Saudi Banks and the Economic Crisis: Can The Rest of the World Learn From the Resilience of Saudi Banks?

Introduction
The banking industry in Saudi Arabia has demonstrated resilience in its ability to respond to and absorb the brunt of the global economic crisis (Pathak 2009).  The rating agency Moody’s Investors Service attributes the success of Saudi’s banking sector to the Saudi government’s commitment to supporting the local economy with the implementation of an expansionary budget and infrastructure development.  Moreover, the government has in recent years invested revenue derived from the oil industry rather than engage in government expenditures (Pathak 2009).
    The Oxford Business Group (2009) reports that ever since the onset of the global economic crisis Saudi banks immediately responded by ensuring that their banks remained liquid (64).  However, lending has been restrained so that it is primarily confined to the strongest clientele.  This approach is gaining in substance since, in November 2008 the private sector debts to the banking sector was at US$198.4b and dropped by February 2009 to US$195.2b (Oxford Business Group 2009, 64).   This is a remarkable feat in light of the fact that the solvency of many banks worldwide, including banks in the US have continued to be an issue as we enter 2010 (International Monetary Fund 2009, xii-xiv).
    The researcher will examine the status of the banking sector in Saudi Arabia by looking at its history, its development and current approach to banking in light of the global economic crisis.  For comparative purposes the researcher will also examine the status of the banking sector in comparative jurisdictions in the Middle East, Europe and the US.  It will be argued that despite its relatively new banking sector, Saudi Arabia’s approach to lending and saving has been largely successful allowing it to successfully absorb the economic crisis while others are struggling to keep their banking sectors solvent.  This paper will expose the differences in approaches and explain why the Saudi approach is more successful.
Research questions:
What are the Saudi Government’s fiscal policies in the context of its banking sector?
How have those policies influenced the Saudi banking sector’s policies and practices?
Have those policies been successful in light of the global economic crisis?
What lessons can we learn from the policies adopted by the Saudi government and its banking sector?
Statement of the Problem:
Top economists warned in 2008 that the financial crisis would only worsen if banking systems did not revamp their policies and practices (Three Top Economists Agree 2009 Worst/2009).  The current crisis is responsible for business failures, falling consumer wealth, government debts and a downturn in commercial activities (Baily and Elliot 2009, 2). The impact on financial markets was devastating and continues to remain problematic.  The International Monetary Fund reports that US and European banks absorbed losses in excess of US1 trillion in respect of bad loans and poor security from about January 2007 to September 2009.  The International Monetary Fund estimates that these loses will continue to climb throughout 2010 (FACTBOX-U.S., European Bank Writedowns, Credit Losses, 2009).  
The financial crisis which started in the US quickly infected global markets and the produced a global economic shock with a number of failed banks, stock indexes declines and reductions in equities and commodities (Evans-Pritchard 2007).  Central banks from around the world took emergency action calculated to inject up to US$180 billion of liquidity in an attempt to temper the spreading economic crisis (Atkins and Cohen 2008).  By the end of October 2008 there was a currency crisis which resulted in investors repatriating capital and transferring them into stronger currencies including the dollar, the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen. As a result a number of transition and developing economies were forced to seek support from the International Monetary Fund (Fackler 2008).
    The global economic crisis has suffered a gloomy forecast.  There are increasing fears that if liquidity remains in crisis, a protracted recession is unavoidable (Goodman 2008, A1).  The impact on global economies has been dramatic.  With a recession in the US where a number of economies depend on US consumerism, annual GDPs dropped.  The drop in Germany was by 14.4 %, 15.2 % in Japan, 7.4% in the UK, 18% in Latvia 21.5% in Mexico and 9.8% in Europe (Baily and Elliot 2009, 6).  
Reports coming out of the Arab world in the Middle East are discouraging.  In March 2009, it was reported that the Arab world absorbed losses in excess of US$3 trillion as a result of the global economic crisis (Peskin 2009).  The United Nations predicted a decline in foreign investment in the economies of the Middle East as a result of a decline in demands for oil (Peskin 2009A).  In June of last year the World Bank forecasted that the year would be particularly difficult for Arab States (Peskin 2009B)  In September of last year Arab banks lost approximately US$4 billion during the current global financial crisis (Peskin 2009C).
Significance of the Study
Although Saudi stocks fell in 2008 representing its lowest since 2004, the Saudi central bank vice governor, Mohammed Al-Jasser reported that bank bail outs in Saudi Arabia was not necessary.  This was so because, unlike the remainder of the world, Saudi banks were not suffering from a liquidity shortage (Karam, 2008).  The Council of Saudi Chambers (2009) reported that the International Monetary Fund determined that Saudi Arabia:
…would face the current global financial crises with strong economic fundamentals.  The kingdom’s government has worked to strengthen its macro-economic and strengthen its financial sector and implementation of structural reforms to boost private sector-led growth, which culminated in the Kingdom’s efforts in promoting their economic occupation of the ranked first among Arab countries for four consecutive years and ranked sixteenth in the world…
The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate the fiscal policies in Saudi Arabia and how those policies have helped Saudi Arabia weather the global financial crisis with far less difficulties than the remainder of the world, particularly over countries within the Arab Middle East.  The fact is, no country has been spared the effects of the global financial crisis.  However, banks around the globe  have been the subject of government bailouts, but Saudi banks have been able to remain liquid and have for the most part absorbed the global financial crisis.  This study investigates how Saudi Arabia has been able to keep its banks liquid and has so far escaped having to issue bail-outs.  It is the researchers goal to determined whether or not, Saudi Arabia’s fiscal policies might be a model for other emerging economies in terms of fiscal policies for the ability to absorb economic shocks.

