Review of Kelly and Kulman’s Article Kid Power

The article chosen for review is â€Å"Kid Power† by Katy Kelly and Linda Kulman, U. S. News ; World Report. It was posted on September 5, 2004. The article discusses the psychology and marketing that is accomplished by major companies. Advertising companies spend over $15 billion a year telling kids what is hot and what they need to buy. Kids are surrounded with carefully researched messages and marketing telling them what to do.The parenting style has become more flexible and less authoritarian in the last 25 years. All this tiny consumers in United States will recognize logos at the age of 18 months and by 2 children will ask products by brand name. It should be noted that a child will watch 40,000 commercials every year and some parents reported that the baby’s first words was not â€Å"mama† or â€Å"dada† but â€Å"Coke†. United States with only 4. 5 percent of the population buys 45 percent of the global toy production.American kids will get an average of 70 new toys a year. Kids will influence the family decision buying power of parent by 670 billion worth of purchases, small items such as which snacks to buy and large items as a SUV for the family trips with the kids. If we compare the military budget in United States is 418 billion, much smaller than the kids buying power. There is a strong opposition to this barrage of advertising by many fronts.That is why marketers count on kids to nag parents to the point of purchase. The American Psychological Association added its voice to that of the American Academy of Pediatrics is reporting that advertising is directed toward children and is deceptive and exploits children under age 8. Also, the APA says that before the age of 4 or 5, kids can not distinguish between a show and a commercial. In the future most likely we will see legislation to curve the limit on advertising to children.

