Increase of Vegetables Prices

Problem Solution Essay-3rd draft Increase of Vegetables Prices * The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) stated that inflation has risen to 11. 7%, an increase of 0. 2 % this year over last† (Abdel Moniem, 2010). Prices of tomatoes, green beans, cucumber & green pepper’s prices have increased to be 15LE, 16LE, 6LE, and 8LE per kilo respectively. Affording basics necessities has become difficult for the middle & lower class families in view of such high inflation.Nadia, works as a house cleaner; she is a widow and a mother of three children. â€Å"One plate of salad for a family comprised of four members, used to cost 3 LE in the past few months. Now it costs more than 10 LE. We have to eat foul & eggs instead. Now, I cannot buy vegetables every day like before†. says Nadia. The gravity of this problem implores us to explore short and long-term solutions. Immediately, the Egyptian government should direct over the increasing p rices of the vegetables as a short-term solution, and re-distribute the farmlands on the long –term.Government officials from Agriculture & the Economic Development ministries attributed the sudden increase of the vegetables prices to a wide array of reasons. The first reason is the ghastly climate change during the summer. †This year's heat waves caused Egypt's tomato production to plummet from 40 tons per acre to 15 tons per acre this year. † (Abdel Moniem, 2010). The second reason is the spread of the white flies & pests that attacked and devoured most of the crops. The third reason is the bad transportation. The fourth reason is the lack of appropriate packing of the vegetables.The final factor is the random increase in prices by the intermediary sellers. Apparently, the soaring increase in the prices of the vegetables may lead to a number of effects on the consumption rates of Egyptian family. Some housewives enforce diet programs to their family. Oth er families boycott vegetables, or eat them once a week as a method of controlling their budget. Furthermore, in order to save money for food, most of the families skipped going out, traveling on holidays, or even having friends’ gathering at home. How can we avoid all these?Instantaneously, interaction from the Egyptian government should be done to solve the crisis of escalating prices of the vegetables. Egypt is ranked as the second largest country worldwide in producing tomatoes. This season a 55% of whole harvest was damaged. (Abdel Momiem, 2010). However, government should keep an eye on those issues. In fact, when the crisis happened in September 2010, the Agriculture ministry tried to help people finding the vegetables in affordable prices. As a swift solution, the ministry opened some vegetables’ outlets in different areas in Giza & Cairo with cheaper prices.Even though, the ministry provided 10000 tons of each kind of vegetables into these outlets with pri ces less than those available in the markets, yet they are not as cheap as before (Nagib, 2010). For instance, in the market, people can find the tomatoes with 12 LE/Kilo; however, the outlet sells it with 4. 50LE, but originally it was 2. 00LE/kilo a few months ago. These outlets could be a quick solution from the ministry of agriculture, but it is not an effective one. Is this quantity enough for the Egyptian residents? The government must carry out the following steps in order to deal with this crisis.First, the Ministry of Agriculture should provide sufficient quantities of vegetables in both reasonable prices and good quality. In coordination with the neighboring countries, the ministry of Agriculture could import the needed quantities of vegetables. Importing process is expensive; however, the government should bear any extra costs, and provide the market with these commodities at affordable prices. Second, storage facilities must be well maintained, to prevent damage of the g oods. For instance, storehouses, fridge trucks and domestic transfer trucks must work properly with the appropriate temperatures.Finally, government officials should have a firmer grip on the mid sellers, so they can avoid manipulating prices. In addition, severe penalties should be applied on those mid sellers if they trade with more than the official prices. Financially, these steps might cost the Egyptian government alot, but in cooperation with the ministry of finance, they can be viable. This could be a helpful band-aid approach to help decrease prices. Government should solve this problem by re-distributing the farmland according to its quality, size and nature of the soil. Food & Agriculture Organization ( FAO) statistics stated that the agriculture land size in the year of 1970 was 4842 HA. Today those lands’s size is 3542HA. After shrinkage in the agriculture lands has occurred, the harvest quality & quantity has also decreased significantly. Re-distributing the farmland and utilizing it in