The Benefits of increasing Drinking Age Research Paper

The Benefits of increasing Drinking Age - Research Paper Example In many developed nations such as USA and Australia, the legal age for consuming alcohol is 21, but there are sections of society, which claim that lowering drinking age is the best solution to curb this habit among youngsters and specifically students. However, those who propose lowering drinking age as a feasible solution in this regard does not understand the salient disadvantages associated with allowing drinking at teen-age. Alcohol consumption is no more a habit or just a beverage option among youngsters; it has become a way of life, a part of the culture in today's scenario (Alcohol and Drug Information Service). There is a dire need to restrict their access to alcohol because it is a proven fact that starting to drink early can impose several short-term as well as long-term disadvantages on human health and society. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the benefits of increasing the drinking age from various aspects of an individual’s life as well as the impact on gove rnment and society in a broader spectrum. Health-related benefits of increasing drinking age: Increasing drinking age restricts young students from consuming alcohol at an early age, and as they reach adulthood, the craving for alcohol is likely to die-down or controlled. Various critics of increasing drinking age argue that when people can vote and marry at 18, why cannot they drink according to their choice? The problem is that voting and marriage do not harm a person’s psyche, mental development, and physiological health. However, consuming alcohol is susceptible to infinite life-risking implications from every possible aspect of human health and also considerably deters public welfare. The most significant point in the debate upon lowering or increasing drinking age is that, Is drinking suitable for individual health at all? Then the other point that arises is that will it benefit young people in any way if they are allowed. to drink at the age of 18? The fact which canno t be ignored is that alcohol in itself is extremely injurious to health, and its impact can be devastating. Frances Webb and Ellie Whitney claimed that â€Å"Age does matter. Young people do not benefit their health by drinking; rather, they increase their risk of dying from all causes; young non-drinkers are found to have a lower risk of dying than even light drinkers† (101). There is enough substance in this claim from Webb and Whitney, since if medical science research is anything to abide by, then it is true that drinking is not a healthy habit at all, instead, it becomes the base for various life-threatening ailments. It is a reality that alcohol consumption paves the way for more than 60 fatal diseases in the human body (Freeman). James Garbutt, a psychiatry professor and researcher of Alcohol studies at the University of North Carolina, revealed that â€Å"Alcohol does all kinds of things in the body, and we're not fully aware of all its effects. It's a pretty complic ated little molecule† (Freeman). Diseases like Anemia, Cancer, Cardiovascular problems, Gout, Depression, Nerve damage, Dementia, high-blood pressure, Pancreatitis, and Cirrhosis are all caused by alcohol consumption, and the virus gets triggered more intensively if one starts drinking at an early stage of life (Freeman).  

McDonald's Health (choose a topic regarding health in mcdonalds) Research Paper

McDonald's Health (choose a topic regarding health in mcdonalds) - Research Paper Example This is despite great criticism that the corporate was selling junk foodstuffs. It should be noted that McDonald as a corporate is part of the larger community since they operate in serving the community. Being part of the society, they have all the legal rights to carryout their business independently. However, there is caution when some of the operation is causing more harm than good. It is unfair and selfish for corporates to dwell only on profit making and discard humanity (Bakan, 2005). It is sad for everybody to hold a negative impression against a corporate due to its unsocial impacts. For example, the McDonald 40% expenditure directed to kids (Bakan, 2005). This is an ethical since the kids are underage and they have not yet developed critical thinking skills that will help them evaluate media adverts. This forced the IOM (Institute of Medicine) to urge the government to insist on adverts directed to kids should promote healthy approved food (Schlosser, 2006). This policy nearly saw McDonalds corporate being closed up until they came up with rebranding their name and marketing healthy food. The questionnaire developed was entitled to gather respective reaction among people concerning the McDonald Corporation. In this regard, a total of 120 students of different grade filled in the questionnaire during the data collection. The target population was SDSU campus. According to the correspondents, there were more females (33) than males (27). Gender contribution was necessary to attain mixed feedback among people. The large sample size was aimed at eliminating possible errors likely to emanate. Considering different grades was also aimed at acquiring mixed response based on age factor. The questionnaire my group developed was composed of both closed and open ended questions. Closed questions were specific to the point and open ended question aimed at gathering descriptive responses from people.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Essay Example for Free