Dbq 9

America felt the need to move towards the idea of foreign policy from 1895 to 1920; their success was a combination of idealism and self-interest. Both were influential in the decision to venture outside of U. S borders. America expanded due to idealistic view such as: The White Man’s Burden, Religious motivation, a social contract with the Western Hemisphere and the Spanish American War. However, self interest offered more of a substantial force with America’s desire for a stronger Navy, foreign market, power, pride, and the influences of the Roosevelt Corollary.When both ideas are combined they create one of the most influential and globally shaping decisions of our world. America’s decision to expand their foreign policy influenced their idealistic views. America especially felt the need to assist the less fortunate and successful nations in the western hemisphere, which is called the White Man’s Burden. This is described in (Document C). This poem show s the feelings of the American people, the poem’s optimistic tone and uplifting morale portrays the justification the colonization of less developed and successful countries.Many of America’s missionaries decided to leave the land of the free and help other countries and their populations through education and the gospel. Missionaries were sent out to spread their religion and to help people who were not as fortunate as others. American men and women set up schools and hospitals in SE Asia and taught children the basic principles of science and math. (Document D) shows a picture of American missionaries teaching in China. Citizens of the government served as inspiration for the expansion of its foreign policy.America was caught in a feeling of moral obligation to its western countries. It then became morally bound to help those in times of need. The government became stuck in their good deeds. It was difficult to maintain its policy of individualism with this moral arr angement. The Spanish American War was a main factor that led America to gain foreign policy. While Cuba was struggling for independence in the late 1890s, the Spanish created a form of concentration camps in response to the revolts to keep prisoners from assisting the rebels.They believed that if they kept the citizens in these camps, they could not mount a large enough force to overthrow Spanish power. Over the time of the camps habitation, approximately a third of all prisoners were killed by the time of the camps liberation. America felt obligated to assist the Cubans due to their burden of the white man, pushing their foreign policy higher. America was given no choice; they were forced to break down their wall of individualism. This was the impetus for America’s colonial expansion.Shortly after their adventures in Cuba, America gained both Puerto Rico and the Philippines. On the other hand, self-interest, a powerful and influential factor, influenced America greatly. Ame rica was still on the rise to becoming a world power; one requirement for a world power is a powerful and efficient Navy. America had the potential to become a sea power but it lacked power on the global stage. America’s Navy was centralized near the motherland; their navy had to be present in all waters across the earth. America needed ports around the globe to refuel and re-supply.By creating ports around the world, America expanded itself and became a created a global presence. Also a big problem in the early 1900s was overproduction, farmers continued to create more product than they could sell. This can be largely contributed to America’s lack of a foreign market. The American people alone were too small to consume all of the products. This need for foreign investors drove the Americans to expand for economic purposes. This can be shown by the excerpt in (Document B). † An introduction of foreign consumers brought an influx of variety and mixture of products .America was still standing outside of the world power circle peering in. This created a desire and want from the American people to become a world leader and global power. Greed for power pushed Americans to become more aggressive and assertive on the world stage. Americans saw the addition of colonies as a way to gain power and recognition on the world stage; this led to the colonization of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, some of Americas expansion is shown in (Documents E and F). One thing was for sure, America had war pride, it was the citizens duty to prove their success in war.This pride that they felt is shown in (Document A), where it states â€Å"Anew consciousness seems to have come upon us- the consciousness of strength-and with it a new appetite, the yearning to show our strength†¦Ã¢â‚¬  An example can be found in the events following the publication of the De lome letter. Enrique Dupuy de Lome, who was the Spanish and Cuban Minister, wrote the letter. The letter stated that president McKinley was weak. The Americans found this offensive and shortly after its publication, the Spanish and Americans were at war. Document G) exhibits how Americans were done with their peripheral lifestyle; they were tired of being the little guy. The influences of the Roosevelt corollary were drastic and obvious. The proclamation showed America’s intentions and exhibited the fact that America was ready to expand and come out of its isolationist cocoon. It served as a message to the world that America had arrived on the global stage. However, America’s arrival on the world stage wasn’t without struggle. This struggle can be shown through (Document H). The political cartoon depicts the U. S.A joining happily with, or marrying, foreign entanglements through the League of Nations. It also depicts the U. S Senate objecting to the marriage showing that America’s decision to become a world power wasn’t without struggle or objection. The tension between what the people wanted and what the Senate wanted was on opposite spectrums. The people gained the win even though the Senate claimed it was against the Constitution. Obviously the push to expand America’s foreign policy cannot be attributed to idealism or self-interest alone. A combination of both created a push to leave the comforts of our borders.One is not more important than the other; they alone would not have achieved what is achieved today. This push created one of the largest current powers on the globe. One has to think; where would we be today if President Roosevelt and the American people had decided to stay isolated. America truly changed the name of the game by coming out of their bubble and stepping into the world. In retrospect Foreign Policy was not achieved through one thing, Foreign policy is like any good casserole; there are many ingredients and varying measurements of each.

Comparative public sector management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Comparative public sector management - Essay Example The elements of public management are tools that maximise efficiency of public management and are applicable to the private and public domains. There are many theories that provide a framework for public policy, and their application is varied depending on the context (Khaleghian & Gupta 2005, pp 1083-1099). Public policy is often characterised by dynamic, complex and interactive systems. It is through these systems that the problems affecting the public are identified and solved. The most basic solutions in this line are usually the formulation of new policies that reform the existing ways of doing things and as such increase the connectedness of the government and other players to the public. Using a theoretic approach to formulation and implementation of public policy prevents the use of fantasy, unreal and phantasm approaches to service to the public (Kapucu 2009, pp 1187-1190). Phallocentric perspective refers to the concept that directs perceptive as predominantly male-oriented of favouring. Some of the public policies in education especially in areas where inequalities in education have been an issue have been seen as inclined towards favouring men. A feministic approach in the opposite of this, it refers to the recognition of women as an important and independent entity in the development. Free primary education in Australia is a public sector policy that has been effective in ensuring a boost to the females who missed education opportunities in the past due to cultural and economic barriers (Kapucu 2009). In is very necessary that public policies are set aside from politics. This is because most of the political activities are designed to provide administrative powers, and rule over people, the public policy, on the other hand, are meant to provide public service and management in a non-profit approach from the government and other stakeholders in the selected issue. The