efficient way might need some implementations. First, government should determine the needs and consumptions of the people in each kind of vegetables. So, Ministries of Agriculture & Population can provide the accurate rates of vegetables’ consumption in Egypt.Second execution is determining the farmlands that are suitable for each kind of crops. For instance, Delta lands are the most suitable areas for planting tomato because of its richly fertilized soil. On the contrary, the sugar-cane needs high temperature, so Upper Egypt is the perfect location for it. Third, to reclaim unexploited constructions lands into productive agriculture areas. Recently, vegetables’ production had decreased especially in Delta area because the buildings, bridges, and factories are occupied large-scale of the agriculture land pieces.Fourth, increase the farmers’ awareness of the climate change, so take the fundamental precautions to save the crop s. Nowadays, the weather forecast’s equipment improves rapidly, and could predict the climate change in advance. Finally, sufficient fertilizers, pesticides & high mechanics should be supplied to the farmers in reasonable prices. In order to put into practice this provision, Ministry of Agriculture must distribute those pesticides & fertilizers among the farmlands equally.Definitely, these steps require incessant cooperation between different ministries: Agriculture, Health & Population, Housing & Development and the Scientific Research. Unfortunately, this process may take years to be implemented; moreover, it needs abundant budget. Nevertheless, this long-term solution is an effective way to solve the high increase of vegetable prices in Egypt. Vegetables are the most essential nutrients that provide human bodies with the basics vitamins; to maintain a good health, and raise immunity.Unexpected rise of vegetables prices forced people to boycott or quit purch asing these products, as they cannot afford. Government should enforce a quick strategy to reduce prices, and plan the farmlands according to the crop’s type in order to solve this problem. The government should proactively work on facilitating people’s life, and providing them with the basic needs. Treacherously, the impact of the vegetables prices raise may reach the peak very soon. Hence, the scale of poverty will elevate, and criminals’ ratios will widely expand into the Egyptian Society.The Egyptian government should consider the vegetables prices inflation as a major crisis not as a commonplace problem. * Abdel Moniem, A (2010,October ,14/20). Food prices shooting up. retrieved October 22 2010, from Al Ahram Weekly Online Web Site: weekly. ahram. org. eg * Anonymus, Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (n. d) retrieved October 22 2010, from http://faostat. fao. org/site/377/default. aspx#ancor * Naguib, Y (2010,October,16). Agricultur e outlets& markets contribute in solving the crisis. retrieved October 22 2010, from Akhbar El Youm News paper *

Britney Spears essays

Britney Spears essays Britneys Image Change and Its Effect on Her Carrier. Unless youve been stuck in a cave for the past 5 years you probably know who Britney Spears is. Throughout the years that she has been in the spotlight she has gradually changed her image from a sweet southern girl into an erotic pop queen. Some people love the change others despise it, but most everyone has a valid reason for either loving or hating the change. This is not a paper dedicated to bashing Britney Spears for looking sensual. I am simply going to explain the benefits that came from her image change and the negative effects that extracted from the change. Turning from sweet to sexy was probably a smart business move for Britney to make because her musical abilities are far from outstanding. I have watched her concerts many times on television and she sounds un-tuned on the songs that she actually sings. Most of her dance songs sound very good live, but that is only due to the fact that her voice is pre-recorded. I know this because there is no way that anyone could sing so perfect and also do all those crazy dance moves she does at the same time. Now that she is so sexy, people watch her concerts just to get a view of what she is wearing, or rather what she isnt wearing. She also doesnt write her own songs, which is a sure sign that someone doesnt really have enough musical talent. I saw her Diary show on MTV and it showed how she worked in the studio. I expected to see her and the producer exchanging ideas and thinking about the musical arrangements on the album. Instead it looked as if she was a puppet in the studio. The producer was telling her how to sing on a song that somebody else wrote and she just stood in the recording booth agreeing with everything he said. Once again this musical flaw is greatly overlooked due to her overtly sexual image and I can honestly say that I dont mind it. Imagine how horrible...

