Catchment Area Analysis for 24 Hour Fitness in Cochin

CATCHMENT AREA ANALYSIS FOR 24 HOUR FITNESS IN COCHIN, KERALA SYNOPSIS OF CATCHMENT AREA STUDY SL NOTABLE OF CONTENTSPAGE NO 1Catchment area PTA, STA, TTA2 2Vytila and vicinity7 3Property demand12 4Infrastructural growth12 5Findings14 6Strategy for 24 hour fitness14 7Reference15 CATCHMENT AREA PRIMARY TRADE AREA LOCATIONDRIVING DISTANCE Elamkulam2 mins Vytilla2mins TERTIARY TRADE AREA LOCATIONDRIVING DISTANCE Gigi Nagar15 mins Panapilly Nagar16 mins SECONDARY TRADE AREA LOCATIONDRIVING DISTANCE KSRTC BUS STAND7 mins Kadavanthara8 mins 24 Hour Fitness is an international fitness brand.The trade area is divided as primary, secondary and teritiary on the basis of time taken by drive to reach the destination. 1-5 mins drive is considered for primary, 6-10 mins for secondary and 11-15 mins for teritiary trade area. This is based on the fact that, time required to reach a fitness centre is highly deterministic. TRADE AREA ANALYSIS: PTA – PRIMARY TRADE AREA STA – SECONDARY TRA DE AREA TTA – TARTIARY TRADE AREA Primary Catchment The Primary Catchment is within 0-5 minutes’ drive to 24 Hour Fitness. The areas are: †¢Vyttila †¢ElamkulamTherefore the primary catchment of 24 Hour Fitness is strategically situated amidst the densely populated Vyttila and Elamkulam areas. Secondary Catchment The Secondary Catchment is within 5-10 minutes’ drive. The areas are: †¢Kadavanthra †¢Ponnurunni Therefore the secondary catchment of 24 Hour Fitness is the densely populated Kadavanthara which is a residential area. Tertiary Catchment The Tertiary Catchment is within 10-20 minutes of drive time. The areas are: †¢Giri Nagar †¢Panampilly Nagar †¢Chalikkavattom Therefore the tertiary catchment of 24 Hour Fitness is the thickly populatedGiri Nagar, Panampilly Nagar and Chalikkavattom which is a core residential area. The primary, secondary and teritiary trade areas cover the important and potential residential areas of Coc hin. The target consumers of 24 hour fitness can easily access the brand with this location. Road Ways The Sahodaran Ayyapan road from west to Vytila is common for all the target consumers from Kadavanthara, Panampally, Kaloor. This is the primary roadway for 24 Hour fitness. This location completely restricts the flow of customers to the Gold Gym Vytila, which is a competition. The Edapally Vytila road brings in customers from north.These are the primary roadways which is sccesible for the target customers. It is giving a direct competition to Gold Gym, Vytila, which is comparatively low priced and infrastructuraly poor compared to 24 Hour Fitness. Vytila and vicinity Vyttila is an intersection as well as the name of a region in the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. It is one of the largest as well as the busiest intersections in Kerala. This node intersects the main north-south artery of the state of Kerala, namely, the National Highway 47, with three city roads of Koc hi viz, the S. A.Road (east-west), the Vyttila-Petta Road, and the Thammanam Road. Vyttila hosts the Kochi Mobility Hub, which converges different ways of surface transport (namely, local as well as long distance buses, rail, Metro Railand inland water transport) to the city onto a single node. Institutions Vyttila is home to hospitals like the Welcare Hospital and the Mother & Child Hospital. The State Bank of India, State Bank of Travancore, Punjab National Bank, Corporation Bank, Vijaya Bank,Bank of Baroda, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank all have branches in this area. Toc H Public School, St. Rita's H.S Ponnurunni, C. K. C. L. P. S are schools located in Vyttila. There are several supermarkets (prominent among them include V-Mart and the Margin Free Market chain of mini-super markets) in this area in addition to several mom & pop stores and pharmacies. Eateries like K. R Bakes, Aryaas, Best Bakers, delight Bakers and traditional ‘Thattukadas' are also decent hangouts for people across age groups in the junction. Schools Vyttila hosts the following schools ?Toc H Public School ?C. K. C Girls High School, Ponnurunni ?St. Rita's Boy's High School, Ponnurunni Hospitals ?Welcare Hospital Mother & Child Hospital ?Ranjini Eye Hospital Shopping and entertainment The Kundannoor-Edapally streatch of the National Highway 47 passing through Vyttila, is home for the largest malls in the state of Kerala. The Largest shopping mall in the state – Gold Souk is located in Vyttila on NH Bypass. The mall has 4 Screen Multiplex Cinemas, Spacious Hypermarkets, Food courts, Restaurants and branded retail outlets. There are several supermarkets (prominent among them include V-Mart and the Margin Free Market chain of mini-super markets) in this area in addition to several mom & pop stores and pharmacies.Eateries like K. R Bakes, Aryaas, Best Bakers, delight Bakers and traditional ‘Thattukadas' are also decent hangouts for people across age groups in the junctio n. The Oberon Mall, one of biggest malls in Kochi with its cinemax theatres, is also situated along the way from Vyttila to Edappally. Real Estate, Builders and Apartments: †¢Confident Group †¢Mather Group †¢Good Day properties †¢Mansions †¢Good earth †¢Aurora †¢Siddhi †¢Dubex River garden †¢Real India †¢VKL group †¢Sri Ram Krishna Builders †¢Skyline Orion Villa †¢Santhi Shreyas †¢Jewel Homes †¢Water Lilly Premium apartments Financial Institutions Axis Bank †¢Icici Bank †¢Bank of Baroda †¢South Indian Bank †¢State Bank of India †¢Thammanam Service Co-operative Bank Restaurants †¢Pizza Hut †¢Hotel Aryas †¢Smoke House †¢Muruga Hotel †¢Qualis Hotel †¢Hotel Anugraha †¢Albarad Restaurant †¢Nyle Plaza †¢Janahridayam †¢Hotel Mermaid Property Demand The proposed site is between the Vytila Junction and Elamkulam Bridge. The property cost at thi s site averages to 10-12 lakhs per cent. This is one of the most demanded properties in Cochin. This is because of the high residential potential and the emergence of Vytila as the second business centre of Cochin.There has been a drastic increase in the land prices at Vytila over years due to this factor. Infrastructural Growth With the advent of the Vytila mobility hub Vytila is also expecting a major infrastructural change. The Cochin metro is proposed to be passing through Vytila. Recent talks between policy makers indicate that the metro may have a metro stop at Vytila. With operations of Cochin Metro service more people will have direct access to the GYM, within minutes, thus increasing the trade area of the fitness centre. This aspect is also considered while selecting the current location. FINDINGSThe proposed site for 24 Hour Fitness in Cochin has advantages as well as disadvantages. Though the property costs are high, the site attracts the major target customers if located at the proposed site. The site between Elamkulam Bridge and Vytila Junction covers major residential areas covering middle and high class men and women at Vytila, Kaloor, Panampally Nagar, Kadavanthara etc. The site is centre to many apartments where target customers live in. The site directly gives competition to Gold Gym blocking their accessibility through the west road entering Vytila. There have been huge developments in infrastructure.The Cochin metro can bring in customers from far city within minutes to the site as the metro passes directly over the place. Strategy for 24 Hour Fitness The International Fitness brand can definitely enter the Cochin market with their fitness message. There has been an increase in the fitness concerns with the people in Cochin. The proximity to the fitness centre is a major concern for all the members of the brand. Taking this factor into account and to attract maximum number of target customers, 24 Hour Fitness can adopt following strategies. †¢High accessibility †¢Good parking facilities †¢Loyalty schemes Separate training hours for non-working women †¢Separate Training hours for working men and women There cannot be any spill over effect for 24 hour fitness with this site. This is because the place is void of any corporate offices from where employees may prefer to go to the fitness centre prior work. This move is based on the fact that this spill over will not account for a high attraction of customers. 24 Hour Fitness can even facilitate transport facilities to achieve high attraction. Sources and Reference †¢Goole Maps †¢ICICI PROPERTY REPORT †¢NEWSPAPER ARTICLE – TIMES PROPERTY †¢24 HOUR FITNESS OFFICIAL WEBSITE

