Fate and Predestination in Moby Dick Essay

Fate and predestination are two entirely different themes found in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Fate and predestination are not one and the same. Although most people might unknowingly use the terms interchangeably, there is a very real and distinct difference. Fate is determined by man, and is the end result of a free will action. In Moby Dick, Ahab’s free will and belief that he is driven by destiny determines his own fate, the fate of his crew, and results in the inevitable destruction of the Pequod. Melville often uses symbolism to indicate the existence of fate. The Pequod itself is a symbol of the ill-fated journey to conquer the great white whale. On the other hand, predestination is a theological doctrine in which God predetermines the outcome of all events. One assumption of predestination is that God will save some souls while condemning others to eternal damnation. If that distinction is made and held to be true, then fate leaves open the possibility that free will by man exists, while predestination eliminates it all together. And, freewill is important in setting the many complex themes in Moby Dick. Moby Dick is narrated by a sailor known only as Ishmael. The story opens: â€Å"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear or every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. This long passage tells the reader all that is needed about Ishmael. First, he’s educated and intelligent. Perhaps he is a teacher. He talks about whaling ships being his â€Å"Yale College and Harvard . † So, Ishmael is qualified to act as narrator for the tale. He is also philosophical. Throughout the story Ishmael reflects on life aboard the Pequod. He also delves into all sorts of academic subjects as well as theology, free will, morality, destiny and fate. However, Ishmael isn’t going to sea to find himself. In fact, he believes all men on whaling ships are lost. Whaling is an inherently dangerous occupation, so taking a berth aboard a whaling ship is Ishmael’s attempt to commit suicide. Ironically, he survives. Ahab and Ishmael are opposites of each other. Ahab dies and Ishmael lives. Essentially, Ishmael is needed to narrate the story because he is the opposite of Ahab who is driven by what he believes to be predestination. Ishmael is trying to create his own fate by killing himself. But, he is still more philosophically grounded than Ahab. For example, in Chapter 96 Ishmael has an image about daydreaming and suicide: â€Å"There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar. † He can see both the literal as well as the metaphorical meaning in this image. Ahab can’t make the distinction. Ishmael has been to sea before and isn’t driven by fate, but he does know whaling is a dangerous business in which injury and death can occur. So, through an act of free will he is tempting his own fate. However, Ishmael in the course of his narrative does make many references to fate. As described, the whaling vessel Pequod is a symbol of doom. Gloomy, black and adorned with whale teeth and bones, the Pequod is a floating coffin named after a Native American tribe that didn’t survive long after the Europeans arrived in North America. It should be noted that there are times in the story when Ishmael disappears for long stretches and replace by soliloquies often delivered by Captain Ahab. Ahab is the one-legged captain of the Peqoud. From the time his leg is bitten off by a whale during a previous journey, he has pursued the huge white whale. Moby-Dick is Ahab’s nemesis which is misunderstood, mysterious, and difficult to interpret. But Ahab attempts to do just that; his efforts are futile and eventually fatal. In fact, Ahab interprets the whale as being the physical incarnation of evil living in the world and believes against common sense that he can defy the natural world and destroy the whale. â€Å"All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick. He piled upon the whale’s white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart’s shell upon it. † This quote, from Chapter 41 indicates that Ahab lacks the ability to understand the world around him. Ahab can’t see that the loss of his leg is a result of his dangerous occupation, but, only sees it as evil persecuting him. As a result, he believes it is his inescapable destiny to destroy the evil. And, this soliloquy from Chapter 37 show’s Ahab’s over confidence and belief that he is predestined to destroy the whale. â€Å"Come, Ahab’s compliments to ye; come and see if ye can swerve me. Swerve me? ye cannot swerve me, else ye swerve yourselves! man has ye there. Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrents’ beds, unerringly I rush! Naught’s an obstacle, naught’s an angle to the iron way! †Ahab does several other things in this passage as well. First, he is attempting to inspire his crew to help him in his quest. Finally, and more importantly, Ahab he feels he has no control over his behavior. In the end, it is Ahab’s irrational behavior and free will, which he very much had control over, that resulted in his death, the destruction of the Peqoud, and demise of the crew. Therefore, predestination had nothing to with the destruction of the ship and crew. Even in his last moments Ahab believed it was predestination that destroyed him. â€Å"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear! † Ahab curses the whale and his fate as he is going under. Moby Dick disappears and everyone goes under except Ishmael. Moby Dick is a complex tale with too many themes and intricacies to delve into in just four pages. However, it would have been very difficult to narrate the story any differently than what Melville did. Ahab didn’t understand fate or predestination. Yes, he believed he was predestined to conquer evil, but that was only because his view of the world was so literal, he couldn’t see it any other way. If he did have a clearer view of life and the world, he would have seen that losing his leg was an occupational hazard and would never went have gone off on a monomaniacal quest in the first place. Right up until the moment he started to go under the water, Ahab couldn’t see how his own risks could lead to his death, and he didn’t believe he would ever lose his quest to kill the whale and eradicate evil. Ishmael knew the risks involved from the very beginning of the voyage. That was his motivation for going on the journey. So, man created the twist of fate that allowed Ishmael to survive and Ahab to perish.

All Work and No Play Makes a Dull Life

Imagine a world without leisure and enjoyment! We would all be drudges and consequently would be no better than animals. I can only imagine people with bowed shoulders and lowered eyes, people who have no light in their eyes and no hope in their world. As it is. things are pretty had. People are always busy – busy with work and busy with idleness. No – No. I'm not trying to be witty but people are busy with nothing to do because they do not know how to make use of their leisure. But of that later, for the time being let me stick to the point – all work and no play would he a monotonous existence. Man has always been busy with the effort of fulfilling his needs. In the early stages man spent his time hunting and then ploughing. but these activities did not fill up his whole day. Today man is busy keeping up with the Joneses. he is the company of his kind in the rat race that he runs. It is no longer a question of survival but a question of acquisition – acquiring more worldly goods, having more money to hoard and to spend. Most of us do not feel happy when there is nothing to do. Those who are able to enjoy what they do and those who are able to do what they enjoy are indeed very lucky. But even these people need a change. A person who is doing an office job or busy with books welcomes a walk in the evening, half an hour in the garden, a drink with a friend. And a person who has been working in a factory or in a field would definitely enjoy a visit to a restaurant, an hour to go through the newspaper. watch television. It is not only the nature of one's work which conditions one's choice of recreative activity; intellectual and cultural development is also an important factor. Those people who do not know how to enjoy their leisure and do not allow themselves to recoup lose their efficiency. No one can continue at the same rate of efficiency over an indefinite period. Just as the body needs sleep, the mind needs rest and change. That is why the hobbies which one cultivates and the activities which keep one busy are referred to as recreative; they help to recreate something which has been spent and utilized. People who only know about their work and are perpetually engrossed in it do not recreate that part of themselves which is spent. Thus they either break down under the strain or merely tag along automatically. They make very poor conversationalists and do not have well-integrated personalities. Over the years they lose their mental alertness and become confined to the narrow limits of their jobs. This is not to decry hard work. Work is necessary and only those who work hard are able to achieve something. But at the same time one must know how to relax no matter for how short a period. Relaxation does not mean only sleeping or idling; it also means finding something satisfying and meaningful to do. Otherwise life becomes monotonous and dull.

Case Study & Recommendations for a child with autism and the visual Research Paper

Case Study & Recommendations for a child with autism and the visual impairment exotropia - Research Paper Example It is not surprising therefore that he would always get up very early from bed and wait to hear her daughter from the storey, descending downstairs. Regardless of her condition which had made her mother very worried about life, Brenda seemed to herself as living a very normal life, which is filled with the things she loved to do most in the day. For example, pulling the piano bench away from the piano and sitting by the piano to have it played was one of the regular things she did every morning. Brenda could therefore be said to be a person who had a well regulated life that was almost constantly made up of the same processes, as Persico and Bourgeron (2012) noted to be very usual of children with autism. Brenda’s mother’s attitude might have impacted on Brenda in some way as she would always sit by the white grand piano with her face frowned. This was exactly what her mother did most of the time, out of frustration. Brenda was a very sensitive person, who would get attracted and distracted by the slightly noise that passed by her. For example, even sounds of cracks could arrest her attention. Perhaps such lack of attention, coupled with Brenda’s inability to have clear vision due to the exotropia, which had made her eyes to be deviated outward (Chorn and Steiner, 2014) is what had made her mother made some very derogatory remarks of her life. She had even told her husband, â€Å"I can’t live like this much longer† (Oates, 1980). This is because in her opinion, all she had accomplished was nothing more than failure. But the big issue is whether Brenda was that worse to deserve that kind of remark from her own mother. Indeed, Brenda could play the piano like a 16 year old professional who had taken piano lessons for years. But she had no such training in music and was still only 6. Whenever she sat by the piano, she would only be seen running her fingers gently over the keybo ard

Safety management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Safety management - Essay Example s systems, ground operations and effectiveness of safety process in an organization is compliant with OSHA standards, compliance audit will be conducted. The audit plan will include essentials of good management like planning, remedial actions and records of all processes. Furthermore, an emergency preparedness system will be developed. This will help the employer and employees to curb emergent issues like discharge of harmful chemicals during production. In preventing future accidents and risks in an organization in compliance with OSHA, an investigative process of how earlier accidents occurred in the institution will be formulated. This will enable employees to learn from such experience and be cautious in to avoid repetition in future. Training organization employees on the investigative processes will be a necessity. Since the world is dynamic, employees need to be updated on newer safety management skills. This training program will ensure careful management of perilous chemicals and production process in an organization. Emphasize on the aim of such training to employees and the organization is important. a) The application of appropriate techniques like health, psychology and educational skills and methods by certified safety professionals in avoidance of damage to the society, possessions and the surrounding. b) Employs skills scientific, engineering and management knowledge in preventing the society from diseases, poverty, lack of knowledge and environmental hazards and also improving their health through inventions of drugs that cure certain illnesses. c) Chemical industries, Hospitals, medical research centers, food industries, quality assurance firms and environmental organization and all organizations and companies that subject to possible perilous happenings that threatens safety. d) With competent skills and knowledge, safety professionals have brighter future. As the technology advances, so is the increase in safety profession to provide

