaluations and means that the analysis results are suitable for informing decisions on the organization’s recruitment and staffing decisions (Grinnell & Unrau 124). Similarly, key measures of validity inform its evaluation. Measurement validity is the degree to which a measure meets its intended objectives and analysis of used measures identifies validity. Speed, accuracy, and interpersonal skills are accurate measure of customer-service-relation competence because of identifiable relationship with deliverables. Speed indicates ability to meet demand for phone bookings that is growing, accuracy indicates the ability to satisfy customer my making correct deliveries at the right times, while interpersonal skills identifies ability to develop relationships between customers and the organization for

Database systems-Entity-Relationship modelling Essay

Database systems-Entity-Relationship modelling - Essay Example A database will help to make the report generation process faster with the use of correct report generating programs. The management will have the option of having up-to-date information when it comes to decision making in Lanchester Liners. Since all the data is retrieved from a central database, the consistency of the data is guaranteed. It becomes a clear advantage of a database, since the manual file systems are vulnerable to duplicated data. The security of data can also be enhanced with the implementation of a database using passwords and other security protocols. For this company, a computerized database will make the data available to remote locations such as to a ship in the middle of a journey by the using modern communication technology. The transition from a manual file system to a database system will make the company concentrate on staff training, spending on hardware and software. The company also has employee new team of professional to maintain the technical aspects of the database. These two factors can be considered as the drawback occurring from the implementation of a database. The Business rules of the system Following Business rules have been identified according to the interview conducted with Lanchester Liners Company. 1. ... 4. Many employees are assigned to ship at a time and an employee works in a one particular ship at a time. 5. A passenger may book several excursions and a particular excursion may be booked by several passengers. 6. A Passenger may be in many cruises from time to time. A cruise takes many passengers. 7. An itinerary consists of several excursions and an itinerary may share several excursions. 8. Excursion consists of many attractions. An attraction is limited to only one excursion. 9. Some passengers may also do lecture to other passengers. ER – Model of Lanchester Liners Primary key - Foreign key - Non-prime attributes – In Red The list of Entities, Attributes, and Relationships of the system Entity Attributes Primary Key Foreign keys SHIP Ship _No - Ship Number Ship _Name Ship _No ------------- ITINERARY It_ID - Itinerary ID It_ID Sh _It * Dep _Port – Departing port Arri _Port – Arriving port Ship _No - Ship Number It_ID - Itinerary ID Ship _No It_ID Sh ip _No It_ID CRUISE Cruise_ID – Cruise ID Days of tour – Week days of the tour Tour _Operator – Tour operator’s name Cruise_ID ------------- Cr _It * Cruise_ID It_ID Cruise_ID It_ID Cruise_ID It_ID PASSENGER Pas_ID – Passenger ID Pas_Contact – Passenger contact details Pas_Name – Passenger Name Pas_ID ------------- P Assigned to Cruise_ID Pas_ID Pas_satis – Passenger satisfaction Cruise_ID Pas_ID Cruise_ID Pas_ID EXCURSION Exc_ID – Excursion ID Exc_ID -------------- Booking Exc_ID Pas_ID Exc_ID Pas_ID Exc_ID Pas_ID ATTRACTION Att ­_ID – Attraction ID Att_desc - Attraction Description Exc_ID Att ­_ID Exc_ID It _Ex * Exc_ID port_name It_ID It_ID Exc_ID It_ID Exc_ID EMPLOYEE ** Emp_Name - Employee Name Emp_ID - Employee ID Emp_phn –

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 2

Leadership - Essay Example To become an effective leader, it is crucial on the part of the manager to be able to find the type of leadership approach that works best for them. Often times, choosing the best leadership style depends on the manager’s personality, characteristic, working environment and the team members. The focus of this study is to gather primary and secondary research as a way of determining the qualifications of a good leader. The first part of the paper will address the problem statement by conducting a literature review with regards to the qualifications of effective leaders. The second part of the paper will gather primary research data by conducting an actual research survey. In the process of presenting the primary data, the research survey methodology which consists of five relevant questions will be tackled in details. Based on the gathered primary and secondary research information, a proposed leadership model will be constructed prior to the conclusion and recommendations. Leadership is about the ability of a person to make his/her subordinate follow and adapt with useful changes within or outside the work place. Since it takes a special interpersonal influence and motivational skills to enable a manager to effectively mould and convert a group of employee into becoming a responsible and efficient subordinate, it remains a challenge on the part of each manager to be able to identify the qualities of a good leader. A leader can easily become an effective manager. However, not all managers are capable of becoming good leaders. For this reason, the main purpose of the research study is to increase the knowledge of the managers with regards to the essential qualities that makes up a good leader. A good leader needs to have a combination of wisdom, integrity, sensitivity, and tenacity (WITS). (van Maurik, 1994) The author mentioned that a good leader must have these traits to be able to have a clear vision of the

Point of Dispensing During Disasters Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Point of Dispensing During Disasters - Assignment Example The smooth running of the POD requires planning and coordination with all the various people involved. This response is carried out in collaboration as well as in accordance to the emergency and disaster management plan set up by the state and local administration in case there is one. POD is important as it prevents any infectious diseases that may occur during the disaster from spreading to other people. It also assists in continuing the medication and treatment of the prior medical conditions of victims of the disaster such as asthma and even mental health problems. It also prevents medical stocks in the local public health department and hospitals from running out during the entire duration of the disaster. The PODs also make referrals to other hospitals outside the area or within the area for the more severe medical conditions that cannot be handled on the ground. With the chaos that follows the occurrence of a disaster, it is important to have medical assistance which is free and will cater for the temporary health care needs of the people which are what POD does. The operation of POD is not an easy task as it involves the coordination of many people and organizations. After the disaster is reported, the ICS takes control of the situation. It starts with the planning of the Incidence Control Center where the POD will be set up. This is followed by getting in touch with the local and state public health department to provide the medical staff and first responders. The community is called upon by their leaders to provide volunteers who will be needed for the various activities taking place in the POD. Depending on the magnitude of the disaster, multiple POD centers are set up which offer similar activities (Public Health, 2009). These locations are determined by their accessibility, security and appropriate layout. Drive through POD is also possible to ease congestion in the POD locations. This happens in high-class neighbourhoods and where suitable locations are difficult to manage and operate in.

Immigrants in detroit Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Immigrants in detroit - Research Paper Example tates and taking jobs from less fortunate Americans, which in all honesty those Americans are not willing to do those jobs anyways, but that still remains to be a huge debate. Americans get angry on immigration because if immigrants take the time to actually come to this country, they should take the time to become a legalized citizen of the US. Even if immigrants get the citizenship would Americans opinions change? Another problem associated with immigration is that it increases the population of the country and therefore, many look at immigration as a huge dilemma and in some eyes it is completely true. Detroit is one of the most exposed states of Michigan where immigrants visit to find jobs, socioeconomic status, etc. Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a major port city on the Detroit River in the Midwest region of the United States. Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south of Canada. Detroit is known as the world’s traditional automotive center and that’s why it has got two nicknames: The Motor City and Motown. From 1805 to 1847, Detroit was the capital of Michigan. The city assumed great importance after the mid-19th century as a shipping, shipbuilding, and manufacturing center, attracting migrants from around the world including Poles, Italians, Germans, Serbs, Croats and others. However, large number of migrants came from the South, especially African Americans who arrived in Detroit after 1900 as factory production increased rapidly. Detroit was the leading producer for the military during World Wars I and II. Industry spurred growth during the first half of the twentieth century as the city drew tens of thousands of new residents particularly workers from the Southern United States to become the nation’s fourth largest. At the same time, tens of thousands of European immigrants poured into the city. Social tensions rose with the rapid pace of growth. The color-blind promotion policies of the auto plants

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Case Study Example Both methods gave Robin Hood an advantage over the Sherriff because of the loyalty of his men and of the people. Robin Hood is wise to be considering a change in strategy for his second year of campaigns for two reasons. First, the Merrymen seem to lack the understanding for the need for flexibility when they grow in numbers. This may have been caused by a low barrier to enter the group. Second, food and supplies are becoming scarce when Robin Hood is preparing for his campaigns second year. The group is growing which is causing stress on the flow of supplies. With the Sherriff increasing in strength and awareness of Robin Hood’s tactics, Robin is wise to take a look at his strategy and make the necessary changes. Robin Hood should consider several factors in revising his strategy. One of those factors is his method of recruitment. He currently accepts just about anyone. He should tighten requirements for membership including the men having skills that the group needs. He might consider a hierarchical organization for his group so that new members could go through a review process, and more control can be kept over the band. He should also consider other methods to fund the organization, as food and supplies are growing thin. Consider how the new challenge faced by Robin Hood encompasses the five elements of strategy as described on the strategy diamond: arenas; vehicles; differentiation; staging and pacing; and economic logic. Robin Hood is operating in a dynamic environment. The emerging internal conflict in his organization and changes outside of his organization provide a platform to understand the dynamic nature of strategic leadership. Razorfish had many variables affecting its rise and its quick decline. Internally, Razorfish developed an innovative business model that focused on advanced technology, staffing, marketing, and consulting practices. The staff’s ability to identify and use advanced technology was key