How the Media Affect What People Essay

The standard assertion in most recent empirical studies is that â€Å"media affect what people think about, not what they think. † The findings here indicate the media make a significant contribution to what people think—to their political preferences and evaluations—precisely by affecting what they think about. A he belief that long dominated the scholarly community is that news messages have â€Å"minimal consequences† (Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955; Klapper, 1960). Many media scholars still endorse something close to this view (cf. McGuire, 1985; Gans, n. d. ; Neuman, 1986; also M. Robinson and Sheehan, 1983). The more popular recent view is that media influence is significant, but only in shaping the problems the public considers most important—their agendas (McCombs and Shaw, 1972). In some respects, agenda research challenges the minimal consequences view, but both approaches share a core assumption. Both assume audiences enjoy substantial autonomy in developing their political preferences. Research contradicting the notion that media have minimal consequences or only influence agendas has emerged during the 1980s (see, e. g. the pioneering yet disparate work of such authors as Bartels, 1985; Patterson, 1980; Iyengar and Kinder, 1987; and Page, Shapiro, and Dempsey, 1987; cf. Rob- The author gratefully acknowledgesfinancialsupport from the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation and the Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, and thanks this journal’s referees and editors for useful suggestions. JOURNAL OF POLITICS, Vol. 51, No. 2, May 1989 Portions of this article appear in DEMOCRACY WITHOUT CITIZENS: THE MEDIA AND THE DECAY OF AMERICAN POLITICS by Robert M. Entman.  © 1989 by Robert M. Entman. Used by arrangement with Oxford University Press, Inc. 348 Robert M. Entman inson and Levy, 1986). 1 But this burgeoning research has not yet generated a theory that explicitly refutes the assumption of audience autonomy and explains more fully the media’s impact on public opinion. This article probes the theoretical underpinnings of the autonomy assumption and provides empirical evidence that media messages significantly influence what the public thinks by shaping what they think about. THE RESEARCH TRADITION The audience autonomy assumption provides the foundation for the minimal consequences position. The assumption is that audiences form their political opinions in relative independence from the media. There are two somewhat distinct variants of this position. The first emphasizes that audiences think about communications selectively, screening out information they do not like (Klapper, I960; cf. McGuire, 1985). The second holds that audiences pay so little attention and understand so little that the news cannot influence them (Neuman, 1986; cf. MacKuen, 1984). 2 In practice, both the selectivity hypothesis and the hypothesis of inattention and incomprehension (hereafter just â€Å"inattention†) hold that media messages tend only to reinforce existing preferences rather than helping to form new attitudes or change old ones. Thus the media have little net impact on politics. The central assumption of the more recent agenda setting research has been that media do exert significant influence, but only in a narrow sphere. In this view, the public’s autonomy is not complete, but its susceptibility to media influence is limited to agendas. Agenda research almost always includes a sentence like this: â€Å"Although a ‘minimal effects’ model most accurately describes the media’s ability to change opinions, recent research has shown that the media can play a much larger role in telling us what to think about, if not what to think† (Lau and Erber, 1985, p. 60; almost identical assertions appear throughout the literature, e. g. , McCombs and Shaw, 1972; MacKuen, 1984, pp. 72, 386; and even radical critiques such as Parenti, 1985, p. 23; also see MacKuen and Combs, 1981; Behr and Iyengar, 1985; Miller, Erbring, and Goldenberg, 1979). 3 Agenda scholarship does not provide a comprehensive theory that explains why media influence is confined to agendas, but selecDeFleur and Ball-Rokeach’s â€Å"dependency theory† (1982) describes an important theoretical alternativ e to the autonomy assumption, but that work predates most of the recent surge in empirical evidence. 2 Neuman (1986, chap. ) grounds his argument in the lack of evidence that media can teach specific information or enhance political sophistication. The concern in this paper is with political evaluations and preferences, which do not require much information—often a simple emotional response will do (cf. Abelson et al. , 1982). A related argument cites the public’s inability to recall specific stories. But the influence of a single news story or show is rarely of interest. The primary concern is the effect of repeated news messages over time (cf. Graber, 1984). But compare Iyengar and Kinder, 1987, and Protess et al. , 1987, for agenda setting research showing that media influence of agendas also shapes, respectively, the mass public’s criteria of political judgment and public officials’ behavior. 1 How the Media Affect What People Think 349 tivity and ina ttention again seem to be key. In the agenda setting view, the media can overcome these barriers in determining the issues people think about but not in shaping how they evaluate issues or candidates (the most explicit discussion is MacKuen, 1984). The problem with the agenda setting position is that the distinction between â€Å"what to think† and â€Å"what to think about† is misleading. Nobody, no force, can ever successfully â€Å"tell people what to think. † Short of sophisticated physical torture (â€Å"brainwashing†), no form of communication can compel anything more than feigned obeisance. The way to control attitudes is to provide a partial selection of information for a person to think about, or process. The only way to influence what people think is precisely to shape what they think about. No matter what the message, whether conveyed through media or in person, control over others’ thinking can never be complete. Influence can be exerted through selection of information, but conclusions cannot be dictated. If the media (or anyone) can affect what people think about—the information they process—the media can affect their attitudes. This perspective yields an assumption of interdependence: public opinion grows out of an interaction between media messages and what audiences make of them. I will call this the â€Å"interdependence model. The competing positions, the minimal consequences and the agenda perspectives, both endorse the assumption that audiences form preferences autonomously. I will call this the â€Å"autonomy model. † INFORMATION PROCESSING AND MEDIA IMPACTS Combining a recognition of the interdependence of audiences and media with information-processing models developed by cognitive psychologists may offer the best foundation for a new understanding (cf. Graber, 1984; Kraus and Perloff, 1985). There is no consensus among those who study information processing. But a number of generalizations pertinent to the mass media’s impacts can be gleaned from their work. Information-processing research shows that people have cognitive structures, called â€Å"schemas,†4 which organize their thinking. A person’s system of schemas stores substantive beliefs, attitudes, values, and preferences (cf. Rokeach, 1973) along with rules for linking different ideas. The schemas â€Å"direct attention to relevant information, guide its interpretation and evaluation, provide inferences when information is missing or ambiguous, and facilitate its retention† (Fiske and Kinder, 1981, p. 73). Schemas are not filters used to select out all unfamiliar or uncomfortable information. As Bennett writes, â€Å"[I]nformation processing constructs [i. e. schemas] like party identification and ideological categories should not be reScholars have used many other terms, including â€Å"scripts,† â€Å"inferential sets,† â€Å"frames,â €™ and â€Å"prototypes. † While there are subtle differences among them, they need not concern us here. The term schema is as good as any, and for clarity’s sake I use the English plural â€Å"schemas† instead of the awkward â€Å"schemata. 4 350 Robert M. Entman garded as rigid cognitive frameworks that work infixedways to screen out unfamiliar information† (Bennett, 1981, p. 91). Certainly people fail to think about much of the news, but not necessarily because they choose only congruent messages, or because they inevitably misunderstand or deliberately ignore media reports. Selectivity and inattention are stressed by the autonomy model, but that model fails to explain why many citizens do think about a great deal of the new information they encounter. Information-processing theory recognizes and helps explain how attitudes emerge from a dynamic interaction of new information with peoples’ existing beliefs. In Bennett’s (1981, p. 92) words, political thought is â€Å"data-driven† by external information and â€Å"conceptually-driven† by internal schemas. Information-processing theory suggests that whether people ignore or pay attention to new information depends more on its salience, on whether it meshes with their interests, than on whether it conflicts with their existing beliefs (Markus and Zajonc, 1985, pp. 162 and passim; Kinder and Sears, 1985, pp. 710-12). While people may resist knowledge that challenges their fundamental values (Axelrod, 1973), most can accommodate new information and even hold a set of specific beliefs that may appear dissonant, contradictory, or illogical to an outsider (cf. Lane, 1962). The explicit model of thinking that cognitive psychologists have been putting together thus contradicts the implicit model in much of media research. Rather than resisting or ignoring most new or dissonant media reports, as the autonomy model assumes, the information-processing view predicts that people are susceptible to significant media effects. In the information-processing perspective, a person first assesses a media report for salience. If salient, the person processes the news according to routines established in the schema system. Processing may lead the person either to store the information or discard it; if stored, the information may stimulate new beliefs or change old beliefs. So selectivity and inattention are not the whole story. Often people may screen out information that contradicts their current views; but other times they think about disturbing reports they find relevant. The notion of an audience that actively resists all potentially conflicting information rests upon an assumption of a deeply involved and knowledgeable citizenry, a vision that does not apply to most people (e. g. , Converse and Markus, 1979; Kinder and Sears, 1985). Common sense suggests it takes more information and time to change the minds of strong adherents than weak ones, but sometimes even loyalists do change. When the implications are not obvious—for example when the information is contained in the form of a subtle slant to the news (see Entman, 1989, chap. )—the probability increases that even activists will store conflicting data without experiencing any immediate dissonance. And while it may take many repetitions of a media message to pierce the public’s indubitable haze of neglect and distraction, this very same political indifference may enhance the likelihood that messages which do penetrate How the Media Affect What People Think 351 will have an im pact. Just because on most matters Americans have so little knowledge and such weakly-anchored beliefs, information provided by the media can significantly shape their attitudes. Not only do the majority of audience members lack detailed, expert knowledge or strong opinions (cf. Fiske, Kinder, and Larter, 1983); sometimes there are no old attitudes to defend. Many of the most significant political contests are played out over emerging issues or leaders; audiences do not have set attitudes toward them. That clears the path for significant media influence. TESTING MEDIA INFLUENCE Identification as liberal, moderate, or conservative is a key component of the political schema system that much of the public applies to political information. Ideological leanings affect responses to specific media eports; different identifiers may read the same message differently. This is why the media, in common with all other sources of information, cannot dictate public views and why an interdependence model seems appropriate. The interdependence model predicts that media influence varies according to the way each person processes specific news messages. Instead of treating ideo logy as a tool people use to screen out reports that conflict with their liberalism or conservatism, the model sees ideology as a schema that influences the use people make of media messages in more complicated ways. The interaction between the attributes of the message and the schemas of the audience shapes the impact of the news. One element of this interdependence is message salience, which may vary among the ideological groups. Stories that interest liberals may bore conservatives; items that intrigue ideologues on either side may not interest moderates, who have few strong beliefs. Another aspect of interdependence involves whether the message is relevant to peripheral or central attitudes. The centrality of a message may vary for different groups, since liberals and conservatives appear to structure their ideas distinctively. Central to liberalism is attachment to ideals of change and equality; central to conservatism is attraction to capitalism (Conover andj^eldman, 1981). The two groups probably process some media messages^differently. This decidedly does not mean liberals, for example, screen out all material that challenges liberalism. Consider an editorial praising the ideal of capitalist markets and proposing to make the post office a private enterprise. While the message conflicts with liberal ideology, it does so peripherally, since government ownership of public utilities is not fundamental to American liberalism. The message may not only bolster