Animal Testing Essays (2182 words) - Animal Testing, Animal Rights

Animal Testing Medicines, household products, food, and basically everything involved in the life of an average person has to under go a form of testing before it is legal to be placed on a shelf and if available to the public. The same tests are performed on every medical procedure that is introduced to surgeons. Since the only way to directly mimic the human body is to use it itself, scientists were forced to find the closest and best alternative. That is where animals were introduced to the medical profession. Experimentation on animals date back to as early as 500 BC, making this form of medical validation one of the oldest known to humans. It is not only one of the oldest but one of the most informative. Scientists use animals in medical research to study how the body works and how to diagnose, cure, and prevent disease. Researchers also use animals for tests to try to protect the public from dangerous chemicals, (Day, 13) such as those included in detergents, bleach, and other household products. When live animals are used in experimentation, this practice is called vivisection. Animals are used in many instances because their bodies often react in a similar way to that of a humans. Although animals have been used in medical research for numerous years it was not until the early 1920's that it became more prominent. It was at this point that the introduction of using live, un-anesthetized, animals to study toxic effects on an increasing array of drugs, pesticides and food additives was introduced. After this great advance in medical research the results of using animals grew with leaps and bounds. In 1970 this process peaked with the use of millions of animals. Since then, according to the USDA's Animals Welfare Enforcement, 1,267,828 animals were used for medical purposes in 1998, which is more than a 50 percent decrease since 1970. Although this is a drastic drop in animals used there have been many medical advances; virtually every medical break through this century has come about as the result of research with animals. (Office of Technology) Of the many animals used for experiments, about 90 percent of the animals used are rats, mice and other rodents. Animals such as these are used for two reasons, one because they are readily available upon request, and two because they are cheap which helps aid the large cost of animals experimentation. Although it has been proven, that in many cases, rats and mice are not an accurate subject to test medicines on; their popularity has only grown larger. Mechanize (a travel sickness drug) caused severe deformities in rats, but not in humans, whereas Thalidomide (a sedative drug) caused no reaction in rats but cause deformities in humans. This is only one of the many cases where mice and rats have been found as faulty test subjects. With the wide range of animals that are available, the tests the are used on them are even vaster. The tests are broken down into many different categories, which allows scientists to zero in on certain areas of testing and to specify results. The largest and most useful area of testing is called Toxicity Testing. In toxicity tests, animals are generally exposed to chemicals in ways that are meant to mimic human exposure, by ingestion, inhalation, skin contact and contact with the eyes. The type of animals used in this field include rodents, dogs, cats, fish, birds (chickens, hens, pigeons) rabbits, frogs, pigs, sheep, and primates. Toxicity testing is aimed at providing information, which can be used to attempt to protect society and the environment against the harmful effects of chemicals. (Boyd, 184) Eye irritancy tests, the largest and most controversial area in toxcity testing, began in 1920. It was introduced because soldiers were exposed to mustard gas in World War I, their eyes began to burn and some lost sight. To understand what the effects of the mustard gas more clearly scientist used rabbits as their test subjects. They would force they eyes of the rabbit open and let mustard gas fester for days, they would then compare their findings to the effects on humans. After this first introduction to the benefits of eye irritancy tests its use began more useful. This method of toxicity tests is now used to test everything from shampoo to pesticides. Anti-vivisection activists consider this type of testing the most cruel because it directly damages a vital part of an animals body. Also, it is very hard to repair the eye due to its