Balancing Family & Work Life Essay Example for Free

Balancing Family Work Life Essay I. Introduction A. Thesis Statement Attending school as an adult, and maintaining a source of employment can be a daunting task, as many adults who had to delay their college education must know. One of the most challenging aspects of adult life consists of learning how to adjust accordingly to the rigors of life at home as well as the workplace. Failure to do so can lead to a life of complete disarray, stress, illness and exhaustion. II. Body Paragraph #1 – Topic Sentence #1 Traditionally the typical age group for freshmen in college was between 18 to 19 years of age. That reality has slowly changed as more young adults are finding their way back in the classroom, while holding down a job. The information I found in P.14 of the ebrary book: Families and Work: New Directions in the Twenty-First Century, by Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen I. states: â€Å"Of the more than 69 million American parents with children under the age of 18 (Famighetti, 1998), almost 90 percent are employed (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998).† At the same time, there are working professionals attempting to achieve a college education in order to refine their skills, or to gain new ones. Among those working adults, young couples typically tend to have a harder time with managing the broad aspects of life, especially those who are in the early stages of their relationship, which has the potential to result in a lot of growing pains. A. Supporting evidence The information found in an article from the following website; http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2421/T-2233web.pdf states: â€Å"Family and work settings have a built-in potential for conflict. Adults may get overwhelmed with the excessive demands that are required of them from either end of the spectrum, leaving them with the feeling of having very little time to accomplish those tasks.† Finding a balance between work and home involves finding ways of accomplishing the tasks at home as well as duties at work. Those responsibilities are often shared among couples in a healthy relationship. The equality of the shared house  chores, however, is up or debate. It has long been stated that the task of maintaining the home primarily fell on the woman’s shoulders, while the man focuses mainly on duties in the workplace. For some married couples, trying to get their husband to help with the housework typically led to domestic disputes. In recent years however, men have been getting more involved with parenting than ever before. A passage from (Giraffe 2011) states: â€Å"The recession of 2008 contributed to this arrangement because increased unemployment left more fathers available to care for their children and the reduced family income made outside childcare services unaffordable.† The traditional view of the American household should change because of an increase in the number of two-parent families entering the labor force. One of the primary services built around that change in society is the daycare system. Many of those two-parent families, as well as single parents may not have direct support from their families to take care of the children while they’re away at work. While some of the household work, such as childcare and housekeeping, has transitioned to outside providers, many working mothers cannot afford to employ these services (Giraffe, 2011). Unfortunately a big portion of their income goes to high daycare fees. III. Body Paragraph #2 – Topic Sentence #2 When the constants demands of life are far too much to bear, employees tend to feel the need to escape, and seek an alternate reality. We must look at the adverse effects that those long work hours have on the human body. Overworked individuals can suffer from work related illnesses as a result of excessive stress. Work related stress can result from extended hours due to mandatory overtime in some case. An employer’s rigid work hours which can prevent employees from tending to occasional issues at home can also be blamed for stress on the job. Employees suffering the effects of stress in the workplace tend to have bouts of absenteeism. A. Supporting evidence Absenteeism in the workplace is a major issue, with tangible and intangible costs. Although the absentee loses wages in the process, the major loss is at the expense of the employer. The ebrary book by Lynn  Tylczak, (Attacking absenteeism 1990), describes the intangible costs of absenteeism as follows: â€Å"Absentee costs are difficult to quantify. Experts estimate direct wage loses of more than $30 billion per year, and that’s just the beginning. Employers also need to consider the costs of supplementary or replacement workers. These costs include: Regular wages, overtime wages, and company benefits Supplementary benefits, such as Social Security, worker’s compensation, and unemployment compensation Administration of recruitment, selection orientation, and training Penalty costs resulting from delays.† The author (Lynn T. 1990) also gives the following explanation from the tangible cost of absenteeism: â€Å"It forces managers to deal with problems of morale, discipline, job dissatisfaction, job stress, team spirit, productivity, turnover, production quality, additional administration and overhead.† Many employers have become more cognizant of the disastrous effects of having stressful employees in the workplace. This is not only calculated in monetary losses based on productivity, but also in the valuable asset (the employee) which could potentially offset those losses. IV. Body Paragraph #3 Topic sentence # 3 Those who value their time with their families certainly appreciate the value of being away from work. This is particularly why a lot of us look forward to our vacation time. It us the opportunity to recharge our batteries and gives us the courage to return to our regular lives. Many employers have adapted to the changes in society by implementing new ways for employees to earn vacation time from work. A. Supporting evidence While some of us are comfortable being â€Å"working stiffs†, most people would rather look forward to their time away from work. An ebrary book by ANDERSON, NELS titled Work and Leisure states: â€Å"Although leisure reflects and supplements work, it is also used as a release from work. Some are of the view that unless a man has worked he cannot really enjoy leisure. They hold that while a man is working to earn a wage or salary, he also ‘earns’ leisure.† It is absolutely true that in order to fully enjoy our vacation time, we must work hard for it. That time of leisure can then be considered our reward for achieving the demands required of us in the workplace. Those who properly plan their vacation can benefit from sights  rarely seen in everyday life. Most people find it more beneficial to take their vacation in some exotic location. The topic on how to enjoy a proper vacation will vary from one employee to the next. V. Body Paragraph #4 Topic sentence # 4 Employers have devised lots of ways to keep valuable talent within their workforce, while allowing them time to accomplish their house work. Those arrangements can be profitable to the employer as well as the employee in some cases. Some of the sensible ways employers provide to employees are flextime, teleworking, and employee incentive just to name a few. A. Supporting evidence Flextime is highly valuable to employees because it allows them to have more control over the balancing act of work and home life. It also provides them the option of choosing when to complete their work. Flextime allows employees to handle personal business such as doctor appointments or school functions without having to take sick leave or vacation time. Employers personnel needs are met and they get employees at their best. In highly skilled positions where competition for employees is fierce and employee turnover costly, flexible schedules can also reduce attrition by making employees more content with their jobs (Giraffe, 2011). Teleworking provides some lucky employees the opportunity to work remotely. With this system employees can either work from home or in some shared work spaces. In most cases employees would prefer to work from home because it is the ideal place to work from. This reduces the work commute, and the amount stress to the employee. It takes an especially disciplined employee to work from home, because of the constant distractions from home can cause the employee’s work performance to suffer. Employers must be careful when considering the type of employees they provide that opportunity to. Through teleworking, some employees do get to achieve balance between family and work life.