Literature Review
Saudi Arabia is a resource-based growth economy primarily relying on oil revenues in respect of its fixed budget  (Wilson 2005, 6).   Oil revenues provide approximately  three fourths of the Saudi government’s revenue (See Appendix 1 for a balance sheet of key financials for Saudi Arabian Oil Co.).  The oil sector is accounts for approximately 35 per cent of  Saudi Arabia’s GDP.  The private sector accounts for the remaining 65 per cent.  Since 1999 Saudi Arabia has witnessed a positive balance of payments current account (Sabri 2008, 144).  In subsequent years, the current account balance of payments has enjoyed a surplus increase.  Since 2003 and until the global financial crisis, the Saudi government’s commitment to sound fiscal policies together with improved oil revenues resulted in the country’s budget surplus.  The Saudi government has taken a cautious approach to this surplus  and has used it to  draw down on its debts (Shtauber and Shapir 2006, 87).
Rising oil prices have been increasingly beneficial to Saudi Arabia’s economic development and have been managed with a great deal of success so that Saudi has emerged as the world’s largest oil producing country.  Saudi Arabian oil exports escalated, showing an increase from US$45 billion in 1999 to US$115 billion by 2004.  The increase in oil revenues is primarily responsible for Saudi Arabia’s positive balance of payments, the government’s surplus budget, its ability to successful draw down on the national debt, improving the GDP and investments in general(Shtauber and Shapir 2006, 87). 
The country’s current account balance of payments in 2004 yielded a 73 percent increase over the year 2003 and reflected an increase of more than four times that of the year 2002.  The private sector also saw growth with from 3.4 percent in 2003 to 5.7 percent in 2004.  This growth was primarily accounted for by lower interest rates, liberalizing the telecommunications sector, strong stock market exchanges and as always an increase in oil revenues.  The oil revenues were invested wisely in that the government was able to improve key infrastructure which improved investments (Shtauber and Shapir 2006, 87).
    Saudi Arabia’s fixed exchange rate has been largely successful particularly because of its foreign currency payment and receipt trends together with the compulsory foreign exchange reserve backing at 100 percent.  This backing functions to place a ceiling on the circulating currency so that it does not surpass the foreign exchange reserves.  SAMA’s foreign exchange mechanisms functions within the scope and range of the regime.  Saudi Arabia’s relatively strong and established banking sector and its position as a net creditor supports forward intervention so that SAMA’s pending contracts would settle when contracting parties rendered payment in riyals in exchange for dollars (Behravesh 2008, 292). 

Research Methodology and Design
    This research paper is exploratory in nature and as such is entirely reliant upon a qualitative approach to the research.  This will involve a study of the current global financial crisis which is for the most part derived from internet resources.  The crisis is fairly recent with very few hard print resources.  The most recent information is available online and will be used for the purpose of providing the most recent information on the world financial crisis.  In order to fully access the manner in which Saudi banks have responded to and been impacted by the global financial crisis this research collected information from textbooks, journals and government and institutional reports both in hard print and internet form.  Again the most recent information is only available online and this includes information provided by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Saudi Chamber of Council and the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Ramady’s article Evolving Banking Regulation and Supervision: A Case Study of the Saudi Arabian Agency (SAMA) will be used to evaluate Saudi Arabia’s banking policies and practices.  This study is limited in that the current global financial crisis is relatively new and information in hard print is difficult to come by.  Recent information will have to be gathered primarily from internet sources.

Future Trend of Crisis Intervention in the Human Services Delivery System

Abstract
Crisis intervention strategies are methods that are used to offer prompt, short term support to individuals that experience some incidences that can elicit emotional, mental, or even physiological distress or complications. A crisis is an occurrence where an individual experiences a quick loss of the ability to solve a problem or cope very easily. This paper will start by stating the purpose of crisis intervention and then have an overview of a future crisis intervention trend, how the trend will impact the practice of crisis intervention within the human services field and the challenges the trend will need to be met as a result of the impact.