Munich Agreement and the Events of the 1930s Essay

Munich Agreement and the Events of the 1930s - Essay Example The nation also remembers the victory and glory that came home to France, but not without a sense of bereavement. Indeed, the victory of 1914 came to France at a very gory price. Today, my dear friends, is the day France refused to repeat history. Today is the day the French refused to pay in the blood of its brothers for another victory. Today is the day France stands up in defiance of injustice and upholds the flag of peace to ensure peace and stability in the region. Today is the day, I, Edouard Daladier stand in front of the French parliament, having signed the historic Munich Agreement. This is a time to be celebrated. The world has learned to resolve its problems without shooting each other to smithereens. Statesmen of the civilized world, namely Britain, France, Germany and Italy, have learned to sit down and talk in peace to seek solutions for world peace, and that, I believe, is one of the greatest successes of the Munich Agreement. I am not blind to the fact that the Munich Agreement is plagued with controversy. Opponents of the agreement are keen to point fingers at the French government for betraying the people of Czechoslovakia and for supporting Germany in its evil designs. I feel that such concerns of the opponents of the Munich Agreement reek more of anti-French propaganda than of justice and truth. Myopic viewpoints would stand in the way of Britain and France, the two nations that are willing to sacrifice a lot in return of peace in Europe. Europe cannot afford another war, and Britain and France are aware of this reality. Germany’s aggressiveness must be appeased to achieve peace in Europe, and the Munich Agreement is a symbol of that very appeasement, which I believe all present in this room must not only appreciate, but acclaim as a remarkable effort on part of the French Government. Mes freres, the French nation has entrusted my office of the prime minister of france to not only represent them, but to give them access to the truth. Today I speak before you to present nothing but that. The state of Czechoslovakia has transgressed. It has denied its Sudeten population the autonomy it has desired for so long. The sacrifices the Sudeten have made and the atrocities the Czechs have committed against them are an open secret. The world has witnessed the cries of help from those who wish to cease their association with Czechoslovakia and join Germany. Why should the wishes of the public be denied? We see the Sudeten demand for autonomy as a justified demand, and one that the Czech government should be keen in advancing to its people. If an ethnic group finds belonging with Germany, it should be allowed to secede with it. The Munich Agreement, my friends, guarantees just that. The Agreement however, is not drawn simply to support the ideology backing the liberation of the Sudeten Germans. On 16th September of this same year, it is known to all that our government, in collaboration with the British government, presented a proposal to the President of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Benes. We presented a very reasonable proposal, which asked the Czech Government to hand over to Germany all those areas that are populated by more than fifty percent Sudeten Germans. In return, Czechoslovakia will be allowed to retain its independence. Such reasonable terms of the treaty were

Providing school guidance with children that are being bullied Research Paper

Providing school guidance with children that are being bullied - Research Paper Example ng through email, instant messaging, in a chat room, on a website or gaming site, or through digital messages or images sent to a cellular phone† (Kowalski, Limber, & Agatston 2007, as cited in Tippett, Thompson, & Smith, n.d., p.1). The pervasive and insidious character of cyber bullying enabling it to penetrate even the sanctuary of homes has increasingly worried parents as they know that the technology to which their children are largely exposed to is the same technology that cyber bullies anonymously manipulate to harm others (Mclaughlin, 2008, par.3). Statistical data on the extent of bullying vary. â€Å"However, the general consensus is that one out of three children are bullied at school, in the neighborhood, or online and that one out of three children bully others† (American Association of School Administrators, 2009, p.7). â€Å"Surveys indicate that as many as half of all children are bullied at some time during their school years, and at least 10% are bullied on a regular basis† (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2008, par.1). International studies revealed that, â€Å"bullying is common and affects anywhere from 9% to 54% of children† (Yale University 2008, par.6). â€Å"Nearly three in four teenagers say they were bullied online at least once during a recent 12-mont period† (University of California, 2008, par. 1). Californian researchers’ new study discovered that almost 90% of third graders to sixth graders experienced being bullied, while 56% admitted being bullies themselves (Harding, 2007, par. 1). Much had been documented about the effects of bullying. â€Å"An estimated 160,000 children miss school everyday out of fear of attack or intimidation by other students† (â€Å"Watch for warning signs,† 2006, par. 1). â€Å"Children who are bullied suffer more greatly from anxiety, depression, loneliness, and post-traumatic stress than do other children, and they have a heightened risk of suicide (Marini, Dane, Bosacki, & YLC-CURA 2006,