SWOT Analysis: A Small Family Business

SWOT Analysis: A Small Family Business Family business is definitely a strength for RCDC as in a family owned business, the owners view their as an asset to pass on to their descendants rather than wealth to consume during their lifetimes (carron,1999). In addition, as recently argued by Zellweger(2007), the extended time horizon that characterizes family firms reduces the marginal risk of an investment and therefore the corresponding risk-equivalent cost of equity capital (McNulty,Yeh,schulze and Lubatkin,2002). Consequently, family owned firms can seize investment opportunities their non-family competitors do not consider as sufficiently attractive or consider too risky;such a situation offers family owned firms the possibility of developing their activities unhindered by aggressive competitors and of conquering markets that competitors cannot enter(Zellweger,2007,p-9) Moreover, families may bring with them significant financial and physical resources,called survivability capital(Simon and Hitt,2003),which can be used to sustain the business during economic hardship or after unsuccessful strategic movies (Dyer,2006). These elements are usually known by customers and suppliers,who may establish and cultivate long-lasting relationships because of the goodwill and trustworthiness generated by the family commitment (dollinger 1995). 2) Strong Criticism from shareholders: The continuous negative feedback from directors of warwick investments regarding the poor dividend payment record and the lack of strategic direction is actually a strength of RCDC as it acts as a drive for improvement .It is because of this critism and the drop in turnover that the Lancasters and Yorks are trying to find every possible way to save their business and satisfy the stakeholders. 3) Long-term experience in the dry cleaning business: As per the case RCDC has been in the dry cleaning business for more than a decade and they have managed to run the business reasonably well which means that they have had a good market share and enough customers to patronize and a fairly good knowledge of the particular business. They can use this experience to overcome the weaknesss and excel in their traditional business. 4)Flexi-timing: The RCDC has got both full time and part-time staff which is a strength as it increases the employee morale ,engagement and commitment to the organisation.It reduces the absenteeism to a certain level and increase the chances of recruiting outstanding employees.It even helps in reducing the staff turnover and developing the image of the employer. Weaknesses: 1)High staff turnover: As mentioned in the case, RCDC is facing a hgh level of staff turnover at both staff and managerial level which is one of the causes of the reduced organisational performance .Excessive employee turnover can hurt the overall productivity of a firm and is often a symptom of other difficulties.Every organisation strives to have high productivity,lesser turnovers and maximum profitability.managing turnover successfully is a must to achieve the above goals.Abassi and Hollman(200) stressed that the managers must recognise the employees as major contributor to the efficient achievement of the organisations success.Furthermore,highly motivated and performing individuals are the crucial factors of the organisational productivity. Therefore,there is need to develop a thorough understanding of the employee turnover from the perspective of causes,effect and strategies to minimize turnover. 2) Absence of training and development: This another weakness of RCDC which is worth mentioning as this can be a major cause for employee turnover as there is no growth within the organisation.according to the case ,the training and development interventions are completely nonexistent which means that there is no scope for employees to develop or achiveve some sort expertise in their particular professions.Moreover,Training and development is asource of competitive advantage for companies which helps to remove performance deficiencies in employees. There I greater stability,flexibility and capacity for growth in an organisation.Training contributes to employee stability in at least two ways .Employees become efficient after undergoing training. Efficient employees contribute to the growth of the organisation and growth in trn renders stability to the workforce. 3)safety Measures at work: The mishap that happened with one of the employees at RCDC makes it evident that safety measures are completely missing in the company which means RCDC is putting the ife of its employees at risk by making them work in an unsafe environment which in turn spoils the image of the company. 4) Conflict among the owners: There is a lot of conflict among the owners of the RCDC which is one of the root causes of the underperformance of the company.There is no strategic planning ,no control and no direction at all. Threats: 1)Competion: One of the main threats to all the businesss is competition and RCDC is no exception. RCDCs main competitor is Bletcheys fast clean plc which operstes approximately in the same geographical area .The Bletcheys can even take advantage of the internal problems faced by RCDC to take greater market share.as compared to RCDC, the marketing strategies and pricing policies of Bletcheys.are better and their success rate is also quite high which is why many of the RCDC employees have joined Bletchey and they have been able to pull many of the customers along with them. 2) Seasonal work : Usually people consider dry cleaning for woollen and expensive clothes so the sales tend to be higher in winter and autumn where as summer is marked with reduced sales as the clothes are machine washable. 3) Increasing nmber of supermarkets Another threat posing the traditional neighbourhood dry cleaning business is the increasing number of supermarkets having the dry cleaning stores.Most of the pople nowa-a-days find it convenient to shop from these supermarkets where they get their clothes also drycleaned.This can eventually lead to complete extinction of the traditional drycleaning. 4)Legal issues: Court cases filed against RCDC by its employees is another threat to the smooth functioning of the business.Firstly it can spoil the image of the company by reducing the sales and secondly it does not allow the management to concentrate completely on their business as most of their time goes in finding new ways to deal with these problems. Opportunities: 1)Diversification of business: One of the opportunities is to diversify their business into areas such as shoe repairs,film processing,key cutting and contract cleaning in addition to achieveing a level of excellence in their core business i.e dry cleaning.Diversifiacation can help RCDC with increased profitability and seasonal challenges. 2)Innovative Marketing strategies: RCDC can come up with some innovative marketing ideas to top the market e.g:E-marketing,offering discounts to its loyal customers etc.It can also improve its customer service by providing the option of home delivery which can prove convenient to customers having a busy daily routine and can even beat the threat of one stop-shopping. 3)Improved organistioanl strategies: RCDC needs to implement training and development programmes for employees which can help in attracting more and more people for work,reduce employee turnover and will make the process more organised.Safety measures also needs to be included in this program so that the rate of accident is minimised. 4)Centralisation of operations: Decentralisation Iis a better opportunity than centralisation as decentralisation would lead to better customer care and speedy dry cleaning which could be helpful in getting more customers and increasing the profits .In addition to this store managers should be given more responsibility and powers so that they can take decisions regarding an problem related to the specific store as and required and do not have to depend on getting orders from headquarters. Present and potential problems faced by RCDC in the following areas: a)Operations management and organisational issues: Operations management is the activity of managing the resources which produce and deliver products and services.The operations function is the part of the oranisation that is responsible for this activity.Every organisation has an operations function because every organisation produces some type of products and /or services.Page 4 No organisation can survive in the long term if it cannot supply its customers effectively.And this is essentially what operation s management is about designing,producing and delivering products and services that satisfy market requirements.For any business,it is a vitally important activity. General problems in operations management faced by small and medium sized organisations : Operations management is just as important in small organisations as it is in large ones.Irrespective of their size,all companies need to produce and deliver their products and services efficiently and effectively.However,in practice,managing operations in a small or medium size organizations has its own set of problems.Large companies may have the resources to dedicate individuals to specialized tasks but smaller companies often cannot,so people may have to do different jobs as the need arises.such an informal structure can allow the company to respond quickly as opportunities or problems present themselves.But decision making can also become confused as individuals roles overlap.small companies may have exactly the same operations management issues as large ones but they can be more difficult to separate from the mass of other issues in the organisation. Present and potential operations management problems faced by RCDC can be discussed a follows: 1)No understanding of the operations strategic performance objectives: The first and foremost responsibility of any operations management team is to understand what it is trying to achieve,which means understanding how to judge the performance of the operation at different levels,from broad and strategic to more operational performance objectives.The management in RCDC is not paying any attention to this crucial area which can lead to further damange to the companys market share. 2)Operations strategy for the organisation: Operations management involves hundreds of minutes by minute decisions so it is vital that there is a set of general principles which can guide decision-making towards the organisations longer term goals called an operations strategy.RCDC do not have any specific operations strategy which is why the organisational growth is suffering and will continue to suffer if this issue is not addressed. 3)No measures for improving the performance of the operations: The continuing responsibility of all operations managers is to omprove the performance of their operations which is another issue to be addressed in RCDC. 4)social responsibility of operations management: It is increasingly recognised by many businesses that operations manager have a set of broad societal responsibilities and concerns beyond their direct activities.the general term for these aspects of business responsibility is corporate social responsibility or CSR.The accident that took place with one of the employees and the managements attitude towards that incident makes it evident that RCDC completely lacks CSR.This has already spoiled the brand image of the company and can ruin it completely. All these issues can turn RCDC into a failing organisation. Organisational Issues: 1)Due to the heavy drop in sales over the last few months ,the directors are considering centralisation of operations at Leicestershire site leading the company to substantial savings in staff costs and providing it with the opportunity to dispose of surplus machinery.However due to the conflict between the owners the idea of centralisation does not seem to work out.If any decision is not taken in the near future, the profitability of the company will keep going down and finally the owners may have to close don the company. 2)The present 24 branches operated by RCDC are not at all enough as far as the idea of centralisation is concerned.RCDCs main target is to increase the sales and for doing this they have to attract more and more customers which can only happen if they provide better and quik services to their customers as compared to the competitors.so,the geographical coverage is very important for the growth of the business. 3)The problem of moving goods from the retail outlets to the plant and then back to the outlets and customers is another issue which needs to be addressed.Making goods and services available to the customers on time is the biggest challenge for all the organisations as it is one of the ways of building healthy relationship with customers and making them loyal to the company. c)Sales and marketing Issues: Marketing Planning: Marketing Planning can be defined as the application of marketing resources to achieve marketing objectives(P-16,marketing plans that work) In simple words marketing planning is a series of activities and the formulation of plans for achieving them.Companies generally go through a management process in developing marketing plans .In small ,undiversified companies this process is usually informal and same is the case with RCDC.RCDC needs a much more systematized marketing plan to target more customers. Constructing a marketing plan is the most difficult task for RCDC as the owners do not agree to each other and they all have different expectations and goals altogether. 2)Decling Sales: The sales of RCDC are decling rigorously and the company is not taking any serious action regarding this issue .The company needs to conduct a marketing audit which is usually conducted by organisations in situation of decling sales ,falling margins,lost market share etc.Marketing audit is a means of defining problems precisely so that each problem can be addressed and eradicated. 3)Undiversification: According to the case ,Yorks want to diversify their business and move into related ares such as Shoe repairs,film processing.key cutting and contract cleaning which is actually a good idea to increase the overall profitability and can help RCDC to overcome the bad phase of reduced sales .Hoever the disagreement from lancasters is not allowing this idea to be turned into reality. 4)Sales Promotion: d)Personnel and industrial relations: 1) Training and development: Absence of training of and development is one of the biggest problems in RCDC. As per the case training and development programmes are considered to be an expense to the company and the employees are expected to pick up work as they go.Training and development can provide RCDC with the much needed competitive edge by improving the performance of the workers and the organisation as a whole. If this practice continues RCDC will completely fail in attracting employees to work for it ,as there are no growth opportunities for employees. 2)employee relations: As per the case ,there is a lot of friction between the employees and the management which is one of the many reasons for RCDCs high staff turn over.The management needs to value its employees and show concern to their problems as the employees are the building blocks of any organisation.In order to achieve longterm goals and future success RCDC must improve its relations with its employees. 3) Health and safety: The workers at RCDC are prone to accidents as there are no health and safety measures .The management is only concerned about increasing the profits without a proper planning and concern about the people who can actually help RCDC achieve it. 4) Job dissatisfaction: The high employee turnover makes it quite evident that the employees are not at all satisfied with their job at RCDC. There can be various reasons for it e.d: No growth opportunities. Risk factor No concern for employees well being from the management. Work stress. Competitors etc. 5)Orientation : Orientation programmes are must for every organisation as it helps new employees to get aware of the work practices and the expectations of the organisation.These orientation programmes are completely missing in RCDC and it effects the perception of employees. 6)legal issues: RCDC is dealing with court cases which is not a good sign for the growth of any business as it affects the brand image. 7)Internal conflicts: Another serious issue is the conflict between the owners which has created a sort of deadlock in the company as no plans are put into action.These internal problems have already affected and can futher affect the goodwill of the company. Accounting and Finance: The present and potential problems faced by RCDC in accounting and finance are as follows: 1) Payment of dividends: One of the main problems in RCDC is the poor dividend payment plan.Every organisation has a responsibility towards its stakeholders and if an organisation does not fullfill the expections of its shareholders,it has to bear the consequences such as internal conflicts,loss of credibility,reduced sales etc.which is exactly the case with RCDC.Therefore, RCDC has to improve the standard of paying dividends to its shareholders and for doing so ,it has to manage its financial resources in a proper and planned way and keep maximising the shareholders wealth. If the business is to achieve its objective of maximising shareholder wealth then it must use its resouces to maximise profits and cash flows.This will maximise shareholder wealth because there is general agreement that share prices reflect the discounted value of a firms cash flows.Whilst it may not be possible to increase dividends every year,shareholders like to know that dividends will be paid because they provide a signal to investors.A reduction in dividends is likely to lead to a reduction in share price because the signal to the market is one of the financial difficulties ahead.such a reduction in a firms share price will in evitably have other financial implications.The company may become target for a possible take over,particularly if another company believes that the reduction in earnings has been brought about by poor management rather than hostile trading conditions.Even if this does not happen the company may well see its credit rating reduced thus increasing its capita l costs because of the increased risk perceived by investors.Capital spending may also have to be stopped in an attempt to protect the firms cash flow. 2) Financing the new project of centralisation: RCDC is considering centralisation of operations which according to the management will help in reducing staff costs and the concentration of operations will allow the company to take advantage of the economies of scale.In,addition to this the machinery in the branches could be sold off to get some finance to invest in the new plant.The main problem with the centralisation is that the company is not having enough funds to invest in the new plant which is estimated to cost around 7,50,000 pounds.even selling off the surplus machinery in branches will hardly aid in solving the finance problem. At present ,there is no possibility of assuming any increase in sales ,that leaves RCDC with the option of taking a loan from a bank to finanace the project and for doing this the company needs to discuss the profitability of the proposed project which is expected to be 1300000 pounds that can act a basis for the bank authorities to sanction the loan.However ,considering the present market condition of the company ,it is quite difficult for RCDC to get a loan sanctioned from a bank as it has lost its credibility.Even if RCDC manages to get a loan ,it has to give a serious thought on how to repay the loan.Every business and every new project involves risk,but it should be a calculated one.Calculated risk makes the success of a company more predictable while, uncalculated risk can completely damage the business. 3) Costs involved in the new project: As per the proposed plan,only the staff cost is showing a reduction by 1,80,000 pounds all other costs are assumed to be same or to show an increase e.g,the head office cost at present is 240 and even for the new plant ,it is proposed to be 240, but the operating surplus is supposed to increase by 130000 pounds,same is the case with flat rental and other entities.According to the data provided in the summary of annual operating statement ,it can be understood that the proposed plan involves more cost and only marginal saving.so, the management should seriously analyse the implications of the proposed plan and decide whether they should invest in this plan or not.