Preview
Crisis intervention strategies are methods that are used to offer prompt, short term support to individuals that experience some incidences that can elicit emotional, mental, or even physiological distress or complications (Aguilera, 1998). A crisis is an occurrence where an individual experiences a quick loss of the ability to solve a problem or cope very easily. Most of these crises are life threatening and intervention done at the opportune time can really help in saving lives. Some of these crises include natural disasters like floods, human problems like kidnap, suicide attempt or sexual assault, criminal victimization or even loss of a loved one.
Purpose of Crisis Intervention
There are several purposes of crisis intervention one of them being the reduction of the intensity of the victim’s reaction to a crisis that may be behavioral, mental and physical. The other objective is to help the victim to return to their ordinary mode of functioning that might have been disrupted by the emergence of the crisis and this is usually done through the use of a variety of coping skills and by also eliminating ineffective coping skills (Aguilera, 1998). Some of these ineffective coping skills include aloofness, withdrawal and even substance abuse. This enables the victim to deal easily with future suchlike problems or problems of another type. As the individual recovers from the crisis, through talking about what happened and any other relevant exposure, prevention of the occurrence of long term problems is achieved. Some individuals are more open to the reception of help than others and there are those that might have stayed for days or weeks without seeking help after a crisis. The length of time that the process of crisis intervention takes may depend on the nature of the crisis and the period of time the victim took to seek help.  The process of crisis intervention may not have any significant help for those people who have problems that are longstanding though it is appropriate for a person of any age. The process can take place anywhere, whether in a hospital, clinics, mental health centers and other agencies for social service. Crisis intervention is not sufficient for individuals with long-standing problems (Aguilera, 1998).
Modern Trends of Response to Crisis
 An ordinary response to a crisis takes some phases. The initial phase entails the assessment of the nature of the crisis and how the individual responded to it. Knowing how an individual responded is very important because there are several patterns of response that warrant different kinds of intervention mechanisms. Some individuals react by trying to harm themselves or others, others try homicide or suicide while others may collapse or go into a trance if not getting dizzy or panicking. This information helps in evaluating the coping skills of the individual.
In the past, crisis intervention strategies did not encompass education but the current and the future strategies for crisis intervention must have the element of education in them. This is because it is very imperative for the individuals to be aware of the several response mechanisms to avoid abnormal reactions to normal situations. This calls for the use of coping and problem solving skills, where the individual is made to understand the crisis and made aware of the proper way to express feelings (Aguilera, 1998). Strategies that the individual had been using to deal with a recurrent crisis may be bolstered or enhanced during the process of education and inculcation of coping skills. New coping skills may be encouraged also and the individual encouraged to voice out his or her fears, concerns instead of restricting them inside. Problem solving is another future trend in crisis intervention, and it includes a thorough understanding of the problem and stating the changes that are desired and also the alternatives that may be considered for solving a particular situation and the discussion of the merits and the demerits of the solutions that are alternative. Another future trend that may be very effective in crisis intervention is cognitive therapy that works on the premises that thoughts have an influence on feelings and the way one behaves and as such it can be used in the intervention of crises. The final phase of this trend of intervention involves the review of the changes that the victim has made so that difficult life events can be easily coped up with (Aguilera, 1998).
Trends: Suicide Intervention Case Study
The most frequent mental health emergency behavior is suicide and the goal of suicide intervention is to ensure that the victim is kept alive in order to reach a state that is stable as the alternatives to suicide are being reviewed. Suicidal behavior is the most frequent mental health emergency. The goal of crisis intervention in this case is to keep the individual alive so that a stable state can be reached and alternatives to suicide can be explored. In other words, the goal is to help the individual reduce distress and survive the crisis.
    Suicide intervention starts with an assessment process focusing on the likelihood of the incident recurring sometimes in the future (Slaby, 1998). There are some various components that are supposed to be evaluated with the professional involved trying to evaluate whether the individual had planned how to commit the act and the level of seriousness of the act committed. The emotions of the individual including depression, anxiety, hopelessness and being hostile can also be considered in the process. The other thing that will be important in the trend is the assessment of past responses to situation of crisis especially past suicide attempts and the family history regarding suicide. The trend also involves the assessment of the factors that have led to the crisis; and these factors include unemployment, illness or even loss of an important relationship. A written contract for safekeeping can be obtained and the person who signs the treatment is the individual stating that he or she will not commit suicide and also consents to various mitigation actions like informing the responsible medic, emergency personnel of even people who are close to the individual any time the thoughts of committing suicide arise again (Aguilera, 1998).
  The contract should include all the strategies that can help the individual to cope up with a variety of situations that can lead to the recurrence of such behavior (Slaby, 1998). If the individual asserts that he is not able to comply, then extra medical help including the involvement of a psychiatrist may be sought. Voluntary or involuntary hospitalization on mental grounds may also be necessary. The other trend in suicide intervention is the education of family close relatives and friends of the individual as the professionals seek their support. Some types of therapy like family therapy, individual therapy medication by psychiatrist or substance abuse treatment.
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)
  Critical incident stress debriefing is a method that uses a structure of a group format that is small in the discussion of crisis event that is distressing. It is one of the best and most common models of debriefing and it is an integral part of critical incident model of stress management. It works hand in hand with another model that is called the one on one crisis intervention and it is related to family support models, follow up programs and education programs for stress management (Slaby, 1998). The original design of the critical incident stress debriefing targeted the high risk professional groups but in the emerging trends, it is being used with any one in the populace including young children and old people. In the past it had been used by anyone to intervene but the future will see an improvement because currently there is a high number of trained personnel to carry out intervention measures using the program. The program is currently undergoing modifications whereby the personnel being trained to carry out crisis intervention using it include the clergy, mental health professionals, teachers and any other social service group that deals with a wide variety of people. Peer support personnel and emergency operations workers are also being considered to form part of this vital team of debriefing. The debriefing process is now recommended to take place not more than 72 hours after the incident but it should be after the first 24 hours after the crisis. The purpose of the method is the prevention of emotional, physiological, mental or behavioral responses that are excessive in nature and things like post traumatic stress disorder in reaction to a crisis. The goal is to help the individual to recover in a short period of time (Slaby, 1998). There are some precautionary measures that should be taken while using CISD because it can end up harming the individuals in distress it is supposed to help especially if it is used to a method of psychotherapy or something acting as a substitute for it. It is not supposed to be an entire problem solving mechanism and it can be used in conjunction with other methods. It is best used a referral of follow up treatment after the debriefing of the victims. The last trend in crisis intervention is the medical crisis counseling that is a brief intervention that is utilized to address anxieties, depression, paranoia and other social problems in the health care arena that are chronic. It utilizes coping strategies that help in the building of support socially in order to help the patient mitigate or manage the levels of stress that arises from a serious medical condition (Slaby, 1998). It also aids in the understanding of reactions as ordinary responses to a circumstance that is stressful to bring about better functioning. The future trends may require two or three sessions of the crisis counseling as research is being expanded to make the process effective in decreasing the levels of distress of the victims and improve their body functional systems.

