Network Marketing.

Kyra Binaxas

Human culture has always been distributed across the globe in different ways. A new element of human culture that seems to be having a great impact on human society at a now global scale is network marketing. Network marketing is a fairly new type of industry that has been said to be the business of the twenty-first century.

The concept is that a product gets recognized and sold due to word of mouth from ordinary people in every day life versus utilizing celebrities, adds, and in store sales. By using this method average people are able to create residual income based on how many individuals they recruit to buy, utilize, and promote the product themselves. Many motivational speakers such as Robert Kiyosaki back this industry one hundred percent!

It has, in fact, been proven to create more millionaires than any other industry out there! Different cultures have different perspectives on this concept of network marketing. When promotion for making money in this way is passed on to many of the eastern cultures- people of that area is not as consumed with financial issues as those of the western world. Value to them lies more so in family assets and traditional culture than becoming the next billionaire. As a result this service is not as popular. Also it does take money to start up in this industry so it would not be able to work in the more poverty stricken areas of the world. With any industry great risk is involved, but especially with network marketing because not all companies involved in this industry are ethical. Whatever business people choose to enter I can only hope that they have done their research, know that it is the right choice for them, and always continue to remain passionate!

Works cited

1. . N.p.. Web. 9 Dec 2013. <http://richdadmanila.com/is-network-marketing-the-business-of-the-future/&gt;.
2. . N.p.. Web. 9 Dec 2013. <http://mlmattorney.com/blog/2012/06/21/network-marketing-a-growing-industry-hard-facts-and-the-future/&gt;.

Edited by:

Jacob Standafer, Jessica Silvestri, Ellie Strandquist

Chemicals Affecting Drinking Water.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and the subsequent elevation in the use of industrial chemicals, there have been a multitude of corporations leaking these chemicals into public water supply. As early as 1952, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) was leaking hexavalent chromium into the ground water, and eventually the tap water, of the Mojave Desert region (Layton, pgr. 12). With dangers being presented from drinking water out of the tap, many have turned to home water filtration which are only reliable for removing some bacteria (Keating pgr. 4). There is a clear case to be made from this evidence. The US needs a solution to clean drinking water, immediately.

In the mid-90s a legal battle ensued between PG&E and legal activist, Erin Brokovich. The case was based on evidence Brokovich had gathered, showing the company’s record of leaking a significant amount of Hexevalent Chromium into the ground water below Hinkley, CA. Hexevalent Chromium is a known carcinogen, the detection of which can be technical and arduous. These events were concluded in 1996 when, “the company paid $333 million in damages… and pledged to clean up the contamination” (Layton, pgr. 12). Currently the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is fighting a similar issue.

Lindsey Layton published an article in the Washington Post, “EPA urges testing for chemical in tap water.” Discussed in her article are the issues that face such testing, such as the need for a budget increase to the EPA. Generating this need is the laboratory equipment required in the difficult process that tests for Hexevalent Chromium. In a quote from George Hawkins, the General Manager of D.C. Water, said that any guidance were given from the EPA would be followed. Additionally, he stated, “If additional testing needs to be taken to make sure that what we’re doing is protective of public health, that’s what we’ll do,” (Layton pgr. 3,4). Currently there is no federal limit on the amount of this chemical that can be in public water (Layton pgr. 6). With no way of removing these chemicals, currently found in government run facilities, or available for purchase on the commercial market, it is difficult to understand why so little is being done (Keating pgr. 5).

There is additional information, not discussed here due to its substantial amount, that shows everything from pharmaceuticals to Hexevalent Chromium can be found in the water we drink. The most each person can do is write their appropriate congressman and be aware of the filtration system they are buying, as there are some that can remove more of these chemicals than others. It is also important to raise awareness of this issue, since the nature of these changes require both time and money.

Works Cited

Layton, Lyndsey. “EPA urges testing for chemical in tap water.”Washington Post 23 Dec. 2010: A04. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.

Keating, Michael “Public told to beware when buying water filters.” Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada] 30 July 1986: A13. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.