Strategic issues and options facing your organisation Essay

Strategic issues and options facing your organisation - Essay Example Strategic investments that are made by the companies are indicative of the strategic direction and intentions. A few years ago Apple Computer was an innovative organization since its founding in 1970`s. However Dell was far superior to Apple on unit cost KSF (Key Factor Success) and inferior to Apple on innovation KSF (Key Factor Success). Over time Dell worked diligently to lower its unit cost structure and its trajectory from past to its present position portrays its accomplishments. Again Apple has continued to push its innovation agenda with the introduction of Cube, Mac Book air and G3. Apple has realized the importance of price competitiveness as a reason of which it has made substantial improvements in its unit cost dimension. To achieve further reductions in the unit cost, Dell can expect that Apple will evaluate a range of strategic options that will help in fulfilling this intention. Since PC manufacturing costs are connected with economies of scale, Apple has the option of making their PC`s more attractive to a larger audience. It is for this reason that Apple developed its own software that enabled the users to run Windows and Windows based software on their Apple computers in 2006. This made Apple`s computing platform viable option for ten millions of computer users who could experience a significant switching cost for using Apple by giving up Windows. To elaborate the first question, Apple`s rapid growth has been accelerated by introducing new platforms which they have extended for superior growth and profits. Platform growth trajectories generally decline with age. Apple did a great job by increasing the growth of the Mac platform by shifting the mindset from desktop to portables and lately to Mac Book Air. When the sale of iPods media players went down by 17%, Apple was able to bounce back with the new and more expensive iPod Touch Model. Experts say that by 2013, the market

Young people's news consumption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Young people's news consumption - Essay Example There were implications for the decline in news readership for the role of mass media in creating an informed citizenry (Mindich, 2005). The value of news, whether being portrayed through television or via media, has been found to vary among different age groups. Even news on television fails to attract the interest of young crowd who often claim to follow the news only when something of particular relevance to them is happening. In fact, about 64% of the young adult viewers in UK have been found to have no interest for the news happening everyday on television. (Ursell, 2003) Today, the technology of journalism has improved significantly. The mode of presenting news to its viewers has been shifting from print age to digital age. But the culture of news consumption on daily basis has not developed yet among the young people. As said by Roger â€Å"With each passing year, young people grow less interested in the news, regardless of how it's delivered† (Roger, p. 1, 2009). With each passing year, young people have lost their interest on news, no matter in how they are delivered. (Ursell, 2003; Mindich, 2005) Statistics have shown that both newspaper circulation and network newscast ratings have declined persistently and the audience that was there grows ever older. (Even morning news shows, once thought immune to such trends, are now losing viewers.) â€Å"A Harvard survey found that only one in 20 teens and one in 12 young adults read a newspaper on close to a daily basis†. (Rogers, p.1 2009) On the other hand, the news casted online, fares a little better. In 2008, a recent study found that about 64% of 18-to-24-year-olds had viewed a newspaper online within the last year. But by 2009 that also had dropped to 54%. The figures are even more worrisome when the study focuses on whether a respondent had read online news at all - even once - in the last year. Hence, it is necessary to look into the matter that contributes to low news consumption among the youth. (Rogers, 2009) Causes of low news consumption among youth: Time constraints: The young crowd, especially the teenagers has lot of activities during a day. They have to attend school and some also have to go for work. They also have their other personal interests like sports, entertainment and socializing. As a result, they have very less time to have a watch on the news. It is not that they do not want to know what is happening over the world but the problem is that by the time they have a chance to look for news they become very tired. That time they want to relax more rather than to have a look on the news channels. (Hesmondhalgh, 2006; Mindich, 2005) Trivial and sensationalized news content: At times it has been seen young people criticizing the media for promoting gossip based stories, such as repeatedly broad casting the stories of the death of Anna Nicole Smith and the story covering Britney Spears shaving her head and going to rehab. The young crowd believes that t here are many newsworthy stories that should come up prominently and aired properly. They often get bored by the content of the news as they feel it to be boring, not newsworthy, trivial, and depressing. (Leadbeater and Oakley, 1999; Zerba 2004). Dated delivery approaches: The young crowd prefers more short writings both in newspaper and on the internet and for instant delivery on the television. They want the news content to be presented in a proper way that will takes full advantage of the medium through which it is being delivered and should be right to the point. . (Leadbeater and Oakley, 1999; Zerba 2004). Negative parental influence: Even though most of the families subscribed to a newspaper, many of these respondents are not encouraged to read the newspaper. . (Leadbeater an

Asian Polictical and Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Asian Polictical and Legal System - Essay Example Pakistan being adjacent to Afghanistan, the hotbed of Islamic radicalism, is more then exposed to the extremist forces as compared to Bangladesh. Besides, unlike Bangladesh, Pakistan lies on the route to the oil and natural gas rich regions of Central Asia. A number of affluent and influential nations have a stake in the mineral wealth of Central Asia (Rashid, 2001). Some of these stakes specifically intend to use Islamic fundamentalism as a tool to gain grounds in Pakistan to secure their hold on Afghanistan and Central Asia. Bangladesh, on the contrary is not that lucrative in an economic sense, thus Islamic radicals do not intend to pump much finances in this young nation to propagate their ideology. In addition, considering the military inferiority of Pakistan as compared to India, a section of the Pakistan's political elites and the army, particularly the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) raised and nurtured Islamic fundamentalism over the years to carry on a proxy war against I ndia. It is not a wonder that Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan stands on much firmer foundations as compared to Bangladesh.

Midterm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Midterm - Essay Example Although the registered voters are not allowed to directly vote for the President, they have the opportunity to elect their political party delegate to the Electoral College who will act on their behalf in finally electing the US President. The general election is held at predetermined term intervals and citizens have the opportunity to replace their government policies. The citizens thus determine the electoral vote of their state and thus influence the outcome of the final presidential elections and subsequent government policies and programs (Watts 16). The US citizens vote in the primary elections that aim at nominating the candidates that will run in the general elections. The registered voters or registered members of a political party are allowed to evaluate the different policies proposed by various candidates and vote for their preferred candidate who will run on the general election depending on their preferred polices (v 17). The US citizens can shape their public policies and agenda through displaying their attitudes towards certain controversial issues The US Congress representatives usually hold several meetings with the electorate in order to gauge the public attitudes towards certain policies and issue recommendations for implementation of a policy or abolishment of the government policy. In this case, expression of public opinions through polls and other methods of understanding the public sentiment ensure citizens participate in public policy formulation and implementation (Jillson 89). Another method that US citizens can use in shaping national government policies is joining an interest group that advocates for a certain public interest issue. The structure and informal traditions of American politics provide for growth of interest groups that pressure the legislators to enact laws and policies that favor the causes of such groups. The separation of the executive from

Critically discuss the contribution of positivism to the study of Essay

Critically discuss the contribution of positivism to the study of society - Essay Example This paper would however move forward with narrowing its focus on epistemology, which is concerned about the sources, nature, and limitations of knowledge. Moreover, epistemology also attempts to look at the process of acquiring knowledge, differentiating between reliable and unreliable knowledge, nature of the knowledge and all other factors involved in the process. Epistemologists differ greatly, as they do in all other aspects of philosophy and there are different schools of thought in epistemology as well. Rationalism believes that knowledge comes with reason, thinking, and discovering ideas, knowledge or reality resides in the ideas, and ideas are â€Å"a priori† which come before experience. Empiricism believes that the source of knowledge remains experience and humans only have the access to the ideas of the things and not things. For having the knowledge, we need to use experience. Transcendental idealism is another school of thought, which tries to accommodate both em piricism and rationalism by saying that knowledge is something, which begins with experience and ends at the structural arrangement of knowledge in mind with the use of logic and reasoning. However, there are other schools of thought like intuitionism, authoritarianism, postmodern view and others but we once again narrow down or focus on empiricism since that concerns our rest of the decision. Positivism is one of the most important concepts and developments in the empiricist school of thought, which holds the view that reliable knowledge is only attainable with proper experience and demands verification, very much similar to the scientific way of acquiring knowledge. Famous sociologist and philosopher Auguste Comte deserves all the credit for coming up with a comprehensive framework and layout for this term (Kaines, pp. 16-24, 1880). However, contributions from Hebert Spencer, Emile Durkenheim, and Charles Darwin have also been

Is technology a blessing or a curse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Is technology a blessing or a curse - Essay Example He describes how and older tool such as a rake can be more efficient and beneficial to the health of the user through the physical exercise he gets when he uses it. In contrast, he states that the leaf blower, although technologically more advanced, is not really that beneficial to the user and even goes as far as to suggest that it may be harmful to him because it makes an awful lot of noise and does not exert the person using it physically meaning that the opportunity for the little exercise he could have gotten from using the rake is lost. Bell uses this example of such a simple task as moving leaves to discuss the greater issues brought about by indiscriminate use of technology. His idea is that we should only use the pieces of technology that we really need and that are beneficial to us both physically and mentally, and that we should discard those that have no real benefit for us (Bell 470-473). One would agree with Bell’s argument that we use technology indiscriminately and that we rarely distinguish between its good uses from its bad ones. We tend to focus more on using the latest technological advancements and not on their benefits to us. There are times when it is better to use the so called old technology such as the rake rather than use new technology like the leaf blower which have little or no benefit to us. We should take every opportunity we have to get some physical exercise and there is no better way to do so than using technology that is physically exerting. The modern world has seriously changed our lifestyles and we are slowly moving from a lifestyle of physical exertion to one of dormancy due to the advancement of technology. However, all technology has its good and its bad sides and it is this in mind that we shall be discussing the following: the automation of industrial and household processes; changes in the modes of transport; reduction of risk to human life; data and information management; and the impact of technology on entertainment and advertising (Bell 470-473). The automation of critical industrial and household processes has reduced the amount of labor that was previously required to perform these processes. It is claimed that electronic gadgets rescue their users from the burden of performing chores. The performance of chores is one of the most basic things that a human being can do and not doing them breeds a culture of laziness among people which results in the growing cases of obesity especially in young people. There is a further claim that a lot of time is saved because these electronic gadgets do work faster. This being the beginning of the age of robotics, machines have been designed which can learn to do things with near human efficiency. Technology has led to a change in the modes of transport from the previously slow modes to the much faster ones that are used today. The creation of the automobile industry and its evolution has enabled the development of faster means of transport unlike in the previous age when animals used to be the only means of transport. If a person from the current world were uprooted and placed in the world of the early twentieth century, he would be surprised at the extremely slow means of transport that existed at that time. The invention of automated aircraft has increased the speed of travel with distances which previously used to be covered in days or even months are now being covered in a matter of minutes or hours. The risk to human life has been reduced by the use of technology and the mundane jobs once done by human workers are now being taken over by machines and this has the effect of making human labor redundant and if this trend is not stopped soon, and with the growing human population, then the

Are humans naturally good or naturally evil Essay Example for Free

Are humans naturally good or naturally evil Essay Are humans naturally good or naturally evil? Paul Bloom’s (psychologist) answer is yes. Most adults know wrong from right, for the excep*on of psychos. The heroes who come to the rescue, the ones that are disappointed, by some of the things that occur in our society and the act of kindness. There is a push to make the wrongdoers pay for what they commi-ed, help the needy, also emo*onal responses that revolve around morality. Research in laboratories, prove the claim that sense of good and evil are bred in the bone. Babies and toddlers can judge others ac*ons based on whether they are evil or good. They feel the same way about evil and bad and react the same way as adults. They also like Nikki Daniel 2/12/14 1st current event of quarter 3 per 2 those who do too. Based on their behavior, their judgments and ac*ons we can tell what they like and dislike. There is limit to morality. Babies start slow and then start seeing themselves as a group. Most humans obtain general moral ideas. Our ac*ons fall low compare to our moral principles. Communica*ng with people with the same morals and values as you is a big part of growing up to be a good person. This research might change the way that many people feel about their babies and children. Some think babies are bad seeds others think they are psychopaths. Our surrounding can change our natural moral senses. Understanding moral psychology can make the world a be-er place. The Nikki Daniel 2/12/14 1st current event of quarter 3 per 2 science of baby morality is all about human natures best and worst. It is actually pre-y goal that babies and li-le kids can tell the di5erence between good from bad. I think with people with be-er morality, the world would be a be-er place. Many people believe in one thing and do something completely di5erent. I learned something new. Honestly, I thought babies’ brain was like a size of a peanut and did not know right from wrong. I knew they could sense when someone is a good person or bad person but I did not know about all of this.