Pill Bug Lab Essays

Pill Bug Lab Essays Pill Bug Lab Paper Pill Bug Lab Paper ABSTRACT Pill bugs live in an outside environment where they are able to get the necessary amount of energy from organic matter. This environment is where water and organic matter is plentiful. In there natural habitat, pill bugs are found in dark, damp places. Living in moist places is important for pill bugs so they can take in enough water, and if water is not available, they group together to prevent water loss. Pill bugs most often live in dark places because they have a negative photo taxis. Darker places also tend to be cooler and damper. Each experiment connected to how the pill bugs would behave in a certain environment. We were able to test these experiments in a laboratory way to see if the natural environments were also true. If pill bugs are given a light and dark environment, then they will prefer the dark environment. If pill bugs were put in a warm or cold environment, they will prefer the cooler temperature. If pill bugs were in a dry or moist are, they would flock to the moist are. In the last experiment we tested to see if they preferred shelter or unsheltered environments, for which they choose unsheltered. After doing all four experiments, it was clear that pill bugs have a concise behavioral pattern in each environment. This lab’s purpose is to help differentiate kinesis and taxis movements. These movements are seen throughout all animals and they help us learn how animals react to a stimulus. In order to see how animals react to certain environments, we set up four tests and used pillbugs as our specimen. Through these four experiments, we were able to conclude that the pillbugs liked dark, damp, sheltered and hot spaces as oppose to light, dry, open and cold areas. This was concluded because, as shown in Tables/Figures 1, 2, 3, 4; the bugs seemed to congregate in the dark, damp, sheltered and hot chambers mostly. However, for a few minutes in each of the experiment, the bugs did not respond in the way we had hypothesized. This could be due to the fact that these animals have been used for prior experiments for weeks and weeks. These animals are obviously aggravated from these experiences; therefore they might not have wanted to go through it all again and did not want to cooperate with us as a whole. My hypothesis is that these animals will prefer the cold, sheltered, dark and damp habitats as opposed to hot, open, light and dry environments. INTRODUCTION There are many different ways to classify animal behavior and behavioral types. Behavior in terms of an animal’s response is a result of sensory input and falls within the categories of innate (inherited) and learned behaviors. When an animal is in a favorable environment it is called orientation behavior (Laboratory Manual 137). When an animal moves either toward or away from heat, light, or moisture, it’s called taxis. When an animal’s movement is completely random, it is called kinesis. The way an organism moves can be either taxis or kinesis. Another kind of behavior is how organisms behave when mating. Part of the mating ritual involves agnostic behavior where animals respond to each other with aggressive or submissive behaviors. Behavior with other organisms includes appearances, movements, and interactions with each other. Terrestrial isopods are land dwelling crustaceans, commonly known as sowbugs or pill bugs (or roly-pollies). While they look similar, sow bugs are different from pill bugs. An Animal’s behavior is often erratic and hard to study. However, in a controlled environment, it is easily done. We used Pillbugs in this lab, and placed them in various conditions. We tested to see if they would prefer a damp over dry environment, a hot over cold, a dark versus light and an open environment over a sheltered one. A natural defense mechanism for the Pillbugs is to curl themselves up into a tight ball and basically, play dead. When set in various conditions they can perform orientation behaviors. These behaviors include taxis and kinesis. Taxis occur when the animal moves towards or away from a certain stimulus. Kinesis occurs when the animal moves in a random motion in response to the stimulus. Throughout this lab, we put the pillbugs through four different tests. These experiments are to test to see if these animals will prefer a certain habitat rather than another and how they show this is through either kinesis movement or taxis movement. MATERIALS AND METHODS In all labs, a lab book and a pen or pencil are essential to record the number of pillbugs. The times come up fast so you have to make sure you are watching the clock or stop watch. Obviously, do not poke the pillbugs or try and force them into a certain chamber aggressively, this will aggravate them and cause unreliable results. When you are trying to get your pillbugs, use a paintbrush to sweep them onto your brush and then carefully lace them into the choice chamber dish that is provided for