Reviewed by:

Jacob Standafer

Oren Paisner

Jennah Reiman

How Geographers Look at Economic and Social Development.

Oren Paisner

Professor Bullen

Final Project

12/2/2013

How Geographers Look At Economic and Social Development

            One of the most amazing things that modern society offers is the convenience of goods. Goods were not always this easy to come by. As a matter of fact, before the industrial revolution if you wanted a new winter jacket you had to make it yourself. That is why it is important to know how economic and social development works and how it is measured since it influences the quality of life for people who are subject to it. Geographers correlate economic and social development to the production of services, concentration of global cities, and concentration of assets from other countries.

It is interesting to see how the percentage of GDP from services plays into determining whether a country is economically and socially developed. Countries like Japan, USA, Australia, Great Britain, etc. are by most people’s standards very economically and socially developed. One thing they have in common is that 70% of their GDP comes from services (Rubenstein, 431). It is safe to say that countries with economies derived mostly from services are more economically and socially developed.

Another characteristic that many developed countries share is that they either have global cities within them or are near a large concentration of global cities. It is interesting to note that the highest concentration of global cities is in Western Europe (21stcentech.com). Western Europe happens to be one of the most highly developed regions in the world. Investors and businesses are attracted to such a region because they have to do business there in order to successfully compete with each other. The amount of money that comes with the onslaught of investors and businesses pouring into the region in return adds to the development of that country when the money that is being made gets taxed.

A lot of countries that aren’t very socially and economically developed seem to attract a lot of investors looking to launder their money and get away with paying significantly less taxes. Offshore financial centers such as the islands of Montserrat, Mauritius, Seychelles, and others are countries that are almost entirely dependent on those kinds of foreign investors (Rubenstein, 444).  If those countries developed higher taxes and stricter banking laws, there economies would completely collapse.

Social and Economic development of countries are comprised of a multitude of factors very often unique to each other. It is important to understand what makes up those factors to better understand any country.

Works Cited

http://www.21stcentech.com/society-politics-part-4-change/

Rubenstein, James M. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography. Upper _____Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.

Edited by: Kyra, Ellie and Jacob

Services: Starbucks.

Jacob Standafer

Services

It’s a lot of work to come out with a product that will appeal to consumers, but also have a significant profit from sales and total consumption. It takes even more work to take this product, maintain a chain of services, and distribute your product globally. The coffee chain of Starbucks is an idealized corporation that is growing rapidly, and will continue growing based upon their methods of distribution to their consumers. This paper will touch on how Starbucks’ methods are genius in how they cut cost not only for their business, but also their consumers around the globe.

Why is Starbucks so smart, and how did they come to create such a successful market? Let’s first start with the coffee process. The regular distribution of Coffee starts with a famer. The famer then hands his crop to a collector, collector to miller, miller o h exporter, and then finally the importer bring in the coffee. Once the importer has control, the coffee is then sold to various producers or roasters. Although many coffee chains take this route, Starbucks had something different in mind. Starbucks had the genius idea that they would only receive their coffee from one person, and that was the farmer. As long as Starbucks remained in good relations with the famer, they significantly cut ties with the middle expenses. Starbucks method of going straight to the supplier is an extremely smart decision; I believe the majority of Starbuck’s revenue is attained through their multi-channel system. Starbuck’s multi-channel system allows them to use more than one distribution method to their consumers. Their initial channel of distribution is importing heir coffee, processing in their own stores, and selling it with their brand name. However, Starbucks also distributes to grocery stores, Markets, and various other places that will have their service in another place of business. Another example of their genius ideal distribution is having their coffee readily available on airlines and in hotels.
Even though they portray a very powerful corporation, it doesn’t mean Starbucks has not had bumps along the way. In 2008 a man by the name of Gibbons was elected as Starbuck’s new senior vice president. The chain prices that year had rose 75 million dollars more than the year before. With his new position, Gibbons decided he would research why chain prices were rising significantly for that year.  A significant reason for why this inflation was occurring came from the fact that half of Starbuck’s product were arriving on time. Gibbons stated, “”My quick diagnosis was … that we were not spending enough attention on how good we were at delivering service to stores.” It was soon discovered that there were too many outlays when distributing their product globally. Outsourcing Starbuck’s product gave the company much of its revenue, but also caused hug inflation prices.