Anchors: History of and Developments in Anchor Technology

Anchors: History of and Developments in Anchor Technology Inflate-a-Weight Abstract The Inflate-a-Weight is a specially designed anchor that utilizes a chemical reaction to assist in the anchor’s ascent. Connected to the body of the anchor are two balloons similar in design to airbags. One is connected at the top and the other at the bottom. The bottom balloon acts as a backup if the top one fails to activate. Using an infrared remote control, the user can release some water into the balloon. This will react with the trace amount of sodium present in the balloon to produce sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. The gas will inflate the balloon and give the anchor the buoyancy necessary for it to rise to the surface. The Inflate-a-Weight is a fast method of hauling in an anchor that could save boaters the electricity they need to power radios, lights, and navigation systems. Present Technology The current technology of anchors includes multiple different anchor types used for various purposes, the line it is connected to, and the chain it is connected to. These anchor types include the lightweight anchor, kedge anchor, grapnels anchor, plow anchor, claw anchor, and the mushroom anchor. The lightweight anchor is usually used on smaller boats used for recreational purposes. The kedge anchor is normally used on very large ships because it buries one of its sides and relies mainly on the weight of the ship to help keep it in place. The grapnels anchor is used by small boats such as kayaks and canoes because it has little holding power. The plow anchor tends to be used on cruising boats because it is able to bury itself in most bottom types. The claw anchor works similarly to the plow anchor but it allows 360 degree turns while anchored and is able to right itself easily if it hits the bottom on the wrong side. The mushroom anchor is used mainly for moorings and is best used in soft bottoms because of the suction it is able to create because of it mushroom shape. Additionally, the anchors are attached to the boat via a line and/or chain. The three-strand twist nylon line is the best line to use because of the shock it is able to absorb from the anchoring. It is recommended that the line is mixed with a chain for the anchor. Chain is usually made from galvanized steel and isgood to use for attaching you anchor to the boat because it can handle more weight and wear and tear and the most commonly used type of chain is the proof coil. Airbags are inflated via a chemical reaction activated in a head-on collision to help protect a person in a crash. They are commonly activated when in a head-on collision the car decelerates at a very fast pace and a ball held in place by a magnet moves forward to activate an electrical circuit to ignite a pellet of sodium azide. Once that happened the airbag inflates in mere milliseconds, approximately 40. After the bag has inflated fully it begins to deflate to cushion the body in time for when the body should make contact with it. For the airbag to produce the gas necessary to inflate it goes through a series of chemical reactions. The reason for multiple reactions is to produce the gas needed and to remove the other harmful substances produced and convert them into harmless substances. There are many gas producing chemical reactions, but the important ones for this project have reactants in group 1, the alkali metals. Some of the elements located in this group have strong reactions with water. Some of these reactants react with water in a violent explosion and produce gas. Lithium has an intense reaction with water and produces hydrogen gas. Sodium has a fast reaction with water, which can be seen by the small explosion or fire when the reactants are combined, and produces hydrogen gas. Potassium has a rapid exothermic reaction with water and can catch fire during the reaction and it produces hydrogen gas. Rubidium reacts very rapidly and violently with water and produces hydrogen gas. Cesium has an extremely fast and violent reaction with water and produces hydrogen gas. The current technology of infrared remote controls and sensors includes being used in television remotes. The infrared or IR remote is able to work by using s low frequency light beam that cannot be detected by the human eye but by the television receiver. The IR remotes and their sensors are used by many different electronic devices today including things such as televisions, radios, and movie players. History Anchors have been used for thousands of years. Ancient forms of anchors, rocks, have been found that date to the Bronze Age. A primitive anchor consists of a pair of wood arms under a large rock. It provided the same purpose as modern day anchors, which is to have a sharp point and mass. Ancient anchors relied on the grappling hook until the stock, a bar perpendicular to the arm in order to roll the anchor to pierce the bottom, was introduced and adopted. Airbags were first used in the early 1950s and were designed by Walter Linderer, a German engineer and later was patented by John W. Hetrick. In 1963, Yasuzaburou Kobori created current airbag technology. In 1968, Allen Breed invented the first automobile crash sensor and airbag safety system. Early airbags had the problem of retaining pressure in the canisters that inflated the bag with compressed air. Sodium azide and its by-product, sodium hydroxide, were commonly used in the 1990s. However its toxicity and reactivity caused it to be phased out. Infrared, or IR, technologies had started to be used in the early 1980s. The first remote control, called â€Å"Lazy Bones† was created by Zenith Electronics Corporation. Eugene McDonald created the first wireless remote, the â€Å"Flashmatic†. An IR remote emits a very low frequency beam of light which is then met by the receiver. In the beginning of the 2000s, ninety-nine percent of all television sets and one-hundred of all VCRs and DVD players were equipped with IR remote controls. Most remote controls today use IR technology. Breakthroughs The gas that needed to be used had to be safe and couldnt be harmful to the environment. Methane and ammonia are harmful to the environment, so they were thrown out as possibilities. The only other ones that would be useful in lifting the anchor were hydrogen and helium, but helium is too expensive to be used on a daily basis. This left hydrogen as the element chosen for the lifting of the anchor. Next it was necessary to find a way to produce the hydrogen through a reaction, but the compounds used couldnt be harmful to the environment, along with its byproducts. The simplest and cleanest way to produce hydrogen was to use a salt and mix it with water. The only salt that will not create a harmful byproduct and will not explode killing any creatures, was sodium and therefore was chosen for to create the anchors needed reaction. The breakthrough that is necessary for the floating anchor to work is the reaction that must take place inside the anchor under the high pressure of deep ocean waters. The reaction must take place in an area that is completely dry, so as to avoid an early and undesired reaction. The separate chambers where the sodium and water are held must be sealed properly in order to avoid compromising the clean water with contaminates and the risk of the sodium being exposed to water, causing an early reaction, is too great. The only possible way for the reaction to occur is if the sodium is kept dry and safely away from the oceans water. The sodium must be kept in a separate chamber where it can be released into the water of another chamber. The water should be filled before the anchor is dropped but if not, the water can be used if it is fresh water. As this is an unlikely case, due to the fact that the anchors main purpose is for deep oceanic waters, the anchor can still be used in freshwater lakes or rivers. When the sodium is released into the water of another chamber, the reaction will rapidly produce sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas will fill up the balloon that is attached to the exterior of the anchor and provide the lift necessary for the anchor to rise to the surface at a steady and safe rate. The release system is connected to an infrared remote control on board the ship. When the anchor needs to be raised, they simply use a remote control to send infrared signals to the anchor, which in turn opens the chamber, and triggers the reaction. The downside is that due to the fact that a high concentration of sodium, if a leak occurs, could destroy the anchor in a small explosion. To avoid a catastrophe, the concentration of sodium must be kept at a low level. This basically means that only about one or two reactions worth of sodium can be kept in the chambers within the anchor. A solution to any failures in the release of the sodium can be fixed with a more manual format. A tube will be run down the chain to the anchor upon installation, so if the reaction in the anchor fails, hydrogen gas can be pumped down the tube into the anchors balloon. If there arises a problem with the balloon, there is a second emergency balloon attached to the opposite end of the anchor, which is atta ched to the tube, that can be filled if the first fails to do so. If all else fails, the anchor can be raised as it is today, slowly and steadily, by a windlass or by hand. All these things must come together perfectly for this piece of technology to work. If there is one flaw, the whole anchor is compromised and rendered useless for its purpose. Although this technology has the ability to exist today, it is unlikely due to the fact that every time the anchor is used the chamber containing the chemical would need to be refilled. The only solution to being refilled every time is to have multiple chambers, but this could be a problem due to the fact that if the concentration of the chemical is too high and there is a leak, the possibility of the anchor exploding becomes a reality. Future Technologies Future ways of easing the use of the anchor would be to raise it to the surface faster and safer. Our vision includes a way to raise an anchor from the bottom of a body of water to the surface is just this way. This is a safer way to elevate an anchor without a windlass. We visualize our concept to be put in place by many different people for many different uses. For example, the products of reaction in the airbag can be applied to not only airbags, but inflatable boats or recreation inflation uses. Instead of using one’s breath or an air pump, only activate the sodium and water for a rapid inflation. This technology of producing gas can be used in many places for many different reasons. The IR signals can be improved and applied to more uses than they currently are. Infrared signals can be used in many different applications, not only in television remotes or triggering reactions in anchors but also sending information by light. However, the strength of infrared signals must be improved in order to reach longer distances or through different materials since it is such a low energy light. Along with the infrared technology, the other components can be further improved. The strength of the anchor, reliability of the reaction can be improved. Different designs may also prove to be more effective than our own. This leads to development of the Inflate-a-Weight. Design Process After the team decided to do our project on an anchor retraction system we brainstormed different ways to make it easier. After picking which one to do we had rejected three different versions of the idea for various reasons. The first idea that was rejected by the group was an anchor that is retracted by a motorized pulley system. The thought was to have the rope/chain attached to the anchor to be wrapped on the pulley so a button could be pushed or a switch flipped and the pulley would start turning lifting the anchor up and out of the water. The idea was rejected because when further research was conducted on the idea, we found that it already exists and is known as a windlass. Another idea that was rejected was an anchor that is equipped with water jets to propel it upward. The group rejected this idea because of the dangers of the anchor flying up into the boat and damaging it or harming the passengers. If the water jets pushed with too much pressure behind it, it could launch up too much and fly into the boat, causing a hole or other damage possibly resulting in compromising the integrity of the hull and leading to the sinking of the watercraft. The anchor flying up into the boat could also cause serious injury or even death to any passenger riding in the boat. This could be an expensive ordeal because major damage to the boat and medical bills are not usually cheap. The last idea that was rejected was an anchor that floats up using air pumps. Our group rejected this version of our idea because it is not practical because of all the equipment required that could fail or easily break. Some of the equipment would have to be a tube and the actual air pump. The pump could fail by losing power and cause a problem for retracting the anchor. The tube running down to the inflatable device to make the anchor rise could break and then it would be a pain to fix and get in the way of manually raising the anchor in the case that it breaks. However, this idea led us to think of another way to use something lighter than water to raise the anchor. We came to the conclusion that using a chemical reaction to produce gas in an inflatable attached to the base of the anchor would work better. When discussing it more we knew that a way to activate the chemical reaction was needed and we thought of remotely activating it to make it easier on the user. Consequences The floating anchor technology could have some potentially harmful and unintended consequences. If sea creatures ingest the chemicals at all, the entire rest of the food web is affected by the chemicals as well. The toxins may not be as potent in higher levels of the chain, but it still spreads from organism to organism. For instance, a school of tuna fish might be exposed to the chemicals and later end up being caught and processed for retail. The rapidly rising anchors could also be a potential hazard for people in boats. If the reaction becomes out of control, then the anchor could fly out of the water and strike the people attempting to raise it. The anchor could also strike the hull of the boat and damage the vessel, perhaps leading to flooding or even sinking, depending on the size of the vessel. The levels of infrared radiation could gradually increase in the ocean since the anchor uses IR signals to trigger the reaction. This increase would harm the atmosphere more than it does the ocean. The ocean water evaporates, releasing excess heat and infrared energy, which is then absorbed by moist, tropical air. The wind then carries the air to a convergence zone where it falls as precipitation. The heat and IR energy is then released into the atmosphere. Rising IR levels in the atmosphere can contribute to the greenhouse effect. Another potential problem is the precipitate left over after the reaction takes place and the anchor begins its ascent. If the balloon that provides buoyancy for the anchor burst, then the sodium hydroxide would be released into the ocean. When sodium hydroxide comes into contact with water, it produces a massive amount of heat. The heat generated could damage the anchor or even render it useless. If it is close enough to the boat then it may damage the structure of the boat as well. Despite the possible problems that could rise to the surface, the Inflate-a-Weight could be quite convenient and cost effective for sailors. The float would be convenient and quick as opposed to the longer amounts of time it usually takes to haul an anchor from the bottom. Windlasses on smaller vessels are usually powered by electricity. If the Inflate-a-Weight anchor were used instead, then more power could be used for radios, navigation systems, or lights. The quick speed of the Inflate-a-Weight would also be useful for vessels in avoiding collisions. If a ship cannot stop in time to prevent a collision, then the anchored vessel could quickly raise their anchor and move out of the way. Small law enforcement craft and Coast Guard vessels would also find the anchor useful when trying to quickly raise their anchor in order to pursue suspects in boats or on small water craft like jet skis.