Boys and Girls Comparative Ess essays

Boys and Girls Comparative Ess essays The movie remake of Alice Munros short story Boys and Girls fails to represent the authors intention; in comparison to the short story. The movie eliminates crucial events, which enables the audience to have impression of what the girl is feeling and show sympathy for her. As a result of eliminating the scene in which the horse is getting killed; the audience is unaware of how the girl copes and is affected by the situation. It was stated in the story that for the girl to be able to go to sleep; she would imagine herself as a different person, a heroine. These stories were deleted in the movie therefore we are unaware of what she think and hopes for. There is also a big contrast in relationships in both versions. In the movie the girls mother continuously supports and defends her against her grandmothers constant bickering; where as in the story all of the girls resentment was directed towards her mother. The relationship between the girl and her father was also falsely represented i n the movie. He seemed overly excited when Laird assisted in the recapturing the horse; therefore she showed resentment towards her brother and especially her father. The ending of the movie version is extremely different from the original story and shies away from authors intentions. In the closing scene of the movie; the girl is sitting in a truck and says, Theyll never catch me. This is in reference to how the caught Flora and killed The movie does not give the audience very closure because it can be interpreted in very many different ways; where as in the story the ending is very abrupt and concise. There are many different interpretations taken by both versions of the story boys and girls. Unfortunately the movie seems to shy away from the authors original objective. ...

Negative Ramifications on Children Exposed to ITC Programs Research Paper

Negative Ramifications on Children Exposed to ITC Programs - Research Paper Example A new facet of the Internet is socialization for the new generation (Pogue, 2008). Social networking websites have become a recent fad and children especially are extremely fascinated by it. It’s a great way to keep in touch with all your friends (old and new), and other networking purposes, however, there are many ways in which they can have a negative effect on the social well being and safety of a person. In the old days, socializing meant face to face contact or phone calls with your friends. This restricted one to a set of close friends. Later, the SMS-ing phenomenon came. Ease of text messaging allowed one to keep in touch with more people. Social networking on the Internet beat them all. All your old friends from school, college, camp, and various acquaintances are present in one place and you can keep in touch with all of them. The thought does seem amazing; what’s better than to have an online community of people you wanted to be in touch with but never got the time or resources to? The Internet made it much simpler. Many people argue that replacing a real-life community with an online community is making our social skills and relationships suffer. This is an entirely different debate altogether. However, the ease of finding and making friends is posing another threat to people especially children. On these websites and chatting software, exchange of information has become very easy. Your Facebook page may include all sorts of information ranging from your date of birth to email address, phone number etc. While security settings help you hide this information from strangers or people you don’t know, many children make accounts without being knowledgeable enough about the security settings and concerns.

The McDonald's Global Human Resource Strategy Term Paper

The McDonald's Global Human Resource Strategy - Term Paper Example There is a vigorous awards system for such things as putting customers first, years of service, or jobs done particularly well. These awards may include money, trips, plaques, and certificates and they are commemorated with much celebration and delight. The managers at McDonald’s always seem to be very relaxed and are most of the time indistinguishable from the other employees because they do not simply give orders to those under them, but they also accept feedback from them and are ready to get alternatives to their decisions. This, according to Kincheloe (2002), helps to show that although they have managers, the employee teams at McDonald’s are obviously in their later stages of development and are very comfortable outside their predefined roles, displaying high levels of motivation. The managers do not attempt to put any verbal barriers between themselves and their employees and they, instead, show genuine concern in the emotional and physical well being of their employees, something that is very rare in this type of environment. The McDonald’s restaurants have a culture that is generally inviting to new employees and these are motivated to work in these restaurants. This is because of the laid-back environment found within them and the fact that the jobs are not very stressful for the employees. Another reason why employees are motivated to continue working at McDonald’s are the different shift schedules, which the management formulates so that they can accommodate every employee. Since most of the jobs found in these restaurants are low skilled and any other employee can take over the other’s shift if they are not able to make it work due to a need to attend to other more pressing obligations.  