you. Make sure to get 10 pillbugs so you can have five in each chamber. If they look dead, they are most likely just curled up. During the various tests, make sure to take notes on the appearance, the types of movements (kinesis or taxis) and the interactions between the animals. The first experiment is to find out if the pillbugs prefer dark or light environments. The choice chambers have a little passageway between the chambers. Make sure to gently place five pillbugs on each side and then block off that doorway with a cardboard barrier of some sorts. Pick one of the chambers and then cover that chamber with something that will make the chamber be a dark environment. Leave the other chamber completely untouched, this will be the control group for the experiment. Obtain a stop watch and remove the barrier. Then record the amount of pillbugs on the light and dark chambers after every 30 seconds. We recorded our results every 30 seconds for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes are over, take the cover off the dark chamber and make sure you have all 10 pillbugs still and then place the clear chamber covers to ensure that the bugs won’t escape whilst you get the second experiment ready. Remember to document in your lab book which is the independent and dependent variable for each of your experiments, this will make it easier to graph them later on. The next test is to see if the animals find a damp environment more appealing than a dry one. This is done by damping a white circular disk of paper with water and placing it in one of the chambers. When doing this, make sure that all 10 pillbugs are on one side so you will not be placing the damp paper on top of a pillbug. Just like the previous experiment, place five pillbugs on each side of the chamber and block the doorway. When the timer is ready, open up the entry way and time for 10 minutes, recording the number of pillbugs on each side every 30 seconds. When the 10 minutes has elapsed, carefully rally the pillbugs to the dry chamber and remove the damp paper and cover the chambers with the clear cover again. For the third experiment we tested if the pillbugs would prefer a sheltered environment as oppose to an open one. This is done by placing a cardboard shelter in one of the chambers. The shelter should fit in the chamber and should not cover the whole chamber (if it did, then the experiment would be like the first test conducted). This time, when recording the number of bugs, you will have to count the number of bugs out in the open (even if they are in the chamber with the shelter, if they are not under the shelter than they are in the open). Again, you will keep time for 10 minutes, recording your data every 30 seconds. After the 10 minutes is up, remove the shelter and make sure that all 10 pillbugs are still in the chambers. The final experiment is testing the temperature preference of the pillbugs. First, obtain two Petri dishes; fill up one of the Petri dishes with ice from the freezer and the other with hot water from the hot water bath. Then place the chambers on top of the Petri dishes, making sure that the hot water was underneath one chamber and the ice was underneath the other. Remove the barrier between the chambers and record your results every 30 seconds for 10 minutes. After the ten minutes are over, throw out the hot water and ice and place your Petri dishes back. Return the 10 pillbugs to their makeshift habitats carefully and then clean up your area and materials. RESULTS For the first experiment, we tested to see if the Pillbugs preferred darker condition to lighter ones. The animals would swarm to each other initially, but after a few seconds they began to spread out. As seen in Table 1 and Figure 1, the animals preferred the dark side. When a Pillbug would come out from the dark chamber, it quickly went back, usually taking another Pillbug with it. There were a few who hung out in the doorway between the two chambers; we counted that as being on the dark side because it was slightly covered. The second experiment was to test the Pillbug’s response to damp versus dry conditions. After setting up the test we learned that most of the Pillbugs enjoyed being on the damper chamber as oppose to the dry chamber. As you can see by the observations on Table 2 and Figure 2, one particular Pillbug enjoyed the damp area so much that it sprinted to that side and ran in circles. The next experiment we did was to test the pillbug’s response to a shelter. The shelter is different than the dark and light test because only a part of the chamber is covered, not the whole thing. As seen by Table 3 and Figure 3, the Pillbugs liked the shelter more so than being out in the open. For the majority of the time, the number of Pillbugs was even on each side but there were more bugs underneath the shelter than out in the open. DISCUSSION When the group was gathering our Pillbugs from their makeshift habitat, I noticed that the majority of them were attached to