Choose one topic from the ten topics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Choose one topic from the ten topics - Essay Example Neo-Confucianism The East Asian conception of human nature is primarily informed by Confucianism. Confucianism is described as a â€Å"humanistic religion† since Confucianism understands and perceives that the â€Å"Ultimate†, of the â€Å"imminent power, of the transcendent, of the world, life and death† are linked to and founded on exploring human nature together with human destiny (Yao, 2000, p. 46). In following Mencius, Neo-Confucian ideology adopted the notion that human nature is good as opposed to evil. However, Neo-Confucian philosophers modified this conception of human nature by distinguishing moral nature from physical nature (de Barry & Bloom, 1999). In this regard, the Neo-Confucian philosophy conceptualized the human moral nature as inherently good. This was because, the moral nature of mankind consisted of â€Å"li† and the physical nature of mankind consisted of â€Å"ch’i† indicating that physical nature could be good and/or bad (Lecture Notes). In this regard, the Confucian concept of li refers to that which is real. In terms of human nature, li refers to that which is passed onto man from Heaven and in this regard it is good. However, li had to be cultivated to ensure that man followed his moral nature (Yao, 2000). Therefore the concept of li provides the justification for law and order which is intended to cultivate man’s moral nature for maintaining order. The concept of ch’i provided even further justification for law and order in regulating the lives of the individual. Ch’i refers to material and vital forces which operate either in cohesion with li or inconsistently with li (Yao, 2000). In other words, man was naturally good, but physical forces could have a negative impact on man’s moral nature if the moral nature was no cultivated. Buddhists on the other hand, do not recognize that which they cannot â€Å"see, hear, speak, think, and move† and only those thin gs they can see, hear, think, speak, and move are regarded as nature (de Barry & Bloom, 1999, p. 714). From the Buddhist perspective, that which is heard, seen, spoken, though or moved, does not have to be clear in order to be qualified as nature. In this regard, nature may be confusing and this explains why Buddhists do not generally perceive â€Å"the many moral principles inherent in them† (de Barry & Bloom, 1999, p. 714). Classical Confucianism As for classical Confucianism, the original traditions of Confucianism were founded by Confucius and Mengzi and Mengzi’s theory of human nature served as the background for the classic Confucian concept of moral nature. Mengzi’s theory of human nature were among the most influential and provides the foundations for what is widely accepted as human nature. Mengzi’s theory of human nature provides a profound understanding of how law and order is maintained (de Barry & Bloom, 1999). Mengzi’s contributions w ere converted into the Four Books by Confucian scholars in the Song Dynasty. At the same time, Xunzi developed a theory that was different from Mengzi’s. According to Xunzi, â€Å"human nature was evil and Heaven† was an â€Å"impersonal power or natural principle† (Yao, 2000, p. 71). Xunzi stressed â€Å"law (fa) and ritual/propriety (li)† as opposed to â€Å"

