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Freeway Congestion Essay The economy of a country may be determined by several factors . the growth of country’s wealth is coupled to factors such as the people population, availability of natural resources, their proper usage and general environmental management. During early time of our fore father, people enjoyed better environment due to low populations of all sort things. Peoples’ population was low and many of them lived in remote areas. Occupational space was never an issue to think of, as there was plenty of land available for any particular use. They preferred rural areas as most of them were gatherers and pastoralists. While others were substance farmers and hunters, they had the freedom to use select the site to carry out any activity of their wish anywhere. Land ownership was generally belonging to the community but not an individual as it is nowadays. The present system of individual land ownership has brought a lot of discrepancies in the distribution of people populations, infrastructure and other community amenities of paramount importance. Due to above reason different kinds of congestion has resulted leading to stresses and tensions in today’s global world. This has leads me to think of economic urban areas in term traffic congestions. (Schrank and Lomas, 2002) The interdependence between transportation and land use has long before been recognized m. Land use strongly affects transportation patterns, and the properties of the transportation network strongly affect the land use. This is well understood in a homocentric city with only commuting travel of the central business district. Most cities have become increasingly polycentric and job locations increasingly dispersed. (Anas and Small, 1980) It is also evident that noncom muting trips have become increasing important with the choice of residential location less strongly tied to workplace location. So these changes in land use are likely to continue to affect traffic volumes and patterns even more so. It is certain that the problem of traffic jams is so often to a point of describing it as a curse of the modern life. It is obvious that people must interact with one another through social life and that they have to travel long distances for purposes of business transactions. Motor vehicle transportation is one of the common methods used all over the world. Many major cities are fed and connected to each other by means of roads . so roads makes a very useful means of communication. People and cargo transport is a usual activity. Although this has proved very valuable to many developing and developed countries, it has also turned out to be one of the most embarrassing ways of travel and cargo transportation means. This is exactly due to traffic congestion in major towns and cities; which are also over burdened with all other types of congestions. Traffic congestion result out to be a miserable waste of time . Traffic congestion is the build up of traffic preventing efficient movement . it is one of the most significant problems faced in modern cities today. The products of this are other major problems such as air pollution, noise pollution, visual pollution, parking problems, destruction houses and increased risks of vehicle accidents. (Schrank and Lomas, 2002) It is not unreasonable to call up severe visions of traffic jam by the year 2050 with angry motorists hooting their horns, distressed not to be even later in picking children from school or making critical appointments in the developed countries. Many people living in developed countries continues to buy more vehicles, hence household vehicle ownership rates continue to rise evenly (Hu and Young 1994). The trend of continuous increase in incomes and falling costs of car operation, vehicle miles traveled per licensed driver continue their seemingly inexorable rise. Several transportation institutes have reported alarming increases in the traffic congestion in metropolitan areas over the last two decades (schrank and Lomas, 2002). The average number of hour that most people have suffered in a traffic jam is seven. At the same time, the travel hours to work have been increasing too, nonetheless dramatically. However, there are equal countertrends, such as rising of urban street surfaces and traffic management which includes the synchronization of traffic light, improved urban freeways and highways being added and expanded, production of new automobiles with advanced technologies not forgetting the increasing proportion of urban travel from one suburban location to another. The above trend is being offset or balances out due to increase in travel under severe congestion conditions. (Schrank and Lomas, 2002) The traffic congestion situation looks to a forgotten or a blind eye sight in most experts and this raises a weak presumption that the new improvement being under taken are leading to traffics moving more faster than twenty years ago. The fact remains that the future holds worse urban traffic congestions hence there is great need to find ways of alleviating urban traffic congestions. This can be thought in many ways as a cost that is voluntarily incurred in order to enjoy the higher incomes, amenities, increasing variety of consumer goods, enlarged scope for social interaction, and generally more stimulating and vibrant lifestyles the living in cities provides. Due to fully inefficient economy of many countries, which entails among other thing the efficient pricing and provision of transportation, traffic congestion is of paramount importance than the increase the price of any other commodity competitive in the market. Urbane economy should therefore in any way be ignored, but people should be focused out the failure to charge drivers for the external congestions they impose. Several traffic controls have been put in place for which some have worked well in some countries while other are void. Land use controls on a macro scale have been practiced in Northern Europe; this has proved very effectively in reducing the overall travel and congestion . it is noted that land use control on micro scale being practiced in the U. S where by residential are separated from non residential land uses, encourages car travel while mixing land uses at local level. (Schrank and Lomas, 2002) Another