conservatism among conservatives, but weaken liberals’ commitment to liberalism, if only at the margin. Another point of interdependence involves whether the message comes from an editorial, with its overtly persuasive intent, or from a news story that is ostensibly designed merely to inform. Conservatives may be more likely 352 Robert M. Entman o screen out editorial than news items that favor the left, since the slant of news may not be obvious. Afinalaspect of interdependence lies in how new or unfamiliar the reported topic is. All else being equal, the less familiar the object of the news, the less likely a person will respond by fitting the report into an established category and maintaining a set attitude. Where the subject of the news is unfamiliar to all sets of ideological identifiers, all will be susceptible to media influence. Four hypotheses emerge from this use of information processing theory to develop an interdependence model of media influence. They are not all the hypotheses that merit exploration, but they are the ones that can be tested with the data available, and they should provide support for the superiority of the interdependence over the autonomy model. Hypothesis #1: Editorials affect ideological identifiers more than moderates. Those identifying as liberals or conservatives are likely to find ideologically-charged editorial messages salient. Those with less-focused commitments, the moderates, may not find ideological editorials relevant. Hypothesis #2: Liberal editorials should exert a leftward push on those attitudes of conservatives not central to their ideology. Hypothesis #3: Editorial content has stronger effects on new subjects of news coverage than on long-familiar ones. Hypothesis #4: News affects beliefs among liberals, moderates, and conservatives alike. People will tend to screen out news messages less than editorials. Shaped by objectivity rules, news stories are designed to appear neutral to audiences (e. g. , Schudson, 1978; Tuchman, 1978; Molotch and Boden, 1985). The appearance of neutrality may soften the audience’s defenses. DATA The dataset combines a national survey on Americans’ political attitudes from 1974 and 1976 with information on the political content of the newspapers read by respondents. The 1974 Michigan Content Analysis Study provides extensive information on the front page news and editorial page content of ninety-two newspapers throughout the country. The total number of news and editorial items employed here is nearly 18,000. 5 The content information (Institute for Social Research, 1978) is matched to data from a representative national survey, the University of Michigan Center for Political Studies poll of 1974. The sample analyzed consists of those who were surveyed and read  ° The study included ninety-six newspapers, of which four had incomplete data; readers of those four were excluded from the analysis. How the Media Affect What People Think 353 one of the ninety-two newspapers included in the Content Analysis Study, a total weighted sample of 1,292 persons. 6 Excluded were those who did not read a paper (approximately 30% of those surveyed) or who read papers for which no data were collected. 7 The content data were gathered for ten days during October and November, 1974. Even though the data were obtained over a short time period, a check suggests they accurately reflect the typical stands of the papers. For example, among the ninety-two newspapers, the Washington Post scores higher in editorial liberalism than the (defunct) Washington Star; the New York Daily News scores to the right of the New York Times, and so forth. 8 In any case, while far from perfect, the dataset is the most comprehensive collection linking media content to peoples’ attitudes. One measure of newspaper content taps diversity in news stories, the other liberalism in editorials. I expect both aspects of the newspaper’s message to encourage opinions to move toward more sympathy with liberal politicians, 6 The actual number of people interviewed was 1,575. The answers of some members of the sample were counted three times to make a weighted sample of 2,523. This was done in order to ensure adequate representation in the sample of sparsely populated areas of the count ry. Thus, the weighted sample is the most representative. 7 The demographics of the final reader subsample closely parallel those of the 1974 national cross section as a whole. The mean education of the entire original sample, including non-readers (n = 2,523), is 11. 5 years, the mean of the sample analyzed (n = 1,292) is 12. 2; the mean income, about $11,000 versus $12,000. On other demographic and political characteristics, the two groups are virtually identical. 8 Further enhancing confidence in the validity of the content measures is their use in such important studies as Erbring, Goldenberg, and Miller, 1980. 9 Each editorial item was coded for zero, one, or two assertions favoring or opposing liberal and conservative policy stands. The editorial liberalism index is a percentage formed by first counting the number of times a paper endorsed a liberal position or opposed a conservative position, then subtracting assertions favoring conservative or derogating liberal stands. The result was divided by twice the number of editorial items, since each item was coded for up to two liberal or conservative assertions. The higher the score, the more liberal the editorial page. This index uses variables 21 and 28 in the CPS Media Content Analysis Study 1974. A second measure employed data on news (variables 27 and 34 in the CPS study). The news diversity measure taps a dimension of news slant that audiences are less likely to screen than editorial liberalism. Like most aspects of news slant, it is a subtle trait of reporting that few audience members would notice. The front page news items were coded for mention of zero, one, or two problems. For each problem mention, coders noted whether two different actors overtly disagreed with each other. Each news item was coded as having zero, one, or two instances of two actors asserting different points of view. The diversity index is the number of times two actors expressed different positions divided by twice the number of stories. The higher the score, the more diversity of news. Examples of the actors coded in this variable include Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller, Democratic Party, Republican candidates, and business leaders. Thus, a story might concern inflation and unions, and might contain opposing assertions by Gerald Ford and a Democratic Senate candidate on both the causes of inflation and the value of unions. The story would be coded 2 for one disagreement on each of the two problems. If the two actors agreed (or voiced no opinions) on unions but disagreed on inflation, the code would be 1. If they agreed on both or neither agreed nor disagreed, the code would be 0. 354 Robert M. Entman groups, and ideas. The basis for predicting that news diversity moves audiences leftward is that the majority of local newspapers appear to promote a generally Republican and conservative perspective (cf. Bagdikian, 1974; Radolf, 1984). Their editorial and perhaps news inclinations do not favor liberalism. All else being equal, I believe those papers with higher diversity probably provide more information that challenges the conservative editorial baseline. In addition, the mere presence of conflicting views in the news may convey an awareness of the diversity of the country, including its variety of races, economic classes, and viewpoints. Such consciousness may promote tolerance of change, and empathy for positions or groups that challenge the status quo. 0 Diversity may also undermine authority by conveying the impression that a range of ideas is plausible, that the existing distribution of power, wealth, and status is not immutable. As for the other content measure, while many readers no doubt skip editorial pages, Bagdikian (1974) shows that the editorial perspective tends to be mirrored in news slant. The editorial liberalism index may indirectly reflect the political tendency of news coverage. The survey incl uded â€Å"feeling thermometer† questions. Interviewers asked respondents to express their feelings toward several well-known groups and politicians. Respondents chose numbers ranging from â€Å"0† for the coldest feelings, through â€Å"100† for the warmest, with â€Å"50† meaning neutral or mixed feelings. I constructed five attitude indexes using factor analysis. 11 The Liberal Feelings Jndex combined ratings of Edward Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, liberals, Democrats, and unions. The Radical Feelings Index consisted of thermometer ratings of radical students, black militants, civil rights leaders, and policemen. The Poor Feelings Index tapped thermometers of poor people, blacks, and George Wallace. The Republican Feelings Index was created from ratings of Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, and Republicans. Finally, the Conservative Feelings Index rated big business, the military, and conservatives. 12 The Michigan survey also asked respondents for their stands on government guaranteed jobs; dealing with urban unrest by solving the problems of unemployment and poverty; protecting legal rights of those accused of crimes; A competing hypothesis might be that diversity challenges initial viewpoints, so that it would promote conservatism among liberals and vice versa. That idea is not borne out by the data. Diversity is consistently associated with more liberal views. 1 ‘ Surveys are described in Institute for Social Research, 1979. All feeling thermometers were classified on their face for relevance to the liberal-conservative continuum. Pertinent items received varimax factor analysis. Five factors had eigenvalues greater than 1. 0. Indexes added together scores on all feeling thermometer responses loading above . 40 on a factor. In two cases, items loaded more than . 40 on two factors; these were included on their highest loaded index. All dependent variable attitude indexes used in this paper have Cronbach Alpha reliability scores greater than . 80. 12 Policemen and Wallace loaded negatively on their respective factors. The feeling thermometer responses to each were subtracted from the sum of the other items in forming the indexes. 10 How the Media Affect What People Think 355 busing to achieve racial balance; the Equal Rights Amendment; integration of schools; government aid to minorities; and self-placement on the liberalconservative spectrum. 3 Using factor analysis again, all but one of the responses (to the ERA) were associated together and became the Policy Preferences Index. Twofinalvariables come from readers of sampled papers who participated in surveys during both 1974 and 1976. Their responses in 1976 provide an opportunity to check for media impacts on feelings toward a previously unknown presidential candidate, Jimmy Carter (Carter Index), and on presidential vote (Vote76). FINDINGS Testing the four p redicted media effects requires probing for impacts of editorial liberalism and news diversity on the seven attitudes and on presidential vote. Regression analysis enables us to see whether, with all else equal, readers of more liberal or diverse papers exhibit more liberal attitudes and voting behavior. Editorial liberalism taps the persuasive element of the newspaper, or, in agenda-setting terms, the aspect of the paper that attempts to â€Å"tell people what to think. † News diversity taps the putatively informational element that only â€Å"tells people what to think about. † The interdependence model holds that both editorials and news provide information to think about and thereby influence attitudes, whether intentionally or not. If selectivity or inattention precludes media influence, or if the effect is limited to agendas, the regressions should reveal no significant associations between attitudes and newspaper content. 14 Table 1 summarizes regression results for the impacts of newspaper content on the beliefs of the entire sample of readers. The feeling thermometers are coded from 0 to 100 so that higher scores are warmer (more favorable). The higher the policy preferences score, the more conservative the responses. Vote76 is 1 for Carter, 0 for Ford, so higher scores indicate voting for Carter. The regressions include the following additional variables to control for forces that might also influence attitudes: urban-rural place of residence; age; years of education; family income; race; region; party identification; and ideological self-identification. 15 The impacts of these non-media variables follow expecVariables 2265, 2273, 2281, 2288, 2296, 2302, and 2305 in the 1974 NES Codebook. Although partisanship and ideology are not truly interval variables, the results of the regressions suggest that it is quite reasonable to treat them as such. 15 These variables are coded as follows. Age: coded in years; non-South: 1 = North or West, 0 = South; income: coded in thousands; party i. d. : 7-point scale, 0 = strong Democrat, 3 = independent, 6 = strong Republican; urbanized: 1 = urban, suburban, 0 = rural; white race: 1 = white, 0 = nonwhite; education: coded in years; policy preferences index: adding six 7-point scales, so range is 6 = most liberal, 42 = most conservative; and ideology identification: 1 = most liberal, 4 = middle of the road or don’t know, 7 = most conservative. On the latter, note 14 13 356 Robert M. Entman tations, which bolsters confidence in the validity of the attitude measures. For a full display of coefficients for all independent variables, see Entman, 1987). Multicollinearity among the independent variables is not a problem. Of the forty-five intercorrelations, only three exceed . 20. The strongest was between education and income (r = . 357). Table 1 shows that the more editorially liberal the paper, the more warmly their readers re spond on the Liberal Feelings Index. This relationship suggests that editorial liberalism influences the public’s evaluations of key leaders and groups associated with the liberal coalition: in this case, Hubert Humphrey, Edward Kennedy, Democrats, unions, and liberals.