Challenges That Women Entrepreneurs Face Commerce Essay

Challenges That Women Entrepreneurs Face Commerce Essay This paper examines the challenges that women entrepreneurs face in the tourism sector in Zimbabwe. The research targeted female entrepreneurs selling curios in Masvingo and Victoria Falls which are the prime tourist destinations in Zimbabwe. Women entrepreneurship has been under spotlight in Zimbabwe because it is a source of economic growth. Despite the potential that lies in women entrepreneurs they face additional or at least different social, cultural, educational and technological challenges than men in establishing and developing their own enterprises, and accessing economic resources. From the interviews conducted women entrepreneurs in the tourism sector have difficulties in securing funding, inadequate business related education as well as social, cultural and religious impediments. This paper engenders to understand the gender biases embedded in society which constrain womens mobility, interactions, active economic participation and access to business development services. Lastly, appropriate interventions are recommended within the discourse of entrepreneurship. Key words: Entrepreneurship, Tourism, Gender, Enterprise development, Women Entrepreneurship Introduction Entrepreneurship is a key driver of capacity building and national development in any country. As such, this paper focuses on challenges faced by women in the tourism sector. On 21 May 2012 the researchers attended a forum on Womens Engagement in Africas Tourism Industry in Victoria Falls held during the African Travel Association conference. The presenters included the former Deputy Secretary General of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) who alluded to the fact that tourism constitutes 30% of the worlds economy and offers 78% of workforce in the world. He further reiterated that research has explicitly shown the gender inequalities that exist in the tourism sector as mostly women and children as compared to the male counterparts are exploited. He further mentioned that in 2008, the UNWTO came up with a policy for gender equality which is envisaged under the United Nations Platform. In 2010, the Global report on Women in Tourism by World Tourism Organization and United Nations women encouraged women to participate in leadership roles in the tourism industry. The report held that although women constitute a high percentage of the workforce in the tourism industry, most of them occupy lower levels where they are subsequently lowly paid. Because of this report, UNWTO suggested that vocational training be offered to empower women in the industry. Tanzania and Gambia were the first two countries chosen to start the vocational training for women entrepreneurs in the tourism industry. Other countries to benefit from the training are from Latin America and Africa. Another presenter a Managing Director of Affluent Hospitality Group in America said that women make up 80% of Travel Agency in America and 80% of travel decisions are made by women in North America. This justifies the fact that women have an active role to play in the tourism industry. In addition the Marketing Director of Amalinda Collection in Zimbabwe gave a testimony of her experience in the Tourism industry. She admitted that as a mother she has a lot of family responsibilities that apart from being a working woman such that she faces the dilemma of choosing between family and business. At one time when her son fell sick at 4 months old she had to quit the job in favour of the family. Family roles represent one of the challenges that women entrepreneurs face in comparison with their male counterparts. The Governor and Resident Minister of Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe reported that, 60% of arts and crafts in Zimbabwe are produced by women from Binga who largely produce reed mats and baskets while the Gwaai women produce pottery artifacts. The interesting revelations made at the conference prompted the researchers to consider conducting a research on the challenges that women entrepreneurs face in the tourism industry in Zimbabwe. In current years women-owned businesses have become increasingly popular but entrepreneurship remains a deeply gendered institution (Anderson, 2008). Bushell (2012) considered entrepreneurship as expedition out of paucity and gravitation towards equity but this has not been the case because women remain marginalized globally. Given the constraints facing African women entrepreneurs their full economic potential is not actualized and they do not feature on the mainstream of the economic agenda (Ozigbo and Ezeaku, 2009). There is therefore need for countries to address gender disparities between men and women to achieve significant milestones in economic growth. In addition to those problems faced by all small-scale entrepreneurs, women face additional or at least different social, cultural, educational and technological challenges than men in establishing and developing their own enterprises, and accessing economic resources (Mayoux, 2001). It is important that such challenges be addr essed so as to enable women to prosper in their businesses. Chitsike (2000) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (2003) mentioned that womens businesses in Zimbabwe tend to be small and are discriminated by the legal system which backs male ideologies. Literature Review In many countries entrepreneurship has been considered a means of generating meaningful and sustainable employment opportunities, particularly for those at the margins of the economy women, the poor and people with disabilities (ILO, 1998; Rajani and Sarada, 2008). However, very little literature exists on the role of women entrepreneurs in a global economy especially in Africa (Morgan and Ojo, 2008) and this is one of the reasons why women continue to be marginalized in entrepreneurship development. In addition, in cases where the role of women entrepreneurship is articulated there still remains a gap in gender analysis (Morgan and Ojo, 2008). Research factors affecting performance of women entrepreneurs of their businesses are limited in scope, as any existing research most often focuses on individual characteristics and motives as performance predictors (Teoh and Chong, 2007) at the expense of gender disparities. Despite the economic importance of female entrepreneurs their numbe rs are lower than those for men (Verheul, Van Stel and Thurik, 2006; Carter, 2000; Minniti et al., 2005) and therefore it is of importance to address the barriers to female entrepreneurship. This paper deviates from the former approach by focusing on challenges that women face in entrepreneurial development. Furthermore, the research applies an entrepreneurial development model adapted from Richardson and Howarth (2002a) to analyse the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the tourism sector in Zimbabwe as shown in figure 1 below. The model is based on the cross sectional biological structure of a peach fruit. At centre of the model is the seed which represents the entrepreneurial opportunity identified. The inner part adjacent to the seed represents the mesopreneurial (fruit mesorcarp) factors based on the MAIR model by (Gibb and Ritchie, 1982) which include motivation or commitment, skills, abilities and experiences, idea in relation to the market as well as the resources. Wi lliams (1997) commented that commitment and dedication of the entrepreneur is critical if they are to prosper whilst Zimmer and Scarborough (1996) attribute failure of small businesses to managerial incompetence and lack of experience among other factors and therefore women entrepreneurs need relevant skills and experience to fully exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. The mesopreneurial factors represent the basic ingredients of business success. The final structural component is the exopreneurial (fruit exocarp) factors which represent the macro environment in which the enterprises operate and it entails the following aspects: The enabling environment which focuses on policy issues, institutions and initiatives which impact on enterprise development in particular the tourism industry in Zimbabwe The socio-cultural and economic context which the social, cultural and religious factors that affect enterprise development. Enterprise Support Sector made up of initiatives and organizations developed to propel enterprise development and how these impact on enterprise development. The Economic/Market Environment which deals with opportunities and threats in the environment. Women entrepreneurs hardly have specialized support institutions to cater for their specific needs (United Nations International Development Organization, 2003). In most cases entrepreneurial and technical training, advisory and information programmes often have to be carried out within a non-conventional set-up (United Nations International Development Organization, 2003). Women entrepreneurs need to have a more supportive environment that is more favourable (Stevenson and St-Onge, 2005) if they are to gain similar recognition that of men. Training programmes developed must take into account their society, culture, community and empowerment (Agbà ©nyiga and Ahmedani, 2008). If significant milestones are to be achieved in female entrepreneurship support systems need to take into account the needs, challenges and unique situation of women to promote women entrepreneurship and avoid failure and lower levels of female entrepreneurship (Drine and Grach, 2010). It is vital to note that c ountries that have developed policies and legislation tailored for women entrepreneurship have witnessed tremendous growth and increase in the numbers of women in business. Figure 1 Peach Fruit Concept of entrepreneurship: Adapted from Richardson and Howarth (2002a) Enteprise support sector: Government, NGOs, Private Sector, Membership Organizations, donors Endopreneurial factor Seed Entrepreneurial Opportunity The Economic/Market Environment: Opportunities and Threats Enabling Environment for Enterprise: regulations, policies, institutions, institutions and processes Mesopreneurial Factors Exopreneurial factors Resources Socio/cultural context: Attitudes, aspirations, confidence and permission idea with market Skills, abilities and experience Motivation and determination Female Entrepreneurship Women Entrepreneurs refer to women or a group of women who initiate organize and operate a business enterprise (Jahanshahi, Pitamber and Nawaser, 2010). McClelland et al. (2005) define a woman-owned business as one which is at least 51% owned by one or more women or in the case of any publicly-owned business, at least 51% of the stock of which is owned by one or more women. In 2010 187 million women were involved in entrepreneurship ranging from 1.5-45.4% of the adult female population in 59 economies (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor [GEM], 2010). It should also be noted that Ghana has 55% of women being involved in entrepreneurship and it is the only economy where there are more women than men entrepreneurs (GEM, 2010). One of the United Nations Millennium Development goals is to promote gender equity and empower women as agents of poverty eradication, hunger, disease and to stimulate sustainable development (United Nations Industrial Development Organization, 2004). Therefore promo tion of women entrepreneurship is vital for the achievement of broader objectives including poverty reduction and economic development. A positive indicator to women entrepreneurship is that African leaders have pledged to take joint responsibility for promoting the role of women in social and economic development by reinforcing their capacity in education and training, facilitating access to credit and assuring their participation in the political and economic life (NEPAD, 2001). The increased role of women in economic development has forced many governments to take an active role in developing policies on women development and gender related issues. Mueller and Dato-on (2010) stipulated that women play a significant role in entrepreneurship but their role remains suppressed in comparison to that of their male counterparts across the globe because of family roles, traditions , cultural and structural constraints which diminish their abilities to lead business (Bushell, 2012). Women bear the responsibility for childcare and homecare and as a result this leads to work-family conflicts (Das, 2001 and Jahanshashi, Pitamber and Nawaser, 2010; Winn, 2005). Chitsike (2000) also stated that men view womens role as that of being at home and not engaging in any business activities that are reserved for men. One of the challenges that women face is unequal access to productive resources and services, including finance and skill upgrading opportunities (United Nations International Development Organization [UNIDO], 2003; Tumbunan, 2009; Sorokhaibam and Laishram, 2003). In many African countries, women inequality lies in economic rights and access to resources as men persist thus preventing women from taking full advantage of the economic opportunities (Ozigbo and Ezeaku, 2009). Ulusay Degroot (2001) mentions that womens participation as owners of small medium sized business has been constrained due to poor access to market information, technology and finance, poor linkages with support service and unfavourable policy and support mechanisms ( Ulusay De Groot, 2001). In Zimbabwe domestic chores and agricultural activities do not allow women time to travel to support institutions such as finance houses for advice and information on credit (Ulusay De Groot, 2001). In many African countries, w omen spend most of their income on the household and fear investing their funds in business ventures for fear of business failure (Ozigbo and Ezeaku, 2009), particularly on food and education for their children. Many of them are afraid to invest their limited funds into a business for fear of failure. Many women entrepreneurs are seldom taken seriously in spheres of credibility and capability, competing and succeeding in a male dominated environment (Ozigbo and Ezeaku, 2009) and this is one of the factors that explain their relatively obscure role in economic development. Despite the fact that many women entrepreneurship is a source of job creation, economic growth and social development many women owned businesses remain stunted by lack of appropriate managerial skills, access to business resources, networking opportunities and access to new markets (Ozigbo and Ezeaku, 2009). The current institutional environment purposes to achieve gender equity but the traditional powers are tilted towards the patriarchal system and therefore maintains the status quo of gender inequity (Goheer, 2003). In Zimbabwe women have largely been marginalized from mainstream economic activities because of the predominant partriarchal system which confines women to domestic roles. 