Our obligations to the future generations

The world is in the manner in which it is today because of the policies, decisions and actions that have been taken either in the past or presently. Should the past generations have taken measures to completely ruin the world and its environment then the present generations would not have a pleasant world to live in. Similarly, the actions, decisions and policies that are being taken and adopted by the present generation will have a great impact on the future generations. Therefore, the present generation has a lot of moral obligation to the future generations, and it has to ensure that all actions it takes will make the world a better place to live in not just for itself, but also for the future generations. It beats all logic for someone to argue that there is no need to protect the world simply because none of the members of the current generation will be a live a hundred years from now. We are living in the world today because our forefathers preserved it for us and we therefore have no alternative but to reciprocate the same to the future generation so that they can also have a chance of living in a world that is relatively pleasant for them (Page, p. 15).

Our obligations to the future generations

Even though the current generation is likely to experience some of the adverse effects resulting from environmental degradation, most of these effects will affect future generations. Currently, there is a lot of debate around the world concerning the phenomenon of global warming, which is associated to climate change. Although there are some parts of the world that have already started suffering from the effects of global warming and climate change especially in sub Saharan Africa, more severe effects are feared to take place in future and they will substantially affect the future generations. It is therefore very essential for the current policy makers to ensure that the effects of these two phenomenons are reduced. This can be done by implementing policies aimed at ensuring that emissions of green house gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide and ethane are reduced. By doing so, the current policy makers will save the future generations from the adverse effects that are feared to result from climate change and global warming (Mintzer, p. 32).

If the current generation continues to be unethical in the manner in which it deals with issues of global warming then the future generations will suffer immensely. Global warming will lead to increased global temperatures, which will in turn have great impacts in future. One of the effects that have been predicted to occur in the future by scientists all over the world is rise of the sea level. As global warming continues to take place, more water that have been previously existed in the solid state will melt down and will find its way into the global oceans thus leading to a rise in their water levels. It is important to bear in mind that currently, there are millions of people living along the sea shore all over the world. Such populations are increasing every now and then as population increases. Rise of sea level will imply that these populations will have to be displaced from the sea shores, which will be occupied by water. The current population has a lot of obligation to the future generations and has to ensure that whatever they are doing currently will not displace people from where they have lived for thousands of years (Beckerman and Pasek, p. 36).