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Essay The act of choosing is one of the most basic, yet complex thought processes of the human mind. We humans encounter the action of choosing every single day, it can be as simple as picking out what shoes to wear, or as life altering as deciding to get an abortion. In modern western culture, citizens have the right of freedom, thus granted independence of choice. This in effect, generates unlimited amount of opportunities and choices to be made. The obvious dilemma here, being which choice is the correct one, and why we pursue to make this choice. After reading the poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost, the act of choosing strikes me as the main concept of the poem. The concept of choice is introduced and used throughout the entire poem, in a first person narrative style of writing. My interpretation of â€Å"The Road Not Taken† is that Robert Frost delivers a thoughtful way of expressing a first person choice process. He demonstrates just how important choices can be in our lives, done through writing about his decision to travel through a road over another, and later comes to the conclusion he should have taken the other road. Another important concept Robert Frost puts forward, is that one choice may perhaps lead to another choice by delivering the phrase â€Å"Yet knowing way leads to way† in the fourth sentence of the thirds stanza. I therefore believe that the poem can be compared to a gradual experience of a choice made in ones life. Demonstrating how usually one decides to follow a certain path in their life, as it seems the more suitable choice at the point in time. However it may not be the best choice or seem as good as it did in the beginning.

Information Systems In Banking Industry

Information Systems In Banking Industry INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN BANKING INDUSTRY Executive Summary: Information systems are extremely vital for the growth and survival of business organizations in todays world. All sectors of the industry are entirely dependent on these for the management of important information and data. Small organizations to large, powerful businesses such as high street banks and central and local government are taking the help of information systems to regulate their data. In this paper, we will discuss the various advantages of the use of information systems in the banking industry. We will thoroughly analyze the requirements of information systems at the various different levels and review the security needs for these purposes. Use and Benefits of Information Systems in the Banking Industry: The advent of computers has given rise to information systems being used as a business tool on a large scale. Computers and more specifically information systems are being used on a large scale by almost all businesses. The application of the capabilities of Information systems and technologies brings out improvement in business processes (Davenport and Short, 1990). One of the major sectors to reap the benefits of computers and information systems is the banks. The nature of the banking industry along with other financial industries involves information and trust. Being in the service industry, banks are in the most need of information. Technologies like cloud computing and other internet based information storage systems have allowed banks to deliver state of the art customer services to its customers while maintain the market competitiveness required for gaining business. The following paper analyzes the information needs of the banks at various departmental levels and compares th e security levels used by banks with those in other sectors. At the end of the paper, one should be able to understand the most commonly used technologies in banks, the security measures currently used in banks and whether or not there is scope for further improvement. Information Needs in Banks: The need of information was first realized in the banking industry. Being in the service sector, banks needed to store information to better their services and gain a competitive edge over their competitors. Basic services include the book keeping records of the customers while the luxurious ones include the facility of an IVR (Interactive Voice Recording) through which customers can get answers to their F.A.Qs. However, developing an information system needs huge investments, responsibility of non-leakage of information (robustness of the system), and various other security measures. Banks therefore need information at every stage possible. The benefits of information are many. Today, decision making systems are also used by banks for purposes of marketing newer loan schemes. Typically, banks might need information at the following levels. Basic or Level 1: This is the most basic level. Information at this level might be used purely for administrative purposes. Tasks include book keeping, account handling of customers etc. The revolution of internet banking has made the basic level much more attractive to customers than it used to be. Moreover the concept of phone banking through IVRs has further proved to be a major technological step towards the progress of banks and IT