Ecuadorian Rose Industry

The Ecuadorian Rose Industry 1. What is the basis of Ecuador’s comparative advantage in the production of roses? Ecuador’s rose farms are located in the just about perfect position for growing long and straight roses or at least most of the farms. They are positioned at about 10,000 feet elevation in the Andes Mountains. This provides the roses with high altitude, volcanic soil that is very rich in ingredients, and located on the equator. This gives the roses about 12 hours of daylight every day. Graham) This provides an intense amount of sunlight, so farmers use plastic sheeting to create a greenhouse effect. I believe this helps keep the roses from burning up, being so close to the sun, and from freezing on the cold nights. (Hamilton) It creates a sense of perfect temperatures. (Thompson) 2. Most Ecuadorean roses are sold in the United States or Europe. Who in these countries benefit from the importation of Ecuadorean roses, and how do they benefit? Who loses? Do you think the benefits outweigh the costs?In 2006, the United States accounted for 61% of the Ecuadorean roses’ total sales. This made us the largest market in this rose industry. Europe accounted for 20% of the exports of Ecuadorean flowers, while these flowers accounted for 31% of the United States flower imports. (Alvaro) Both countries benefit overall because they can imports the roses at such a low price and most of the profits stay in the imported country. (Graham) I believe local growers are the ones who lose in this situation. If buyers can find them for a lower price, most will take it so they can keep more profits.This isn’t necessarily the best option for our country, but some companies do not care about the greater good of helping our own country. 3. How does the rose export industry benefit Ecuador? Do these benefits have any implications for the United States and Europe? With the increase of rose and other flower exportation from Ecuador, the country’s export revenue has increases and is increasing the stability of its economy. (Halberstadt) This is one of the effects of the fair trade agreement between them and the United States. Another effect is the extra money the people are getting.They are able to take classes to learn how to manage the extra money. (Hamilton) Ecuador has also been able to pave more roads, build sophisticated irrigation systems, and some schools with the taxes and revenues from growing roses. (Thompson) Developed countries, like the United States and Europe, have to understand that as developing nations, like Ecuador, become more developed they have to adhere to global standards and it is up to developed countries to help with this. 4. How should developed nations respond to reports of poor working conditions in this industry?Should importers in some way certify Ecuadorean producers, or only importing from those who adhere to strict labor and environmental standards? I believe the developed nations should h elp to encourage making the working conditions better. Although the average flower worker does earn more than the minimum wage of $120 per month, but it does not make up for the horrible conditions. I also believe importers should certify Ecuadorean producers for those following the labor and environmental standards and those who are trying to improve their operations. Plantations, like RosaPrima, have done this.Ross Johnson, a general manager of the plantation, said that they had made a lot of improvements over the years, from protective wear and equipment to cracking down of child labor. (Thompson) Works Cited 1. ) Alvaro, Mercedes. â€Å"Ecuador Flower Exports Require U. S. Trade Deal to Keep Growing. † Dow Jones Newswires Feb. 2006. 3 March 2013 . 2. ) Graham, Grace. â€Å"Five Reasons who you shouldn’t Buy her Roses† North by Northwestern Feb. 2010. 3 March 2013 < http://northbynorthwestern. om/story/five-more-reasons-why-you-didnt-buy-your-girlfrien/>. 3. ) Halberstadt, Jason. â€Å"Ecuador Foreign Trade. † Ecuador Trade Copyright 1997-2013. 3 March 2013 4. ) Hamilton, Cortney and Deb Tullmann. â€Å"Rough Cut. † Ecuador Flower Power Feb. 2008. 3 March 2013 . 5. ) Thompson, Ginger. â€Å"Behind Roses’ Beauty, Poor and Ill Workers† NY Times Feb, 2003. 3 March 2013 .

