The Black Death Essay Example for Free

The Black Death Essay A virulent plague strikes Europe in the 14th century in addition to its current over-population and malnutrition problems. Preconditions and Causes of the Plague 1. Nine-tenths of the people worked the land in the 14th century of Europe. 2. The 3 field system efficiently rose the production of crops however it was still not enough to meet the demands of the growing population. 3. Estimation shows the European population doubling within the years 1000 and 3000 outgrowing the food supply. 4. In addition to food shortage there was a shortage of jobs, and many Europeans faced extreme hunger conditions. 5. During 1315-1317 crop failures result in the largest famine of the Middle Ages. 6. Populated urban towns and areas, like the industrial towns of the Netherlands suffered the most under these conditions. 7. Overpopulation, economic depression, famine, and bad health coming together for decades surely weakened Europe’s population making it more susceptible to impending plague. 8. The Black Death was called so because of the black discoloration of the skin. It travelled from Asia to Europe through trade routes. 9. The fleas on rats held the plague and ships that travelled from the Black Sea to Europe were the likely cause of the plague spreading to Europe. 10. The Black Death first began appearing in Constantinople in 1346 and Sicily in 1347. Entering the ports of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa in 1348. From then on the plague began spreading through Spain and France and into north Europe. Regions off to the side of trade routes such as Bohemia remained unaffected by the plague. 11. The plague had much reappearance for decades after. Popular Remedies 1. The plague attacked the lungs of the victim while under it. Because it affected the lungs sneezing and wheezing easily passed it on from person to person. 2. Physicians at the time knew little of the body so basic fundamental procedures to prevent the disease failed. 3. Cotemporary physicians cannot explain the plague either and view it to be a catastrophe with no explanation and no defense. 4. Western Europe was greatly affected by an obsession with death and disease and caused a pessimism that lasted even after the plague had been over for years. 5. Some people believed the disease had come from a corruption in the atmosphere while others though it was caused by fumes that earthquakes released. 6. Many people believed a remedy was to wear an aromatic amulet. 7. Some believed a temperate life would be a remedy others gave into their passions; however others still chose flight and seclusion as the best medicine. 8. An extreme remedy believed by flagellants consisted of beating one’s self and that would bring on a divine intervention. The act of this was so socially disruptive and the blood spilled by this spread the disease even more, so the church finally banned these acts.

Oliver Twist - Summary :: essays research papers

During the summer of 1999, I have chosen to read the book, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Reading this book will better prepare me for my upcoming course of global studies because it deals with many of the regions and time periods we will be studying in class. Although this book was a classic that I thought I had known so much about, reading it and paying attention to the setting and surroundings of the young boy’s life, I noticed many historical events and customs from his time period. The following is a report including the answers to the questions provided for my summer reading program. The story begins with a woman giving birth to a baby without the proper instruments necessary and dies. The boy is brought up in a dirty home with little to eat and under poor conditions. No one knows of the boy’s identity. His government caretakers give him the name Oliver. Oliver grows up in a world with no sympathy for poor orphans. He goes to London to escape his mean guardians and to try to make a better life for himself. On his journey he is mixed up with thieves and is caught stealing even though it was the people he was with. He gets sick and is taken care of by the people who he originally stole from and they grow to love him. The thieves find out about him staying with the people and kidnap him. More stealing takes place and Oliver is trained to be a better thief. One time, during a robbery, Oliver is shot and left for dead by the thieves. The people at the house Oliver was to rob took him in and gave him a home. Oliver’s identity is found. It turns out that O liver was supposed to receive an inheritance from his father and one of the people who got him caught knew this. After confessing, Oliver received his inheritance and lived a happy life from then on. After reading this book and studying the surroundings of the main characters as well as the other characters, I am lead to believe that this book takes place in two different sections of England in the late seventeen hundreds to the early eighteen hundreds. Most of the story takes place in warehouses and in broken down buildings or other hideouts. Other scenes take place in the home of wealthy people in London.

How effective is 99 Cents Only Stores’ strategy for IT infrastructure investments? Essay