53% of all economic activities in Zimbabwe are performed by women but, this figure remains invisible because it is not accounted for in national statistics and most of the activities are characterized by poor working conditions. It is also worth mentioning at this stage that religion, culture and the socialization process are some of the major factors perpetuating gender inequity in Zimbabwe. This is evidenced by the fact that under the current customary law, women cannot own/inherit land (Chitsike, 2000) and land is one of the resources that are important for entrepreneurial development. Research Methodology Baines and Wheelock (2000) mention that many women have ventured into entrepreneurship but little research has been done on gender and female entrepreneurship. The reasons behind increase of entrepreneurial variances arising out of gender remains unresolved is because women feel that by exposing these issues they deepen their entrepreneurial differences (Calas et.al. 2007 as cited in Peris-Ortiz, Rueda-Armengot and Benito Osorio, 2011). Studying women entrepreneurship is critical because it is an important source of economic prosperity and presently research efforts, policies and programs tend to be skewed towards men and neglect the needs of women entrepreneurs and potential women entrepreneurs (OECD, 2004). In the African context there are very few studies that have focused on female entrepreneurship particularly in the tourism sector and therefore this research seeks to close this gap. In addition, Gelb (2001) states that this is due to lack of indigenous research, inadequate info rmation and methodological constraints (Ozigbo and Ezeaku, 2009). Despite the increasing role, women entrepreneurship theory development and empirical evidence only offer a very blurry picture of women entrepreneurs (Tan, 2008). Subsequently, improved understanding of women entrepreneurs challenges is essential in order to assess their needs, and provide solutions to teething problems they encounter. Although there have been some studies of small businesses in Zimbabwe, none has provided rich qualitative data of female entrepreneurs (Mboko and Smith-Hunter, 2008) and this study endeavors to contribute towards addressing this deficiency. This study is based on the small and medium business entrepreneurs in Zimbabwes Arts and Crafts industry in Masvingo and Victoria Falls. 10 women in Masvingo from Dzimbahwe Crafts and Art Center and 15 from various Crafts Centers in Victoria Falls who were trading at Elephant Hills Hotel during the 37th ATA Conference between from 18-22 May 2012 were interviewed for this research. These towns are top tourism destinations in Zimbabwe and are home to reputable attractions which are The Great Zimbabwe and the Victoria Falls respectively. Interviews were conducted at Dzimbahwe Craft Center situated along the highway to Masvingo Town. For the effectiveness of the conversations, we had to talk to the women while viewing the different artefacts they make. The conversations included negotiations over the products prices that made the interviewers buy some of the items to encourage the women to talk freely. The interview started with more general introductions, some business questions that included who makes the products, how (i.e. whether there is use of machines or just ordinary hands), where, when and why the people do this business. The interviews also covered issues to do with any support the women received in terms of finance, human and material resources, marketing and other business operational areas. In the process, we had to go to the extent of observing the women doing the work like crocheting and weaving the mats, bed and table covers, polishing and decorating the wooden plates, basins and bowls while some were even carving the different items according to their area of specialization. This one day session took us about one and a half hours and we spent $30 to buy some items from the different women who added up to a total of 10 entrepreneurs. In Victoria Falls, we took the advantage of the 37th African Travel Association conference (ATA) that we attended from the 18th to the 22nd of May 2012 at Elephant Hills Hotel. Some selected male and female arts and crafts entrepreneurs from various selling centres of Victoria Falls were given the opportunity by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) to come and sell their wares free of charge at the venue during the conference days. To promote the entrepreneurs, the ZTA had in their conference program a session for Meeting the African Culture when both mid-morning and afternoon teas were being served at the grounds where the entrepreneurs were selling their products. This was a good opportunity for the conference delegates to meet and discuss with the sellers while at the same time viewing and buying the handicrafts. As researchers, we took advantage of this to carry out our study for 3 consecutive days. On the first day we toured the various stands just to view the items on display and we asked some few general questions like what we did in Masvingo. Some of the questions were about how they come to be part of the ATA conference and the benefits they were expecting from the conference. On the second day we got into in-depth interviews to get details of their operations, marketing, any support and assistance from any institutions towards the success of their businesses. To probe for more information we were appreciating their achievements and sympathizing with their challenges as we were discussing with them during the tea breaks. For the other two days we had to share a table with some women during lunch time so that we could talk more. At times we had to sit together in the conference venue, commenting on what the presenters were saying about tourism entrepreneurship. One good example was a debate on the presentation done by a representative from the Zimbabwe Ministry of Youth, Dev elopment, Indigenization and Empowerment. On the final and third day, we selected some of the artefacts to buy that included the bowls, the big five, basins, Zimbabwe bird (Shiri Hungwe) for Blessing, one of the researchers totem and other items. We spent $50 for the items and we left the women in a very happy mood. As a way of appreciating our concern for them some women gave us some of the items at very low prices and in return we influenced some of our colleagues to buy from them. The total of the interviewees was 25 women. Analysis and Discussion The demographic Profile of Interviewed Women Entrepreneurs Table 1 Geographical Location of the Women Entrepreneurs RESEARCH AREA LOCATION Urban LOCATION Rural Masvingo 3 7 Victoria Falls 9 6 According to.1 out of the 10 women who were interviewed in Masvingo, 7 were residing in the rural areas and only 3 were from the urban area. From the 15 interviewees in Victoria Falls, 9 were urban residents and only 6 were from the rural area. This data reflects that the handicraft business is done in both rural and urban settings provided there is favourable environment. In Masvingo the majority of entrepreneurs come from their rural homes that surround Nemanwa Arts and Craft center because operating from home reduces any rental costs that can be incurred. The few who stay in the urban area have their husbands working in the town and this business supplements their spouses income. In Victoria Falls the majority of women who are urban dwellers reported that they own houses in the town from the cooperative that was formulated by the Arts and Crafts business operators sometime in 1990. The remaining percentage constitutes those women who own homes in the peri-urban area of the town and are permanent residents of the area. Table 2 Age of Women Entrepreneurs AGE GROUP NUMBER Below 25 years 2 26-30 years 4 30-45 years 15 46-50 4 Table 2 shows the relationship between a womans age and entrepreneurship. The likelihood of a woman venturing into business positively increases with the 30 to 45 years age range have the greatest number of women entrepreneurs. Very few women below the age of 25 years want to get into this business probably because they are unable to do the job or have better things to do. Motivations Women who are in art and craft business in Victoria Falls and Masvingo said that they are into this business because they grew up doing the weaving, knitting and pottery activities and to them they see it as a way of their living. In the yester years when tourism was still vibrant in Zimbabwe they could earn more than other people in some professions but as from 2004 to date the business has slowed down due to the economic crisis. These women admitted that they cannot go out of this business because they have no alternative means of survival since their environments are basically in the dry regions of the country. Therefore what is evident in what the women are saying is the fact that tourism fits very well in their livelihood strategies as a source of income. From the findings it emerged that the women are motivated into employment by push factors such as unemployment, inadequate family income and the need to accommodate work and home roles as in the Zimbabwean scenario the womans p lace is the home. The same sentiments were echoed by Vijaya and Kamalanabhan (2009) and Drine and Grach (2010) who reiterated that women are motivated by the desire to provide security for the family and flexibility that entrepreneurship offer between home and family roles. Access to Financial Resources The women entrepreneurs in the arts and crafts industry revealed that their major challenge is their inaccessibility to both investment and operational capital since they have no personal assets to use as collateral which is a prerequisite at the financial institutions. If they happen to get the starting capital they may even face more challenges of getting adequate operational capital to meet their daily supplies of raw materials such as reeds, steel wires, finishing oils, threads, wood, polishes and others to use for their business. At times they may need transport to take their products to and from their homes for security reasons. If these people are operating from the designated sites the local councils would need the rentals every month for the upkeep of the places. The problem of lack of capital usually arises from the fact that the enterprises are the major contributors to the survival of the family, and this puts a brake on efforts for improvement of womens enterprises in Zi mbabwe (Ulusay Degroot, 2001). On the accessibility to capital, one woman at the ATA conference for Young Professionals in Victoria Falls narrated her ordeal of trying to get financial assistance from the Ministry of Indigenization and Youth Development that promotes indigenous entrepreneurs in the country. Grace said, When I went to the offices I was told to bring a project proposal. I prepared that at my own expense. After that they gave me a pile of forms to fill in whose other requirements i could not understand. As if that was not enough, I was told to wait for a response that never came to my attention and these people lie that they are supporting us financially. Another woman, Nyaradzo narrated that, The Ministry of Indigenization and Youth Development, asked for a list of all entrepreneurs who needed financial assistance and the specific amounts requested and were handed to the ministry but nothing materialized. The ministry later on asked the women entrepreneurs to pay $20 per person for a weeks training in financial management. After paying the money nothing has been done since November 2011. She said Vanhu ava matsotsi anodakubira varombo, havana basa nesu, (These people are conmen, who steal from the poor and they do not care about us). This is a major challenge for the women who are vulnerable to all sorts of financial risks in business. Most women also revealed that most financial institutions were not keen to finance their business initiatives. This negative attitude towards financing of women entrepreneurs is explained by the traditional patriarchal system division which spells out the differences of male-female roles in society as supported by Ozigbo and Ezeaku (2009). Protection of intellectual property rights A number of women entrepreneurs fall prey to political promises and business intermediaries. One woman who failed to get funding from the Ministry of Indigenization and Youth Development later discovered that her project was being implemented by one of the government officials in Victoria Falls. She had no voice over it. Because of this, many women in the sector feel betrayed and humiliated because of such practices. This rhymes the Shona proverbs that murombo haarovi chine nguwo (This literally means the poor will never challenge the rich). It is important for women entrepreneurs to be well versed with their intellectual property rights so that they can challenge those who prey on their ideas in judiciary. Production and space-related challenges The study has revealed that a number of Zimbabwean women who are arts and crafts entrepreneurs have no fixed place for their business operations as they are dotted from their homes, forest and some few designated arts and craft centres. The designated centres have no permanent structures put in place but there are some temporary shades which are brought by the individuals from their homes. These offer no security at all as they are just open spaces for business and in addition one is exposed to the harsh forces of the natural environment. Those who operate from the forests (source of raw materials) cite transportation problems as one of the challenges. For example, if a wood carver finds a good tree in the forest which is too big to carry home or at the designated area she has to work on it from there and then carry the finished products. These pose a lot of risks to the females since there are a lot of dangers associated with forestry environments. Storage space for the finished products is another problem for most women entrepreneurs. Most leave the products covered by some cloths or tents during the night in the presence of either a guard or unattended at owners risk. Lack of storage space puts the products at risk of theft. The most special wares are taken back home daily which is a tiresome task for the females since most of them walk a distance of about 5 kilometres every day from their homes to the designated centres. Family roles At home there is usually a challenge of divided concentration between home chores and work and at home the working space is limited and not conducive for business operations. One woman (Maria) even expressed that, handingazosiyi mumba mune tsvina nekuda kwebasa (I cannot leave my house dirty because of work). Already this indicates how busy women entrepreneurs are with household and business responsibilities at any given time of their lives and this is a hindrance to effective business operations. In support, Ulusay De Groot (2001) posits that household roles deprive women of time to travel to enterprise support institutions or to attend training sessions to acquire skills in various fields. As long as womens responsibilities remain divided between work and domestic roles their contributions to economic development will remain obscure. Marketing operations There is a general belief that Zimbabwe arts and crafts are unique worldwide and they are found in many countries these days in China besides the Americas which used to be the countrys chief tourism source market. These products have made Zimbabwe boast of its rich and unique culture The majority of women sell their products to the foreign tourists. Financial constraints make it difficult for the women to access regional and international markets despite the high demand for the Zimbabwe art and craft in these markets. It was reported that in the past years when tourism was at peak (i.e. between 1990 and 1999) business was lucrative and there was no worry of exporting the products as buyers could come to the country and buy the products. During the period business was very lucrative. Masundire (2011) identified the need to assist arts and crafts producers to access foreign markets as 90% of their wares are in demand in Europe, America, Australia and South Africa. As a result of inaccessibility to foreign markets, there is now the emergence of market intermediaries popularly known as the cross boarder traders who buy and sell the products from arts and crafts producers in foreign markets. The major problem these intermediaries pose is that they bid to buy the wares at a very low price at the expense o