the underneath of a piece of paper towel. I speculated that they preferred darker scenarios and my results seemed to support this speculation. From this information I also suspected that the animals would prefer the shelter rather than an open area. Especially since they had a defense mechanism of curling into a ball, I figured that the Pillbugs did not like to be open and vulnerable to predators. Also, they are usually found in dirt environments, which means that they would prefer moist areas as oppose to dry ones. Some of the experiments were inconsistent with the movement of the Pillbugs. In the beginning of each experiment, the pillbugs seemed to show taxis movement, as in they were moving away from the stimulus that displeased them and moved towards the one that they preferred. However, as the test went on, especially in the fourth test (as seen in Table 4 and Figure 4), the pillbugs performed movements closer to the kinesis definition. This was totally unexpected, especially since the bugs were supporting out hypothesis in the beginning. This change in attitude could be because of numerous things. The experiment was not conducted properly, the hot water was not hot enough, the cover did not cover the whole chamber, or these pillbugs have been poked and prodded for a long time now. Therefore, they might have been exhausted and fed up and did not want to cooperate with us. LITERATURE CITED Wagner, David, Theodore Taigen, Thomas Terry, and Karen Lombard. Biology 102: Foundations of Biology. Fall 2006 Stamford Edition. 129-137. Unknown: University of Connecticut, 2007.

Resource Creation and Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Resource Creation and Evaluation - Essay Example Increased use of internet provides an opportunity for interactive learning environment. In this vein, innovations such as Blackboard, Angel and WebCT have been found to support interactive learning environment (Samaras et al., 2006). Such innovations are used when chatting between students and their instructors, to receive assignments, view grades and remain connected to the learning institution. In addition, they have allowed teachers an opportunity to teach in an interactive learning environment. The development of such new technologies and increased research has transformed the way people think. Further, emergence of interactive teaching platforms has led educators to transform the ways in which they teach their students. This study will focuses on the use of online Blackboard to teach Physics to second year high school students. Needs Assessment With recent technological advances, the educational systems continue to adjust in order to meet the present societal needs. The fact tha t knowledge users are required to incorporate technology to befit present societal demands has brought additional responsibilities to producers of such knowledge. A decade ago, a glance at the Australian curricula revealed an inward looking system of education that was limited to classroom environment where a teacher and a group of students held discussions (Wieman & Perkins, 2005).. However, this mode of learning has proved ineffective particularly for science subjects that involve concepts. This notion has affirmed the traditional system of education inadequate and the existing educational materials hardly enough to meet the present education demands. To fill the existing gap, curriculum developers have come up with various online platforms that allow students to use the search engine to access diverse learning materials interact with instructors’ online, book and sit their examinations, make enquiries through chatting with fellow students and instructors among many others. Interactive learning via online Blackboard Evidently, use of online blackboard has greatly enhanced teaching Physics in high school. This is because it creates an opportunity of having visual illustrations that are critical for mastering the subject. Such online illustrations not only enables students to understand, but also allows them visual identification of diagrams hence ability to preserve them than they could have done in verbal descriptions. Further, such demonstrations highlight physics concepts leaving students to give physical explanations. Interestingly, this mode of learning commands attentiveness from the audience. In teaching Physics, the online Blackboard can be used in numerous ways. For instance, it has been used in Physics laboratory curricula since it provides real-time access to data required for the experiment. Unlike the traditional methods, a student can watch a real event as it is performed experimentally. Further, the Blackboard has also proved helpful dur ing interactive lectures. The online Blackboard enables teachers to plan and teach Physics as well as instructing students using integrated technology. On