Management Information Systems Tenth Edition provides a number of case studies for you to analyze. Included in these cases are questions to help you understand and analyze the case. You may, however, be assigned other case studies that do not have questions. This Hands-on Guide presents a structured framework to help you analyze such cases as well as the case studies in this text. Knowing how to analyze a case will help you attack virtually any business problem. A case study helps students learn by immersing them in a real-world business scenario where they can act as problem-solvers and decision-makers. The case presents facts about a particular organization. Students are asked to analyze the case by focusing on the most important facts and using this information to determine the opportunities and problems facing that organization. Students are then asked to identify alternative courses of action to deal with the problems they identify. A case study analysis must not merely summarize the case. It should identify key issues and problems, outline and assess alternative courses of action, and draw appropriate conclusions. The case study analysis can be broken down into the following steps: 1. Identify the most important facts surrounding the case. 2. Identify the key issue or issues. 3. Specify alternative courses of action. 4. Evaluate each course of action. 5. Recommend the best course of action. Let’s look at what each step involves. 1. Identify the most important facts surrounding the case. Read the case several times to become familiar with the information it contains. Pay attention to the information in any accompanying exhibits, tables, or figures. Many case scenarios, as in real life, present a great deal of detailed information. Some of these facts are more relevant that others for problem identification. One can assume the facts and figures in the case are true, but statements, judgments, or decisions made by individuals should be questioned. Underline and then list the most important facts and figures that would help you define the central problem or issue. If key facts and numbers are not available, you can make assumptions, but these assumptions should be reasonable given the situation. The â€Å"correctness† of your conclusions may depend on the assumptions you make. 2. Identify the key issue or issues. Use the facts provided by the case to identify the key issue or issues facing the company you are studying. Many cases present multiple issues or problems. Identify the most important and separate them from more trivial issues. State the major problem or challenge facing the company. You should be able to describe the problem or challenge in one or two sentences. You should be able to explain how this problem affects the strategy or performance of the organization. You will need to explain why the problem occurred. Does the problem or challenge facing the company come from a changing environment, new opportunities, a declining market share, or inefficient internal or external business processes? In the case of information systems-related problems, you need to pay special attention to the role of technology as well as the behavior of the organization and its management. Information system problems in the business world typically present a combination of management, technology, and organizational issues. When identifying the key issue or problem, ask what kind of problem it is: Is it a management problem, a technology problem, an organizational problem, or a combination of these? What management, organizational and technology factors contributed to the problem? To determine if a problem stems from management factors, consider whether managers are exerting appropriate leadership over the organization and monitoring organizational performance. Consider also the nature of management decision-making: Do managers have sufficient information for performing this role, or do they fail to take advantage of the information that is available? To determine if a problem stems from technology factors, examine any issues arising from the organization’s information technology infrastructure: its hardware, software, networks and telecommunications infrastructure, and the management of data in databases or traditional files. Consider also the whether the appropriate management and organizational assets are in place to use this technology effectively. To determine the role of organizational factors, examine any issues arising from the organization’s structure, culture, business processes, work groups, divisions among interest groups, relationships with other organizations, as well as the impact of changes in the organization’s external environment-changes in government regulations, economic conditions, or the actions of competitors, customers, and suppliers. You will have to decide which of these factors-or a combination of factors– is most important in explaining why the problem occurred. 3. Specify alternative courses of action. List the courses of action the company can take to solve its problem or meet the challenge it faces. For information system-related problems, do these alternatives require a new information system or the modification of an existing system? Are new technologies, business processes, organizational structures, or management behavior required? What changes to organizational processes would be required by each alternative? What management policy would be required to implement each alternative? Remember, there is a difference between what an organization â€Å"should do† and what that organization actually â€Å"can do.† Some solutions are too expensive or operationally difficult to implement, and you should avoid solutions that are beyond the organization’s resources. Identify the constraints that will limit the solutions available. Is each alternative executable given these constraints? 4. Evaluate each course of action. Evaluate each alternative using the facts and issues you identified earlier, given the conditions and information available. Identify the costs and benefits of each alternative. Ask yourself â€Å"What would be the likely outcome of this course of action? State the risks as well as the rewards associated with each course of action. Is your recommendation feasible from a technical, operational, and financial standpoint? Be sure to state any assumptions on which you have based your decision. 5. Recommend the best course of action. State your choice for the best course of action and provide a detailed explanation of why you made this selection. You may also want to provide an explanation of why other alternatives were not selected. Your final recommendation should flow logically from the rest of your case analysis and should clearly specify what assumptions were used to shape your conclusion. There is often no single â€Å"right† answer, and each option is likely to have risks as well as rewards.

Drug Abuse Essay - 1038 Words

Drug Abuse: The Single Most Important Societal Problem May 27, 2011 Drug Abuse - Single Most Important Societal Problem Have you ever walked down the street or in a grocery store and bumped into someone you know, and they look really bad? Drugs have â€Å"eaten them alive† and they are barely recognizable. You can remember how beautiful they were â€Å"before† the drugs but you’re staring the â€Å"after† directly in the face. It is not a pretty sight, is it? Just think, it could be one of your family members or loved ones. The more I walk down streets, in grocery stores, at my child’s ball games, at work and even on my college campus it is more evident that drug abuse, is much more than a personal problem that everyday people, have in common†¦show more content†¦We usually think of teens when thinking of drug abuse, but drug abuse and use affects people of all ages. Generally, the ages of drug users are between 15-30 years of age, but there has been an increase over the past few years in the rise of senior drug use and abuse. Males are outnumbering females among drug abuse enormously. In 2001, rates of current illicit drug use were highest among American Indians/Alaskan Natives, followed by Blacks, then Whites, then Hispanics and lastly Asians. Rates of drug abuse were higher among those who are homeless, those who had not completed high school, those who lived in certain locations (projects/poverty), those who had been to jail, and those who smoke cigarettes and drink compared to those who did not. After looking at drugs from personal encounters and knowing the facts and reasons for use and the factors surrounding drug use and abuse; again I say, it is the single most important societal problem in existence. Look at the world around us. Drugs are everywhere. They are in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, churches, grocery stores hospitals and other places. Everybody knows someone who is affected in some way by drugs. Many families are destroyed by drug abuse and addiction. Everyday there is a reminder on the news of drugs and it s effects on our nation and society. In my opinion, if we can find a way to fix the drugShow MoreRelatedPrescription Drug Abuse Essay1136 Words   |  5 Pageshard transition in his life from the elementary levels of school to high school. Along the way, he started hanging out with the wrong crowd and doing all sorts of drugs like smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. In his senior year he realized he wanted to do something different with his life and he joined the boxing team and quit drugs, but one Saturday night that all ended. David was offered a patch that was supposed to make him feel an extremely good feeling. 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