Company analysis of NUMICO

Company analysis of NUMICO NUMICO came into existence in the year 1896 when Mr Martinus van der Hagen secured all rights of a formula for infant milk from cows milk. His operation was based in The Hague in The Netherlands. In 20th century company changed the named to Nutricia but in the year 1997 when company received the designation Royal then its name changed to NUMICO NV. Recent Past of NUMICO: Strategic Corporate Development History For nearly 5 decades NUMICO worked with corporate strategy of trying to build themselves on only one baby product with limited exports. In 1946 company introduced another product but in the local market only. NUMICO for a long time tried to develop the new strategy after their first initial success in 19th century. Launching new product was not a brilliant idea though it was a sustainable decision. Usually companies spend millions of dollar developing the product and this would take some years to recover. As product development was not enough to grow in multiple folds so company made many acquisitions in different geographies. The result at the end of year 2006 was NUMICOs presence in more than 100 countries with plethora of products to sell. Products were bifurcated among different divisions like clinical nutritional products went under brands such as Nutrison, peptisorb etc. Revenue and profit margin both increased because of acquisition. Acquisitions can get a limited and desired level of success and to keep growing even NUMICO invested heavily in research development. Strategic alliance with industry giants, universities and government helped NUMICOs cause. Research development wing of NUMICO attracted the best and on a regular basis filed for the patents. NUMICO Acquisition strategy in 1998, 1999 2000 To exploit linkages between the organisation and its environment NUMICO adopted Medical Platform Marketing. NUMICO moved from supermarket shelves to practitioners clinics. Now, products for vulnerable people were prescribed by doctors. Expenses on research and development were forcing NUMICO to reach new places to recover the cost. In 1998 annual report NUMICO was a multinational company focusing on the development, production and sales of nutritional medical concepts with a great value addition. Strategy of NUMICO as per annual report of 1998 mentioned in the case study* by Eppink was as follows: The strategy of NUMICO is focused on specialisation, continuing internationalisation and profitable growth, partly by acquisitions as wll as by strategic alliances, and safeguarding the highest quality in all stages of production and services. As per the turnover in 1998, NUMICOs major revenue generating business still was infant food which was sold maximum in Western Europe which was experiencing the major falling birth rates and an ageing population. After analysing the market NUMICO bought few European companies to expand in profitable areas. In 1999, NUMICO acquired a company bigger than them in terms of production revenue. When NUMICO bought General Nutrition Companies (GNC) of Pittsburgh (USA) it was the largest manufacturer of nutritional product in the world with a stronghold in sports-nutrition market. It was a win-win situation for both the organisations where GNC was gaining from NUMICOs research to enhance their product range NUMICO could gain from the distribution network of GNC. Press release explained the reason of this acquisition which was to achieve the global market dominance.1 Acquisition was on the cards for the third year as well when NUMICO snapped Enrich International Rexall Sundown in 2000. Unlike GNC Enrich was in the business of nutritional supplements personal care products with an in house RD department for product development. Again unlike GMC, Enrich was in 10 more countries with a global distribution system. Rexall Sundown another US based organisation was acquired by NUMICo. Rexall like Enrich was a producer of nutritional supplements as well as consumer health products. NUMICO acquired another business which has got nothing to do with their main business interest like GMC. A press release describes the reason of acquisition which was again to get the pole position in the market.2 Acquisition of new businesses far from NUMICOs main business made NUMICO its own rival because NUMICO already had the presence in the market. However, Rexall could exploit the European market because of NUMICOs distribution network present in Europe. At this point in time, NUMICO was confused in their approach because two competitors (Enrich Rexall) were working under one roof and serving the same market. Strategist might have analysed the more competition less co-operation among the two brands. To make operation smoother and to serve their customers better NUMICO merged the Enrich Rexall in one new separate entity by the name Unicity. Strategy evaluation: From day one and for a long period of time NUMICO operated