Japans Bio-Warfare Essay example -- essays research papers

While Germany experimented with biological weapons in World War I, the Japanese military practiced biowarfare on a mass scale in the years leading up to and throughout World War II. China became the first nation to experience the horrors of World War II. During the invasion of China, Japanese forces used methods of warfare that led to mass death and suffering on new unimaginable level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1932, a few months after Japanese troops moved into Manchuria, disguised as a water purification plant, Dr. Ishii and his colleagues followed them in. Instead of a water purification plant, they built Zhoghma Fortress, a prison so named because of its location on the outskirts of HARBIN AND ITS INTIMIDATING APPERANCE> EXPERIMENTS WRE DONE ON THE PRISIONERS The majority of these experimental subjects were Chinese, but also included Russians, Mongolians, and Koreans. A notorious division of the Imperial Army called Unit 731 led the destructive aggression. â€Å"My calculation, which is very conservative, and based on incomplete sources as the major archives are still closed, is that 10,000 to 12,000 human beings were exterminated in lab experiments† (Factories of Death: Japanese biological Warfare, 1932-45, and the America Cover-up, Harris, S.H. (1944), London & New York). Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931 gave Ishii the opportunity to begin his horrific experiments on human subjects. In 1938 Japan established Unit 731. Unit 731, a biological-warfare unit that was disguised as a water-purification unit, was formed outside the city of Harbin. In truth, it was a secret research laboratory that utilized humans as guinea pigs. The leader of Unit 731 was physician-researcher Dr. Ishii Shiro. Shiro Ishii was an intelligent Army microbiologist whose flamboyant personality soon attracted attention from his senior officers (Factories of Death: Japanese biological Warfare, 1932-45, and the America Cover-up, Harris, S.H. (1944), London & New York). In this evil facility, Japanese Militarists performed live, un-anesthetized human dissections for the purpose of researching the effects of pathogens. Female prisoners were used for studies on syphilis; humans and animal bloods were injected with each other’s blood to observed the physiological effect s; prisoners were hung upside down until death to see the time course of survival; humans were expose... ... frozen for twenty-four hours and then taken to a hot room to be thawed out. â€Å"They froze me until I was unconscious†¦I could not describe how much it hurt. It hurt so much that I begged the Japs to kill me† (Testimony of Art Campbell, US POW, a survivor of Mukuden, adopted from NBC Dateline â€Å"Factory of Death: Unit 731† August 15, 1995). Children were not immune to the horrors of Unit 731. March 17, 1995, The New York Times also reported, â€Å"Other than the partisans fighting the Japanese, Unit 731 also plucked civilians from the streets whenever they needed subjects. In 1943, a 10 year-old boy was kidnapped and taken to the laboratory dissection table. A person wearing a white cap made a Y-incision in his chest. Blood began to drip from his chest. In less than an hour, his stomach, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and intestines were preserved in jars of formaldehyde. Because they were fresh, the organs were still contracting and making soft murmurs. At this time somebody said, ‘Yo, the organs are still alive.’ Then everybody began to laugh. His brain was not wasted. It too was preserved. The boy was left with only his extremities and an empty abdominal cavity. Everything else was jarred.†

Women and Politics Essay -- Sarah Palin

Introduction (Literature Review) When females started entering the political scene in the United States in significant numbers in the latter parts of the 20th century, they were faced with a number of predicaments. One of these predicaments centered around the language they were to use in the political arena. As members of the â€Å"other† group, women were forced, in many ways, to adopt the speech patterns of their male counterparts. As Blankenship & Robson pointed out in their research, â€Å"Once women were allowed a modest entrà © [sic] onto the political playing field, they either had to speak the dominant language of power and prove themselves â€Å"tough enough† or remain forever the linguistic sissy† (354). Within the past couple of decades, however, the roles of women collectively in society and politics have changed drastically, prompting some to question whether feminine political discourse still exists – and if so, to what extent. Around the mid to late-1980s, literature on the topic of feminine discourse in politics first began to surface in abundance – possibly as a result of the Democratic Party’s nomination of Geraldine Ferraro as the first female vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket in 1984. Originally, feminine discourse was merely a speech pattern characterized by â€Å"its personal tone, references to personal experience, inductive reasoning, the use of anecdotes and examples as evidence, audience participation, and identification between the speaker and audience† (Campbell, 1989, p. 13). Since that time, however, it has evolved tremendously. In fact, Dow and Tonn (1993) asserted through their study of Texas governor Ann Richard’s speeches that this new feminine speech was an â€Å"alternative political philosophy’’ ... ... is incredibly new and full of ambiguity. As mentioned before, there is a great deal of knowledge that has yet to be uncovered on the topic of gender and political discourse – particularly with regards to female candidates at the national level. As the scope of politics in America continues to change, and as more female politicians become figures on the national stage, the importance of research of this nature. However, through this particular study at hand, I intend to highlight the commonalities in female politicians’ performance of their feminine identities through discourse in hopes of coming to a conclusion of what â€Å"feminine† political discourse looks like in this decade. In doing so, I hope to establish the groundwork for future discussion on the evolution of discourse used by female candidates seeking political offices, a topic that is rarely discussed. â€Æ'

Analysis of Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson Essay -- Richard

In â€Å"Richard Cory†, Edwin Arlington Robinson uses irony, simplicity, and perfect rhyme to depict the theme of the poem. The rhyme in â€Å"Richard Cory† is almost song-like, and it continues throughout the whole poem. The theme of the poem is that appearances are deceiving. The poem is about a man who everyone thinks is a â€Å"gentleman from sole to crown†, who then commits suicide. Irony is used in the poem very skillfully to show that appearances may be deceiving. When reading the poem, you get caught up in the song-like rhythm and it intensifies the effect of the tragedy. You think that everything is going perfectly, and that the poem is going to have a happy ending until you get to the last two lines, which are, â€Å"And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,/ Went home and put a bullet through his head.† When Richard Cory kills himself at the end of the poem, it is as shocking to the reader as it is to everyone else in the poem who assumed him to be the all around perfect guy. It is ironical that the man who everyone else thought was â€Å"perfect†, was missing something, and took his life Why does everyone want to be like someone else? It is human nature to want to be admired and honored. This is not right, though. Each and everyone person should be happy with who they are because just imagine if everyone were perfect and the same. The world would be quite boring. Edwin Robinson clearly shows us in his poem "Richard Cory" that the life of someone else may not be all what it is cracked up...