systems. Advanced or Level 2: At this level, information is crucial and is used at the managerial level. Managers use certain information like stock listings, annual general meetings etc in databases that is to be kept secure. This information is supposed to be secret and cannot be distributed without consent and proper authoritative power. Information at this level is hardly for customer use. However, in cases of fraud and cheating, banks can use this as a safety measure to ensure their reputation does not lose. Evaluation of Information Systems: Majority of the banks in the western countries and more recently in Asian countries to use the advent of information systems to bolster their business. Decision making tools, account management systems, and internet based systems are widely used by banks to lure customers in the quest to attract them. Since the sector they operate is the service sector, banks need to realize that they can ill afford to let their customer service affect due to the technological advances. To evaluate the information systems used by banks, one needs to realize the general nature of information systems used by banks currently. Nature of Information systems currently used by banks: A variety of information systems are being used by banks. Currently, most banks operate with multiple legacy systems that operate on a single mainframe computer (Lenard ML, Ferran C 1997). With times, this basic concept has not changed much. The concept of object oriented programming has given rise to the use of multiple servers thereby reducing the load on a single PC. Moreover, the internet has evolved as a complete source of secure technology that acts as a useful resource to the banks. The advent of internet based systems (popularly known as web based systems) has allowed banks to be more precise and keep a hassle free record system. However, the internet based systems have led to many security issues. The next section describes them. Security: The main problem of internet based applications is the level of security provided. There have been a number of cases with the most famous ones being the ATM card duplication and credit card faults have all arisen due to information system vulnerability. Therefore, banks need to provide a level of security that cannot be breached. It is tough to say that the system is â€Å"foolproof† since programming involves coding and decoding. Therefore what can be coded can also be decoded. However, many security measures have been taken by bank authorities in accordance with the IT professionals to allow smooth hassle free banking through the use of computers and information systems. Some of the common security features include the secure server technology (SSL technology), Enforcement of laws like the Data protection act enables for more careful banking by the banks. The law enables anyone the use the information provided over the internet with due care and only with the consent of the provider of that information. This law has worked wonders in that it has made the owners of websites more responsible to such mishaps. Information flooded over the internet can only be used for purposes said and described prior to collection of it. Law thus acts as one of the barriers to those who want to breach it. Apart from law, security levels include password remembrance systems, additional information provision and providing passwords to specific phone numbers only. By doing this, the internet has taken help of other acquisitions of humans into consideration. The logic is that a human cannot lose all at a time and hence is a good measure to reduce the security threats. Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is the term given to applications which operate over the web and are accessible to everyone who has an access to the internet. Intranet, knowledge based systems and websites are all examples of cloud computing. Cloud computing takes help of a third party service provider to rent the applications. With cloud computing, users need to have little expertise over the computer and its working. This calls for major security threats since it can be accessible by anyone who has access to a computer. Computer literacy is also little required. However, for our chosen organization cloud computing is not suitable. Although in other service sectors, cloud computing has worked wonders to attract customer base, banks cannot afford to use such systems. In fact, banks can operate with secure systems and yet gain an advantage by stating their expertise and care they take for their customers. To conclude, the use and benefits of information systems in banks are many. Along with these come many challenges which the banks need to take care of. However, with the wonderful invention, banks have certainly been revolutionized. References: C. Ferran and M.L Lenard, â€Å"An Object Oriented Approach to Banking Information Systems†, 1997, pp. 1-7. D.E. Avison and V. Taylor, â€Å"Information systems development methodologies: a classification according to problem situation†, Journal of Information technology, 1997, pp. 73-81. T.H. Davenport and J.E. Short, â€Å"Information technology and business process design†, Operations Management, 1990, Vol.3, pp.11-27.