An economic model of the brain drain Essay

The emigration of skilled labor is of great concern to most less developed countries as well as to some developed countries. One special category of the brain drain has been especially troublesome to LDC’s over the last twenty-five years. Indigenous college graduates frequently leave their countries for advance studies in the Western world, but only a handful return after completing their work. Migration of this type has been linked to several possible causes. The most frequently cited are lack of employment opportunities for returning graduates, lower salary levels in the indigenous country, the preference of graduates to live abroad, and asymmetric information in the labor market. The loss of their most educated workers abroad, the so-called brain drain, has been a major source to LDCs. At the same time that their development targets demand highly trained personnel, LDCs find that their younger intellectual elite accept employment in the country where they have received thei r advanced training, and do not return to their native land. A number of reasons have been offered to explain the brain drain problem, including lack of employment opportunities in the home country, low pay, and student preference to remain abroad. These reasons are not empirically compelling in many developing countries. In Taiwan, for example, employment opportunities exist at real wages which are comparable to those offered abroad. And while some students may prefer to live abroad, it seems difficult to explain the brain drain by this reason alone. This paper has shown that the brain drain may exist even when students have a preference for returning home and employment opportunities exist at comparable average pay. The reason for the problem is related to the information employers have at the time of hiring. We assume that employers in the country of education can more precisely determine a graduate’s potential productivity than can employers in the student’s native country. Employers in the native country are assumed to offer wages that reflect the average productivity of returning workers, but which are not precisely tailored to individual productivities. This difference in information can by itself lead to the brain drain problem. The extent of the problem was related to the average productivity of workers, and their bias towards returning home. Conditions under which the brain drain problem was complete, partial, and nonexistent were examined.

Elevator speech Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Elevator speech - Research Paper Example According to Allred and David (2007), it is clear that sex education is one of the ways that is used to address teenage pregnancy in the UK. This is through making sex education a necessary aspect of the national curriculum. In this way children get to learn about matters pertaining to sex at an early age and therefore can practice behaviour that enables them avoid risky behaviour. The Department of Health (2010), states that one of the strategies which can minimize teenage pregnancy is providing various methods of contraception to the teenagers. In a report conducted by the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group (TPIAG) (n. d.) it is clear that early intervention and contraception are the best ways to curb this problem. The other strategies that have worked include family outreach initiatives as youth development programs as expressed by Imamura et al. (2007, p. 633). Nation et al. (2007, p. 449) expressed that school-based programs have shown effectiveness in reducing the number of teenage pregnancies in the UK. This initiative was effective owing to the fact that teenagers were warned against behaviour which results to teenage pregnancies at an early. Secondly, community intervention programs were effective as expressed by CDC (n. d.). This is because the members of the community including fellow teens, parents and guardians as well as health care providers are involved in tackling these issues. The final strategy that has been successful in dealing with this issue is the Teen Pregnancy Strategy as stated by the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group (TPIAG) (n. d.). This strategy is successful as it addresses the issue of teenage pregnancy based on the poverty perspective. Use of contraception is one of the approaches that failed to address the issue of reduced teenage pregnancies as explained by Furrow (2011). The approach cannot work on its own unless when couple with other programs such as the school-based approach and the

Reflection paper IC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection paper IC - Essay Example The information gathered by these organisations becomes fundamental to policy makers as it aids in making informed decisions. Failure by intelligence organisations to provide accurate and timely information could result in security catastrophe. The intelligence reports remain essential in evading such security threat in many parts of the world. Over the next decade, intelligence gathering could be faced by numerous challenges resulting from increased technology utilisation across the world. The American intelligence services have been faced with challenges of gaining accurate information from other regions of the world. The increased utilisation of technological devices makes information readily available from different sources. Over the next decade, technological methods will form the basis for undertaking intelligence reporting. The technology will however cause intelligence challenges, as these devices will be utilised by other people, who could have malicious causes (Drogin and Goetz 2005). The security of intelligence reports will become a major concern as technological devices remain prone to hacking and corruption of information by malicious individuals. The security of information will be a major challenge for the next decade, among intelligence agencies ( Bureau of Public Affairs 2013). The skills utilised available to the individuals undertaking different intelligence operations remain a significant challenge for the intelligence services. Many organisations utilise different approaches, some requiring intensive training, which might be increasingly expensive to pursue. The sources of security threats, like terrorists, have also advanced their knowledge of similar intelligence techniques. Over the next decade, the challenge of dealing with security threats coming from equally trained operatives shall become a reality. The training techniques and intelligence gathering

The Human Life Cycle Stages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

The Human Life Cycle Stages - Essay Example The human being begins as a single cell is achieved after the fertilization between a female cell and a male cell. As the human cells specialize and duplicate into parts of the body, this period takes nine months in a woman after then the infant is born (Bellamy 42). This stage is different from the fact that before the infant is born a woman has to nine months because there are some infants who are born with seven, eight and others nine months. The infants who are born with less than nine months appear to have problems mentally, physically while others continue with the associated problems throughout their lifetime. In the real sense, the greatest percentage does not survive, and if they do their lifespan is not that long (Rufus). Infancy is the second stage in life after which the baby is totally dependent upon his or her parents for food, movement from one place to another, bathing, and of course changing. The infant is referred to as the troublesome toddler. In this stage, proper protection is given to the baby since this is the time the infant will develop some sounds (Kalman 34). On the other hand, the infant can be born after the normal nine months, but the infant will take a long time without the development of any sound. Biologically this is due to disabilities which originate from the growth of the infant, where in some cases the infant ends up stammering, late development of the sound or never develops any of the sounds in his or her full lifetime (Bogin 68). Childhood is the next step in the infancy where the child is in the ages between 3 to 10 years. This is the stage that the child runs how to make some movements from one place to another, development of teeth, and development in the growth of body size. The brain starts developing since the child can now play with objects, other children can run and can make decisions over certain issues, which he or she comes across (Bobbie 78). The stage is characterized by the complete pronunciation of the words and then the child is taken to school for the advancement of knowledge.  

Incident Response, Business continuity, and Disaster Recovery Plans Research Proposal

Incident Response, Business continuity, and Disaster Recovery Plans - Research Proposal Example It thus becomes imperatively necessary to provide evidence and research based guidelines for effective implementation of incident response and disaster recovery plans for organizations which have employed the use of information and communication technology in their operations. It is due to the increasing incidents of attacks to information systems and the related security challenges that it is necessary for organizations to achieve maximum precautionary plans for response and recovery from incidences without having any significant impact on the business processes. The lack of effective implementation of incident response and recovery plans has been caused by lack of specific approach and strategies for establishment and application of these plans within the organization. This paper presents a case study proposal with a view of enabling organizations to implement effective response and recovery plans for business continuity. Nonetheless, it is necessary to note that there are cost and time implications which are associated with the implementation of the incident response and recovery plans for the advantage of business continuity. ... In the light of this argument therefore, it is suitable that business organizations are guided in the proper planning of the response approaches and recovery process in cases of attacks to their information systems. The benefit of proper and organized response and recovery plan for various attacks to organizational computer systems is the reduction of the costs and time related to failure of continuity of business processes (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, 2011). All organizations require an information system policy which provides the step by step procedure for response to attacks of the system and the recovery from possible attacks (Kuonqui, 2006). Without such a policy, businesses are likely to fail in attaining recovery from various attacks of their information systems (Jennex, 2012).Organizations often have incident response teams which help them to effectively manage various attacks to their information systems (Omar, Alijani and Mason, 2011). These teams are accredited with the r ole of following standard procedure for response and recovery from incidences. In this regard, the teams a significant function of protecting the organization from loss of the continuity of business processes (Kuonqui, 2006). It is notable that regardless of the postulation of information system policies as the solution to the response and recovery from incidences, there is no clear presentation of the contents of such polities. Moreover, the incident response team composition has not been defined clearly. This can be attributed to unprofessional response to attacks of organizations’ information systems (West, 1996). Additionally, actual steps which should be taken in the procedural response to an incidence and recovery from such incidences have not been provided in a distinct