method that can be applied to the reduction of traffic congestion is the application of mass transportation mostly by focusing on cars. Many personal cars within the cities carry individual drivers with all the other seats remaining empty. this is quite uneconomical because of fuel consumption and the space utilization on the roads (Mohring, 1972). there is need to explore basic economic principles of mass transit that are likely effective in lowering transit cost function and traffic jams. This is one major factors leading congestion because people have valued comfort more than time and cost. Economists should come up with ways that consider vehicle size, comfort, acceleration of buses and subway cars, the length of subway trains and station platforms, the service frequency and density of buses and subway trains, procedures to mitigate bus grouping, expedite passenger entry and exit reducing the external marginal congestions imposed by buses on cars, and repair and maintenance rolling stock together with the design of fare collection systems. Pedestrian are nevertheless left out as they really cause and act as obstacle during road crossing. it is very important to accord the due respect to pedestrian at the zebra crossing . but such crossing areas bring inconveniencies to drivers hence causing jams. Traffic congestion will be alleviated if pedestrians and travelers’ walkways would be provided with fly over instead of zebra crossing. Thus pedestrian –car congestion should be given anew design and construction. Many developed countries suffer from traffic congestion due to restriction of shopping hours. such policies restring shopping periods should be ban to allow more shopping time and reduce congestion this may seem less conceivable as result oriented of target but many people take one shopping trip rather than having separate shopping trip. Liberalized shopping has desirable outcomes. (Schrank and Lomas, 2002) Considering that often accidents do occur, they are not only costly to the direct damage but also for the non recurrent congestion they induce. The involvement of engineers on the construction of roads is necessary to include economists. An Example of work done by Newbery (1988) gives valuable contribution of freeway and high way design ,construction, and maintenance, if sound cost- benefit analysis were practiced in all aspects of urban road engineering, substantial cost saving would be achieved . Urban transport economists make valuable contributions through analyze of sound cost benefit by state and local government. In conclusion, traffic congestion is a major concern in modern society . it affects our environment with environmental pollutions through the emission of fumes. People are put at risk from the danger of excessive vehicles which results from increased car ownership and commuting to fat residential places. Generally the solution to traffic problems is by widening the roads, creation of bypasses in the inner ring roads and outer ring roads . creation of more motorways and bus lanes to provide more space. Another way of improving the means is banning personal vehicles through imposing heavy levies on fuels and import duty. This can also be incorporated by banning cars from the central business districts and overcharging those with special cases on parking places. Reference: Abbott, J. (1990): the key role for public transport funding boost in Stockholm’s road pricing plans. Urban transport International Anas, A, and Small, K. (1998): Urban spatial structure: journal of economic literature Dupree, H. (1987): Urban transportation: New town solution. Organization for Economic co-operation and development, (1973): Effect of traffic and roads on the environment in urban areas: Paris Kanemoto, Y. (1980): theories of urban externalities. Amsterdam.

Gender Roles in The Great Gatsby :: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Gender Roles: In some respects, Fitzgerald writes about gender roles in a quite conservative manner. In his novel, men work to earn money for the maintenance of the women. Men are dominant over women, especially in the case of Tom, who asserts his physical strength to subdue them. The only hint of a role reversal is in the pair of Nick and Jordan. Jordan's androgynous name and cool, collected style masculinize her more than any other female character. However, in the end, Nick does exert his dominance over her by ending the relationship. The women in the novel are an interesting group, because they do not divide into the traditional groups of Mary Magdalene and Madonna figures, instead, none of them are pure. Myrtle is the most obviously sensual, but the fact that Jordan and Daisy wear white dresses only highlights their corruption. ï‚ § What’s Fitzgerald’s implicit views of modern women in this novel? Daisy and Jordan dress the part of flappers, yet Daisy also plays the role of the Louisville rich girl debutante. A good question to ask is perhaps just how much Daisy realizes this is a â€Å"role,† and whether her recognition of that would in any sense make her a modern woman character. ï‚ § How significant is Nick’s final repudiation of Jordan Baker to the novel’s larger critique of modernity? ï‚ § Why is the novel so intrigued by Myrtle Wilson’s â€Å"immediately perceptible vitality† (30), on the one hand, yet almost viciously cruel in its mockery of her upper class pretension on the other hand? (see for example, pp.29-35 where Nick contrasts Myrtle’s â€Å"intense vitality† with her and her sister Catherine’s laughable attempts to posture themselves as modern society women. Indeed, Nick twice remarks Catherine’s plucked and redrawn eyebrows as affronts to her â€Å"nature† (see p.34, and again at the very end on pp.171-172). What’s up with that?) Even if they disagree about other issues, all feminists believe patriarchal ideology works to keep men and women confined to traditional gender roles so male dominance may be maintained. Utilizing the precepts of Feminist criticism, it could be argued â€Å"The Great Gatsby† promotes a thinly veiled patriarchal agenda. Through Fitzgerald’s treatment of the three women in â€Å"Gatsby†, as well as masking the possible homosexuality of a central character, the novel seems to promote only the traditional gender roles, swaying uncomfortably from any possible variance.