The effects of rise in the sea level have been predicted that they will not stop at displacement of people living along sea shore around the world and thus become climate refugees. There is a great possibility of conflict taking place since the millions of the displaced people will have to look for alternative areas to settle, the new areas will not be idle land since there are people already settled on them. This therefore implies that for the future climate refugees to get a place to settle, they will have to also displace people already settled there. A conflict will therefore have to arise between the climate refugees and people living on higher grounds who will not have been displaced by the rising waters. It is therefore more than important for the current generation to realize that it owes a lot of moral obligation to the future generations and thus act in an ethical manner, which will ensure that such conflicts are avoided as much as possible (Spash, p. 49).

Scientists have also predicted that the effects of global warming and climate change will have a great effect on the spatial distribution of various diseases especially the tropical ones such as malaria. The bacterium responsible for causing most of the tropical diseases can only survive in warm regions and hence such diseases are rarely found in the mid latitudes and in the extra tropics. However, as global warming continues, these regions will become favorable for such bacterium and thus start spreading diseases which in the past were only found within the tropics. Scientist have predicted that this will be the case since global warming will increase temperatures of both the mid latitudes and extra tropics thus making it possible for the bacterium causing these diseases to survive in these regions and thus transmit several diseases. By the current generation failing to be ethical in its obligations to the future generations, more people who would otherwise not be vulnerable to the traditionally tropical diseases will become victims of these diseases leading to massive suffering of several future populations. Furthermore, due to these diseases, the future generations will be compelled to employ more resources in order to prevent and treat such diseases, thus leaving them with limited resources to employ in development programs that are capable of improving their livelihoods. As a result their lives will be more miserable than the ones being lived by the current generation. In order to avoid such, the current generation has to be ethical and make decisions and policies that are not only beneficial to them but also to the future generations so that they can suffer less from such diseases (Amstutz, p. 55).

If the current generation continues with the excessive emissions of greenhouse gases, the future generations will suffer substantially from various calamities related to climate change. Weather disasters such as cyclones and heat waves will become more severe and frequent thus making more people in future to suffer from them. It is true that most of these calamities are already being experienced in some part of the world such as the United States and Europe but it is feared that their severity and frequency will increase dramatically in future as global warming and climate change continues to take place. These calamities will make millions of people to suffer greatly in future through loss of lives and their property. Disasters such as tropical cyclones are even known to cause major damages on the infrastructure and as their intensity increases in future, these damages will only become more severe and will take place more frequently. When infrastructure is damaged, a lot of ill effects to the economy of a nation are usually expected since the level of productivity decreases substantially and the cost of production increases dramatically. Therefore, the current generation has a lot of obligation to take ethical measures in order to protect the future generations from the effects of such calamities (McMichael and World Health Organization, p.  61).    

Virtually all nations around the world depend on agriculture either directly or indirectly to feed their populations. However, as a result of global warming and climate change, the food productivity is being put in jeopardy since output levels are decreasing at an alarming rate. The nations that are greatly affected are those that depend on rain fed agriculture, most of these nations include the developing and the least developed nations of the world. It has been predicted that in future, rainfall will become less and less reliable as a source of water to be utilized in agriculture. This will have a lot of implications on the populations that are dependent on rainfall for food productivity. As a result, agricultural output will decrease substantially making millions of people around the world to do without food and hence a lot of deaths due to starvation will happen to the future generations. It is therefore the duty and responsibility of the current generation to ensure that their current activities do not have a negative impact on the future generations by jeopardizing food productivity in future (Page, p. 77).  

Increased global warming and climate change have attributed significantly to the problem of desertification that is taking place currently. Going by the current trend of desertification, it is feared that more regions that have previously not been considered as deserts will in future be classified as deserts or semi deserts. Desertification will make the future generations to suffer greatly since it comes along with several challenges that make life almost unbearable. Water resources in such regions will become more limited, due to the great importance of water resources for people’s livelihood, its absence will cause a lot of suffering and deaths since people cannot do without it. For those communities that rely heavily on livestock and other forms of agriculture, they will suffer immensely since their livestock will die due to lack of pasture and water. At the same time, more conflicts are likely to arise as people scramble for the few left water and other natural resources. By becoming more ethical while making decisions and adopting various policies, the current generation have the obligation of considering the fate of the future generation by ensuring that the decisions they make as well as the policies they adopt will be beneficial now and in the future that is, they should be sustainable (Beckerman and Pasek, p. 83).

The current generation owes a lot to the future generations and they therefore have to conserve the environment as much as possible so that those who will come after us will live in an enjoyable world. Most of the lakes have registered substantial drop in their water levels in the recent past mainly due to deforestation that is taking place in most forests around the world. Most of the water catchments areas are found in the forests. Hence once a lot of deforestation takes place and the forests get depleted, less water will flow from the forests to the lakes. As a result, the water levels of the lakes will continue to drop over time and it is feared that some time in future most of the current enormous lakes will have dried up either wholly or partly. Lakes are a great source of livelihood for millions of people around the world and hence if they dry up for one reason or another, then the people who depend on them either directly or indirectly for their daily bread will be deprived off their source of livelihood. Just as it was in the case of desertification and decreased agricultural productivity, the drying of lakes will imply that all the fish and other food resources that are obtained from them will no longer be present and thus a food shortage will be created. It is the responsibility of the current generation to ensure that it does not ruin the lives of future generations. It can do this by ensuring that it uses the forest resources in a manner that is sustainable, which will ensure perpetual existence of these significant resources (Amstutz, p. 95).  