Human Development Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Human Development - Coursework Example Burton highlights key arguments that are principal in heralding ethnography as the best tool of understanding teenagers’ behavior in high-risk neighborhoods. This thrives on the valid belief that teenagers growing in high-risk areas may attach a different meaning to adolescence than teenagers from safer areas. Adolescence, thus, occurs differently to teenagers as depending on one’s context. She highlighted the concept of accelerated life force. This suggests that teenagers in high-risk areas are highly likely to perceive their lifespan as relatively short (Burton, 1997). Such a perception may give way towards liberal handling of mortality and incarceration. In turn, a teenager is highly likely to engage in high-risk activities believing that one has no future. It emerges that these teenagers view teenage hood as a non-existent stage as they grow up to fend for themselves. This cultural perspective is consistent with the concept of diffused age hierarchies. In high-risk areas, there is a tendency towards condensed age structures. This means that it is not easy to distinguish individuals as based on their age. In turn, teenagers may behave as adults while adults may possess similar behavior as teenagers. It is arguable that such behavior emanate from the economic situations of such livelihoods. In families broken down by poverty, a teenager begins fending for one’s family early in life. In cases of absentee fathers, teenagers take a huge economic responsibility over one’s family as such family strives to pull resources from every possible source. Such responsibilities may make teenagers live an unconventional teenage life. This causes a rift with school institutions. This is because in schools, the system treats teenagers according to their age, while they are treated as adults at home. Such a teenager has to develop a dual

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing - Assignment Example I have always been good at oral presentation, but I never thought about working in media relations. The overall results were intriguing but not revealing enough for me to want to switch my current career path. The survey revealed that other people consider that I would be good at criminal justice. I have always liked television shows related to the law such as Law & Order and Harry’s Law. The future course interest section made me think about how I could personalize my education. Some of the courses that were identified in the survey could enhance my educational experience. The survey made me reflect on the grades that I have gotten so far in college. Despite not doing so well in many courses I realized that during those courses I learned a lot. Grades are not the best indicator of how much a person learns in college. Work Cited Page Mymajors.com. 2011. â€Å"Student Advertisement Report & Survey Transcript Prepared for: Yousef Almeer.† 29 March 2011.

Aeration and Fermentation Essay Example for Free

Aeration and Fermentation Essay Brewing is a fermentative process which converts carbohydrate rich raw materials into beer using yeast catalysts such as Baker’s yeast and species of Saccharomyces. Water quality and aeration conditions influence beer quality to a greater extent. Of these two, aeration plays a vital role. Aeration and Fermentation: Studies revealed that yeast cells propagation was doubled when cultured under prolonged aerobic conditions as compared to discontinuous aeration. Moreover, increase in cell growth was proportional to aeration volume, mainly due to the synthesis of sterols and unsaturated fatty acids which are important elements of the yeast cell membrane. Under batch fermentation, aeration affected 1st fermentation; nevertheless, successive fermentation was yeast strain dependent. Chul (2002) observed significant differences in levels of aroma compounds obtained with yeast propagated under different aerobic conditions. However aerobic conditions were not found to affect the levels of diacetyl.   According to Chul et al (2007), continuous aeration during yeast propagation directly influenced yeast metabolism, fermentation ability and beer quality. Microbial contamination risks: Certain groups of micro-organisms pose contamination risk in brewing. Most hazardous beer spoilage microbial agents are the species of Lactobacilli, Pedicocci and Micrococcus kristinae. Lactobacilli are gram-positive, facultative, anaerobic bacteria. Some species of Lactobacilli which are the common beer spoilage organisms are said to operate using homofermentative metabolism, by lowering the pH of fermentation process by producing lactic acid. These species are generally resistant to hop compounds. Lactobacillus brevis has the ability to ferment dextrins and starch and its contaminations in beer cause turbidity and super-attenuation (Vaughan et al. 2005). Pediococci are also homofermentative bacteria, which normally grow in pairs or tetrads, and are found in finished beers and wort fermentations. Presence of Pediococci leaves behind fermentable sugars in beer even after fermentation, thus causing ropiness. Micrococcus kristinae is an aerobic, gram-positive coccus occurring in tetrads or groups of four, forming pale cream to pale orange colonies. The primary habitat is the mammalian skin (Microbial glossary). Most of the strains are non-pathogens but some tend to be opportunistic pathogens. These species can grow in beer with significantly lower levels of alcohol and hop compounds and at pH values above 4.5 (Vaughan et al. 2005) and produce a fruity atypical aroma. Gram negative anaerobic bacteria such as Pectinatus cerevisiiphilus, Pectinatus frisingensis, Selenomonas lacticifex, Zymophilus raffinosivorans and Zymomonas mobilis are also potential beer spoilage microbes. Pectinatus species have found to greatly affect non-pasteurized beers rather than pasteurized ones. These anaerobic organisms ideally grow in packaged products between 15 and 40 °C with an optimum at 32 °C and at a pH of 4.5 (Vaughan et al. 2005). They are found to produce significant amounts of acetic acid, propionic acid and acetoin in wort and packaged beers. They also produce hydrogen sulphide and methyl mercaptan and cause considerable turbidity and an unpleasant ‘rotten egg’ odor in beer. Zymomonas mobilis is an organism widely used in the bio-ethanol synthesis. However, this species contaminates beer when it produces significantly higher levels of acetaldehyde and hydrogen sulphide. Gram negative aerobic bacteria such as Hafnia protea and Enterobacter cloacae also other agents which cause beer spoilage and are capable of surviving beer fermentation. Certain species of Saccharomyces are also organism causing beer contamination. Works Cited: Cheong, Chul.   Wackerbauer, Karl. and Kang, Soon AH. â€Å"Influence of aeration during propagation of pitching yeast on fermentation and beer flavor.† J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 17(2). 2007: 297 – 304. Microbial glossary – Environmental Diagnostic Laborarory, retrieved from http://www.pureaircontrols.com/glossary.html Vaughan, Anne. O’Sullivan, Tadhg.   and Sinderen, Douwe Van. â€Å"Enhancing the Microbiological Stability of Malt and Beer – A Review.† Publication no. G-2005-1316-408. The Institute of Brewing Distilling. 111 ( 4). 2005: 355 – 371.