with one product because of which they never realised their potential as a standalone entity to grow. After not getting desired success till the end of 20th century NUMICO realised alone they cannot get the global position in market. At this position, they might have done PEST analysis to judge the environment affecting them. Even SWOT could be used as a tool to know the strong areas where they can build the future empire. PEST might have shown them that they are not functional in future markets where they can grow faster than their current strong hold markets like Western Europe. PEST can cover issues from demography to social technological changes like declining birth rates to e-commerce. By applying SWOT, one can know that NUMICO always regarded the RD as an important activity which they wont give up at any cost. Thus, they identified RD was their strength where they can build their future. Michael Porters 5 forces theory could have also applied in this case study to know why NUMICO only adopted the acquisition route. As the case study explains NUMICO was operating in such an environment where the small players could have changed the entire game. The threat from existing players and new comers was massive moreover small players were taking the competition to all geographies. Hence to enhance the global position in the market NUMICO adopted the acquisition route. Acquiring GMC was a sensible move it was reducing the competition and on the other hand it was enhancing the performance but acquiring Rexall Enrich was not at all a brilliant move. Reason being, it stretches the operational efficiency because NUMICO was not in the same domain with them. *case study (Do the Harvard referencing because I am not aware of the source) 1) Just the last line need referencing from the case study. 2) Press release in the case study Current Strategic Situation: Acquisitions in a field which was not related with their main business interest left them in a position between the pharmaceutical market and the food market. To avoid the stuck in the middle situation usually organisations adopts the Michael Porters (1998), generic strategies which is as follow: Figure: Competitive advantage Source: tutor2u.net (Accessed on: 20/03/2011) Cost Leadership: In this strategy, organisation aims to be the lowest cost producer to gain the maximum share in the market. To achieve this position organisation drive the cost down through sourcing the cheapest raw material labour cost. NUMICO was not trying to achieve the cost leadership because case study shows that they were aiming for high margin business. Hence, cost leadership is not NUMICOs domain. Differentiation: As the name suggests, in this strategy, organisations aim to be different from their competitors. Differentiation provides a competitive advantage to organisations which helped them to charge a premium price for their products services. If we look at NUMICO case study we will find that they started with one product due to patents they held the ground for long time. One product was sufficient with a patent to create the differentiation but later they acquired so many organisations which could provide them distribution network penetration in the foreign market. Acquisition which they made was not only in their own domain and at this point they started losing the gained differentiation. From super stores shelves to general practitioner prescription, move was certainly adopted to make a differentiation but due to diversified businesses it confused the distribution points. Differentiation did not pay off well because by 1998 their major revenue generator was still infant formula. Niche strategies: Here the organisation function in one specific segment and try their best to become the best provider of products services. To work in this kind of strategy organisations need to be either cost efficient or different from other players like Rolls Royce in the car market. NUMICOs acquisition exercise took them into various domains but still they tried to call themselves a Medical Platform Marketing. One platform for medical assistance to those who are vulnerable didnt work well because of plethora of products. However, from NUMICOs perspective they focused on specialisation with profitable growth. STUCK IN THE MIDDLE: NUMICO got involved in series of acquisition related unrelated to their main business interest because of which they are facing the stuck in the middle situation. To simplify the situation they tried to bring all the diversified business interests under one roof. Things are still confusing because they wanted to build on nutritional field but due to acquisitions they are working in nutritional supplements fields as well. Moreover, they acquired two competitors (Enrich Rexall) and left them in the field to compete with each other. It took some time to bring both of them under one brand name and by that time both of them did enough damage to each