banks :: essays research papers

If much of contemporary literary theory emphasizes the cultural production of class, race, and gender in American fiction, contemporary fiction that utilizes the resources of narrative minimalism to explore issues of cultural division - fiction by such writers as Raymond Carver, Toni Morrison, Susan Minot, and Russell Banks - increasingly provides the context for critical debate. The refusal to elaborate plot or to use plot to suggest a narrator who controls interpretation, becomes itself a strategy that allows the reader to observe clearly the boundaries between the story's minimal plot and the way the socially produced narratives invoked by the story enforce cultural division. If we conceive of narrative as the establishment, for the reader, of a network of expectations within a frame of contingency, then perhaps no expectation is more fundamental than that of intelligible action@ the progression of story through chronological time, which we commonly refer to as plot. In a world w here the possibilities of plot express unattainable desires on the part of a narrative's characters, however, the reader's desire for a resolution of plot into meaning is thwarted, and the resultant anxiety the reader feels underscores his or her complicity with the frustrations and incoherencies of the characters, lives. These incoherencies resist sentimental assimilation into the reader's aesthetic imagination. The resultant daydreams and wish-fulfilling fantasies display, as Fredric Jameson argues, the otherwise inconceivable link between history and desire (182). Russell Banks's Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat" presents precisely such an evasive narrative, one whose very evasion establishes a dialogic relationship between the reader and a cast of characters whose lives display the wreckage of the larger cultural narratives that marginalize them. In effect, Banks's minimalism accentuates the missing cultural narratives that have written the characters into th e margins. "Black Man and White Woman" does, of course, present things that happen. The story opens with an apparently random variety of people who live in a trailerpark commencing their days. The reader is not immediately aware that the black man and the white woman are the focus of the story. They gradually emerge from the narrative background, and the story follows them as they row onto the lake, converse laconically, and row home. The sense of nothing happening is created in the context of their desire, both their physical desire for each other and their desire to construct plots that might provide a meaningful structure to their lives.

Free College Essays - Psychological Approach to The Things They Carried :: Things They Carried Essays

The Psychological Approach to The Things They Carried  Ã‚   In Tim O' Brian's, The Things They Carried, he talks about the Vietnam War and it's effects country.  Ã‚   O' Brian uses the psychological approach to tell the sorrows of war .   The things that they carried had all represented a part of each soldier.   In the days of the Vietnam war, they did not expect a woman to fight in a war. The story is better understood because the reader knows the background of the story and the characters personality.   The thought was just unacceptable and definitely not normal.   The two methods of interpreting a story fused together brings about a great understanding of the characters and the event which is about to take place. The deceitful interpretations presented, the things they carried, and a transformation of a dainty girl that turns into a survivor are examples of each method presented. The deceitful interpretation presented in "How to tell a true war story", is an example of Historicism.   Today, people hear about the vietnam war   through family members, friends and veterans.   When people tell war stories they try to make themselves seem victorious.   It makes the person listening feel as if it was all in the good of the people by killing people.  Ã‚  Ã‚   O'Brian somehow justifies a point in his book by stating,  Ã‚   "A true war story is never moral.   It does not instruct, nor encouraged virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done."  Ã‚   In actual reality more harm was done than good.   People were forced off of their lands to hide in safety and the economic consequence is fatal.   To derive to the point, O' Brian is saying there is no real   war story if the audience feels that killing people had made a big and better consequence.   To look back upon the Vietnam war it brought Vietnam to it's knees. The Americans assisted someone who asked them not to interfere and in the end there was no winner.   The Americans had nothing to gain by fighting this war.   The title was a contridictary of how to tell a true war story. As we carry on, we notice another example of the Historicism approach   in the story of   Song Tra Bong.   At first the young American girl is presented as an average girl in the 60's.