The Code of Hammurabi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Code of Hammurabi - Essay Example After it was studied it became clear what it was: a set of laws expounded by the Babylonian king Hammurabi. It revealed the end of the time of tribal custom and the beginning of a new period of history (Johns). Indeed, as a well-preserved artefact, there is much we can gain from its study. It shows us about the development of cities and kingdoms, how power is used and preserved, how commerce and wealth are created. It is a magnificent record of human development. Why was this code of laws important? Why were people excited to discover it? The answer must lie in the role that laws and rules play in our society and in our evolution. In the distant past, people organized themselves in small groups of hunter-gatherers. Perhaps a few families worked together. It was easy to impose order when everyone knew each other. For example, even today most family disputes never leave the house. The mother or father is in charge and imposes discipline. When agriculture was developed, people began to settle in larger groups. Small towns developed. It became much harder to impose rules and disciplines. What was required was an objective set of standards that was widely known. Property disputes and acts of violence needed to be resolved otherwise they would fester and lead to acts of violence, order would be destroyed. Rules and laws were required to maintain the peace. It is hard to know if the code itself was written in response to serious disorder in Hammurabi’s kingdom at the time. What is more likely is that these were rules that were generally accepted and unwritten for many years before it was decided to write them down. Actually inscribing them has some benefits. It gave more certainty to the system; the rules were written down and could not be changed too easily. However, it is doubtful that the average person would have been able to read at this time. It was more likely for the benefit of those in the court and to leave a lasting legacy regarding the strength and order of the kingdom. Perhaps most significantly, we see here the protean version of the Ten Commandments that would become the basis of our own laws and jurisprudence. There are those who suggest that Moses was inspired by the code of Hammurabi too (Cook, 30). More scholarship may be required to prove this idea, but it is an interesting one that may shed even more light on the development of laws. The Code tells us many important things about Hammurabi’s kingdom. While some of the laws may seem a little harsh to us today, for example, plucking out eyes and teeth, they nevertheless show a high degree of sophistication. The also show the Hammurabi was willing to give up a significant amount of his own discretion as king which other kings might normally use to punish people depending on how they felt that day. These rules provide certainty and clarity. They show that Hammurabi was confident in the strength of his kingdom and willing to give up some power to those who would enfo rce the laws of the land. None of the laws seem to be especially unfair (though the punishment may seem violent to us) and that further proves that these rules were the work of a lucid mind and not a product of a crazed dictator. The recognition of private property is also a major shift away from communal property holding and may even signal the very beginning of the capitalist order (John). This is an

Efficient Market Hypothesis Of Thai Stock Market Dissertation

Efficient Market Hypothesis Of Thai Stock Market - Dissertation Example Value of Durbin-Watson statistics ranged from 0 to 4. A value of zero or near to zero indicated negative autocorrelation, while the value of 2 or near to 2 indicated a positive correlation. Findings as reported in chapter 4 demonstrate that values of Durbin-Watson test for SET 100 Index within series of daily data, monthly data and quarterly data were 1.014, .607, and 1.129 respectively. Therefore, in the individual cases of SET100 for daily and quarterly data, the Durbin-Watson test values were closer to value two that meant no autocorrelation within the finance sector for SET100 daily and quarterly data for the period of 1st January 2010 to December 2013. However, Durbin-Watson test reported for SET100 on monthly data revealed the autocorrelation within the finance sector of Thailand during 1st January 2010 and December 2013. When looked at the overall results of Durbin-Watson for SET100 Index, It was found that stock exchange market of Thailand was not fully efficient and demonstr ated the weak form of efficiency during the concerned period of four years. Findings of Durbin-Watson test for SET50 Index within series of daily data, monthly data and quarterly data were 1.129, 1.377. Results of SET50 Index within series of data from daily and monthly demonstrated that values nearer to the value of two. On other hands, the result of Durbin-Watson test for SET50 Index within series of data on quarterly showed the value of .706 that indicated autocorrelation in the Finance sector of Thailand during four years period.