other. Now, NUMICO is stuck between the pharmaceutical market the food market because of their confused approach. Lot of unwise decision made which resulted in head on collusion with giants of pharmacy food business like Novartis Nestle. NUMICO always wanted to sell clinical diet foods but because of their acquisitions they are not focusing on their main stream business. NUMICO bought the US operations not to sell what they were doing before acquisition e.g. vitamins. Rather than turning them into NUMICOs regular business NUMICO started looking after their operations. First an industry expert noticed that NUMICO is facing challenges because they are not performing only in their traditional markets. Company was stuck in the middle because it was facing challenges from giants minnows at the same time. New markets where they were operative due to acquisitions were full of small players. In addition to that threat from new entrants was massive. NUMICOs strategy needed a review before they lose the global position. Strategy review: In the year 2000, NUMICOs board of directors recognised the risks from existing strategy. NUMICO due to acquisition was not paying enough attention to their cash cow i.e. infant products and now strength of NUMICO is making them vulnerable. NUMICO is a European organisation they maintain balance sheet in euro and any PEST affect in USA operation can cause serious problem to their business figures. Operation overseas involves exchange risk as well. Last but not the least even NUMICOs board realised that they are confused in approach. NUMICO was not all stuck in the middle because organisations who face this kind of situation usually subject to a takeover or merger. Finally when NUMICOs board realised the drawback associated with the strategy they should take this opportunity to reduce or eliminate the risk. Strategy review due to certain events: In the year 2001, after 1 year of realisation, company saw themselves in hot waters due to economic slowdown in the USA. In addition to slowdown, demand for nutrition herbs were plummeting too with an increased competition from low price manufacturers. Its not only NUMICO which was facing the heat but the whole sector was losing the effectiveness. If NUMICO would have done the PESTEL analysis then they could have avoided this slowdown and competition because they never saw this slowdown coming into the picture. It is necessary to explore the competitive environment to develop sustainable competitive advantage. NUMICO response to events: NUMICOs response to the situation was not at all proactive. NUMICO response was reactive that to after negative growth. CEO was asked to mind the traditional new business but not to take any other big projects. US operations gave back to back management problems to CEO which resulted in his resignation in May 2002. New CEO bifurcated the operations in three divisions and for the first time they adopted a specific approach to tackle each brand. In other words, NUMICO changed the corporate strategy to unit level strategy to take care of each business. In the year 2002, NUMICO got bad news from all the quarters of business and to make the situation worse exchange rate of US dollar was changing frequently against euro. Finally, NUMICO announced the sale of Rexall Sundown GNC to focus on high-growth/high-margin businesses of baby food and clinical nutrition. Both the brands increased the performance of its new owner. Strategic Direction for the future: After divestment, NUMICO should think about the future. Company can use BCG Matrix to determine what is to be done to remaining product portfolio. NUMICO already dumped the low-growth/low-margin products, so now; they can concentrate on long term value creations through developing high-growth/high margin products. Stars of NUMICO: NUMICOs star was infant product but due to lot of exposure in low birth rate countries their business was declining at an alarming rate. NUMICO can utilise the some money which they received from divestment to expand in those countries where birth rate is much better than Western countries like India China. For infant products, long ago NUMICO used to command premium price because of RD patents. Cash Cow of NUMICO: NUMICO should turn their infant product into cash cow by offering cost leadership. After gaining the cost leadership NUMICO can go back to their golden days. To achieve the cost leadership NUMICO doesnt have to invest heavily on supply chain because they have everything which it takes to get the advantage. Dogs of NUMICO: NUMICO already sold the Dogs from their product portfolio now they should not repeat this mistake by taking over another non-business interest investment. Question marks of NUMICO: NUMICO should avoid this block by focusing on cash cows star blocks. Imagine a scenario; if they dont pay much attention now on finding new markets for infant products then they might end-up in this block