A Young Womans Fantasy in The Turn of the Screw Essay -- Henry James

A Young Woman's Fantasy in The Turn of the Screw   Ã‚  Ã‚   The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, is an odd story about a young woman who, leaving her small country home for the first time, takes a job as a governess in a wealthy household.   Shortly after her arrival, she begins to suffer from insomnia and fancies that she sees ghosts roaming about the grounds.   James is a master story-teller and, at times, the complexities of the story make it difficult to follow.   The Turn of the Screw is a story within a story, the tale of the governess being read aloud as a ghost story among friends.   Harold C. Goddard wrote a fascinating piece of criticism entitled "A Pre Freudian Reading of The Turn of the Screw."   When applied to the book, his theory makes perfect sense.   Goddard suggests that the governess, young and inexperienced, immediately falls in love with her employer during their meeting.   As a result of her unrequited love, her overactive mind creates a fantasy in which the the two ghosts intend to harm the children, in order to make herself a heroine, thereby getting the attention of her employer.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Goddard points out that the young woman is unstable from the beginning.   We find out little about her background, except that she is "the youngest of several daughters of a poor country parson" (4).   It becomes immediately obvious to the reader that such a drastic change of environment as she experiences is cause enough for her to experience extreme anxiety.   Indeed, she tells Mrs. Grose, "I'm rather easily carried away.   I was carried away in London!" (8).   After her interview with her potential employer, the man from Harley Street and the uncle of her young charges, she goes on and on about the man, praising him and ... ... that haunt the grounds.   The story is told through the voice of the governess, which, considering her mental state, makes it difficult to decipher what is actually occurring.   There are many questions that are never answered, rather, they are left up to the reader to decide. Works Cited and Consulted Freud, Sigmund. An Outline of Psycho-Analysis. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1969. Goddard, Harold C. A Pre Freudian Reading of The Turn of the Screw. New York: Hillary House Publishers, 1960. James, Henry. "The Turn of the Screw". The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels. New York: New American Library, 1995. Nunning, Ansgar. "Unreliable Narrator." Encyclopedia of the Novel. Ed. Paul Schellinger. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. 1386-1388. Wagenknecht, Edward. The Tales of Henry James. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1984. A Young Woman's Fantasy in The Turn of the Screw Essay -- Henry James A Young Woman's Fantasy in The Turn of the Screw   Ã‚  Ã‚   The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, is an odd story about a young woman who, leaving her small country home for the first time, takes a job as a governess in a wealthy household.   Shortly after her arrival, she begins to suffer from insomnia and fancies that she sees ghosts roaming about the grounds.   James is a master story-teller and, at times, the complexities of the story make it difficult to follow.   The Turn of the Screw is a story within a story, the tale of the governess being read aloud as a ghost story among friends.   Harold C. Goddard wrote a fascinating piece of criticism entitled "A Pre Freudian Reading of The Turn of the Screw."   When applied to the book, his theory makes perfect sense.   Goddard suggests that the governess, young and inexperienced, immediately falls in love with her employer during their meeting.   As a result of her unrequited love, her overactive mind creates a fantasy in which the the two ghosts intend to harm the children, in order to make herself a heroine, thereby getting the attention of her employer.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Goddard points out that the young woman is unstable from the beginning.   We find out little about her background, except that she is "the youngest of several daughters of a poor country parson" (4).   It becomes immediately obvious to the reader that such a drastic change of environment as she experiences is cause enough for her to experience extreme anxiety.   Indeed, she tells Mrs. Grose, "I'm rather easily carried away.   I was carried away in London!" (8).   After her interview with her potential employer, the man from Harley Street and the uncle of her young charges, she goes on and on about the man, praising him and ... ... that haunt the grounds.   The story is told through the voice of the governess, which, considering her mental state, makes it difficult to decipher what is actually occurring.   There are many questions that are never answered, rather, they are left up to the reader to decide. Works Cited and Consulted Freud, Sigmund. An Outline of Psycho-Analysis. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1969. Goddard, Harold C. A Pre Freudian Reading of The Turn of the Screw. New York: Hillary House Publishers, 1960. James, Henry. "The Turn of the Screw". The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels. New York: New American Library, 1995. Nunning, Ansgar. "Unreliable Narrator." Encyclopedia of the Novel. Ed. Paul Schellinger. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. 1386-1388. Wagenknecht, Edward. The Tales of Henry James. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1984.