Global warming and climate change have brought about several differences in the manner in which rainfall is distributed both temporally and spatially. Nowadays, the distribution of rainfall has greatly changed. Most regions are receiving erratic forms of rainfall, whereby storms of very high intensity are being experienced within a short period of time. Despite the fact that in terms of measurement these volumes can be enough for agricultural use, the duration and the manner in which the erratic rain comes can hardly be used in agriculture since it only rains for a short period of time, which is not enough for crops and other plants to grow. Such rainfalls are very much unreliable and can therefore not be used to increase land productivity. Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will only worsen the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall in future thus making it more and more unreliable for any meaningful use. The current generation has thus the duty of ensuring that it adopts measures that will lead to decreased emission of these gases and thus make rainfall more reliable currently and in the future so that those generations that will come after we are gone will not be adversely affected by the ill effects of unreliable rainfall (Mintzer, p. 122).  

Trees have a lot of value to mankind and they therefore have to be used in a manner that is sustainable if the benefits that are usually obtained from them will continue to be realized in the future. Most of the medicines that are used to cure various diseases are obtained from trees and other plants. If the current generation fails to conserve these trees and other natural plants, it will be very difficult for the future generations to obtain sound sources of medicinal products. As a result, the future generations will suffer greatly due to lack of capacity to cure various diseases simply because all the plants containing medicinal value will have been depleted completely. Furthermore, more and more diseases continue to emerge and the medicine to treat them might be in some of these plants but as at now such value have not been discovered. Hence depleting all these plants has the implication that new diseases in future will not have medicine to cure them and hence the future generations will have no alternative but to suffer due to lack of proper medicine to cure such diseases. It is therefore the obligation of the current generation to ensure that it does its best to conserve the environment so that the future generations will not suffer simply because the current one used the natural resources in an unsustainable manner (Amstutz, p. 127).  

The activities that are being carried out by the current generation are leading to massive pollution of the environment especially water and air pollution. These forms of pollution have a lot of adverse effects to the current generation but it is feared that they will have even worse effects to future generations. The water resources will continue to decrease, even though the same amount of water will continue to exist, a higher proportion of the water will be in polluted form and will thus not be safe for human or animal consumption. However, because people and animals cannot do without this all important resource, they will be compelled to consume the polluted water and thus expose themselves as well as their livestock to several diseases. Continued pollution will thus make the future generations less productive since they will be unhealthy. The same case will be applicable to air and other forms of pollution. They will make more people in future to suffer from several illnesses. The current generation has therefore a lot of responsibility to ensure that it causes less pollution to the environment so that it can conserve and preserve it for the future generations. This can only be possible through the implementation of policies that are aimed at protecting the environment and thus ensure that the world develops in a sustainable manner (Page, p. 139).  

Conclusion

It is quite evident that most of the activities the current generation is undertaking will have very adverse effects to the future generations. It is therefore very important for the current generation to realize that it owes the future generation a lot of obligations. Therefore, when using the available natural resources it is important for them to ensure that they do so in a manner that is sustainable. The current generation should ensure that they make decisions and adopts policies that are appropriate not only for the current needs but also for the requirements of the future generations. It should as much as possible ensure that factors that are responsible for causing climate change and global warming are reduced as much as possible. This will save the future generations from the adverse effects of climate change and global warming such as rise of sea level, expansion of tropical diseases, drought and natural calamities resulting from them. It is quite immoral for the current generation to live on this world as if there will be no other generations that will come after them and they therefore owe the future generations a lot of obligations.

HISTORY OF ATHENS GREECE

In the fast developing economy as we live in today, the demand for quality is increasingly important. The fierce competition for increasing market share at any industry has driven corporations at the industry to increase the quality of services. Similarly, consumers have also great expectation for better quality of services. This situation creates pressure towards professionals’ all over the world.

In the field of business, especially in hospitality industry, creating an excellent product or service is the result of cooperation and teamwork from all parts of the company. Without common point of view of the company’s goals and common point of view of the qualities required to achieve that goal, it is difficult to come up with the desirable products or services.

 According to The History Place – Tourism Guide, among many tourism spots in the world, Athens – Greece is among place that provides many historical buildings as main tourism spots among others. Athens, which represents the Greece, is at crossroads of cultures, colors and civilizations. Concerning the Athens, this paper will elaborate the history of Athens – Greece where considers as the birthplace of democracy.