 ( Vice President Gibbons)

        It’s not every day you strike gold by attaining power of an extremely large company that generates millions daily by sales. However if I were one of these lucky one in a billions, I would look to Starbucks. They have amazing distribution methods and have learned from mistakes in the past. All the while Starbucks is increasing their outsource market for consumers, and they are smart about how their money is being spent and where it is going.

Works Cited

• http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/06/26/the-global-distribution-of-starbucks-and-mcdonalds/
• http://media.glassdoor.com/sqll/2202/starbucks-squarelogo.png
• “It’s Not Just Coffee, It’s Starbucks.” : Starbucks’ Distribution Channel. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.
• “From Bean to Cup: How Starbucks Transformed Its Supply Chain.” – Procurement – CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
• http://news.mattel.com/Executives/Peter-Gibbons-Executive-Vice-President-Global-Operations-15a.aspx

Editors:

Ellie Strandguist

Jason Miller

Araeli Garcia

Oren Paisner

The Slow Increase of Climate Change

By Nathaniel Lee

                The climate of Earth is a very intense mix of different sorts of weather, that range from simple rain storms to massive hurricanes. We as humans have coped with countless weather changes. Tornadoes, droughts, blizzards, and floods, and large amounts of rainfall are normal weather patterns to us. Recently however, it has been said that these normal weather patterns are starting to become more intense, and are lasting for a longer duration. Scientists theorize that global warming could be the cause of these changes in weather. Global warming can be the very cause that begins a climate change that can cause weather of drastic proportions.

Global warming is caused by the building up of various greenhouse gases within our atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. These gases are trapped within the atmosphere of Earth. The sun’s infrared rays are able to penetrate into our atmosphere, warming the planet. These rays are then are trapped in by the gases, creating the problems of high heat waves, and eventually with too much build up, climate change. Polar ice caps have helped in these times of high heat, but are now melting at an alarming rate, causing a rise in water within our oceans. The rise of water is already starting to flood onto various islands, engulfing them underwater. The simple buildup of gases in our atmosphere from our cars and industries are starting to cause permanent, irreversible, harmful damage to our environment, as well as ourselves.

Bill Patzert, a climate scientist that works for NASA, explained that our climate is already beginning to change. Due to global warming, heat waves are becoming bigger, and last in longer duration. Evidence of droughts are at an all-time high, and storms are beginning to become more intense. Bill explained that the weather right now is not much different than in the past, and the changes we are seeing are not drastic yet, but the weather will start increasing in a very quick rate if the Earth continues to warm up.

Even if we could survive the changes within the climate, or most important sources could be depleted. Due to the high heat waves, many fields in which we get our everyday food are no longer able to grow. The land is becoming dry, making it very difficult, if not impossible, to plant crops without them dying at a very early stage. The droughts are also drying up our sources of water, and we are simply hoping that the next summer will bring us plenty of water from numerous storms.

At a global scale, emission gases must be reduced in order to at least halt the rise of these greenhouse gases. If we do not, the consequences could be very hurtful to where we live and what we survive on. This all happened, and will continue to happen, because of the global rise in various harmful chemicals that fuel our transportations and factories. These chemicals will continue to blow into our atmosphere by smoke stacks, due to the increase in production in order to meet customer demand within the product industry. Climate change is already beginning to happen, and steps must be taken before we bring our own end.

Edited by:

Jennah Reiman

Shae Kovalchick

Jacob Standafer

Sources

Gillis, Justin. “Climate Change Seen Posing Risk to Food Supplies”. New York Times. 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.

Goddard. “Ask A Climate Scientist- Extreme Weather and Global Warming”. NASA. Youtube.com. 8 Nov. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.

Ostro, Stu. “My Climate Change”. The Weather Channel. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.