Methodology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Methodology - Essay Example It gives a clearly defined structure for the enquiry and supports the researcher to stay within a defined set of limits. This methodology provides the scheme for sampling, data collection, data analysis and explanation of findings for the research. For the sake of providing the best understanding, it will be appropriate to summarize important elements of the research in order to make the research methodology meaningful. Research aims The research aims as stated in chapter one are: 1) To understand the main objective of teaching and maintaining art in the curriculum 2) To provide an understanding of the importance of teaching and maintaining art in the curriculum for students in Iraq 3) To identify the role that art has played as a subject in the Iraqi community 4) Compare the approach to the teaching and learning of art in the UK and Iraq 3.3. Validity and reliability in research Validity refers to the use of right and correct methods or systems to conduct a research (Cohen et al, 20 07). As such, the use of such methods needs to be justified. On the other hand, reliability is about maintaining confidence in the work by showing that accuracy and other important yardsticks are safeguarded throughout the research (Goodwin, 2009). This research would be conducted with respect to various ethical requirements of research. As such, all relevant ethics in research in the UK would be included in the. In the sense of doing the research, it would be proper then to employ the use of triangulation as a mode of assessing not only the reliability of the data but also the confidence bestowed on the results given by the data. In triangulation different approaches are used in the data collection and analysis in order to evidently observe the coherence and resonance that is depicted by the various methods this explains why it’s believed to communicate the reliability of the data. Triangulation is also subdivided into various castes; triangulation of methods, investigator, data sources and that of theory triangulation (Creswell, 2009). All the components of the data are important in enhancing it reliability and adoption in doing qualitative researches. Just like in statistics, the reliability of the findings is only scientifically and statistically convincing based on the broad base of the various areas consulted. These increased bases do increase the chances of all factors consideration and is entirely imperative in communication the efficacy of a data to be adopted (Creswell, 2009). Even in the service rendered by the triangulation as a method of doing and carrying out a qualitative research, it has been equally defied given the technical challenges associated with it. A part from significantly inflating the total cost of the research, the method is also argued to provide a very difficult approach in trying to understand the various methods given the conflicting approaches considered in the multimethod exercise (Tashakkori, Abbas, and Teddlie, 2009) .research. In defining the variables, care would be taken to incorporate the writer's experience and experience of learned persons to attain guidelines on how to calibrate the variables. This will be done through consultation and discussions 3.2. Qualitative and Quantities Research Qualitative methods are meant to provide an observation of social phenomenon from a close analysis of facts and trends with a critical

Homeland Security Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Homeland Security - Assignment Example The need for enhanced air security was discussed and the result was the passing of the Aviation and Transport Security Act. This was passed to create transportation security administration. This outsourced to the private stakeholders in the field and it was aimed at ensuring that there was a synchronized security system that would not be beaten by terrorists. Passenger and luggage screening was enhanced and made more thorough at the airports to ensure that no weapon goes through unnoticed. Another notable change was in the government as many organizations sprouted while others reorganized themselves after the scare to be able to handle such cases better in the future. The passing of the Patriot Act was seen as a move to ensure that the people were living harmoniously and therefore preventing a repeat of the attack. In the immigration and tourism sector, a notable change was detected especially with the limiting of Visas given to citizens of various countries. Looking at the changes, it is evident that the attack enhanced the tightening of security in the various dockets that can be used to harbor criminals or let them into the United States. The security of a countries borders is very important when it comes to the safety of the citizens. It’s through the porous borders that criminals or counterfeit products and illegal goods are smuggled into the country. While dealing or discussing the issue of security it is important to look at the role of technology in ensuring that the borders are not porous and criminals are kept at bay. One of the important things to note is that the borders also act as important economic gateways between the retailers in the neighboring countries. Looking at the United States, the shared border with Canada and Mexico alone is about seven hundred miles.

The Tourism Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The Tourism Industry - Essay Example Urban tourism is a special kind of tourism which is linked to urban lifestyles in relation to a number of tourist activities existing in the cities. It is therefore defined as a set of established resources and activities found in a city and have been availed for the external visitors. The visitors may come with the aim of getting entertained or for business purposes or are on official duties. Other than urban tourism is a form of tourism, it is considered as a fundamental, traditional and characteristic feature of urban life. This is because most cities have changed from being places of population mobility offering tourists just a short break. They have therefore become cultural centers with relaxation and shopping places where people can meet their friends and effectively spend their free time. Tourism activities in cities differ in relation to differences in sizes, available resources and existing features for tourist attraction. The difference can also be in terms of disparity of lifestyles within the various cities. Hence urban tourism is a representation of the fascinating features of a city and resources aimed at attracting visitors and residents. The tourism activities contribute to the development of the cities and urban life. Moreover, it is a requirement for cities to have heritage values coupled with the modern state of the art infrastructure that fully meets the needs and desires of tourists. This means there is a need for aims to be directed at developing good infrastructural services and preserving the historic centers.