Dependency Theory and Colonial Heritage Essay

Many have tried to draw upon the legacy of the colonial system to explain the reasons for underdevelopment in many areas of the world. Most areas that suffer from poverty today are former colonies the developed nations, for the most part, are former metropoles. The colonizers exploited their underlings in colonies, turning them into suppliers of cheap raw materials and restricting the infrastructure construction, leaving former colonies with only basic facilities. In many cases, when the colonizers departed, the nations were left with artificial boundaries that separated them from each other without regard for their historical development. This fuelled subsequent separatism and military conflicts, hampering economic progress. Thus, if one looks at straight-line boundaries in Africa which we are now learning in DS 202, it becomes obvious that those were artificially created. The colonizers, in particular the British Empire, were suppressing the industrial development in their colonies because they viewed them as sources of cheap imports and at the same time large markets for their industrial goods. An example of north-eastern Brazil that often surfaces in literature on underdevelopment, (Taylor 2001) claims that north eastern Brazil in the 19th century would have appeared to be an ideal place for a textile industry with its high quality cotton and existing demand for sugar bags cloth and slave clothing. However, to develop the textile industry, it would take years during which the industry should have been shielded from foreign competition with import tariffs and quotas. This was surely not something Britain would allow in its colony. As a result, the fledgling Brazilian textile enterprises proved unable to withstand the competition with Britain’s textile industry. Britain, like almost any metropole, was interested in selling to the colony, not de veloping industry inside it. As of 1822, when Brazil received independence, it was a larger export market for Britain than all the rest of Latin America combined (Taylor, 2001). Naturally, even as Brazil proclaimed independence, Britain did not want to lose this lucrative market and demanded a trade treaty with Britain which prohibited import substitution tariffs (Taylor, 2001). Brazil was forced into this treaty by its political weakness. In this way, former metropolitan powers keep control of their former colonies to varying extents, blocking their effective development. In newly independent nations of Latin America, for instance, the warfare that  often preceded proclamation of independence devastated regional and national economies (Kinsbruner 1994 pg 126). Although this perspective is not universally recognised, the IMF and the World Bank for imposing policies said to aggravate third world countries. The stated goals of both institutions are certainly to spearhead economic growth in nations they service with their financial programs. Critics , however , point out that loans from the World Bank and the IMF often come with conditions that block the road to sustainable development and make poverty even worse . The Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) imposed by the IMF as a prerequisite for qualifying for its loans often aggravate the deplorable condition of the third world nation. Thus, SAPs often call for reduction in government expenditures for health, education and other government services for the sake of debt repayment. In this way, third world nations are dragged into the quagmire of debt repayment, as their interest provides income for Wall Street banks and other financial institutions. IMF policies urge third world countries to increase their exports of raw materials and agricultural products in to cope with debt – an immediate concern. This, however, reduces the amount of food available to the poor inside the country and can lead to starvation second, does not create conditions for building processing industries that will increase value added inside the country. Besides, the IMF often demands for liberal market reforms that involve privatisation that, without proper prepa ration and evaluation of potential consequences, can lead to loss of jobs, aggravation of the social situation and civil unrest. Such measures lead to social discontent that can hamper the development of economies in developing countries. With respect to harmful policies imposed by the fund, Amin notes that the key to development is subordination of outside relations to the logic of internal development and not the reverse as it is happening when development policies are imposed by outside financial institutions (Amin, 1995 pg 10). The harmful role of the World Bank and the IMF in the development of poor nations is by no means indisputable. However, there are many criticisms aimed at the policies that accompany loans and the very idea of reaping interest income off the populations of the nations where starvation is a widely spread phenomenon. Political Aspects. Many regions of the world that demonstrate marked third world are characterised by overt concentration of power in the hands of a rich minority that uses this power to oppress the majority. For example, the North-eastern areas of Brazil that rely on sugar production as the primary source of income are seriously underdeveloped as compared to the rest of the nation. The property patterns in this region are the history of the dominant class manipulating social, political, and economic institutions so as to expropriate the maximum possible surplus from the rural workers (Taylor, 1978 pg 57). The economic interests of the land-owning class lay in extracting as much as possible from their plantations and workers as opposed to investing in the area. The result is miserable since an area that specialises in agricultural production cannot even feed its own citizens and has to import most of its agricultural produce from the rest of the nation. With a stagnant economic situation, the north-eastern Brazil has suffered from health education, and literacy standards that ended in a peasant revolt in the 1960s (Taylor, 1978 pg 157) Regional