Controlled Release Fertilizers And Nanotechnology Traces

Controlled Release Fertilizers And Nanotechnology Traces One of the most significant problems of crop fertilization by ordinary fertilizers is nutrient loss to environment which causes lots of environmental and human health problems besides decreasing the efficiency of crop nitrification. As a solution, controlled or slow release fertilizers have been developed to overcome drawbacks of traditional fertilizers. In this review common types of CRFs and some related concepts. Also, focusing on polymer coated CRFs, different preparation and different coating application methods will be studied. In addition, some features of nanotechnology and nano-materials in preparation of controlled release fertilizers in previous works will be reviewed. Introduction In general, plants must be supplied with nutrients during the whole vegetation period. In horticulture this is achieved by applying quickly soluble fertilizer once to twice a week, for example. This kind of fertilizer application is very labour-intensive and requires considerable specialist knowledge, so as to select the correct rate of application, appropriate time of application and correct composition for the particular plants to ensure optimum plant production. With the use of slow or controlled release fertilizers the full amount of nutrients necessary for the whole vegetation period can be applied at the time of planting or at the earliest stages of plant growth, in the form of a nutrient pool Also, about half of the applied fertilizers, depending on the method of application and soil condition, is lost to the environment, which results in the contamination of water [1].This kind of environmental concerns of feeding crops with traditional fertilizers has led to developing Slow Release Fertilizers (SRFs) or Controlled Release Fertilizers (CRFs). SRFs or CRFs are easy and safe to use. They reduce risk of incorrect fertilizer application. Also, they are labour saving and minimize nutrient losses by leaching or fixation. The idea of producing SRFs was developed since 1963 by encapsulation of fertilizers by waxes. After that, these products have been commercialized. There are lots of SRF and CRF brands. Some of these products are Scotts Professional with key brands such as Osmocote, Sierrablen and Osmoform. Aglukon and SunGro Company are also producing controlled release fertilizers. Like lots of scientific fields, agriculture industry has been over shadowed by nanotechnology. Applications of nanotechnology in agriculture includes agriculture crop improvement, nano-biotechnology analysis of gene expression and regulation soil management, plant disease diagnostics, efficient pesticides and fertilizers, water management, bioprocessing, post harvest technology, monitoring the identity and quality of agricultural produce and precision agriculture. Efficient pesticides and fertilizers are recently being developed in terms of nano-composite based slow or controlled release fertilizers.Using nanoparticles as reinforcing or cementing agent of polymer coatings and also as reservoir of fertilizers are features of nanoparticles which have been used in preparing slow release fertilizers [2-4]. Fertilizers Fertilizers are applied to soil to promote plant growth. They contain some beneficial nutrients including macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium which are added to soil in quantities from 0.2% to 4.0% (on a dry matter weight basis) and are more essential than micronutrients. Micronutrients are elements which are applied to soil in much smaller amounts, ranging from 5 to 200 ppm, or less than 0.02% dry weigh. These elements could be boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn)[5]. 2.2. Types of fertilizers Fertilizers would be categorized from source of production and also from release properties points of view. All fertilizers could be organic or synthetic from production source point of view. Organic fertilizers are naturally produced including seaweed, worm casting, manure, slurry, peat, humic acid, guano and brassin. They provide slow release of nutrient as they need soils bacteria to be broken down to needed elements. Also, they may improve the biodiversity of soil by supplying organic matters and micronutrients for organisms. Organic fertilizers are cheaper and safer than synthetic fertilizers. The main synthetic or mineral fertilizers which are the sources of nitrogen (N), potassium(K), phosphate (P) are urea, ammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphate, phosphate rock, potassium chloride, super phosphates, calcium ammonium nitrate, potassium sulfate. Fertilizers could be in compound form (NP, PK, NPK).The most important drawback of synthetic fertilizer is their long term sustainability. Also, they are more expensive in contrast to organic fertilizers [5]. In addition, fertilizers can be categorized into ordinary and controlled release fertilizers from release properties points of view. Drawbacks of non-controlled release fertilizers Ordinary fertilizers leach to soil very quickly and most of them are not used by the plants. According to figures about 40-70% of nitrogen, 80-90% of phosphorous, and 50-70% of the applied normal fertilizer is lost to environment and cannot be used by plants [6]. This rapid leaching will cause burning of plants and growing in spurts. Also, the lost elements will cause some serious problems for environment. Eutrophication, blue baby syndrome, soil acidification, persistent organic pollutants, heavy metal accumulation, atmospheric effects are environmental concerns of ordinary fertilizers. Another result of quick leaching of fertilizer is repeating the application of fertilizers which will increase the cost [5]. Slow or controlled release fertilizers Slow release fertilizers or controlled release fertilizers are granules coated in a substance that reduce the releasing time of nutrients and eliminates need for constant fertilization and higher efficiency rate than soluble fertilizers [7]. Some of advantages of controlled release fertilizers are long availability of nutrients during growing-season, reduced loss of nutrients through leaching, reduced cost and labor outlay, better storage and handling of fertilizer, reduced immobilization reactions in soil, reduction of nitrification reaction and nitrogen loss through ammonia volatilization and denitrification, elimination of seed damage because of high concentration of salts, elimination of leaf burning from high rates of applied fertilizers, better seasonal growth distribution and better acclimatization in home or display environment [8]. Differences between slow and controlled release fertilizers Although there is not special difference between general function of CRF and the one for SRF, but it should be mentioned that they are manufactured by different materials and techniques with different properties. In slow release fertilizers elements are present in fertilizers in a chemical form, which is not available to plants and they will be converted by physiochemical effects or microorganisms activities into nutrient forms in the soil. But in controlled release fertilizers elements are packed in coated granules and are released through the coating over a certain period of time. Also, in SRFs nutrients available period is affected by a lot of factors such as water content of soil, pH, temperature, microorganisms activity and aeration. However, the longevity of CRF depends mostly on coating thickness and temperature of soil. Only coating method is effective in changing pattern of nutrients release and a fixed coating thickness control nutrients release. In CRFs declared release ti me refers to soil temperature of 20-21oC. Higher temperatures accelerate the element release and lower temperatures make it longer [9]. SRFs are fertilizers with a chemical structure which are inherently slow released. Some kinds of SRFs are Urea Aldehydes (UA) and Chelated Micronutrients (CM). Common type of UAs is urea formaldehyde which is high nitrogen fertilizer. Starting release rate of UAs is high but it dies off slowly for 3 years. This kind of fertilizer depends on microorganisms to break it down for plant use. CMs are substances that hold firmly together iron, manganese, zinc, and copper. They slowly releases over a long period of time [8]. 2.4.2. Types of CRFs 2.4.2.1. Sulfur Coated (SC) When elemental sulfur is oxidized to its sulfate form, the product would be one of the nutrients which is essential for some plants and is normally blended with other fertilizers. Using sulfur coating is also another way to provide sulfur while making slow release properties for a core granular fertilizer. As the sulfur containing materials like polysulfides or lingosulfonate are brittle and also give a low wetting of defects, they are normally mixed with waxes or plasticizers. Many formulas are available for SCs. Their release time is generally 3-4 months and the nutrient is released from SCs by microorganisms activity [10-14]. 2.4.2.2. Wax coated (WC) One of the methods of reducing fertilizer release rate is dispersing granular fertilizers with molten wax and then cooling the mixture below the melting point of the wax [15]. Paraffin is one of the most used waxes as a coating for fertilizers. Paraffin  wax   is a white, tasteless, odorless solid, with a typical melting point between about 47  °C and 64  °[16]. Other types of waxes are synthetic oil based, petroleum or mineral waxes. Waxes are normally used by an additive or a tackifier to make good sealing properties [17,18] 2.4.2.3. Polymer Coated (PC) Polymer-coated fertilizers (PCF) represent the most technically advanced controlled released fertilizers. They include a water-soluble fertilizer core and one or more than one layers of polymer. There are large varieties of polymers to coat the core fertilizer also the coatings layer could be the same one or different. In PC fertilizers release of nutrients will happen by diffusion through a semi permeable polymer membrane. Water penetrates the coating and dissolves the core. Release rate can be controlled by varying the composition and thickness of the coating. In addition, pressure builds up can cause cracks to form, from which fertilizer passes into the soil [8]. 