because western market has declined in term of birth rate and they already sold the maximum distribution points of GMC Rexall in USA. Hence, they should take actions on urgent basis to avoid question mark. Figure: BCG Matrix Source: www.tellingthestory.typepad.com Accessed on: 20/03/2011 BCG matrix can help in understanding the mistakes done in past to fit an all approach strategy for future. BCG matrix is not free from flaws but it certainly explains what to do what not to do. To bring back the growth back into the books of NUMICO they should adopt Ansoff Growth Matrix. As per Lynch (2006), the market options matrix examines the options available to the organisation from a broader strategic perspective than the simple market/product matrix (called in some texts the Ansoff Matrix). Figure: Ansoff matrix Source: www.cipher-sys.com Accessed on: 20/03/2011 As per Ansoff matrix, NUMICO can go for market penetration. It will be like without disturbing the companys existing range of products or services and perhaps it can attract current customers as well. Things can backfire if market penetration is planned for new customers only. For example, mobile companies offer brilliant price plans to retain the existing customer. Market penetration is smooth when the market is growing. Existing organisations with low relative market share in a booming market have little to lose but NUMICO has high relative share and if they dont attract their current as well as new customers then they might lose whatever they are holding till now. Market development using existing products could be a strategic route but for this approach they should not disturb the existing customer focus. In NUMICOs case, they should take infant products to those countries where birth rate is better than Western Europe and USA. NUMICO can slightly repackage the product then can promote to a new market segment. Product development for the existing market can be possible for NUMICO because they have their own RD centres where they can develop new concepts. NUMICO should do optimum utilisation of their all resources to counter competitive entry. NUMICOs RD centres can help them to maintain the companys stance as innovator. Diversification is not needed according to case study because they have just finished the sale of GMC Rexall. Other Strategic Options: Organic growth: NUMICO should start the change from with-in and build itself from scratch and this time they should stick to the core business. Acquisitions Mergers: NUMICO can acquire the rival business or merge with one of its rival from core business market to gain the lost momentum. Strategic Alliances: NUMICO can make some strategic alliances with few government bodies in developing countries. Licensing: NUMICO can sell their patent license or lease to its competitors to build a business from their intellectual properties. Recommendations: NUMICO needs to pursue a growth strategy in a structured way the methods by which the market opportunities associated with strategy options might be achieved. NUMICO should treat their RD outputs as their assets which they can sell in market to claim a tag of future business. Investors like to associate themselves with future markets because they know their money can take them to new avenues with high returns. NUMICO was a leader in RD and infant products but all was lost because of acquisitions in foreign un-related markets products. This time they should build themselves related to their core-strength. For RD, they hired PHD passed-outs but they never presented themselves as a smart organisation which they should focus this time. Current generation would like to associate themselves with smart organisations like Google Apple. NUMICO should aim for future parents who will buy their products services. Given the amount of analysis that can potentially be undertaken, merger with other competitors is highly recommended. Mergers are similar to acquisitions like combining two companies. However, merger can happen in one scenario where both the parties cannot take over each other. This can be a friendly hand but still a special care will be always required. Merger should be sone before identifying the strategic issues. Mergers are never meant to lose the total control of the company but to gain new markets new customers. None of the evidence suggests till date that merger is a value addition but neither has it suggested any failure when both partners are same in size. Merger might not a big value to NUMICO but it can enhance the performance. Although NUMICO can still grow as a stand alone business but to take their research in right path they need a right partner. Partner especially with same business interest but with more distribution points in desired locations can do wonders for NUMICO. NUMICO always had RD centres but they never capitalised on that asset perhaps a partner can take that advantage or turn it into their competitive advantage.