Environmental Valuation Of Bako National Park Environmental Sciences Essay

‘Marketing Malaysia as a finish of excellence and to do the touristry industry a major subscriber to the socio-economic development of the state ‘ This is Tourism Malaysia ‘s mission statement. It has been 37 old ages that Tourism Malaysia aims to promote the growing of touristry which will besides lend to state ‘s economic development and quality of life. The authorities began to take touristry earnestly in the late eightiess. Malaysia has launched ‘Visit Malaysia Year ‘ as the selling run in 1990, which contributed 54 % addition in international tourer reachings for that twelvemonth. The figure of visitants supports on increasing since so. Chart 1 below shows the tendency of tourer reachings and grosss to the state for the past 10 old ages. There was a rapid growing in both tourer reachings and grosss till the figure slowed down in the 2002 an 2003. This was due to worldwide frights of terrorist act, September 11 onslaught on the WTC in New York, followed by bird grippe diseases and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS ) onslaught. However the tendency continues to increase despite reverses in the undermentioned old ages till present which amounting to 22 million of tourer reachings and RM 49,561.2 million in grosss for 2008. At the minute, touristry is the state ‘s 3rd largest beginning of foreign exchange net incomes after fabrication and oil. Malaya, being situated within the tropical part, has many nature-based touristry attractive forces, for illustrations, caves, waterfalls, hot springs, beaches, coral reefs, mountains, and birds and wildlife sanctuaries. For these grounds, the authorities is really acute in advancing these nature-based attractive forces. To conserve these nature-based attractive forces, the authorities has established a web of protected countries for the preservation of biological diverseness. Malaysia has ever been recognized to be one of the richest biodiversity in the universe. This is in line with the National Policy on Biological Diversity whose vision is to â€Å" transform Malaysia into a universe Centre of excellence in preservation, research and use of tropical biological diverseness by the twelvemonth 2020 † ( MoSTE, 1998 ) . The World Conservation Union ( IUCN ) has defined national park as natural country of land and/or sea, designated to a ) protect the ecological unity of one or more ecosystems for present and future coevalss, B ) exclude development or business unfriendly ( harmful ) to the intents of appellation of the country, and degree Celsius ) provide a foundation for religious, instruction, recreational and visitant chances, all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible ( IUCN, 1994 ) . These national Parkss are established for the intent of saving, hence leting and encouraging entree for instruction, diversion and touristry intents. The direction of touristry in sing the natural countries is complicated in Malaysia. Authority for assorted natural resources is randomly divided under different authorities umbrellas and several province governments ( Hall, 1994 ) . In Peninsular Malaysia, tellurian protected countries are chiefly managed by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks ( DWNP ) and the Department of Forestry. The Marine protected countries are managed by the Federal Marine Parks Section under the Ministry of Natural resources and the Environment. In Sabah, the tellurian protected countries are managed by Sabah Parks, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department and Sabah Foundation, while all the Marine protected countries are managed by Sabah Parks. In the instance of Sarawak, all tellurian and marine protected countries are managed by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation. Malaysia has 30 gazetted national Parkss which inclusive of 6 Marine Parkss. There are 8 national Parkss located in Peninsular Malaysia, 7 are in Sabah and 15 are in Sarawak. A sum-up of the national Parkss in Malaysia is in Table 1. Table 1: List of National Parks in Malaysia Location Parks Date established Size ( hour angle ) /area Attractions Peninsular Malaya Taman Negara National Park, within 3 province boundaries of Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu 1939 434,300 hectares Largest in the state Canopy walk Wildlife observation Endau-Rompin National Park, Johor-Pahang boundary line 49,000 hectares Rock formation Sandstone tableland Tropical wood Tanjung Piai Johor National Park, Johor 2001 Wetlands Coastal Rhizophora mangle Bird observation and fishing Penang National Park, Penang 2003 2,562 hectares Meromictic lake Wetlands Mangroves Coral reefs Turtle nesting beaches Payar Marine Park, Kedah 1985 Screens 2 maritime stat mis of 4 islands Coral reefs Marine life Snorkeling Scuba diving Redang Marine Park, Terengganu 1985 25 square kilometer Coral reefs Marine life Snorkeling Scuba diving Tioman Marine Park, Pahang 39 kilometer long and 12 kilometers broad Coral reefs Marine life Snorkeling Scuba diving Cragged Mersing Marine Park, Johor White beaches Coral reefs North borneo Crocker Range National Park Assorted dipterocarp forest Montane forest Pulau Tiga Park Coral reefs Beach forest Kinabalu Park 4,101 meters above sea degree Mount mounting Tunku Abdul Rahman Park Beach forest Turtle Island Park Turtle nesting beach Tawau Hills Park 27,972 hectare Sarawak Bako National Park 1957 2727 The oldest park Heath forest Open scrubland Mangrove Kubah National Park 1988 2230 The universe of thenar Montane forest Assorted dipterocarp forest Heath forest Gunung Gading National Park 1983 4196 Home of rafflesia Montane forest Assorted dipterocarp forest Batang Ai national Park 1990 24040 Home of orang utan Assorted dipterocarp forest Riparian wood Regenerated forest Tanjung Datu National Park 1994 1379 The smallest park Assorted dipterocarp forest Beach forest Niah National Park 1974 3138 The archaeological site of Sarawak Assorted dipterocarp forest Limestone forest flora Heath forest Lambir Hills National Park 1975 6949 The virgin rain forest of Sarawak Assorted dipterocarp forest Heath forest Gunung Mulu National park 1974 52865 The biggest cave chamber in the universe Assorted dipterocarp forest Limestone forest flora Montane forest Similajau National Park, Bintulu 1976 8996 Where the rapids meet the sea Assorted dipterocarp forest Beach forest Mangrove forest Talang-Satang National Park 1999 Sarawak ‘s polo-neck islands Marine polo-neck preservation Bukit Tiban National Park, Bintulu 2000 Conservation and research presentation Water-based diversion Wildlife watching Jungle trekking Maludam National Park, Sri Aman 2000 Peat swamp The last feasible ruddy banded langur population ( monkey ) Rajang Mangroves National Park, Sarikei 2000 The Rhizophora mangle ecosystem Mangrove forest Gunung Buda National Park 2001 The newest national park Limestone forest Loagan Bunut National Park 1990 10736 The largest natural lake Peat swamp wood Assorted dipterocarp forest Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.malaysiamydestination.com Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, 2006 In this survey, the range is limited to the tellurian protected country i.e. national park country, which is the most recognizable class of protected countries. As diversion is one of the grounds of the appellation of these national park countries, they are view as the of import subscriber to the touristry industry. Sarawak National Parks Modern Parkss and militias were established in the late 1800s. With this, Sarawak attempts began with the being of the National Park Ordinance in 1956 and the constitution of a Board of Trustees to administrate this. In 1973, there is a alteration in the disposal of national Parkss, where the Board of Trustees is replaced by the Conservator of Forests. Since so, Sarawak Forestry Corporation has been charged with the duty of implementing the regulation. Sarawak Forestry Corporation managed all 15 tellurian and marine Parkss in Sarawak province which covers the entire country of 184,922 hour angle. The aims of the National Parks and Wildlife Division ( NPWD ) are: – To set up and pull off the National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, nature Militias, Forest Parks and other tantamount militias throughout Sarawak. To supply recreational and other installations in National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, nature Militias, Forest Parks and other tantamount militias. To develop an effectual promotion and extension service on nature preservation. To set about research in the ecology, saving and extension of wildlife and their natural home ground. There are four subdivisions within the NPWD, viz. Parks and Nature Reserves Branch, Wildlife Branch, Planning & A ; Development subdivision and Interpretation & A ; Conservation Education Branch. The chief duties of Parks and Reserves Branch include overall direction of all Parkss and militias. The Wildlife Branch chief activities are wildlife direction and research. These include home ground direction, confined genteelness, species direction veterinary, enforcement and licensing. The research is chiefly on Primatess, big and little mammals, birds, reptilians and amphibious vehicles. The Planning and Development Branch is responsible to pull off the Planning and Investigation Unit and the Design and Implementation Unit. Last, the Interpretation and Conservation Education Branch is responsible for four units which are Interpretation Unit, Conservation Education and Extension Unit, Research Unit and Administration Unit. Bako National Park ( BNP ) was the first to be gazetted as a protected country on 1 May 1957 among all the 15 national Parkss in Sarawak. It is located 37 kilometres to the E of the capital metropolis of Kuching. Covering an country or 2727 hectares of a rugged sand rock, in the map, BNP is at the tip of the Muara Tebas peninsular. It was merely until 1985, the route from Kuching to BNP was completed and in order to entree to the park, it requires a short express boat journey of about 25 proceedingss ride along the Bako River. BNP is one of the smallest national Parkss in Sarawak, yet recorded as one of the highest rate of visitants to day of the month. BNP is celebrated for its rain forest, forest wildlife, jungle watercourses, waterfalls, works life, secluded beaches and trekking trails. The jungle trekking trails are good maintained web of 16 colour-coded walking trails, from easy ambles, full twenty-four hours treks to overnight bivouacing expeditions which allows the visitants t o acquire to the most out of its alone environment. The undermentioned tabular array provides inside informations of trekking journey in BNP. No Name of trail Trail length ( kilometer ) One manner clip & A ; Distance from HQ Colour Code 1 Tanjung Sapi 0.5 30 proceedingss ( 0.8km ) White/Red 2 Telok Paku 0.8 1 hr ( 1.2 kilometer ) White 3 Ulu Assam 0.8 1 A? hours ( 1.4km ) Blue/Red 4 Telok Delima 0.25 45 proceedingss ( 1km ) Blue/White 5 Telok Pandan Besar 0.75 1 hr ( 1.75km ) Yellow 6 Telok Pandan Kecil 1.5 1 A? hours ( 2.5km ) Yeloow 7 Serait 1.25 1 A? hours ( 2.2km ) White/yellow 8 Lintang 5.25 3 A? hours return Red 9 Tajor 2.75 2 A? hours ( 3.5km ) Red/White 10 Tanjung Rhu 1.8 2 A? hours ( 4.2km ) Red/Yellow 11 Bukit Keruing 2.25 3 A? hours ( 5.5km ) Blue 12 Paya Jelutong 0.2 3 A? hours ( 5.7km ) White/Blue 13 Bukit Gondol 2 4 A? hours ( 7.7km ) Yellow/White 14 Ulu Serait 2.75 3 hours ( 4.8km ) Blue/yellow 15 Telok Sibur 0.8 3 A? hours ( 5.3km ) Red/Black 16 Telok Limau 5.75 7 hours ( 10km ) Red/Blue 17 Telok Kruin 1.5 7 A? hours ( 10.5km ) Blue/Black 18 Pa ‘ Amit ( Lakei Island ) 1.0 30 proceedingss ( from Base ) OrangeRevised Fess and Accommodation ChargesEffective 1 July 2002Entrance FeesVisitor Category Single Entry ( per individual ) Multiple Entry ( Non-transferable ) ( per individual ) 5-Entry Base on balls ( Movable valid for 1 individual ) 1-month cogency 3-months cogency Adult RM10.00 RM50.00 RM100.00 RM40.00 Student/Senior Citizen/Disabled individual RM5.00 RM25.00 RM50.00 RM20.00 Assorted Group* n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Child, 