2.5. Review of different types of polymer coated CRFs 2.5.1. Sole Polymer coated CRFs One type of polymer coated CRFs is the one that the fertilizer core which could be N, P, K or compound fertilizer, is just coated with one or more than one layer of polymer coating. In this case the polymer could be solvent based or water-based. The application process starts with dissolving the polymer in an organic solvent or water. After dissolving, the coating will be sprayed onto the fertilizer in a coating drum or fluid bed [19]. Polymer coated fertilizers have some. One of them is that uniform and defect free coating will surround fertilize. The other is that the coating will be very tough and durable which is resistant against mechanical breakdown. Also, polymer coatings are biologically inactive so they will not breakdown by soil microbes. In most cases except for degradable polymers release of fertilizers will occur by diffusion through the polymer coat rather than through defects. In some other coated fertilizers like sulfur coatings there should be a flaw in coating to cause releasing of fertilizer. There are lots of examples for polymers which have been used in the literatures as coating for fertilizers. Some of them include dicyclopentadien [20], urea and urethane based [21-26], epoxy based [27-29], polyvinylidene chloride-based latex [19] carboxyl-carrying ethylene polymers [30], biodegradable starch based [31], urea formaldehyde [32]. However, polymer coated fertilizers have some week points. About solvent-based coatings using large amount of organic solvents like toluene or xylene will lead to environmental concerns. These solvents are volatile and releasing them to environment makes some hazards for human health. Also, polymer coatings are more expensive than sulfur coatings because not only polymer materials are more expensive but also process and equipments which are used for production of polymer coated fertilizers are also more complex than equipments used for other coatings. 2.5.2. Sulfur-polymer coated CRFs One of most common coated fertilizers are the ones in which core fertilizer is covered by a layer of sulfur coating and a layer of polymer. Polymer layer can be the primer or outer layer. It means that sulfur layer in some researches has been the first layer and in some others the outer layer. Using polymers as coating is suggested method to remove drawbacks of sulfur coated CRFs. One of these drawbacks is very fast release of sulfur coated fertilizer in first few days after application. The other one is brittleness of sulfur coatings which may lead to some fractures during handling or storage and losing the fertilizer. Another problem is that sulfur coatings have a high surface tension with water and cannot provide enough wetting for a good diffusion [11, 13, 19, 28]. The most common method for applying the sulfur coating is by spraying. Molten sulfur compound will be sprayed over a pre-polymer coated fertilizer granule [28,33]. 2.5.3. Wax-polymer coated CRFs There are lots of researches focusing on making controlled release fertilizers using wax-polymer coatings. A wax layer has three major benefits. One is that they are applied over the polymer layer for decreasing the fracture probability of coating and the other one is for decreasing the amount of polymer and avoiding consuming lots of polymers to make the process cost effective. Also, they can eliminate imperfection of granules surface to make a good surface coating. Most common waxes which have been used in state of the art are C30 alpha-olefin and paraffin. Other petroleum products like lubricants and bitumen or natural products like canola oil, soybean oil, coconut oil and palm oil, also have been used. After melting the wax it will be applied by just mechanical mixing with polymer coated granules. Normally the polymer is thermoset to avoid any damages of polymer by the waxs high temperature in its melting point. The wax normally should have drop melting point from 50 to 120 °C. Wax is normally about 0.2% to 10 % by weight of fertilizer [17, 28, 34, 35]. 2.5.4. Filler-polymer coated CRFs As mentioned before, despite lots of advantages of polymer coating to make slow release properties when such polymers are used as a sole coating material the ultimate product would be expensive as you have to consume large amounts of polymer. Using mineral or organic fillers is one way to avoid using large amount of polymer. Also, in some researches fillers play the role of detackifier, to prevent adherence of coated granules to each other. In addition they are strengthening agent of coatings [36]. Fillers may be used either as a mixture with polymer to make a nano-composite polymer [37] or as a separate layer. The most common method is the latter in which the filler will be added by mixing with polymer coated granules before drying the granules. Most common used fillers are some very fine(less than 20 microns) inert inorganic materials like clay, diatomaceous earth, bentonite, kaolin, gypsum powdered limestone, talc, barium sulfate. Some other fillers like waste cellulosic materials also have used as filler in combination with polymer [37-41]. 2.6. Techniques of applying polymer coating According to previous studies have been done, encapsulation methods of fertilizers can be divided into three methods including in-situ, spraying and mixing. 2.6.1. In situ This method includes formation of fluid dispersion of the soluble fertilizer in a solvent and mixing the prepared solution with monomers of a polymer coating. Polymerization will happen and depending on the method, granules or particles of fertilizers will form. Ni et al [42] have developed a double-coated urea fertilizer. For preparation of poly (N-vinyl-pyrrolidone) hydrogels containing urea (PCU), the monomer and a solution of urea in N-vinyl-pyrrolidone were mixed together. The polymerization was carried out at 65-C for 3 h. The resulting samples were vacuum-dried, milled, screened and stored. After that first coating was dried, sample and some amounts of urea were mixed with sodium alginate (SA) solution. Mixed solution was then added drop wise into 5% (w/w) CaCl2 aqueous solution and stirred constantly. The drops immediately turned into granules (about 4mm in diameter) because the SA in the drop was crosslinked by Ca2+ at once. The granules were filtered and dried in oven at 70- C. Then the granules were added to ethylcellulose ethanol solution. Multiple ethylcellulose (EC) coatings were prepared by immersion of the previously coated granules into the ethylcellulose solution repeatedly. Thus, EC-coated urea granules with different coa ting thickness were obtained. Hanafi et al [43], have coated a compound fertilizer by polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyacrylamide (PA), natural rubber (NR), and polylactic acid (PLA) using in situ method. For encapsulation of compound fertilizer with polyacrylamide the granules were added to the solution mixture of monomers. Then the polymerization reaction will start in existence of fertilizers. The thickness of the coating layer on the compound fertilizer granules, determined by SEM(Fig.2), gave PVC compound coated fertilizer the highest value of 3.04 lm, and the lowest was obtained by PA (2.04  µm). Variation in the characteristics of the polymers would be utilized in producing CR compound fertilizer that fit the requirements of growing plants. Hudson et al [28] used epoxy to coat the fertilizer. In this research the urea granules were charged to a pan and warmed to 95 °C. Then the hydrogenated tallaw amine, 2-amino ethyl peperazine and bisphenol A diglycidyl ether were mixed and were added to the granules. Meanwhile polymerization happened and prepared mixture was agitated till the fertilizer granules dried. 2.6.2. Spraying method This method is most common method for coating application on fertilizer granules in state of the art. Usually, the solution of polymer in a suitable solvent is sprayed on the granule of fertilizer and then the granules are dried to remove the solvent through evaporation. The treatment is repeated as often as necessary until the desired coating percentage is reached. Tomaszewska et al [44] have used spray technique for encapsulation of fertilizers. In order to improve the properties of coatings, the granules of previously coated fertilizer (wet method) were sprayed with a polymer solution or pure solvent (N,N dimethylformamide). Concentration of the polymer in solutions used for spraying was in the range of 13-17 wt%. Measurements of thickness, porosity of prepared coatings and microphotographic observation of the coatings were taken. Fig.3 shows the cross section of double coated fertilizer. Ma et al [45] have developed a method for encapsulation of fertilizer with a self assembled coating. The fertilizer granules were heated in a rotary drum to 75 °C for 10 minutes. Then the self assembling amphiphilic molecules (N,N-bisaminoethyl eleostearate) were sprayed over the fertilizer. After 20 minutes aliphatic isocyanates were sprayed over fertilizer. This process was repeated once again. The fertilizer kept for drying in the 75 °C for 20 minutes. Dai et al [46] also, have developed a controlled release fertilizer using a water soluble resin as a coating. The granular compound fertilizer was coated in fluidized bed. Lan et al [47], prepared a double-coated slow-release NPK fertilizer with superabsorbent and water-retention properties (DSFSW), whose inner coating was chitosan (CTS), and the outer coating was crosslinked poly (acrylic acid)/diatomite-containing urea (PAADU). This prepared product not only has slow-release property but also could absorb a large amount of water and preserve the soil moisture at the same time. In addition, the outer coating (PAADU) could protect the inner coating (CTS) from mechanical damage. These were significant advantages over the normal slow release or controlled-release fertilizers, which generally have only a slow-release property. The results indicated that the DSFSW could be found an application in agriculture and horticulture, especially in drought-prone regions where the availability of water is insufficient. At first, the outer coating containing urea diatomite (PAADU) was prepared. The NPK compound fertilizer granule was placed into a rotary drum, and th e chitosan powder was stuck on the granules by means of epoxy dissolved in acetone. The adhesive was applied by spraying at regular time intervals. The process was finished until compact and homogeneous