Long Form Journalism writing ( see instruction) Article - 1

Long Form Journalism writing ( see instruction) - Article Example To some people, their extreme conviction and dedication in participating the church’s evangelical mission, and in thanksgiving to God seemed like a big mystery. Why are they doing it like a robot? Why are they giving too much dedication not just in thanksgiving God, but in attending all worship services and evangelical missions? In an interview with a church member, he replied, â€Å"we give much importance to our worship services because it is a duty God is waiting for us to fulfill. We have so many reasons to thank God. We were awakened from false teachings of our former religions, and we were given the right to belong to His chosen people in these last days. We doesn’t care even if we miss great opportunities, we doesn’t care even if we can’t report to our office work. What’s most important to us is that we could fulfill God’s given task to us. Our annual thanksgiving is another duty in praising God for all the blessings He is pouring on the entire church, and in the individual member’s lives. We treat everything as God’s gift: life, opportunities, peace, we could not achieve it on our own struggle. That is why we always cling to God, and we believe in His promise of eternal life.† From their issue of God’s Message, their magazine, published on May 2004. There is an article about the Brother Felix Manalo as God’s messenger. Looking backward to the history of the church, it has started in the Philippines by Bro. Felix Y. Manalo(1886-1963). Manalo was born on May 10, 1886, 10 years prior to the Philippine Revolution that ended the 400-year of Spanish colonialism. The church’s members believe that he is the fulfillment of biblical prophecies concerning God’s â€Å"chosen servant† from the â€Å"ends of the earth† mentioned in Is. 41:9-10 and the â€Å"angel ascending from the east† entrusted with the task of sealing the â€Å"servants of God† mentioned in Rev. 7:2-3. He was the eldest child of

Death Penalties in the UK Essay Example for Free

Death Penalties in the UK Essay In PSHE we were studying death penalties in the world. All of the students had different opinions on why we should have or why we shouldn’t have it like it is now in the UK. In this case my opinion is to keep it how it is and not punish criminals with death penalties. I would like to keep the law with no death penalties in the UK. This is because even though the do horrible crimes to get a death penalty, they are still human and there are a lot of things that could go wrong. You could be taking an innocent person who done nothing wrong and giving the death penalty and realizing your mistake after they’re dead. Even if they are guilty there could be so much pain when they are getting injected or shot or any other ways to kill them. Just because they’re murderers, they are still human. Also, what if they did get their death penalty but they didn’t die until an hour after or several minutes, just imagine how much pain that person would be, how their family would feel, how you would feel if you were in that same position. A woman from the UK was sent to America to get a death penalty for something she might not have done and we’re only depending on the evidence of two people. On May 4th 1990 in Florida a man named Jesse Joseph Tafero was executed on the electrocution chair. During the execution, six-inch flames erupted from Taferos head, and three jolts of power were required to stop his breathing. State officials claimed that the botched execution was caused by inadvertent human error the inappropriate substitution of a synthetic sponge for a natural sponge that had been used in previous executions. They attempted to support this theory by sticking a part of a synthetic sponge into a common household toaster and observing that it smoldered and caught fire. Just ask yourself the question: would you liked to be treated this way? This also has a bad picture on Britain. Keep the old saying into your head: treat other people the way YOU would like to be treated. This is my opinion and I think you should take this on mind because we would like to keep a nice image on Britain and not damage it more than it already is. Please don’t put the death penalty in Britain. A lot of people would agree with me.