Defining Racism In America

Defining Racism In America Race and race relations have been aspects of American society since the colonial era. With the exception of a handful of countries, no other nation has dealt with the struggles of a multiracial society and has had to overcome the problems created in its nations past. As a result, race in America is a complex issue with many facets and race relations have become increasingly difficult to define. Richard Thompson Ford, in examining the current race situation in America in his book The Race Card, defines the period as post-racism. Focusing on Fords ideas, as presented in his book, as well as an investigation into the Jena Six story, which is a contemporary example of racism, a more defined picture of current race relations in America can be uncovered. Fords The Race Card provides a critique on the current race situation in America. In his book, while Ford presents the idea that America is post-racism, he asserts that post-racism is not defined in the traditional way one might assume. To Ford, post-racism is a late stage of racism in which its contradictions and excesses both cancel out and amplify its original function (2008:25). To Ford, the era of post-racism allows people to have internal feelings of racism, as long as their overt actions and behaviors are not racist. Racial stereotypes may still exist, but no longer are those stereotypes defined by White Only establishments. With the elimination of the stereotypical racism, racism may now be harder to eliminate because overt racists will remain unidentified. Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, segregation laws and blatant bigotry provided easy markers to define racism and identify racists. Today there are laws preventing outward expressions of racism, making the process of defining the current state of race relations far more difficult. According to Charles Hirschman, racism is the belief that people can be divided into categories based on certain features that define a particular look (2004). While characteristics that define a person as part of a particular race are biological, race is a socially constructed concept in which people place meaning on the biological features. The seeds of racism in America were planted out of the need for a cheap and renewable labor force. When indentured servitude was no longer profitable to this countrys landowners, it prompted a needed change. Dark-skinned Africans, brought to this country as slaves, looked different from the white land owners. Based on that difference of appearance, along with the historical lack of a formal schooling, American society regarded them as inferior. This view by society eventually lead to the social construct of race, with whites seen as superior and blacks as inferior. While slavery was abolished following the Civil War, the overt concept of racial inferiority continued until the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s (Pinkney 1999). Up until the Civil Rights Act was passed, Jim Crow laws and other discrimination laws continued to segregate the races and reinforced the societal view of the inferiority of African Americans. Following the passage of the Civil Rights legislation, overt racism no longer was socially acceptable. Racism is no longer is defined by superiority and inferiority, but rather is defined as an acknowledged difference between cultures, with one no better than the other (Miles and Brown 2003). Because of the years of segregation, there are inherent differences between the black and white cultures. While segregation and discrimination no longer are a common practice, there still are differences between the groups and implicit discrimination remains. The faces of racism have changed, but racism has yet to disappear from society. Today, those who are identified as racists, under the old definition, are labeled as bigots and outsiders by society. Although there still are those who are viewed as racists under the traditional definition, there is a new form of racism present and it is much harder to define. As defined by Ford, the current state of racial affairs revolves around playing the race card. In playing the race card, people must presume that discrimination remains and it is based on ones race. More often than not, todays discrimination is a based on the many years of inferior treatment. In other words, people today claim racism because, at one point in history, it could be considered a result of racism (2008:31). There are four instances of playing the race card that are outlined in Fords book, including racism without racists, racism-by-analogy, unclear definitions of what is racism, and unclear goals for the current movement. People use the racism without racists definition because it is the easiest conclusion to use when explaining the motivations of others. There may be extenuating circumstances as to why people act a certain way, but people cry racism because it is an easy answer; they fail to see the situation from the other persons point of view. In racism-by-analogy, other groups claim that their struggles and discrimination are equal to those fought for in the Civil Rights Movement, even though they are not the same. As an example, people that are overweight or not pretty enough may make the claim that their legal rights are being violated, even though overweight is not a protected class under the legislation. Having unclear definitions of racism causes people to overuse the claim. There are many factors that motivate peoples actions, and it is not always based on race. With no clear-cut definition of present-day racism, the resulting lines are blurred as to what actually constitutes racism in todays society. Without an accepted definition of racism and no clear goals for the improvement of race relations, it is difficult to determine when playing the race card may be beneficial or detrimental to a movement. This unknown result causes internal conflict within the movement itself, preventing it from moving forward. Overall, Fords argument is correct in its assertions. The face of racism today has changed and a new era of race relations has begun. No longer are there overt forms of racism and discrimination, but rather there are more subtle situations affecting race relations in todays society. However, Fords argument is not as simple as post-racism and the race card; there still are societal and structural boundaries and obstacles that African Americans cannot seem to overcome. While legally discrimination and segregation are no longer present, there are still examples of it today. As author Shawn Utsey, et al., argues, there are three forms of racism that still exist today: individual, institutional and cultural racism (2000). Examples of individual racism include racial profiling and the lingering sentiments of the overt racism seen during the Civil Rights Movement. Residential segregation and other societal restrictions constitute institutional racism. Cultural racism refers to the lack of African American influence in mainstream American culture and history. These new forms of discrimination and segregation define the current race relations in contemporary American culture. A contemporary example to which Fords ideas of post-racism and the race card can be applied is the Jena Six incident. There are many incidents which occurred in Jenna, Louisiana, between September to December 2006, which contributed to the belief that racism and discrimination were involved in the Jena events (Newman 2007). The first incident occurred in September, involving nooses hung from a tree at the local high school. As is common at most high schools, certain social groups congregate in specific areas, though not necessarily based on race. At Jena High School, a racially diverse school, a specific tree commonly was known as the white tree. A black freshman asked the principal if he could sit under the tree and the principal assured him that he could sit wherever he wanted. The next day, two nooses were hung from the tree, though the motivations behind the hanging of the nooses were unclear. The students responsible for hanging the nooses were identified and suspended. When the suspensions were announced, the black community of Jena was enraged, insisting that the nooses were a symbol of a threat against the black students of the high school. There were two altercations between white and black students, which some claimed were a result of the events that occurred in September. At a party, five black students attempted to enter a party, but were denied entrance because they did not receive an invitation. An altercation ensued, resulting in a white student being charged with battery. The next day, another altercation occurred outside a convenience store between a white male and three black males, one of which had been involved in the previous altercation at the party the night before. One of the black students was charged with disturbing the peace, second degree robbery and the theft of a firearm. The final event, which ultimately is what led to the national publicity, was an altercation between six black students and one white student, Justin Barker. Barker was badly beaten, but was released from the hospital after three hours in the emergency room. Five of the six black students were charged with attempted second-degree murder, though the charges later were reduced to battery. Mychal Bell originally was charged with aggravated second-degree battery and tried as an adult, but his conviction later was overturned. The five who originally were charged later were convicted of simple battery (Associated Press 2007). Due to the events leading up to the attack on Justin Barker, many consider this to be a result of racial tensions in the town. This was reinforced by the filing of the charge of attempted murder to the Jena Six at the beginning of the trail proceedings, a charge many considered to be racially driven and not fitting to the crime. Many also believe that the all-white jury, which delivered the original guilty verdict against Bell, levied an unfair sentence. While on the surface these events seem to be motivated by racism, the events involving the Jena Six are more of a case of Fords racism without racists. Because the events which occurred in Jena involved both whites and blacks, people assume racism was a determining factor. However, most of the events leading up to the Barker incident were unrelated. Even when considered separately, racism is not the only motivation for the actions which occurred. The tree that was claimed as the white tree by the student body has since been refuted by the faculty and staff at Jena High School. According to later testimonies, students of all races sat under the tree at one point or another. There also was a conflict over the number of nooses which were hung from the tree on the following day, and further investigations revealed that only two were hung, not three, which is believed to be a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan. The nooses, it later was found, were a prank aimed at the rodeo team, not hung as racist symbols. As it later was learned, school administrators cut down the nooses before classes started because students were playing with them in inappropriate manners, not because of some underlying racial context. Following the Jena incident, the United States Justice Department conducted an investigation to determine if the act was in fact a racially-motivated hate crime. It was determined that the hanging of the nooses was an isolated event without lasting racial tensions at the school. As such, there is no direct connection between the events occurring in September and the Barker attack. Each event was separate and unique, yet collectively were made to seem as a cause and effect relationship by the media. Finally, the allegations accusing the all-white jury of delivering a racially-motivated verdict fails to take into account underlying causes. Due to the makeup of the town, there are only a small number of African Americans to select for jury duty. Of those summoned for jury duty, some were African American but failed to report on the day of the trial (Mangu-Ward 2007). The events that occurred in Jena led to one of the largest race riots in recent history. Sensationalized by the medias influence, the case seemed to be a series of events indicating the continued racial tensions of the South. When looking deeper into the facts, a different picture is seen. Instead, each event is isolated and unconnected. The coincidences surrounding the events seem to point to a plot against African Americans, yet the motivations had no racial underpinnings. Throughout American history, racism has played a major role in race relations. Although overt racism has become a lesser focus, examples of racial discrimination and segregation still exist in todays society. The era of post-racism has a new set of issues effecting society and the race relations within it. Until these issues are resolved, true racial equality cannot be attained.

Deadly Outbreak :: SARS Health Medical Essays

Deadly Outbreak It is March 2003 and my life-long dream of traveling around the world is finally coming true. It seems like since I was born I have longed to visit the far corners of the world, and finally, now that I finished college and I have some time to travel I get to visit Europe and Asia. Yet somehow my visit to Asia is not exactly what I imagined it would be. It is not the diverse culture; it is not the unusual food; it is not the remarkable atmosphere or the people that are marring my trip. It is a deadly outbreak of a disease that only emerged a few months ago. They call it SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. I am in Hong Kong, one of the world's most demanding and most interesting places in the world, yet I am trapped on the 19th floor of my hotel, staring at the busy sidewalks from my window. The busy sidewalks that I see are not nearly as busy as they should be. People are afraid. The World Health Organization says the disease symptoms mimic those of influenza, starting with fever, headaches, cough, and body aches that are hard to distinguish from other respiratory illnesses. That is why this disease went undetected for some time. SARS is a virus from a family of viruses that cause a small percentage of common colds. The average time from when the patient gets infected to when he/she develops the disease is five days; however, the incubation period lasts anywhere from two to ten days. The worrisome fact about this new disease is that it is highly contagious. Studies done at universities in the Netherlands and China say that SARS may even be transmitted through contaminated food and water, sweat, and any other body fluids. Thus, the reasons for my watching the busy sidewalks instead of walking the busy sidewalks. I want to live to travel the rest of the world, so I would rather enjoy the view at this particular moment, rather than join in the cultural activities. It was only a few days ago that I joined the crowds in the swarming subway stations and walked the vendor-filled sidewalks. Nonetheless, the face-masks, gloves, scarves, glasses and other protective gear that are the fashions of the moment made me feel like the best precaution may be to stay away.

Herbalism :: essays research papers fc

Using plants for medical purposes is an idea that has been around throughout history. Many different types of peoples, cultures, and religions use what is found in nature to cure their ailments, prevent illness, or prolong beauty. Many of these peoples use symbols, creams, or even watch the stars to achieve these actions all over the world. We see symbols of herbalism even as far back as the Garden of Eden. The bible states, Out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. Genesis 2:9 (1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The trees in this passage from the bible are symbols of longevity, strength and fruitfulness. Trees represented perfect beauty and complete harmony in and with nature and change. This type of symbol is pertinent throughout time. The Buddha, for example, sat under what he called the cosmic tree and reached enlightenment. Later Buddha was reborn as a monkey and became king of the monkeys; he then divined the monkey kingdom's downfall through a mango tree. When his divination came true he stretched himself across the gap between two trees, one of them the mango tree, and allowed himself to be used as a bridge, sacrificing himself to save his kingdom.1 These are some of the many reasons that Buddhists of today's world consider the tree a sacred part of nature and their lives. Another culture that considers the tree and all nature sacred is the Japanese. Over the centuries the Japanese people have treated trees and plants with the utmost respect, and have taken care of them in the form of bonsai. Bonsai are small trees that are lovingly shaped and molded to be visually aesthetic and to seem as though the tree was older than the one who created it. Although the person may have seemed youthful, one cannot judge a book by its cover or a person by their looks. Like Bonsai, many other herbs may make people seem younger. Some herbs are said to be able to slow down the aging process, or at least the effects, and consequently make the person seem more youthful. I must stress that herbs cannot change your features so that people might look eighteen again, but they may help people loose those wrinkles or sagging skin.