coating formed on fertilizer granule. The coated granules were dried to a constant mass at room temperature for 6 h. Then the CTS-coated NPK compound fertilizer granules were obtained. CTS-coated fertilizer granules were dipped in water and then were immediately placed on PAADU powder and shaken. In this manner, PAADU could adhere to the surface of CTS-coated NPK compound fertilizer and form the outer coating. The surface of the product was crosslinked by spraying methanol solution of epoxy chloropropane and then dried in a 70  °C oven to obtain the final product which is a double-coated slow-release fertilizer with superabsorbent and water-retention properties. Hansen et al [26], encapsulate the granular fertilizer with the epoxy resin using spray method. In this research not coated fertilizer was placed in a rotating drum and pre heated to 250 ° F. A rapid drying solution of copolymers dicyclopentadiene and a modified vegetable oil were applied over fertilizer using spray in a thin stream of resin. Simultaneously hot air was passed through drum. Next monomers of second resin including a mixture of epoxidized soybean oil and polyester curing agent were applied over prepared granules. The solvent was a mixture of xylene and Cellosolve acetate. Hansen et al [29] also have used the above mentioned method for encapsulation of fertilizer with polyurethane. First of all the preheated fertilizer was coated by a synthetic drying oil. After drying the coating for a few minutes fertilizer were dusted by clay. Then urethane solution in xylene and Cellosolve acetate was applied using spray. 2.6.3. Mixing In this method granules are simply mixed with the coating at its melting point or with a solution of polymer in a suitable solvent. Tomaszewska et al [48] used this method for coating the granular NPK fertilizer with polysulfone (PSF), cellulose acetate (CA) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The coating solutions were prepared by the dissolution of the solid polymer in adequate solvent. The NPK fertilizer was successively added to adequate polymer solution, and was covered by a thin layer of the solution. Subsequently, granules were dropped into water, where the gelation process takes place. The coated granules were removed from the precipitation bath and then dried to a constant mass. The multiple coatings were prepared by immersion of the single coated fertilizer into adequate polymer solution, then into water and drying. Hon [37] has prepared the coated granules by mixing method. After melting the thermoplastic polymer by heating, the cellulosic additive has been added to melt resin. Then after allowing the temperature to drop, for avoiding the fertilizer damage, the granules or powder fertilizer has been mixed with the prepared mixture using a Brabender Mixer. Markusch et al [49] just has mixed the fertilizer pellets with at first, a diluted polyol and then with a diluted isocyantae to make a polyurethane coating. Then the feretilizer were placed in oven for drying. 2.7. Polymers used as coating for CRFs A broad range of polymers has been used in fertilizer coating. These polymers could be thermoset, thermoplastic or biodegradable. Some of common thermoset polymers are urethane resin, epoxy resin, alkyd resin, unsaturated polyester resin, phenol resin, urea resin, melamine resin, phenol resin, silicon resin. Among them, urethane resin urethane is very common used [26,50]. Thermoplastic resins are not very common used in art because of some problems. As mentioned before a very preferable method of applying polymers is spraying the dissolved polymer over granules. Either some of thermoplastic resins are not soluble in a solvent or make a very viscose solution which is not suitable for spraying. Polyolefine is used in art for coating the fertilizer granules [37, 51]. Biopolymers, dispose in bioactive environments, degrade by the enzymatic action of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and algae and their polymer chains may also be broken down by non enzymatic processes such as chemical hydrolysis. Non-biodegradable polymers are not environmental friendly. Due to environmental concerns there are some trends of replacing non-bio with bio degradable polymers as coating material from 1970s. But it should be mentioned that they are expensive yet and not very cost effective. Also, in production process durability of polymer should be adjusted with release time of fertilizer. Among natural and synthetic biopolymers starch and cellulose based polymers, chitosan (a linear  polysaccharide), poly lactic acid and poly(ÃŽ µ-caprolactone) due to low cost and abundance are some of used biopolymers in fertilizer industry[31,42,47,52-58] Generally, polymer coatings are applied in a thickness which is suitable to make a desired controlled release property. Thickness could be related to characteristic of polymer and also it depends on existed porosity of polymer surface. If water vapor transmission rate of coating material is 0.01 to 20, coating thickness would be 1 to 100 microns. Preferred coating thickness is 1 to 50 microns. Coating process could be repeated more than one layer to get desired nutrient release [39]. Typical physical method for encapsulating fertilizers are spray coating, spray drying, pan coating, rotary disk atomization. Special equipments for these methods are rotary drum, pan or ribbon or paddle mixer and fluidized bed [59, 60] 2.8. Investigation of release behavior of CRFs Release mechanism of nutrients for different coatings is different. Thick encapsulated granules like sulfur coating will allow the nutrient to release when a flaw or rupture appears on the coating surface. In this case, rupture will happen because of permeation of water into coating and inside osmotic pressure. Also, biodegradable polymers will release nutrients while destroying by soil microbes activity. In polymer coatings or combination of different coatings release will happen by diffusion of water through walls porosities. In this case release rate can be controlled by the particle size of coated granules, thickness of coating and permeability of coating surface. Also, changing the chemical composition of fertilizer core and also the coating will change permeability of coating. This means that even basic or acidic environment will change the permeability. In some researches when the coating has been starch-vinyl, increasing size of encapsulated granules has led to slowing down the nutrient release [61,62]. There are some standard test methods for measurement of controlled release properties. According To European standard the standard release time of N during 24 h should be 15% of total core nutrient. Also, release rate for 15 day should be 75% of total nutrients. Also American and Japanese standards say that the initial release shouldnt be more than 40% of total nutrient. According to European standards for measuring the release rate encapsulated fertilizer should be immersed in pure water at 25  °C (room temperature) in incubated state [63, 64]. For example Detrick et all [33] have investigated the release behavior of their product by immersion of 20 g of encapsulated granules for 8 h in water. After filtration of solid they dried the solid. Evaporation of water was done at 100  °C for 8 hours. Also, Ma et all [21] placed 14 g of granules in wire mesh holder and then placed it into a jar with 300 ml water at 23  °C and agitated it by an orbital shaker. Then, adequate water was taken for elemental analysis. Locquenghien et al [30] for investigation the slow release effect of fertilizer extracted some amounts of fertilizer continuously with water. For this purpose the granules were arranged in layer in a cylindrical vessel field with water. Water was passed through this layer and its nitrogen content was analyzed. 2.9. Tracing nano-technology features in fertilizer industry Reviewing literature shows that researches which have used nano-technology features in fertilizer industry are very rare. Nano-Clay is the most common nano-particle which have been used to produce CRFs. The main benefits of nano-clay particles in these researches are using them as reservoir of urea or as filler for polymer coating. 2.9.1. Nano-clay as carrier of urea The layered clays like montmorillonite and kaolinite are made of high aspect ratio nano layers. Large surface areas and reactivity of nanolayers is much greater than that of micrometer size materials. Also, their surfaces and interfaces provide an active substrate for physical, chemical, and biological reactions [65]. Because of these features nanolayers could be a suitable carrier or reservoir of fertilizers. Mechanisms which are involved in interaction between clay and organic materials depends on some factors like clay type, functional groups of organic material and physical or chemical properties of organic material. For example basic molecules bond strongly to montmorillonite but anionic molecules show much weaker interaction bands. Also, for instance benzoic acid or anionic species are adsorbed on the edge face of clay or cationic( crystal violet) are adsorbed on the basal plane. According to table 1 which shows different interaction of organic compound with clay, interaction between clay and urea could be through cation exchange, cation bridging and hydrogen bonding [66]. Table 1 Interactions between clay minerals and organic compounds [66] Mechanism Mineral examples Organic functional groups involved Hydrophobic interactions (van der Waals) Any clay with neutral sites (e.g., kaolinite, smectites) Uncharged, non polar (e.g., aromatic, alkyl C) Hydrogen bonding Any clay with oxygen surfaces (e.g., kaolinite) Amines, carbonyl, carboxyl, phenylhydroxyl, heterocycle N Protonation Alumino silicate edge sites, Fe and Al oxides, allophane, imogolite Amines, heterocycle N, carbonyl, carboxylate, Ligand exchange Aluminosilicate edge sites, Fe and Al oxides, allophane, imogolite Carboxylate, Phenolate Cation exchange (permanent charge sites) Smectite, vermiculite, illite Amines, ring NH, heterocyclic N pH-dependent charge sites (anion exchange usually, cation exchange rarely) Aluminosilicate edge sites, Fe and Al oxides, allophane, imogolite Carboxylate for anion exchange, amines, ring NH, heterocyclic N for cation exchange Cation bridging Smectite, vermiculite, illite Carboxylate, amines, carbonyl, alcoholic OH Water bridging Reviewing