Advantages of E-banking

Advantages of E-banking Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction Nowadays, Malaysia is a multi sector economy and technology development based on the presence of many technological inventions. Traditional banking act as physical bank and delivery channel which to give customers to place or get their money out of the bank safety deposit boxes, managing checking or current accounts, paying cheques drawn by customers. However, e-banking is one of the technological inventions that give conveniences to customers to manage financial transactions on a secure website performed by retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society. E-banking is also called electronic banking which is the automated delivery of new banking services and products directly to customers through electronic, interactive communication channels. It brings many benefits and capabilities to customer compared to traditional banking. E-banking is fast and convenient way of using computer to easy access to the bank in 24hours. E-banking utilizes the internet system as the delivery channel by which to accomplish banking activity, for example, paying bills, transferring funds, viewing checking and savings account balances, paying mortgages and purchasing financial instruments and certificates of deposits (Haque et al, 2009). Internet banking enable customers to access their general information and accounts of bank products and services through PC or other intelligent device using web browser software on 24 hours a day and 7days a week, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft internet explorer (Mohamad, Hanudin, Suddin, Noren, 2007). The development in information technology have had an tremendous effect in development of more flexible payment methods and more user-friendly banking services in the world of banking (Serkan, Safak, Eda, 2004). There are some features that fall into several categories of internet banking which are transactional, non-transactional, financial institution administration, support of multiple users having varying levels of authority, transaction approval process and wire transfer. In transactional, e-banking act as account and financial transactions, pay bills, wire transfer and apply for loan or new account, investment purchase or sale and others. Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) is an electronic billing which customer can pay bill and receives payment easily, faster, and conveniently over anywhere and any times. Customer perception is interpretation of sensory mind and experienced by customer. The convenience of e-banking are attracted customers and provided no cost charged to customers. Customers have started accepting this internet service and assessing the banks based on their easy to access and convenience. With great confidence toward e-banking, customers are willing uses the internet banking to transfer fund, pay bills, and lot more with a excellent-secured system. It also can establish the relationship between trust and loyalty of customer toward e-banking. Internet banking in USA and Europe The dramatic growth in internet usage has generated a segment of customers with the ability and desire to conduct banking transactions completely online (Mathew and George, 2003). The internet explosion in the late-1990s brings people more convenience with various applications over the web. In the mid-1990s, customers using internet as monetary business transaction over the web as the financial institutions had implemented e-banking. The majority of US-based banks are escalating their investment in technology and hedging their bets while research specifies that a substantial portion of the customer base may always demand the type of personal interaction that can only be provided by individual branch personnel (Alstad, 2002). TowerGroups prediction is highlighted by CRMToday on IT spending by large banks in USA, which the amounts is 24.1 billion in 2004 as compare to 22 billion in 2002. Besides that, many US banks, such as Bank of America and Umpqua Bank are lending from social media channels, offering social networking, pod casting, web casts and other interactive tools. Now competitors can establish an internet bank for as little as $6 million in the USA compared to the cost of setting up a traditional brick and mortar bank (estimated at between $25 and $30 million) (Nathan, 1999). CRMToday (2003a) also stated that without major consumers adoption internet banking would not achieve as profitable as promise although there are increasing in amounts of online banking customers. According to the European Central Bank in 2002 (centeno, 2003), the level of services and its quality differ according to the country and the banks even though all main banks provide internet banking services. Bughin, 2001 investigated that the adoption rate is examined to be averaging only 17% of internet users or less than 6% of total bank customers. The author also stated that there are 60% internet customers do not have subject in buying books, CDs or low valued item through online but are reluctant to create online banking transactions. Furthermore, there are differences of internet banking adoption also existed among some countries in Europe. Around 18-25% of populations in Estonia are utilizing internet banking services whereas Italian bank had about no on-line customers by early 2000, banks in Malta initiated internet banking services