Stock Market Gann

Fast Intraday – There are basically four solstice dates which Mr. Gann said are most important according to the sun based system. He also said, divide the year by octave and you will get the proof of all the natural activities happen across the year. He insisted to divide the year further by octave and you will get the proof of Human behaviors which is fluctuating throughout the year. The important dates are – 1- 21st March 2- 21st June 3- 22nd September 4- 21st December Now if we divide the year by octave we get following dates – 1- 5th May 2- 5th August – 8th November 4- 4th February Mr. Gann also said that â€Å"we use the squares of odd and even numbers to not only get the proof of markets but the cause also. † Here if we look into the Gann square of 9 diagrams we will understand that the natural squares of odd and even numbers happen to be on mid points of the four solstices. Meaning the squares of odd numbers coincidently are falling on the da te 4th February and squares of even numbers are falling on the date 5th August. The magic also lies in the mid points of the squares of odd and even numbers.The mid points do fall on yes you got it†¦ The mid point falls on 5th May and 8th November which are the outcomes of the division of year by octave. So we have a strong argument that the nature and even the Stock markets are influential under the Octave based system. Mr. Gann has said numerous times to use the 45 degree angle. Now the question arises of how he has derived this particular degree angle. The magic is the octave based system. The circle is the answer for everything in life. Take a small or big circle it has 360 degrees. Mr. Gann said that divide the circle by octave and you will get 45 degree angle.Here we are trying to connect the octave based circle with the natural year based on octave. Because from various writings Mr. Gann has said that 45 degree is important and the solstices are important to find any cha nge in undergoing trend. However, whatever he has written is in a veiled language so it is necessary to put it into actual implementation we have to decipher Mr. Gann’s writing. Considering Mr. Gann’s square of 9 structures the spiraling of numbers coincidently (any power behind this creation? ) falls on respective dates and degrees. E. g. the squares of Odd and even numbers exactly fall on the cardinal dates.Their mid point also happens to be on cardinal date. This seems to consist the hidden mathematical truth which needs to get decipher to know the exact movement of Stock Markets or any other tradable securities and commodities. Before going any further studying Mr. Gann we are about to take a ride of Gann Square of 9 as it is one of the most and foremost important structure to consider for day trading or intraday trading. Mr. Gann was consistently using and saying that the squares of Odd and Even numbers are important to decode the daily market movements. The magic also lies in the aligning of squares of Odd and even numbers.If you carefully observe the alignment of Odd and even number squares you will easily find out that they are exactly 180 degrees far from each other. E. g. the Square of 12 i. e. 144 and square of 13 i. e. 169 are exactly opposite or 180 degree far from each other. And their mid i. e. 156. 5 is exactly 90 degree far from 144 and 169. Now the question arises as to how we should put this information for actual trading of Stock Markets. Is there any fixed method we can use for intraday trading using the Gann Square of 9, then the answer is yes. However, there are certain rules to be follow while trading intraday using Gann Square of 9.Each date falling on the cardinal line is consist of a certain time period and hence is known as a time line. There are sixteen different time lines which have been created by dividing the year by octave and double octave. Now what to and how to use this time lines and different squares and num bers is the solution to the full proof plan of guessing or gauging the stock markets. The readers must accept the beauty of Square of 9 and should put to use for intraday purpose only. Because there are different techniques use for long and short term investments.

Inequality & It’s Characteristics

The perspective I have chosen is the social-conflict theory. The social-conflict paradigm is a framework for building theory that envisions society as an arena of inequality generating conflict and social change. This type of analysis focuses on the inequalities within our society and the conflict that they cause between the advantaged and the disadvantaged. The first characteristic is inequality. This refers to the unequal distribution of money, gender, class, and age. People who embrace the social-conflict perspective believe that gender, race, and class should not lead to favored treatment. An example of this would be single mothers who are living below the poverty line. This group of people is likely to remain at least as large as it is now at the present time and/or become larger in the coming decade. Many of these women do not have marketable job skills and few means to attain them due to their lack of finances. The second characteristic is social class conflict. Social class is often defined as the amount of education, income, and status people have. As we know, attaining education is one of the most effective avenues for ensuring employment and an increase in income, which adds up to higher status or social class. Single mothers most often do not have the income in order to pursue higher education. This renders them the title or designation of being one of the lower class groups in our society. If this remains to be status quo, then there is little hope for these single mothers living below the poverty line. The third characteristic is social change. The inequalities and conflict of social class is leading towards a social change. The federal and provincial governments have implemented different types of financial assistance for single mothers living below the poverty line. The government has made it easier for these women to apply for student loans so that they may pursue higher education and job skills. As well, grants have been made available to assist with the financial burden. The government has provided tax relief for lower income families and subsidized day care. In response to the outcries of single mothers and other advocates, the federal government now has a Women's Equality Minister. Canada also has a group called the â€Å"Women's Economic Network† that helps and supports single mothers in getting out of poverty. Analyzing this issue with the social-conflict paradigm has helped myself in understanding that there are inequalities in all aspects of society. When some inequalities are exposed and absolved, there are other ones following close behind. As society evolves, more inequalities are found and dealt with. This type of analysis has also helped me to see that there are resolutions to this problem of poverty with single mothers. It is a grim reality in Canada, but analyzing it from the social-conflict perspective shows that there ways in which we can rectify the problems surrounding this issue.