1.                  The Ancient of Athens

                       The competition of Athens with Poseidon

Historically, the name of Athens originates from the Greek mythology when there is a competition between the goddess Athena with Poseidon in order to determine who will be the protector of the city. The history mentions that during the competition, Poseidon presents a spring with sea water whilst Athena present an olive tree as she touched the ground of the sacred rock of the Acropolis. As the people in the Athens select Athena to be their protector and thus the city was named after the protector, Athens. Further, Athens represents the symbol as a city of wisdom and as a sea power. One main hallmark that describes the first settlement of Athens at 3000 BC is placed on the rock of Acropolis (Athens Greece Guide, 2007).

 Birthplace of democracy

The geographic area of Athens is placed in the plains of Attika where it is located between the Parnitha, Penteli, and Hymettos mountains and close to Saronic Gulf. Currently, the city is the home for over five millions people. Although it exhibits the characteristics of modern metropolis, the city kept their unique ancient atmosphere, reflecting the Athenians and their way of living (Athens Info Guide, 2009).

The way of living is now considered as the origin of concept of democracy that developed 2,500 years ago at the foot of Acropolis in Athens. Several systems in the ancient Athens resemble the current democracy practice. The Ancient agora, for instances, at that time composes of a parliament, a town hall, schools, meeting rooms, temples, sport events etc. Figure 3 shows the representations of Athens in the 5^th century BCE where it displays the Agora and its system (Athens Info Guide, 2009).

 

Agora, the commercial and social center of Athens, in the Ancient Athens is located about 400 meters in the north side of Acropolis. Right now, the location is the Monastiraki district. In addition, the hill of Pnyx, which is the Athenian Assembly met located in western end of the city (Athens Info Guide, 2009).

                       The place of story and learning

As the city has an attractive ancient history, in targeting the Athens as destination of choice, we encounter the major target for Athens - Greece is people who have historical memory at Greece and young people who have great passion of exotic place at Greece (Athens Info Guide, 2009).  

Concerning the positioning of Greece, we see that Greece should communicate the attractiveness of Greece that features many places of interests and offers the delighting services and unforgettable memories for people who visit Athens - Greece. Figure 4 shows example of exotic place in the Greece.

                       Most Important Religious Sites

As Athens historically exhibits many religious developments, the city present many religious sites including the Temple of Athena, which is known as Parthenon, located at atop the Acropolis. In addition, there are two other major religious sites: the Temple of Hephaestus and the Temple of Olympian Zeus or Olympeion. The later is the largest temple at that time but now it ruins. Another important religious site is Erechteion, which is named after a legendary Athenian King (Athens Info Guide, 2009).   

In the peak period of 5^th and 4^th centuries, the city of Athens and its suburbs has about 300,000 inhabitants. The major part of residents at that time is foreign residents (known as metoikoi or metrics). About 10-20% of the population are adult male citizens.

References:
- http://www.article-biz.com/Judge-Me.html
- http://legalservices.co.in/blogs/entry/Invasion-of-Privacy-Issue 
- http://www.writelink.co.uk/614/blogs/entry/Writing-A-Cohesive-Paragraph

Legal Scholarship

            In this world, we cannot negate the fact that the legal field is one of the most prejudiced aspects of society. Not everyone is given the right to justice, and even worse, these are the people who deserve to be treated fairly and equally. The minority is most often treated wrongfully, and as far as I’m concerned, they are the ones who must be given the voice. This is why I gave up a very lucrative job in information technology to be able to pursue my interest in the legal field.

            I graduated with a Bachelors degree in Management Information Systems from Langston University in Oklahoma. In addition, I currently possess a Paralegal Certificate from the Center for Advanced Legal Studies in Houston. As for my educational achievement, I had been honored distinctively by the National Association of Legal Assistants & Paralegals (NALA) as Certified Legal Specialist in Litigation (CLAS).

            Being in the field of technology supporting the legal system, I had been able to acquire and share my experiences in addressing the needs of attorneys, paralegals and litigation support managers. Prior to joining Merrill Legal Solution, I had been a member of the Information Management Leadership Program at GE Capital in Stamford, Connecticut, where my task was to implement large-scale financial applications.

            In connection with my interest in the legal process, I have had a background in public service by working as a paralegal in the city of Houston, where I handled cases regarding police brutality. I had also been a judicial support specialist in the Federal court, working on cases revolving around prisoners on the Death Row. As part of my service to the public, I’m an active member of the Houston Area Paralegal Association and the National Association of Legal Assistant. Furthermore, I’ve also contributed enough to the Christian Rescue Mission Church in Houston, Texas 3^rd ward (historically an African-American area) as a dedicated member.

