Assignment #2 - Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

#2 - Case Study - Assignment Example army to caused skin burns and still births. Yes that is right; it was Dow that was actually responsible for â€Å"the Silent Spring†. Further, the company also owns the manufacturing unit that resulted in greatest industrial failure in the history, which lead to the death toll of over three thousand Indians in Bhopal; and it also left several unwanted problems for the next generations. One of the recent events that involved Dow Chemicals was discharge of industrial effluents into the air and water supplies in the vicinity of the company’s Midland complex in Michigan. Dow was held liable for violating Clean Air Act rules, and for disobeying the Clean Water Act. Further, the government also held the company for releasing harmful chemicals into the environment without a permit. The issue was brought to the considerations during 2006-07; however, after several delays and trials, the company agreed to pay $ 2.5 million in 2011, for the sake of compensation. In 2010 the annu al release of toxic compounds by Dow’s Midland facility was 275,912 pounds. According to an environmentalist based at the Michigan State University, the company earned a profit of $ 6.2 billion during the time while the production facility was discharging contaminants without permission (Weiss, 2008). The stakeholders include the people living in the vicinity of the production houses, the state that has allowed the company to operate, general public, media, the employees at Dow, and the Dow Chemical Company. People living close to these production houses are directly exposed to the harmful chemicals that released by these industrial units into the environment. These contaminants can have lethal effects on the population residing in the suburbs. In case of the recent activities, the major subjects under the exposure of contaminants were the residents of Midland, Michigan (Weiss, 2008). The side effects of these contaminants can be direct or indirect. The second stakeholder in

The Importance of Coffee in the Brazilian Economy Essay

The Importance of Coffee in the Brazilian Economy - Essay Example This paper demonstrates the importance of coffee production in the economy of Brazil. There is two figures in the essay which graphically illustrates the production of coffee over the recent years. Brazil is not only the largest producer of coffee and produces an estimated one third of world’s total coffee produce, and is also the world’s second largest consumer of coffee behind USA. Coffee is a key ingredient of the economy of the country on three main counts – a key economic activity contributing to the GDP, a major export item, and an important industry for employment. Agriculture accounts for 36% of Brazil’s exports, with coffee being the biggest exported agricultural item at $4.7 billion, by value. Coffee contributes to 0.27% of the total economy in Brazil and 2.1% of total exports. Brazil has 2.1 million hectares of land under coffee cultivation (ICO) with an estimated 350,000 producers spread through 14 states, and 160 firms exporting coffee. The production and processing of coffee is highly labor intensive industry and the coffee industry provides direct and indirect employment to nearly 8.5 million people in Brazil. This translates to almost 5% of the total population working in the coffee industry in Brazil. Historically, coffee has been an important component of the economy in Brazil. Brazil was the largest producer of coffee in the world and it accounted for 75% of Brazil’s total exports. Although this weight has reduced significantly over time, the contribution of coffee to the economy is still significant. In the 1990s, coffee was a key pillar of the economy in Brazil by supporting it in four ways – contribution to the economic activity, contribution to exports thereby increasing the foreign reserves, contribution to employment, and a key area of foreign investment. The coffee market was under government control until the 1990s, when the government decided to convert it to free market. This led to a lot of foreign investment in the sector and therefore helped the economy build its foreign reserves. The production and export trend of coffee is shown in Figure 1 below. It is evident that the coffee production overall has been increasing over the years. Also, the exports of coffee have been increasing constantly in accordance with the production. The peak production reached was in 2002 when it reached 2.65 million metric tons (MMT). However, although the coffee exports have been generally increasing, the weight of coffee in exports (by value) has been generally decreasing over the years, and over the last few years has stabilized at 2.1%. This is evident in Figure 2 where it is seen that the weight of coffee in exports has continuously reduced from a peak of 5.2% in 1997 to 1.8% in 2004 where after it has almost stabilized to 2.1%. Coffee is clearly a key part of the Brazilian economy - it forms a large part of the agricultural produce of the country and is a major export item for Brazil. It provides employment to nearly 5% of the Brazilian population and has historically been an important driver for foreign investments. Over the years, its relative weight in exports has been decreasing indicating that the dependence of the Brazilian economy on coffee is decreasing slowly; however, coffee still continues

Investigate the provision for Special Educational Needs (SEN) in a Essay

Investigate the provision for Special Educational Needs (SEN) in a primary school. Consider how this provision promotes educational equality of opportunity - Essay Example The code also promotes an effective approach in meeting children’s needs and puts the rights of children at the heart of the process hence allowing them to take part in decisions concerning their education (Cumming 2012, p. 52). The code of practice also sets out effective school based support with little paperwork for teachers and mainly emphasizes on monitoring the progress of children with special needs to reach the identified goals. Special education needs provision has been categorized into four broad areas of need that include communication and interaction, social, mental and emotional health and sensory (Hallet F & Hallet G 2010, p. 78). Communication and interaction is impaired when a child has difficulty in talking and expressing ideas and also got difficult to understand what is been said to them and still this makes them to have difficulties in social interaction with others. Cognition and learning is impaired when anindividual learns at a slower pace than the peers do (Atchinson & Dirette 2007, p. 52). Social, emotional, and mental health difficulties are manifested when a person becomes withdrawn or isolated and displaying disruptive and disturbing behavior. In order to promote special education, a committee was set up in 1993 which its main aim was to make recommendations for identification of children with special needs and for future advancement of special education services, special schools and classes according to the child’s need (Butler 1994, p. 145). Guidelines were put in place which even to date promote the provision of special education. These include, all children with special needs have right to proper education, and in provision of education to a special child, the needs of a specific child should be the paramount consideration. Active participation of parents with children who require special education and their wishes should be taken into consideration also, provision of adequate resources by the state is important to