Explore how women are presented in Veronica and King Schahriar and his brother Essay

â€Å"Veronica† and â€Å"King Schahriar and his brother† are short stories which focus on two very different female characters. In â€Å"King Schahriar and his brother,† the strikingly beautiful and intelligent Scheherazade is a powerful, courageous woman who devises an ingenious scheme to help the girls of her kingdom escape the brutal grasp of the Sultan. â€Å"Veronica†on the other hand, focuses on a more vulnerable, unambitious female character living in a poverty and war stricken village in Africa, isolated from the outside world. Scheherazade in â€Å"King Schahriar and his brother† is portayed as being the perfect female figure. She is described as being beautiful beyond measure: â€Å"her beauty excelled that of any girl in the kingdom of Persia.† This impressive statement makes her seem exotic and creates a sense of wonder in the reader as the story is set in a mythical setting where one would imagine many enchanting women and yet she is seen as the most exquisite of all. Read more:  My admired person  essay The reader is told that she has the â€Å"best masters in philosophy, medicine, history and the fine arts.† Not only is she gorgeous but she is also very well educated! The use of superlatives such as â€Å"having the best† masters and being clever in the â€Å"highest† degree portray the high extent to which she has been educated and show what a powerful, dedicated and talented woman she is. Scheherazade lives what may seem a very envious lifestyle. Being the daughter of the â€Å"Grand-Vizier† she has high status amongst her people and lives a rich life of luxury. She is also very much loved by her family: â€Å"his eldest daughter, who was his delight and pride.† Her father adores her and makes sure she has the best things in life, granting her the highest education and he values her greatly. Unlike Scheherazade, Veronica is depicted by Okeke (her friend and narrator of the story) as being â€Å"no great beauty.† She is not very attractive compared to Scheherazade: she wears â€Å"shabby† clothes showing that she is poor and this makes her seem inferior to Scheherazade. We are aware of just how poor she is as she lives in a simple â€Å"hut† and later on in the story, Okeke says how bad the living conditions are-that the people in her village live in â€Å"acute poverty† and the place is â€Å"crawling with disease.† This personification of the village â€Å"crawling with disease† indicates just how helpless the villagers are against this silent, deadly killer and expresses the extreme poverty in which they live in. The reader may feel very sympathetic towards Veronica and view her as very unfortunate to live in such difficult and harsh conditions. In contrast to Scheherazade being loved and cared for by her family, Veronica has been mistreated during her life. Okeke tells us that: â€Å"her father was a brute,† â€Å"her mother was weak† and â€Å"she was the eldest child† meaning that she was mostly responsible for bringing up her younger siblings from a very young age and consequently would not have had the time, money or chance to continue her education after standard 5. Okeke describes how he would â€Å"lie awake listening to her screams.† This emotive language creates sympathy in the reader towards Veronica’s plight as an abused child. Due to Veronica’s lack of education and heavy responsibilities towards her family, she feels that she can never leave her village. She continually refuses Okeke’s offers to leave the village and complete her education as she is concerned about leaving her family behind and also does not see it as an option. She remains loyal to them even though she is beaten by her father and left to fend for herslelf most of the time, as well as for her mother and siblings. Her care and loyalty towards them is shown in her dialogue: â€Å"I can’t just leave my family.† The reader might feel a sense of admiration towards Veronica here as we realise she is giving up her life in order to care for her family. Even later on in the story when her parents and siblings are gone, and she now cares for husband and child, she still refuses to accept Okeke’s suggestion that she would be â€Å"better off in the city† . She has faced such hardship in the village and yet she doesn’t complain or express any discomfort. She says to Okeke: â€Å"Don’t be sorry for me. We are managing, and God has blessed us with a son. Is that not enough?.† In this dialogue Veronica indicates how the only thing she is focused on in life is her family and she believes that her only purpose in life is to care for them. As long as she is with her family, she is fullfilled-nothing else matters to her and she is admired by the reader for her dedication towards her family. Scheherazade on the other hand is a confident and optimistic person. Unlike Veronica, she is very ambitious and wants to promote women’s rights in her patriarchal country. Like Veronica is loyal to her family, Scheherazade is loyal and caring towards her people. She has high morals and knows of the Sultan’s barbaric actions, of marrying a new bride in the evening and killing her in the morning. Scheherazade’s loyalty is shown when she explains her plans to her father of offering to sacrifice herself to the Sultan. She tells him: â€Å"If I fail, my death will be a glorious one, and if I succeed I shall have done a great service to my country.† Her speech shows her great pride and patriotism. This dialogue further conveys her as being â€Å"perfect† and makes her seem a heroine as she is willing to risk her life for the good of the women in her kingdom. Scheherazade’s stubborness is shown when she refuses to listen to her father’s protests and insists on her marrying the Sultan. The repetition of â€Å"my father† and â€Å"will you grant me† illustrates her strong will to pursue her plan and her determination to get what she wants. Veronica is also stubborn-she expresses this when she rejects Okeke’s offers to move into the city but she insists on staying in the village with her family. Another similarity between Scheherazade and Veronica is that they are both very brave characters. Veronica is brave in the sense that she does not fear pain or death. After the war broke out in her village and her child and husband had passed away she had nothing worth living for and wanted to die too. Once again she refuses Okeke’s offer to help her and tells him to leave her in peace: â€Å"I don’t want to live you hear? Now that I have seen you I am happy. Go, and leave me in peace.† This emotional dialogue once again creates sympathy towards Veronica and shows her vulnerability. A sense of awe is felt towards her willingless to die and the reader may almost feel relieved at her passing, as she is finally escaping her tortured life. Scheherazade is also fearless of death. She has confidence in her plans to overthrow the Sultan, but she realises that she is taking risks and her failure may lead to her death. She is not afraid of the consequences however and is honoured to carry out her plan: â€Å"I implore you, by all the affection you bear me, to allow the honour to fall upon me.† Speaking in this elevated, polite tone to her father, the reader may admire her confidence and determination to be granted the permission from her father to sacrifice herself. The fact that she is â€Å"honoured† to do this for her country again makes her seem like a true heroine. In conclusion Veronica and Scheherazade are more different than alike, but they are both two women to be admired. They both have high morals and are very loyal and caring towards their families and the people around them. The woman who I admire the most however is Veronica because of her devotion towards her family. She accepts her fate and does not consider herself unlucky to be living in such poverty-she only values the fact that she has family to care for and truly gives herself up for them.