Psychology of Adolescence Essay Example for Free

Psychology of Adolescence Essay BoysTown is a registered charity and a national organization for youth welfare in Australia. It focuses on helping disadvantaged youths who are at risk of social exclusion to enhance their quality of life (â€Å"Youth social†). It recognizes several causes of social exclusion among disadvantaged youths that need to be addressed, which include single parenthood, low self-esteem, physical and mental health problems, substance abuse, lack of work experience, functional illiteracy, and underdeveloped personal and vocational skills (â€Å"Youth social†). BoysTown also recognizes that most of the disadvantage youths came from families who have a history of intergenerational unemployment and welfare dependency and from Indigenous backgrounds (â€Å"Youth social†). BoysTown offers several social inclusion programs to help disadvantage youths to improve their life. The programs include Kids Helpline, Youth Programs, Indigenous community development, Family programs, and Intermediate labor markets. The key attribute of these programs is that they emphasized sustainable outcomes while they rely on safe strategies for working with youths who are at risk of social exclusion (â€Å"Youth social†). BoysTown’s Kids Helpline is a national telephone and web-based counseling program that provides services for more than 60,000 children and youths across the country. The Youth programs offer personal development, training and employment assistance to more than 3,500 youths in communities. BoysTown is collaborating with key stakeholders to work on a social inclusion project with four remote Indigenous communities in the East Kimberleys (â€Å"Youth social†). It also provides parenting programs and family refuges such as home-based support and training to make way for the transition of disadvantaged youths to the wider world (â€Å"Youth social†). The organization also operates various social enterprises and transitional employment programs in order to provide 400 youths per year with paid work and on-the-job training. There are various indicators that demonstrate the degree of social exclusion suffered by families and children, which include low-birth-weight babies, permanent exclusion from school, the number of children living in unemployed households, teenage pregnancy, low academic achievement, and the number of children aged 10-16 who are in young offender institutions (Pierson, 2002). The indicators of social exclusion at the level of community include overcrowded housing, a high percentage of households without a bank account, poor community participation, and high levels of burglaries (Pierson, 2002). The key forces that increases the likelihood of social exclusion are poverty and low income, lack of social supports and networks, lack of access to the labor market, the impact of the local neighborhood, and exclusion from services (Pierson, 2002). Pierson (2002) suggests ways to address social exclusion, which include maximizing income and securing basic resources; improving social networks and supports; collaborating in partnership with local organizations and agencies; developing channels of effective participation for users, local residents, and their organizations; and concentrating on whole neighborhoods. Socially excluded youths have a significant cost impact on society in terms of publicly-funded health services, justice system and social security costs, and the impact of decreased individual earning capacity, lost productivity, and decreased tax revenue (â€Å"Youth social†). The Australian government is investing in developing the capability of the not-for-profit organization to provide more holistic, community-based strategies to respond to social exclusion, especially among young people (â€Å"Youth social†). Models of intervention must be multi-dimensional and aimed at providing young people with a comprehensive range of support over an extended period of time (â€Å"Youth social†). They should also be based on a holistic approach in order for young people to overpower personal barriers; improve their strengths, health, well-being, life and interpersonal skills; develop their self-esteem and the ability to learn; and succeed in shifting to independent living, training or work, and further education (â€Å"Youth social†). BoysTown’s Youth programs are effective in helping youths who are at risk of social exclusion because they incorporate individual assessment, counseling, and support, life skills training, personal development and mentoring; vocational skills training, employment assistance; and post-placement support (â€Å"Youth social†). Young people must be provided assistance into paid employment by giving advice, training and other help that they need to make them more employable (Kemp, 2005). Focusing on individual agency such as young people’s attributes, qualifications, decision-making, and behavior allows young people to successfully transition from welfare to work (Kemp, 2005). The Kids Helpline at BoysTown is similar to a mentoring program that helps disadvantaged young people to tackle social exclusion. Mentoring consists of an informal educative role and personal support and encouragement (Pierson, 2002). Mentor acts as a trusted counselor or guide (Pierson, 