Students with Disabilities Must be Included in Public Schools Essay

Students with Disabilities Must be Included in Public Schools Billy is physically handicapped and goes to school on a bus that has to pick him up quite early, for he has to go to school an hour away from his home. When Billy is at school, he gets to be in classes with all sorts of children; some are in wheelchairs, like he is, but they are unable to move by themselves, and some can walk, but Billy has a hard time talking to some of those children because they are developmentally younger than he is. All his classmates are his friends, but they never come over to play after school because he lives so far away, and Billy does not have a lot in common with them. Billy likes to play basketball in his driveway and he loves to talk about the latest pop music. There is a school about four blocks away from his house, but professionals in the school system have recommended that Billy not be included in regular classrooms. People who know Billy well would describe him as funny, friendly, smart, and athletic. People who are in charge of making sure Billy h as the kind of education he deserves would describe him as having cerebral palsy, conductive hearing loss, and mild dyslexia. Were Billy included in the regular classroom at the school four blocks away, he would be known for who he is and not what he has; I believe the quality of his life would come rightfully before the quantity of adaptations he requires. Inclusion is realistic and necessary, and public schools should implement it as the next logical step in the process of helping students with disabilities. The basic building blocks for inclusion are bringing necessary support services to the student, being in the regular classroom, and being at a nearby school. These things are n... ...Many believe it is being functionally and physically able to perform tasks in everyday routines of one's life. This being accepted, teachers teach "life skills" to their students and believe they are providing special services. Can one really think his or her life is meaningful just because he or she has the ability to wash dishes or make a bed? Relationships are the basis of learning about and enjoying life. Most teachers agree that handicapped children have a right to improved quality of life, but by primarily teaching functional skills and doing so in segregated classrooms, they are seriously undermining that right. By including handicapped children in the regular classroom in public schools, the opportunity to build relationships exists, and it becomes possible to meet the seemingly unrealistic goals of belonging and providing a fair chance at a fulfilling life. Students with Disabilities Must be Included in Public Schools Essay Students with Disabilities Must be Included in Public Schools Billy is physically handicapped and goes to school on a bus that has to pick him up quite early, for he has to go to school an hour away from his home. When Billy is at school, he gets to be in classes with all sorts of children; some are in wheelchairs, like he is, but they are unable to move by themselves, and some can walk, but Billy has a hard time talking to some of those children because they are developmentally younger than he is. All his classmates are his friends, but they never come over to play after school because he lives so far away, and Billy does not have a lot in common with them. Billy likes to play basketball in his driveway and he loves to talk about the latest pop music. There is a school about four blocks away from his house, but professionals in the school system have recommended that Billy not be included in regular classrooms. People who know Billy well would describe him as funny, friendly, smart, and athletic. People who are in charge of making sure Billy h as the kind of education he deserves would describe him as having cerebral palsy, conductive hearing loss, and mild dyslexia. Were Billy included in the regular classroom at the school four blocks away, he would be known for who he is and not what he has; I believe the quality of his life would come rightfully before the quantity of adaptations he requires. Inclusion is realistic and necessary, and public schools should implement it as the next logical step in the process of helping students with disabilities. The basic building blocks for inclusion are bringing necessary support services to the student, being in the regular classroom, and being at a nearby school. These things are n... ...Many believe it is being functionally and physically able to perform tasks in everyday routines of one's life. This being accepted, teachers teach "life skills" to their students and believe they are providing special services. Can one really think his or her life is meaningful just because he or she has the ability to wash dishes or make a bed? Relationships are the basis of learning about and enjoying life. Most teachers agree that handicapped children have a right to improved quality of life, but by primarily teaching functional skills and doing so in segregated classrooms, they are seriously undermining that right. By including handicapped children in the regular classroom in public schools, the opportunity to build relationships exists, and it becomes possible to meet the seemingly unrealistic goals of belonging and providing a fair chance at a fulfilling life.