Conceptual Cognition and Problem Solving Styles Essay

The article â€Å"Thinking† found in the Northeastern University Website presents insights regarding conceptual cognition and problem solving skills. It claims that although people may have similar concepts, we differ from each other by our conceptual cognition and problem solving styles. To elaborate, the author cites how people define concepts. It shows that people have similar concepts of things especially those perceived by sight. For instance, features including two eyes, four legs, two ears, one tail, barking, sharp teeth, etc., would definitely pertain to a dog. Likewise, a photo of a child smiling is an indication of a happy child, not a sad one. However, there are also some concepts in our society that have changed a bit but not entirely. Although they are modified through time, a certain degree of people’s cognition of the original concept remains the same. Take for example, marriage. In the past, the concept of marriage is limited to a man and a woman, but now the concept allows man to man marriage, so although the concept is altered a bit, the concept of togetherness and commitment still holds truth. Concepts are arranged into hierarchies. For instance, a bedroom is smaller than a house, and a block is smaller than a neighborhood. Applying it in the school context, there are students under one teacher, and there are teachers under one director, etc. Similarly, in the corporate scene, there are subordinates and supervisors. Moreover, concepts are formed by definition and prototype. We learn concepts as the environment define them for us. For instance as children, we were familiarized by our parents with the things in the house, such as a table and a chair. Later on when we went to our neighbor’s, we realized that tables can be in different forms or colors, but the role they play remains the same. Through definition and prototype, we obtain similar concepts of things around us. The issue of cognition is not much of a problem but problem solving styles are. The three methods to solve a problem include: trial and error, algorithms, and heuristics. In trial and error, one is bound to use more effort and time to arrive at the right answer. This method requires several trials and shortcuts, and does not guarantee giving the right answer. The second method is algorithm. An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure usually involving computations. Unlike trial and error, it is methodical and guarantees arriving at the correct answer. However, since it requires a procedure, it is more time consuming than the other. The third method used to solve a problem is heuristics. This method requires â€Å"speculative formulation†¦as a guide in the investigation or solution of a problem.† (Answers.com, n.d.). It posits that the background of the matter, ie religion, society be investigated upon in order to arrive at a conclusion. Although this method is not accurate and does not guarantee a definite answer, it leads to a certain conclusion or information related to the problem. Each of the methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. When combined, the three methods will help one arrive at a valid answer. For instance, when conducting research, it is not enough to present statistics of people experiencing a specific problem. One needs to dwell on observations, surveys, interviews, etc. to obtain a full view of the situation. Applying this to the classroom scenario, students should be taught how to apply and combine the three methods in order to facilitate problem solving tasks. Particularly, when teaching research, teachers should incorporate teaching and application of the three methods so that students will not only have options but arrive at definite and valid conclusions for their study. References Algorithm. Retrieved 5 August 2008, from http://www.answers.com/topic/algorithm Heuristic. Retrieved 5 August 2008, from http://www.answers.com/heuristic