2002). The goal of a mentoring or counseling program is to connect two individuals in a one to one voluntary relationship, with one individual being more experienced than the other and with the hope that their knowledge and skills will be transferred (Pierson, 2002). The key features of a mentoring relationship include a voluntary arrangement as required by the individual being mentored and can be ended by either party at any time, interpersonal skills of mentors to manage and monitor the relationship, and the understanding of both mentored and mentors about the boundaries and objective of the relationship (Pierson, 2002). Colley (2003) mentions the popularity of mentoring with policy-makers because it addresses their concerns such as the moralization of social exclusion. The author adds that the solution to social exclusion of young people depends on their re-engagement with the labor market and/or formal learning routes. The key role of mentoring is to provide a way for the re-engagement by changing young people’s values, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior to engage their personal commitment to become employable (Colley, 2003). Mentoring helps young people in terms of empowering them, discussing aspirations, and making them more realistic about their view of work (Colley, 2003). It is also important to assist young people to attain skills in areas such as confidence building, problem solving, improvement of interpersonal skills, punctuality, and team working in order to enhance their personal effectiveness in the workplace (Colley, 2003). Moreover, mentoring is also important to help disadvantaged young people develop social networks and capital (Colley, 2003). It is necessary to create initiatives that involve young people not only in making decisions that affect them individually or on particular services but also in making decisions that influence their communities collectively (Pierson, 2002). Organizations led by young people play an important role in defining services and provide practical support for young persons (Pierson, 2002). The aim of the Indigenous community development at BoysTown is to help young people to re-engage in learning; increase community involvement in formal education and training; enhance access to sustainable mainstream employment opportunities; and develop training and work opportunities through community-based social business enterprises (â€Å"Youth social†). According to Pierson (2002), adolescent support teams have emerged rapidly during the early 1990s. The author adds that the aim of adolescent support teams is to divert youths from the care system and offer short-term preventive service that assists families prevent problems in relationships that might result to homelessness. The approach used by the adolescent support teams is preventive and based on time-limited, task-focused work (Pierson, 2002). Most of the work of the adolescent support teams involves negotiation and mediation between young people and parents (Pierson, 2002). BoysTown enterprises are involved in several community infrastructure development, asset maintenance, and urban renewal projects in disadvantaged areas (â€Å"Youth social†). Enterprise-based intermediate labor markets are effective in minimizing crime and anti-social behavior and in helping young people who are socially excluded to engage again with the labor market (â€Å"Youth social†). According to Aiken (2007), social enterprises are considered mission-driven organizations with a commitment to a specific disadvantaged group. The author adds that placement agencies function as intermediaries in searching and training people to move into work in the mainstream labor market. Social enterprises have often focused on the needs of socially excluded client groups (Aiken, 2007). Aiken (2007) mentions that the origin of social and community enterprises can be found in the mutual and cooperative sector in Great Britain. The author adds that the emergence of this movement has resulted to an important pattern which has focused on the economic development of poorer communities, including the importance of maintaining paid work. Intermediate Labor Market organizations focus on short-term training and employment with the goal of trainees transitioning into paid work in other organizations (Aiken, 2007). They may be working with disadvantaged people and will have a tendency to be reliant on some degree of public sector contracting. References Aiken, M. (2007). What is the role of social enterprise in finding, creating and maintaining employment? for disadvantaged groups? Retrieved June 14, 2009, from http://www. parracity. nsw. gov. au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/22575/Cabinet_Office Colley, Helen (2003). Mentoring for social inclusion: A critical approach to nurturing mentor relationships. New York, NY: Routledge. Kemp, P. A. (2005) Young people and unemployment: From welfare to workfare. In M. Barry (Ed. ), Youth policy and social inclusion: critical debates with young people (pp. 139-156). New York, NY: Routledge. Pierson, J. (2002). Tackling social exclusion. New York, NY: Routledge. Youth social exclusion: A global concern. Retrieved June 14, 2009, from http://www. boystown. com. au/downloads/rep/BT-Youth-Social-Exclusion. pdf