Robertson Davis Fifth Business Essay -- Robertson Davies Fifth Busine

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Guilt can only be suppressed for a limited time before it comes out in unwanted ways. In the novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, Boy Staunton -a successful businessman with a polished appearance but a tortured soul- took the ultimate plunge to his death. His decision was not merely his own, but was influenced by a team of hands that helped push him to his destiny. First Leola, who was his first love and his wife. Then Mary Dempster, a neighbor from his old town Deptford, whom he mistakenly made into a 'simple' woman. Next his life long-friend and enemy, Dunstan Ramsey, who was a constant reminder of the virtuous life boy longed to live. Then Paul Dempster, the product of Boy's immature childhood behavior. Finally himself, because he suppressed his guilt and refused to accept the shadow that lurked within him. The five people that killed Boy Staunton (as stated) were: Mary- ?the woman he did not know?, Leola- ? the woman he knew?, Dunstan- ?the keeper of his conscience and the stone?, Paul- whom granted his inner most wish, and lastly, Boy Staunton himself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It can be observed that childhood experiences play a very important role in the stableness of ones soul. One mishap in childhood can create a devastating blow to ones true happiness in later life. This was exactly the case in Boy Staunton's life. Once, when he was little, he got in an argument with Dunny which led to snowballs being launched at Dunny from an aggravated Boy Staunton. The last snowball concealed a rock, and hit Dunny's neighbor Mary Dempster in the head. As a result, she gave birth prematurely (to Paul Dempster), and then afterwards became ?simple minded?. This particular incident acted as a foundation for Boy's growing shadow, and contributed to the demise of his soul. It is ironic that the person who had such a significant influence on Boy Staunton's shadow, was a woman he did not know. When Boy was asked if he had any recognition of Mrs. Dempster, he replied: ? None at all. Why Should I(page 261). Although Boy only met her once, the guilt remained suppressed inside him for the rest of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Boy's guilt grew as the years went by, fed by incidents that occurred from different people. Leola, Boy's first wife was one of these people. Leola was born in Deptford as was Boy. They grew up together going to the same school, and fanci... ...his own life. When Boy was found the morning after, a strange stone was found in his mouth. That stone was the same stone which hit Mary Dempster in the head so many years before. Boy considered the stone to represent his guilt and in the end tried to swallow the stone (he tried to swallow his guilty conscience). Suicide was the only way out for Boy, because his shadow was much to big to confront. Boy's biggest mistake in his life, was that he did not face his conscience when it was small. Instead he let it grow inside him, a mistake which ultimately led to his death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Indeed Boy's death was influenced by different people throughout his life. Leola who was the woman he knew. Mary - the woman he did not know. Paul - who granted his inmost wish. And of course Dunny -the inevitable fifth. But Boy Staunton was the only one who could be accountable for his guilt. For he, and he alone, ignored his shadow and left it to grow. In the end his shadow was to big to defeat, and so, pushed by the darkness within him, Boy entered finally into the shadow of death. Works Cited: Davies, Robertson. FIFTH BUSINESS. Canada: The Macmillan Company of Canada Limited, 1970.

The Effects of Violence in the Media Essay -- essays research papers

The Effects of Violence In the Media â€Å"Someone just got shoot on the streets due to the violence in the media.† That is what some people are saying that violence in the media is the cause of that. The controversy of the effects that violence has on people has been going on for a long time. This paper is going to prove both sides of the controversy and let one decide which side is right. Violence is on the news and on everyday action shows. Theses everyday shows are targeted for the kids of the world who are in the stages which are important for their lives. At this point in their lives the kids can make life changing decisions the violence on TV has some effects on that decision. One might watch a scene from â€Å"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles† which may show them betting up a bad guy for trying to hurt someone. â€Å"The consequences of killing, especially by the "good guys," are seldom shown.† It doesn’t show the turtles getting in trouble for hurting someone it shows them as being the good guys. In real life you won’t be going around betting people up with out getting into trouble as well. It’s not like the kids won’t see so act of violence on TV for there is 50-60 times more violent commercial TV for the children then for the adult’s prime-time programs. Do you try to stop that by putting up parental controls on your TV? If you do that you have the protection on your TV but what about the TVs at their friend’s houses? â€Å"The typical American child watches 28 hours of television a week, and by the age of 18 will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence.† With all of that violence on TV there is a good chance of a child thinking that violence is the answer to all their questions. Yet it isn’t just the TV that brings us the violence there are other factors. â€Å"Girls who watched more than an average amount of violence tended to throw things at their husbands. Boys who grew up watching violent TV shows were more likely to be violent with their wives.† This is true but what if you didn’t watch the violent TV shows but your parents acted that way to each other? Would you turn into a wife better or would you turn into a caring person? This hasn’t been proven so I can’t give you an exact answer. What I do believe is that children look up to their parents ... ...eed to be able to perform your best when you are in reality. One bad thing about thinking you are in the dream world is that you might think that you are in that dream world all the time. â€Å"He was blaming the doctors and nurses for his pain, since on TV getting shot didn't seem to be all that big of a deal.† This is showing that some people can’t realize when they are out of that dream world. If they don’t realize that they are out of the dream world then they might act the same way as they see on TV. They might just go and bet someone up because they were doing something that they didn’t like or they were doing something wrong. â€Å"Children who watched one to three hours of television each day when they were 14 to 16 years old were 60 per cent more likely to be involved in assaults and fights as adults.† This is saying that people might act like the people in the TV shows that they might watch in real life. Take for instance someone just watched â€Å"Fight Club† they might turn around and start fighting each other for sport and think that they can get away with it. If you are doing that in your own home that is ok but when you bring it out onto the streets you could be arrested for it.

An Analysis of Plenty by Isabelle Dixon

Dixon's poem Plenty shows the relationship between a mother and her five daughters which, on a wider horizon could be taken as a relationship between adults and children. The poet starts by telling us that they used to run ‘riot' and this was more than the mother could cope with. We are not told whether the behaviour was meant to annoy the mother or it was just a normal prank played and enjoyed by children. The situation in stanza is not a pleasant one as the poet gives us a grim picture of the situation they had to cope with.Water was a rare commodity and because of that they could not afford the luxury of filling the ‘old enamel a tub' which we are told was ‘age-stained' and rusty. The reason for that is given in stanza two where the poet explains that there was persistent drought and dams were dry and ‘windmills stalled. ‘ The most interesting thing about the description here is that she compares her mother's smile to the stalled windmill and the dry dam. One gets the impression that even though the mother was smiling it lacked the warmth of a genuine smile.We are also made to understand that such a smile almost always came when she had done something wrong. She continues to tell us that her mother smiling at their faults was a ploy to keep them from being chaotic or mischievous. What we learn from this is that the mother did not do anything to scold the children perhaps because she knew shouting and ranting was not going to work. We are told that this situation was on-going. Added to all this was the fact the mother had to worry about how to provide the bare necessities of life for her children and ensure that there was food on the table.  Read also Critical appreciation of the poem â€Å"Old Ladies’ Home†.It was not a cheerful situation because ‘each month was weeks too long. ‘ This gives me the impression that the mother had to the hard work of ensuring whatever little money she had could be suffic ient for the month but this was not the case. ‘Her mouth laid clamped hard on this' shows us that the mother did not talk this aspect of her worries. She did not want the children to worry because she was worrying about how she was going to feed them. The first four stanzas paint a grim picture and describe a period of want when everything, including water, was in short supply.However, even though the situation was grim the mother made sure she bore everything in silence and concentrated on how to make her children happy. By not scolding them unnecessarily and by being gentle with in times of misbehaviour she was able to cope. Stanza five begins with a litany of the pranks the poet and her sisters used to play. They ‘skipped chores' and when the mother was not near they indulged in the ‘lovely sin' of filling the bath beyond the recommended limit given by their mother. However, stanza five is also a discovery for the poet.She tells us that as children they did not understand why their mother had to impose those water restrictions or why she had to bother about every little prank they played. ‘We thought her mean' is enough to tell us that she has realized this. Stanza seven echoes the title of the poem as we are told how water is no longer in short supply. The poet can afford to stay in the bath for as long as she wishes and can fill the tub to the brim if she so wishes. The ‘now' at the beginning of the stanza tells us that the poet's situation has changed.Unlike the past she is no a ‘sybarite' and devotes herself to luxury. It is as if she is saying making up for all the luxury she lost in childhood. The metaphor ‘The shower's a hot cascade' describes vividly the poet's feeling. She is comparing the shower to water fountain and not only that it is hot. She can even afford to leave the heating on. The last stanza begins with a feeling of nostalgia. The poet misses her sisters who, we can confidently say, are no longer staying with their mother. They have all moved on and perhaps enjoying the luxury of a filled bath tub.She even misses her mother's smile. Unlike in the past the mother's smile is full of mirth because the ‘lean dry times' are over. We get the impression that their mother's suffering was due to their long childhood and now that they are able to fend for themselves most of the problems have gone. The mother is now happy and does not have to worry about a month which was ‘weeks too long. ‘ A casual reading of the poem will make the reader think it is a reminiscence of someone's childhood experiences. But underneath this surface lies the themes and messages the poet puts across.We learn that patience can help us deal with a lot of life's everyday problems. Instead of adults taking their frustrations onto their children they should learn to cope with these frustrations. We also learn from the mother's reactions to the children's behaviour that children must be allowed to be children and occasionally brought onto the straight path when necessary. The mother did not do anything that would have driven the children away from home. She did not blame the children for the fact that she could not afford a luxurious for herself and the children.What she did is what every parent should learn: she accepted her responsibility as a parent and understood that the children did not negotiate with her to come into the world. Her responsibility was to provide the physical, biological and emotional needs of her children. It is also good that poet later realised the mother was not being mean after all. This is also a very important message for the youth of today. They should understand that every parent wants the best for their children and even though they may see some of the decisions taken by adults as harsh in the long run it is for their own benefit.