Child care Essay

Describe the duties and responsibilities of own work role MY RESPONSIBILITIES – To create a safe, happy, positive, stimulating, Multicultural learning environment in which children can be. Also To meet the children’s individual needs, appropriate to their stage and level of development. Making sure to be involved in the setting up and clearing away at the start and end of each session as required. To be involved in my key groups activities and the planning, to ensure that what the children are playing with is safe to use and age appropriate. To communicate with parents/careers is the correct manner. 1. Explain expectations about own work role as expressed in relevant standards Practitioner’s expectations should be to become a valuable practitioner, to be reliable and build good relationships with children and parent carers, encouraging play whilst learning, and by having children’s best interests e.g. physical activities, outings, this would help them to enjoy their growth in knowledge and assist in enhancing their development as a whole. Also practitioners should work as a team with other staff members and parent/carers in order to support the children to promote the children’s initial learning so that the children will feel confident and would be able boost up their self-esteem, and this will also help them in their future, and prepare them in further education when they move onto school. Also the expectations that are to be done in placement at a relevant standard is to supervise the children this plays a big role in child protection Act and health and policy. Practitioners should always watch the children closely to prevent and red uce the injury to children. 2.1 Explain the importance of reflective practice in continuously improving the quality of service provided Reflective practice is imperative in order to ensure that high standards are kept continuously as circumstances, children and environments change. In order to reflect one must continuously be aware of approaches used and how they can be changed or developed to improve. Continually improving and adapting approaches benefits both children and practitioners, ensuring that each individual child’s needs are catered for. Reflective practice involves evolving in a child centred approach. The childcare benefits as his/her skills grow and develop, enabling the highest standards of care and provision. It also promotes a better level of understanding and acceptance of those different from us, taking on board the opinions, cultures and attitudes of others to ensure a diverse and positively productive daily experience that enables higher levels of understanding from all. 2.3 Describe how own values, belief systems and experiences may affect working practice everyone has different values, beliefs and preferences. What you believe in, what you see as important and what you see as acceptable or desirable is an essential part of who you are. The way in which you respond to people is linked to what you believe in, what you consider important and what interests you. You may find you react positively to people who share you values and less warmly to people who have different priorities, the professional relationships you develop with people you support are another matter. As a professional, you are required to provide the same quality of support for all, not just for those who share views and beliefs. This may seem obvious but knowing what you need to do and achieving it successfully is not the same thing. The first step is to identify and understand you own views and values. 3.1 Evaluate own knowledge, performance and understanding against relevant standards 4.1 Identify sources of support for planning and reviewing own development 5.1 Evaluate how learning activities have affected practice The reasons why it is important to evaluate learning activities are: †¢ To see what is working and what needs removing or changing. †¢ To assess how the activities are being delivered and how they could be improved †¢ To see how the activities are being received by the participants Evaluation is important as it helps out when planning and helps you to think about the learning that has taken place. Spending time going through the learning activities and seeing how students have responded to a certain question, can really help reshape it for the future classes. It is also important to look back and learning objects so you can measure what the children have learned. If you do not think carefully about learning objectives at the planning stage, it will not always be possible to evaluate whether children have achieved them.

Stem Cell Science Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Stem Cell Science - Case Study Example While many teams carry on to improve and develop the role played by bone marrow and cord blood stem cells in their frontline uses in blood and immune ailments, several others are considering to increase the uses of the different types of stem cells for instance, embryonic stem cell that can be used in the curing of diabetes. On the 16th April 2009, Dr. Carlos EB Couri and associates from the College of SÃ £o Paulo carried out an experiment to show how stem cell transplants can aid patients with diabetes. The study involved 23 patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, a medical condition in which the human immune structure quickly destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The stem cell transplants seemingly work by rearranging the immune scheme so that the body halts attacking the pancreas. The study used follow-up figures on 16 patients who were initially transplanted with stem cells in an experiment that was earlier conducted and published in 2007, and then joined it with eight more recruits who joined the study up to 2008. The scientists had follow-up data for at least seven and 58 months on all the 23 patients who received the transplant. In the findings, they established that 20 patients with no prior ketoacidosis and had no use of corticosteroids throughout the preparative routinebecame free of insulin injections. Twelve patients continued to be insulin-free for a mean period of about 30 months, despite eight patients reverted and restarted insulin use however at a lower dose. Wainwright, S., Williams, C., Michael, M., Farsides, B., & Cribb, A. (2006). From bench to bedside? Biomedical scientists’ expectations of stem cell science as a future of therapy for diabetes. Social Science & Medicine , 63,