Capital Punishment - Cruel and Inhumane? :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Capital Punishment - Cruel and Inhumane? After centuries of nearly universal implementation, the death penalty remains a deeply debated issue. While one execution takes place, other murders occur, and the question still stands: Will the death penalty safeguard society and deter murder, or will it not? The death penalty cannot be considered a proper economical and moral means of punishment to deter those who might commit capital offenses, or can it? In the past, capital punishment horrified people, which deterred them from committing crime. In England, the country from which the United States adopted the death penalty, the death penalty was imposed for a rather large number of offenses in an effort to discourage people from committing crimes. Methods of inflicting the death penalty have ranged "From stoning in biblical times, crucifixion under the Romans, beheading in France, to those used in the United States today: hanging, electrocution, gas chamber, firing squad, and lethal injection"(Bedau 124). There were drastic penalties for such serious crimes as homicide. Execution was a suitable punishment for those times. Today, though, the law is not as strict. This leads potential criminals not to fear the death penalty because government today uses more "humane" methods of execution, rather than the brutal punishment that history portrayed. People who oppose the death penalty say that "there is no evidence that the murder rate fluctuates according to the frequency with which the death penalty is used" (Masur 153). It is more likely that the convict would be paroled instead of being executed because of the present practice of allowing unlimited appeals. Convicted criminals are not exposed to cruel punishment, but rather given a long waiting period. If the criminal is put to death, it is usually done as mercifully as possible. One problem with the death penalty, presently, is that crime is not decreasing, but rather increasing. If capital punishment is supposed to deter crimes such as murder, it is not serving its purpose. Even philosophers, such as Beccaria, Voltaire, and Bentham of the Enlightenment Period, argued that "the death penalty was needlessly cruel, overrated as a deterent, and occasionally imposed in fatal error" (Fogelson 89). Another problem with the death penalty is the enormous amount of money being spent on implementation. It costs taxpayers millions of dollars more to execute a criminal than to lock him up for life. The number of prisoners on death row has been steadily increasing and will soon meet all time highs. This fact brings up the question of economic feasibility of the implementation, as well as the question of weather the death penalty is actually an effective

Discuss the concepts of the Ideal Ruler

1. Gilgamesh, as a ruler, has portrayed a character that stirred up the necessity of having a leader who does not just have the time but also the passion for service. He drew his strength in leadership from his intelligence, bravery and respect. It was his skills that encouraged social consciousness among his people that heightened their aspirations to search for answers for the freedom of his city. Amidst his many battles, he has been grateful to God for the skills that he has.The image of a warrior and a soldier being an epitome of discipline and bravery among all the people in his city appealed to Gilgamesh greatly. Gilgamesh has shown his strength when he made it to the top of double cliff of Mt. Mashu on his way to Utnapishtim. Apparently, this is just one of the rather resilient moments of Gilgamesh. The ruler, who, at all times, exhibited instances of valor, made his journey while holding characteristics of a true hero. 2. The Odyssey was a great epic led by the main character , Odysseus who holds a group of men for more than years.He led the group for years and all this he did with an innate love for his country, his crew and his self. The inevitable fact however comes with its entire weakness when Odysseus pursued his plan of getting through the walls of the Trojans by making a giant wooden horse. Odysseus had one man to present the giant horse to the Trojans as a sign of peace. Not knowing what’s inside the horse, King Priam of Troy, freely accepted the gift and had merriment together with his people.After such, when everybody was falling asleep, Odysseus and his men sneaked out from the wooden horse and murdered every man in the palace, including the King. Odysseus was known for his bravery and brilliant minds. But like any other ordinary hero, he too, has his own weaknesses. As a leader, Odysseus demonstrated a deceitful act towards the Trojans and seldom reserved his humble personality because of his pride.Despite everything though, he was ab le to portray the good traits of a true leader – clever and gallant, that is. . Augustine, a man of â€Å"mystical piety and great philosophical acumen† was always hungry for knowledge. And this carnivorous-like desire entrapped him to be enamored with different philosophies and works – Manichaeism, Platonism, and Cicero’s Hortensius. These might have influenced him to write the greatest of his writings – Confessiones, De Trinitate, and De Civitate Dei – but they don’t hold a candle to what move most believers, Augustine’s conversion. Augustine’s faith was not handed to him on a silver platter.It was a faith earned even if it took all his life to achieve it. He was rather free in choosing his own religion. But in August of 386, Augustine was subjected to incessant pressure from the stern ethical demands of the preaching Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. Augustine was worried and was carried by anger to his own self for rejec ting the will of God and for not entering into His covenant (Confessions 8. 8). And as he stood there in the garden, he heard the voice of a child saying, â€Å"Tolle lege,† which means take it and read.Augustine took the Bible and read the first passage he came upon, Romans 13:13-14. And after reading such passage, he underwent a dramatic metanoia, a profound life-transforming experience wherein all his human desires were completely surrendered to God. 4. Oedipus’ being a King is no surprise for he was born as a prince. The people of Thebes had seen evidence of that. He was raised as a leader in a group of men who were happy during his time of leadership. He took responsibility on his people and was doing well on it. But what weaken him most were his low temperance and his pride.He couldn’t take hold of it for long that sometimes it was the only thing that was pulling him down. One instance that described how low-tempered Oedipus, was the time when he crossed t he highway and had a group of people before him. He wanted to go ahead of them and because of his impulsiveness; he jumped off and killed the group excluding one man who was leading it. With the scene, it can be concluded that despite his being a good leader and a king to his people, he too, can be as evil as any wicked beast could be to anyone who may break off before him.

Healing Hospital: a Daring Paradigm Essay

Healthcare providers need to reach people on a personal level. The concept of the healing hospital paradigm research reveals that specific design changes in healthcare environments can reduce patient stress and alleviate the consequences of that stress. These changes can also help reduce medical errors and hospital-acquired infections, while improving staff morale and efficiency (Kreitzer, 2011). This paper will identify the concepts of a healing hospital, advances in technology, the physical design of the hospital and culture which promote a holistic approach to patient care. Physical Environment The healing environment goes beyond just the basic construction materials that make up the hospital. An actual healing environment is constructed to help patients and families cope with the stresses of illness, and are free from overhead paging, in-room intercoms, loud machines or noise at the nurse’s station (Eberst, 2008). Hospitals need to be free from physical disturbances which can cause stress for the patient and their family. Many hospitals are under constant construction. The loud noise of this construction can inhibit healing. Healthcare providers need to be sensitive to this and be patient advocates to ensure that the construction noises are at times when the patient is not in a resting state. They can coordinate construction times during optimal patient awake times. This will allow patients with adequate rest periods to promote healing. Patients need internal transformation to completely heal. Human aura is an expression of what is taking place within the mind, the soul, and the spirit of the individual. When considering this the color of the environment plays a big part of the healing environment. The use of chromotherapy, color healing, is essential when considering a healing environment. Green is considered the universal color for healing (Stefanidakis, 2001). Using colors appropriately in the hospital environment can encourage emotional responses to enhance healing. If the incorrect colors are utilized the patient may present with symptoms of irritability instead of peacefulness or cheerfulness which could inhibit healing. Furthermore, the hospitals interior plays a major role in the healing process. Spirituality will be promoted if the interior reflects the hint of a religious atmosphere such as exercising specific religious artifacts spirituality will be promoted. Hospitals can also incorporate unrestricted visiting, decorative fountains, fireplaces, skylights and healing gardens to help provide a relaxing environment which decreases stress for their customer population. Technology Technology can help provide an overall healing environment. Medical advances in medicine and diagnostic procedures help provide treatment for the physical illness. Historically physicians treat physical illnesses, psychiatrists treat mental illnesses and hospital chaplains deal with spiritual issues. Many times the physicial treatment of illness is the main focus of hospital staff. However, technology can also provide a way of better communication between staff and physicians with the use of cell phones. Wireless monitoring systems and alarm silence mechanisms can provide a quieter, calmer environment with less patient stress which promotes a healing environment. Although technology helps promote the healing of physical illness patient satisfaction can be improved when a holistic approach is taken. The healing hospital incorporates technology and holistic patient care to provide body, mind and spiritual healing (Chapman, 2007). Spiritual Healing Spirituality is the search to know our true selves and discovering the real nature of consciousness (Russell, 2006). Many times healthcare providers think of patients based on their diagnosis. This thought process depersonalizes the patient. This can lead to care that is not holistic. Healing hospitals promote staff education and administrative support to provide patients with holistic care. If staff members enter patient rooms in a calm and unhurried manner the patient perceives this as a loving environment (Chapman, 2007). This approach to each patient encounter allows the staff to address all of the patient needs. In this situation patients will open up to the staff so that all patient needs are identified. The staff can then recognize these needs and utilize all available resources to aid the patient in the healing process. Spirituality plays a major role in the patient’s ability to cope with stress and illness (Ashcraft, Anthony ; Mancuso, 2010). Biblical Passage In times of illness people turn to their faith and pray for help. The bible states â€Å"The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness† (Psalm 41:3, New International Version). This reinforces the healing the concept of the healing hospital and the power of prayer. Prayer is one of the most helpful ways of inspiring hope in our patients and families. This passage reinforces the belief that spirituality is essential in the healing process. As healthcare providers we must be sensitive to our patient’s spirituality and incorporate this in our patient care. This is a paramount of the healing hospital paradigm. Incorporating spiritual healing provides holistic care that is essential in the restoration of health. Culture The concept of the healing hospital is gaining the attention of healthcare professionals when they consider holistic care. It is essential that hospital administrators as well as the staff embrace this concept to achieve holistic patient care. If everyone is not on the same page, holistic care cannot be achieved. Many times administrators are dollar focused. In this process they lose site of the aspect of holistic care. Many hospitals struggle financially and in a knee-jerk reaction jobs are eliminated. This often results in fewer nurses with larger patient loads. It also results in increased work demands of other employees. Cutting corners to save dollars affects all aspects of patient care. Patients often feel like a number or diagnosis and the personal aspect is lost. Patients’ emotional and spiritual needs are not met. How can hospital employees produce a healing atmosphere and provide holistic care to their patients with these obstacles? Holistic care can only be achieved in a loving, caring environment (Chapman, 2007). This atmosphere will produce better patient satisfaction scores and enhanced revenue for success. This also provides employee satisfaction which promotes better patient care. These concepts go hand in hand. The healing hospital implements processes based on subjective theories as well as scientific evidence based practices to promote all aspects of healing. Conclusion The healing hospital paradigm concept encompasses an all-inclusive treatment to meet patients’ needs for complete restoration. The components of this theory are a culture of loving care, a healing environment and technology with a combined work design.