            After five years of experience performing different roles in the legal community, I decided to attend the Thurgood Marshall Law School in Houston, Texas during the fall semester of 2010. This will really satisfy my goal of graduating from Law School by May of 2013, and being able to pursue my open practice in the 3^rd ward focusing on the minority community.

            Of course, all of these are just my credentials as to why I think I’m a worthy candidate for your scholarship. I still need to prove myself, but I want to assure you that I’m ready to take on the challenge. Ever since I was young, I have had an inclination towards helping the community and servicing the public. I helped our nation in my own simple ways and I had been doing community work all this time. Through my knowledge and experience, I had been awakened by the fact that the world needs more humane lawyers who are willing to sacrifice the greener pasture just to help the people in need. As what I’ve stated above, not everyone was given the chance to defend themselves due to a lot of reasons that they themselves might not be the cause. I want to uplift the lives of others by being able to serve them through the best of my abilities, and this scholarship will surely help me a lot in fulfilling these dreams, not only for myself and my family, but also for the good of the community. I desire the welfare of others much more than I think of myself. As far as I can see, others can benefit more if you can support me and guide me through this path that I chose to take. I know it would be a long and tiring one, but with your help, it would surely keep the fire burning in my heart sparked up by the longing of the minority for justice and equality.

            With this, I hope you may be able to award me the scholarship which could help me accomplish my goal and aspirations for the betterment of the society and the entire nation. I believe that through this, I’ll be able to take my small steps into a leap towards a better future not only for me, but also for my fellow countrymen.
References:

• http://messiahtube.eu/pg/blog/charlenehulme/read/251615/the-audience 
• http://www.kostenlose-blogs.de/blogs/index.php?blog=329 
• http://www.meetpeoplecafe.com/blogs/entry/The-Topic-Sentence 

Listen

The communication process involves two parties, one who transmits the message and the receptor two listens to the message being transmitted to transform the data and then formulate an opinion of what the person heard. I perform a short one day experiment to test my listening skills. I live in a rural region. In the morning when I wake up I would hear the sounds of the birds and animals. There is river near my home, I also heard the water. I did not talk to anyone for an hour in my home and kept my ears open. To me it seemed as if the range of my hearing capacity increase, but I might be mistaken.

I took a taxi to work, but intentionally told the driver a few blocks away from work so I could walk and listen. There were so many sounds at once that my mind could not process so much information. I stopped at a bakery for a coffee and had my first conversation. The cashier began the conversation and then I asked for coffee. I continued to chit-chat for about three minutes and there were other customers in line. That is a tendency that I have noticed in my interpersonal communication that I can improve on. I should become a better listener and let others express themselves to then speak my point without making a long story out something simple. I need to learn to be more precise and improve my listening skills. By letting others talk first one can gather ideas and then make comments based on the data our brain had a chance to process. A good attribute about my listening skills is that I retain a lot of information in my brain as far as remembering conversation I had with people in the past.   

Myself in three words

Boston University Community is not only a great platform to tread back to those “golden days” but is also a chance of helping our brethren with our knowledge and power to change. Every year we see new faces joining the community with great enthusiasm and a positive attitude to “change”. I am enthusiastic about learning new things which has made me a proficient learner. Since my childhood days, I have shown keenness in learning new things whether in the fields of fine arts, music or life sciences. Being a sports enthusiast, I became a member of my school’s volleyball and track teams but that did not cease me from trying and experimenting different fields out of my expertise. I painted posters for various sports matches which developed in me, a knack for multi-tasking. I tried my hand over designing sports jersey. Participating in various volleyball matches, I became a confident player, at the same time, learnt to strike a balance between mental and physical pressures. As I grew up, I understood how to work pragmatically under the circumstances of stress which made me competitive and disciplined. As a good sportsman, not only did I play sportingly but, I worked toward enhancing teamsmanship. From decorating festoon to accelerate fitness regime to distributing snacks to the players, I did it all.  Since then, I revere all professions.  

In my leisure hours I follow gardening which keeps me in tandem with nature and has made me sensitive. I make sure that I maintain “green peace” in my locality at a grassroot level, therefore, maximizing my responsibilities toward nature. My sensitivity toward preserving “green peace” will be helpful in organizing campaigns following ‘Kyoto Protocol’ through BU community service. Moreover, I have implemented projects like these at my community level which have turned out to be quite productive. I have been part of many Non-Governmental Organizations thus, followed many charity programmes too. Being School Charity Ceremony financial officer for many years, I prolonged this practice for decades thus, finally, culminating to a Fund Raiser campaign for Tsunami victims. I have also participated in spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS for my community center. Not only this, I have participated in conducting various Blood Donation campaigns which has strengthened my belief in community service. My belief in bringing “change” is the only motivational force to make me what I am today. As an eager reformist, I think, I would have an enormous bounty of ways, contributing to the Boston University Community. Therefore, my ability to learn, multi-tasking and sensitivity, make me the whole I am today.