6 old ages and below Free Free Free FreeType of accomodationFacilitiesRate per darkNo. of units availableForest Lodge, Type 5 2 suites with 3 individual beds each Non-air conditioned Fan merely Shared bathroom and lavatory RM100+ per room or RM150+ per house 7 Forest Lodge, Type 6 2 suites with 2 individual beds each Non-air conditioned Fan merely Attached bathroom and lavatory RM50+ per room or RM75+ per house 2 Forest Hostel 4 suites with 4 individual beds each Non-air conditioned Fan merely Shared bathroom and lavatory RM15+ per bed or RM40+ per room 3 Camp site ( bivouacing equipment is non provided ) Public bathrooms and lavatories RM5 per individual 18 sites + Plus 5 % authorities service revenue enhancement Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.forestry.sarawak.gov.myRules and RegulationsThe regulations and ordinances are at that place to protect the park for the benefits of visitants. It is an offense to: – Enter without a license ; Kill, gaining control, toxicant or upset any animate being ; Cut, take, destruct or put fire to any object ; life or inanimate, dead or alive, Introduce any animate being or works onto the park ; Damage, erect any edifice or other constructions ; Litter Punishments: The minimal mulct for the above offenses is RM1,000 and six months imprisonment. License: Visitors must obtain a certified license before come ining the national Parks, nature Militias or Wildlife Centre from the nearest engagement offices. For professional movie shapers and those transporting out expeditions, a particular permission from the Sarawak State Secretary must be acquired in progress. Exclusion of liabilities: Any individual sing Sarawak ‘s national Parkss, nature militias and wildlife Centres enter at their ain hazard. The license to come in is granted capable to the status that the Forest Department and/or the State Government and/or Officer shall non be responsible for any physical, mental or emotional hurt sustained, or any loss of life, or belongings or whatsoever sort within these countries. The State Government of it Officer disclaims any act ( s ) or skip nevertheless caused or originate within these countries. LITERATURE REVIEW Economic Evaluation of Environment Policy shapers in developed states have realized that it is of import to take into history the economic rating in the procedure of determination devising. However, in developing state like Malaysia, the rating of environmental good is regarded as unfamiliar. Though researches sing this issue in Malaysia published are found to be rare, the determination proved that our state besides give values on environmental goods. Economic rating refers to the measuring on footings of money values to non-marketed goods and services. Non-marketed goods and services include those which can non be straight bought and sold in the unfastened market topographic point. Goods and services which have economic value contribute positively to human well-being. This is determined by the penchants of the persons which show the degree of satisfaction. These penchants can be revealed in the context of willingness to pay ( WTP ) . On the contrary, human well-being will besides necessitate to digest with the unwanted values which revealed in the context of willingness to accept ( WTA ) . Economic rating technique aims to find the entire economic value ( TEV ) . TEV identifies the alterations in human well-being that accrue from a alteration in the proviso of the good. These values may accrue to users and non users. The illustrations for this would be the willingness to pay for the saving of the forest in the national park and the preservation of endangered species like the proboscis monkey, even though the person may non hold seen the species while in the national park. TEV is made up of the amount of usage and non-use value. Use values may be direct or indirect. An illustration for this would be a wood in a national park. Visitors to the forest brand direct usage of it and the fact that the forest protecting the water parting of the part is an illustration of an indirect usage. A non-use value, besides known as inactive usage values, is when persons are willing to pay even though they make no direct usage of it. There are two methods in gauging the economic values of non-marketed goods and services which are revealed penchants ( RP ) and stated penchants ( SP ) . RP and SP can be use to gauge the usage value, nevertheless non-use values can merely be estimated by SP techniques. RP is exercised when the penchant of the persons is revealed by their buying wont in the existent market, which is price-based. In contrast, SP measures the demand of goods and services which do non hold market monetary value as they are non straight sold. Normally, the study would inquire on how much money would persons are WTP or WTA to bask the benefit of the goods and services, for illustration, the being of the environment. Property market ( WTP ) Labour market ( WTA ) Contingent ranking Contingent ( conjoint ) evaluation Choice experiments Paired comparings Market monetary values ( WTP ) Contingent rating ( WTP/WTA ) Choice modeling ( WTP/WTA ) Debaring behavior ( WTP ) Random utility/ distinct pick theoretical accounts ( WTP ) Hedonic pricing Travel cost method ( WTP ) Benefit transportation Stated Preferences conjectural markets does response/production maps Entire Economic Value Non-use Value Use Value Revealed Preferences conventional and proxy Figure 1 Economic rating techniques Developed states every bit good as the developing states have accepted that environmental goods can be measured utilizing several methods. In developed states, the methods used are beforehand where they have applied the usage of benefit transportation into their researches. However in Malaysia, the most common is CVM and merely late CM was adopted in researches done byaˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦.. Revealed penchants technique Stated penchant technique SP technique which ask conjectural inquiries, are categorized into contingent rating ( CV ) and multi-attribute rating ( MAV ) ( Anna Merino-Castello, 2003 ) . Contingent Valuation ( CV ) CV measures the WTP through direct inquiries such as â€Å" How much are you willing to pay? ‘ and ‘Are you willing to pay RMx? ‘ . The former estimates the single penchants utilizing the open-ended method which is penchant based. The latter inquiry estimates the single penchants utilizing the referendum or dichotomous pick evocation. The respondents are merely given the option of replying yes or no, which is choice-based. This implies the premise of random public-service corporation map where the coefficients value are obtained through the appraisal of binary logit utilizing the maximal likelihood process. However, an increasing figure of empirical surveies revealed that dichotomous pick consequences seemed to be significantly larger that open-ended values, perchance due to ‘yeah-saying ‘ ( Hanley et al. , 2001 ) . Both open-ended and dichotomous CV attacks have restrictions in gauging values. These restrictions are: 1. merely one property to be valued by respondent 2. respondents are improbable to give accurate response for conjectural market 3. May bring on some respondents to act strategically when public goods are involved Due to these restrictions, researches in rating of non-use value exchanging to the option stated penchant technique which is MAV. The chief difference between CV and MAV is that CV analyses one property of the merchandise at a clip whilst MAV analyses more than one property at the same time. This includes whether the properties are attached to one another or a trade-offs between them. Choice Modelling ( CM ) Similar to CV, MAV can be categorized into preference-based and choice-based method. In preference-based, the respondents are required to rate or rank each alternate merchandise in conjectural and existent market. On the other manus, in choice-based method, the respondents need to take one among several options merchandises which is more realistic because the respondents execute this mundane as a consumer taking a series of viing merchandises. In preference-based, the respondents does non necessitate doing any committedness to take a peculiar option, hence this is the ground why choice-based method is more preferable than preference-based attack. Preference-based method is by and large termed as conjoint analysis ( CA ) which comprises of contingent evaluation and paired comparing while choice-based method globally termed as pick mold ( CM ) which comprises of contingent ranking and pick experiment. CA and CM are differentiated by the signifier of the public-service corporation map. CA use a deterministic public-service corporation map and CM use the random public-service corporation map. Deterministic public-service corporation map is assumed to be related to an person ‘s evaluation via a transmutation map o : Uij = o [ Vij ( Xij ) ] This information is estimated utilizing ordinary least squares ( OLS ) arrested development techniques which implies the premise of the cardinality of evaluations graduated table ( Bateman et al, 2002 ) . In contrast, CM usage random public-service corporation map which represents the incorporate behavioural theory of determination behaviour and is composed of a deterministic constituent Vij and s stochastic I µij: Uij = Vij ( Xij ) + I µij This random public-service corporation theory ( RUT ) leads to the distinct pick theoretical accounts which describes the behaviour of respondents ‘ pick chances in response to alterations in properties that step differences across other respondents. This information is estimated utilizing the maximal likeliness method. All these four methods in multi-attribute rating differ in the quality of information they generate, in their grade of complexness and besides in their ability to bring forth WTP estimations that can be shown to be consistent with the usual steps of public assistance ( Bateman et al, 2002 ) . In contingent evaluation, respondents are presented with a figure of events one at a clip and are asked to rate each one separately in a numeral graduated table. The evaluation is so transformed into public-service corporation graduated table. This indirect public-service corporation map is assumed to be related to respondents ‘ evaluation via a transmutation map which leads to a typical analyzed utilizing OLS arrested development technique. As mentioned before, this implies strong premises of cardinality of evaluation graduated tables. This is inconsistent with the consumer theory. Hence, contingent evaluation does non bring forth public assistance consistent value estimations. In mated comparing, respondents are asked to take their preferable alternate out of a set of two picks and to find their penchant in a numeral graduated table. The public-service corporation map is besides estimated utilizing OLS. In a contingent ranking, respondents are required to rank a set of alternate options from most to least preferable. Each option has two or more properties, which are offered at different degrees across options. The respondents are required to rank their options. One of the options must be the current executable pick set of the respondent. The ground is, if the position quo is non included, the respondents may be forced to take the options which they non prefer at all. This rank order informations is estimated utilizing maximal likelihood process. In pick experiment, respondents are given a series of options and are required to bespeak their most preferable option. The baseline option, which is the position quo, need to be included in each of the pick set. This experiment gives welfare consistent estimations because, 1. the respondents needs to tradeoff alterations in property degrees against the cost of doing these alterations 2. the respondents can take the position quo 3. we can stand for the econometric technique used in a manner which is precisely parallel to the theory of rational and probabilistic pick. 4. we can deduce estimations of counterbalancing and tantamount excess. This conditional logit theoretical account can be estimated utilizing the maximal likelihood process.