Writing Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Writing Women - Essay Example The marriage traditions in China are based on the concept of Yin and Yang, where Yin is the gentle and docile female of the human spirit and Yang is the dominant male. Yin and Yang have to maintain their states at all times in order for the union or marriage to be a peaceful one. As society progressed and women gained more exposure and education a few women writers came forward and expressed their feminist views on the subject through their short stories. These stories have been translated and compiled into a book, â€Å"Writing Women in Modern China† released in 2005. In this essay we will compare some short stories from that book with Zhang Ailing’s â€Å"When Love came to China† (2006) and examine if modernity in China really succeeded in changing the age-old traditions in the country. We will look at the concept of love based on: It was customary in twentieth century China for most men and women to get married or betrothed to someone by their early twenties. This marriage of convenience most often resulted in men seeking love outside of their marriages. This is the beginning of Zhang’s story when the already married Wen and Lo court 20-year-old Chou and Fan. Chou is described as the free spirited woman who is nonchalant and does not look for a commitment from her lover Wen and eventually leaves Wen to marry a man chosen by her family. Although Chou is portrayed as a face of the modern woman she appears here more as someone not brave enough to fight against the norms and old customs of the Chinese society. In this case the freedom she tries to exercise by finding love on her own terms is more of an escape from reality and her inevitable fate. We see a similar plight in Fen Yuan Jing’s â€Å"Separation† (1923) where the girl is locked up by her mother to separate her from her lover and she awaits the arrival of her betrothed Liu Muhan helplessly and with dread. We however see here that love has a deeper meaning, the girl

How Far Do You Agree that Video Games Have Had a Negative Effect on Essay

How Far Do You Agree that Video Games Have Had a Negative Effect on Society - Essay Example There is a constant need to update oneself in the field of technology. Although video games are considered a separate industry of computers and online games it is extremely popular all around the world. It is for this reason that the need arose to study the effects of video games on society. Research has it that these games have had negative impact causing the society to collapse due to globalization. Video games are a virtual mode of entertainment. This form of entertainment received much attention when there was any better to be done in order to utilize time. Eventually the senior generation and traditional values became things of the past. One of the major negative effects of video games is the violence caused by it. The violent form of entertainment made the world scarier place forcing the youth to carry guns to places like school for their own protection which indirectly increased the chance of getting shot (Gentile, 2003). This vicious circle was a result of addiction to video games which included online games as well. The negative impact could easily be controlled if allowed access in a proscribed atmosphere. Unfortunately the world of gaming dragged the feeble mind into an abyss from which it was very difficult to pull oneself out. Another very significant downbeat influence of video games is the desensitization towards the harsher realities of life. The actual violence which occurs all around the world seems to be of lesser importance with the next level of the game in mind. The preoccupied mind fails to integrate the daily life situations with personal interests (Gentile, 2003). â€Å"Highly involving games would be more likely to disrupt cognitive rehearsal of thoughts related to positive mood† (Vorderer & Bryant, 2006). This implies that negative moods are likely to be generated with the exposure to violent and aggressive video games. Studies link exposure to violent content of these games (Gentile 2003). Video games became the center of disc ussion ever since the over-playing of these games started to reflect among children and especially teenagers. A lot of research has been done on the effect of video games hence there is much hype about the negative aspect of gaming. Games are good for human mind. But society in the modern world is surrendering to the latest development in technology allowing experimentation on younger minds without putting disclaimers on games which are easily accessible through the internet. Video games have become a source of comfort for the teens. They console them in times of loneliness and alienation from their own family (Ritzer, 2004). Social trends in the United States have been observed to go in a decline because of lesser interaction among people. This is because they spend more time on the computer mostly playing video games or using the social media network which has confined their socialization to a box instead of open gatherings (Sparks, 2006). It is a fact that video games are not age restricted. They are played by people of all age groups. The rate of playing video games increased from two hours a week to two hours a day in the 1980s. Everyone, however, does not agree that video games have an adverse effect on children. Psychologists point out that this may not be the case. Video games can damage the cognitive development of people and lead