Inequalities. Many travellers to nations lik e China, India or the Caribbean are immediately impressed by the contrast between squalor of provincial areas and the apparent luxury of large cities and some ‘advanced’ areas. Regional inequalities contribute to underdevelopment, creating a situation when some areas are on their way toward modernisation, while others are forced into the backseat of social and economic progress. The importance of regional inequalities as source of underdevelopment is explored, for instance, in Andre Gunder Frank ‘s 1989 publication The Development of Underdevelopment (Frank 1989) challenges the view that third world nations are still going through the stages that more developed countries are done with. Instead, he asserts that problems of underdeveloped areas are the inevitable result of the capitalist system. The same, in his mind, is true of the regional disparities observed in the third world countries where the capital and larger cities often stand out as oases of advancement among the generally gloomy landscape around. The underdevelopment phenomena in the province are the products of the historical development of the capitalist system no less than are the seemin gly more modern or capitalist features of the national metropoles of the third world countries Frank (1989, pg 37). Education and Training. A well-trained and educated workforce is the necessary precondition for successful economic development. The presence of a large educated population contributes to India’s current rise as an outsourcing destination, although  it has so far failed to ensure overall prosperity in this nation. This problem, for instance, is addressed in Canadian programs targeting development of Aboriginal areas. The Indian entrepreneurship has to be supported with knowledgeable workforce that will attract capital flows to the areas. Although the fact that Native Americans missed the industrial revolution ‘ has its upside, as there is no need for re-training, integration of these people into the complex web of the global economy is a serious challenge (Kendall , 2001). Similar problems are experienced by many third world countries only in their case unlike the situation of Aboriginal populations in Canada, there is no strong nation to back them up in the efforts to increase their education. Cultural Factors. Culture, to some degree, can also adversely impact development or contribute to it. The modern world is patterned to a great extent after the Western cultures of the nations that have a dominant role in this world. Those that do not fit into these patterns will not achieve success as their development would ideally proceed along different lines. An example can be the case of Africa and Native Americans in Canada. Although living in a highly developed and prosperous nation, Native Americans, South Africa and even Zimbabwe, the Aboriginals fail to attain economic well-being. One reason that precludes their success is supposed to be their culture that envisages collective ownership and sharing of resources, as opposed to the idea of individual private rights that characterizes Western culture Kendall, (2001 pg 43). Industrial technology best develops in conditions that favour private ownership however, for these countries, it often means they have to abandon their cultural values which in most cases is not the case. CONCLUSION The difficulties of modernising and developing third world countries are multiple. More often than not different factors of third world countries will be present in areas affected by this problem, intertwined and perpetuating each other. Thus, the political situation marked by elite domination perpetuates economic inequalities that in their turn cause inadequacy of educational facilities and ensuing lack of local qualified specialists. Lack of medical services can lead to absence of effective family planning measures that in their turn lead to overpopulation and then to poverty as the national GDP struggles to catch up with economic growth.  Therefore, addressing a set of problems rather than separate issues is the cornerstone for building an effective development program.

Merck, the Fda, and the Vioxx Recall Essay - 1113 Words

Do you believe that Merck acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regard to Vioxx? Why or why not? In your answer, please address the company’s drug development and testing, marketing and advertising, relationships with government regulators and policymakers, and handling of the recall. No, Merck didn’t act in a corporate social responsibility in regards to Vioxx. Corporate social responsibility means that a corporation should act in a way that enhances society and its inhabitants and be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment. Over a five year period from 1999 to 2004 over 139,000 people in the United States has had a heart attack or stroke as a result of†¦show more content†¦For example, the state of Texas has sued Merck for violating its Medicaid fraud law and demands $168 million from the company. What should or could Merck have done differently, if anything? It appears that Mercks executives either forgot to follow or chose to ignore George W. Mercks advice when they made decisions regarding Vioxx. In our free-enterprise system, the basic purpose of a company should be to satisfy its target customers needs and wants effectively, competitively, ethically, socially responsibly, and profitably. Companies express this idea through different words in order to fit their particular business situations. What is the best way for society to protect consumers of prescription medicines? Specifically, what are the appropriate roles for pharmaceutical companies, government regulators and policymakers, patients and their physicians, and the court system in assuring the safety and effectiveness of prescription medicines? Although a successful business must be a profitable one, the corporate behavior of maximizing profit at the expense of ethics and social responsibility is highly objectionable and should be discouraged. 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Additionally, Merck’s