Effects of Noontime Shows in Philippine Economy and Filipino Families Essay

Since television came out in the Philippines in the 1950s, it has become â€Å"the most accessible and most influential medium to the society† (SEECTV, 2012). The television has become such an integral part of homes in the modern world that it is hard to imagine life without television. Not just for entertainment value, but TV is also a valuable resource for advertising and different kinds of programming (Jezek Geno, 2014). The TV affects many lives of Filipino people. One’s perception, attitude, and behaviour in politics, education, health, economics, and the like are also affected. No matter how old you are, TVs are powerful in affecting one’s life either positive or negative or even in both aspects. One that affects much in the Filipino society and economy are the noontime shows. Most noontime shows are classified as game shows or variety shows. According to a research conducted by Second Year – BS Accountancy students that its effects to the Filipino families have constantly been very influential on the values of numerous Filipinos. These variety shows are entertaining, touching, and helping the lives of the Filipinos by their segments that exhibit humorous acts and taglines, their grand prizes that turn lots of Filipinos to millionaires and their other segments that help out many unfortunate Filipino families. Not just the Filipino society and families, but noontime shows also affect the Philippine economy. Philippine economy is concern about these noontime shows because these things either will result with positive or negative outcomes – the state of economy is dependent to its people. Unhealthy people will surely have a poor economy. It was also said that shows are under competition with the other shows where Philippine economy is concerned about and to its effects to the Filipino families where they are trying to take something to catch people’s attention. The Philippine economy with its noontime shows has its benefits. The bigger rating the show, the more opportunities of money to circulate. Most especially when the shows are shown outside the country, the rating would probably get higher and higher even to the countries outside Philippines. Noontime game shows have showcased two sets of audiences the balikbayan mostly women with their foreign husbands – the HAVES. The other side would be of course the HAVE NOTS that comprises the marginalized whose professions ranges from balut vendors, takatak cigarette boys, the dyaryo boteros and the palenkeras. This noontime show scenario only says one thing: there is more money and opportunity abroad. Generally, the atmosphere imbibes their audience to have a mindset that joining the game, coming to the studio as contestant or just merely watching it would improve one’s life (Jethernandez, 2008). These noontime shows also help the Philippine economy, specifically for a high rating of tourists who visit the country. Like the twin segments entitled You’re My Foreignoy and You’re My Foreignay in the Philippine noontime show, Eat Bulaga in GMA – 7. It brings to light its significance as not only a mass cultural reference but also in terms of questioning the parameters of belonging in a foreign culture and the extent of being able to become a part of a national history (Juntado, 2014). In the noontime shows that have been practically taken over by all kinds of palaro, money is being made for the program’s producers even as it is being given away. In these shows, most of their sponsors do not only place ads, but are also allotted space on the stage for their banners and have their names said aloud several times by the program hosts. But there’s the rub; in the old noontime shows, for example, much of the fun was provided by professional entertainers who sang and danced or put on skits. The few contests the programs had usually showcased a particular skill or talent — say singing or debating — and people clapped when participants were finally rewarded their well-deserved prizes (Lorenzo, 2008). Noontime shows also affect the economy when some idiotic, cheap, nonsense noontime shows were shown where people make idiots of themselves. They only show what the people want to see and not what they need to see (Func, 2015). They exploit women and insult people’s intelligence. Sometimes these shows often showed lack of respect towards others. Severe lack of common sense is what most Pinoys need to really work on – the ability to question and think first. If the show easily falls prey to even the typical â€Å"kwentong barbero† or â€Å"tsismis† around, how about the shows they watch every day? (Func, 2015). Filipinos are not dumb and senseless not to realize that they are wasting their time watching nonsense, useless, noontime shows. Instead of finding some fun in watching these shows, they will just rather take a rest and nap. These three big noontime shows affect much in the Filipino society, culture and the economy either good or bad or both. Two of these are still airing in these present times. The longest noontime show in the Philippine television is the Eat Bulaga, first aired by Radio Philippines Network or RPN 9 on July 30, 1979. The program’s original core consisted of the comic trio, Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon (TVJ). This noontime show has become a showbiz institution. Eat Bulaga has time and again defied the changing seasons, shifting trends, stiff competition, and a slew of cast changes for 35 years (GMA News, 2007). The show is still on air up until now on channel GMA – 7. It’s Showtime (formerly known as Showtime) is a Philippine noontime musical variety show broadcast on ABS-CBN. The show is also broadcast worldwide through The Filipino Channel. On October 24, 2009, Showtime premiered as a morning program, airing before the network’s noontime shows, which served as the replacement of Pilipinas, Game KNB? The original cast consisted of Vhong Navarro, Anne Curtis, Kim Atienza, Jugs Jugueta and Teddy Corpuz, and Vice Ganda as the permanent judge. It’s Showtime has been airing since 2012. Wowowillie was a Philippine noontime variety show aired by TV5, The show premiered on January 26, 2013, and was broadcast live from TV5’s Delta Studio in Quezon City, with its main host and producer, Willie Revillame. The show earned the distinction of being the only noontime program to have a Strong Parental Guidance rating from the MTRCB, which was imposed due to the dancers’ provocative outfits. In September 2013, Revillame admitted in an interview that the show’s ratings â€Å"fell below expectations†, and contemplated on a possible cancellation. The show aired its final episode on October 12, 2013, six months after its debut. It was replaced by Sine Ko 5ingko Hapon on weekdays and Sabado Sinerama on Saturdays. Filipinos are known to be really innately happy but it takes a lot to make them genuinely laugh. So variety shows at noontime are very entertaining to some. Some Filipinos would say that shows at noontime are very eye-catching and also called as palaman during the lunch time. When talking about Filipino kids, some shows would probably be unhealthy to the ages such as those in the very young age where Movie and Television Review and Classification. Board (MTRCB) is concerned of. There are variety shows which are suspended due to some violations regarding in catching up viewers where people at very young age are subjected to not see or hear some actions on the shows which is not healthy at their age. Like the Wowowee where Pinoy migrants who hold get-togethers with fellow Pinoys often congregate around a television set that has The Filipino Channel (TFC) in order to watch the show and get their kids learning to dance to the Ocho-ocho, Spaghetti Song, and other sexually-explicit and unfit-for-public-broadcast crass embarrassments to Filipino identity that very often get criticized by non-Filipinos. Those immigrant Filipino communities are just small microcosms of what goes on in the teeming squatter colonies and shanty-towns all throughout the country, where birthday parties of little girls aged 5, 6, 7, or older are celebrated with the same sexually-explicit songs and dances popularized on the noontime shows (Correct Philippines, 2015) thus, not a healthy developmental milestone. Also, any kind of shows would be inappropriate when taking so long to watch especially to kids where their diet would be very affected. It is noon and the time to eat their lunch. Some children forgot to eat their foods and according to research, there is a rising case of obesity. One study showed that although there was no increase in exercise levels, relative body mass index was lowered because the children snacked less, lowering their average consumption by 100 calories per day (Guballa, 2008). Noontime shows also affect the exercise level of the individual when really focused. Some also, specifically at young ages are reading less and poor in focusing. In the same study, it was found that boys and girls with bedroom TV sets spent less time reading than others (Guballa, 2008). Furthermore, George Gerbner stated that television also have the powers to cultivate beliefs and values through the constructs‘occurrence in television shows. In his theory â€Å"The Mean World Syndrome†, he identified two types of viewers; the heavy and light. The heavy viewer‘s repetitive and hefty exposure to the same kind of information increases the probability of being affected by the show‘s content (Littlejohn, 2008). With this, a belief system about a certain topic is cultivated on the audience. This can be amplified through the process of resonance where the audience‘s view, based from television consumption, is amplified by her/his personal experiences that are aligned with the view (University of Twente). In the process, the Mean World Syndrome would be an outlook of how the world is generally perceived as a mean environment, due to the cultivation of violence among the heavy- viewing audiences. This hence creates a scary view of world. With resonance, a coincidence of an audience‘s personal experience with the prevailing view of the world would make the world even scarier. The theory also states how TV viewing leads to learning of incidental information based on the focus, involvement, capacity of the audience, or the nature of viewing. This would lead to construction of their social reality as amplified by their personal interaction and experiences in the real world (University of Twente). In contrast, noontime variety shows are not just as an entertainment to Filipinos but also an instrument to some for them to stand up, especially with their game, segments, and they give opportunities to the people in need for them to cope up with a circle of life. They had also segments promoting a game. Noontime shows also helped people to show, to develop, and to enhance their different talents and skills. Just like in Xavier University â€Å"With It’s Showtime’s great influence and exposure to Filipino viewers, XUFD 2014 also had a comical adaptation of the said noontime show and organized its very own talent competition dubbed â€Å"X-Ur show, X-Ur time, It’s XU- Time. The competition was participated in by six talented groups vying to become XU-Time’s grand winner. † (Magallanes, 2014). Noontime shows way back was a battleground for a spelling contest for elementary and high school students. Like the â€Å"IQ-7, a quiz show that was part of GMA-7’s Student Canteen in the ‘80s, in which contestants really used their brains (Lorenzo, 2008). Some shows were the Mathtinik, Sineskwela, and more. The noontime shows make the Filipino families feel relax that the only way to help them forget about their problems are to be entertained. Help relieve persistent feelings of depression or general sadness. It is like their relieving stress to avoid the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life. A post on Tumblr from â€Å"Filipino Culture† that noontime shows help the family to bond and laugh together while watching these noontime shows. These improve family ties and helps in tightening the bond of Filipino families. These shows are a proof that Filipinos are standing together, although not all are fortunate to be chosen. According to some Filipinos, they also get some lessons. The Filipino rendition of a successful noontime show doesn’t really have any synonymity with the Western take on the variety or game show. It focuses on the individual, talents, and wit; if ever there would be any games, they are more often both substance and vehicle for a political economy of emotions. The objective of the Filipino noontime show is to be, to an extent; personal with those it places its attention on (Juntado, 2014).