in December 2002 (Centeno, 2003). Furthermore, there are differences of adoption among banks within the same country. Bughin (2001) stated an example, a leading banks in France have diffusion rate over 11% while minor bank such as the credit commercial de France have translated only 2% of its customers to online for the same period. Internet banking in Turkey In Turkey, there are over 18% of banking customers using e-banking actively (Jamaluddin, Osman, Sukru and Kemal, 2008). Since 1997 internet banking has been recognized as a feasible alternative distribution channel by Turkish commercial banks due to the deregulation in the financial sector, escalation of computer literacy, the rapid diffusion of electronic commerce, strong commitments to reduce operating costs, changing customer demands for innovative financial products and services and create customer convenience (Hakan, 2008). Due to the low cost of attracting customer to utilize internet banking and retaining existing innovation-demanding customers during the past two decades, most of Turkish commercial banks found it irresistible to invest large amounts in online banking although the customer take up of internet banking appeared to be very slow. In addition, the actual number of utilizing e-banking users appeared to be between 1 and 1.2 million (30%) in 2003 although 2million people (50%) were forecasted to utilize e-banking by 2003 (Akinci, 2004; Celik, 2002; Ozkan, 2003). Furthermore, in turkey the numbers of active internet banking accounts are escalating from 150,000 in 2000 to 5.5 million in 2007 and grew annually by 68 percent (Higgs, 2000). In comparison, although this illustrates that internet banking has experienced strong and sustained growth since its inception, Turkey has a lower internet banking penetration rate than that of many European countries. The research on internet banking by individual customers in the country has been required to improve customers understanding of how their particular beliefs or motives affect their utilization of the services. Internet Banking In Australia Internet banking growth continued rapidly in Australia with a 26 % increase in the internet banking customer population to 5.5 million users (approximately 34% of the adult population) going on over the 12 months to May 2005 (ACNielsen, 2005). The report stated there are over 7.2 million consumers accessed 27 millions accounts in 2003 which is an increase of 31% compared to 16.2% in 2002 (MISC, 2004). The report showed that users are more efficient in utilizing Internet banking services and transacting more amounts utilizing fewer sessions. Furthermore, internet banking services are increasingly attracted among users women and 50+ years age group is the highest growing in all category. There are 54% of Australian adults were utilizing telephone banking and an estimated 25% of employed internet banking after a period of strong electronic banking market development between 1997 and 2002. Small and medium banks in USA provide more user-friendly services than larger banks and achieved well in the area of personal internet banking, and website reliability and transactional capabilities while larger banks in Australia offer more variety services than smaller banks. Nevertheless, small and medium sized banks in Australia have found to provide more user-friendly services than larger banks and are successful in offering personal banking services. Internet Banking In Malaysia Since achieving independence in the 1957 banking activities in Malaysia has changed enormously with appearances of new technology application. In the 1980, the first Automated teller Machines (ATMs) was introduced which was be the most visible piece of evidence of the emerging electronic banking in Malaysia. ATM is a computerized telecommunications device that used for transfer funds between checking, balance enquiry, cash withdrawal, savings and credit card accounts, bill payments, making cash and check deposits and making payments to application for initial public offerings in Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. This technology brought the revolution were longer banking hours which unlimited beyond office hours (BNM Annual Reports, 1985-1997). Apart from this, the next changes in this evolutionary process will be the telebanking and PC-banking in the 1990s. In the early 1990 telebanking was introduced in Malaysia as delivery channel for branch financial services via telecommunications devices connected to an automated system of the bank where customers can perform retail banking transactions through using Automated Voice Response (AVR) technology. The functions of telebanking are almost similar to the ATM services except withdrawal and deposit of cash. Telebanking brings convenience, extended access and significant time saving to the customers. The insufficiency of cash withdrawal function in telebanking leads to the poor customer response to telebanking. In the 1990s, ten local commercial banks are offering PC-banking or home banking services. PC-banking is an online banking device which customer can utilize their computers in anywhere anytime for account transactions by subscribing and dialing into the banks intranet proprietary software system. PC-banking can raise speed, decrease cost and enhance flexibility of business transactions which is more suitable among corporate customers. In the half of 1990, the number of customer that utilizes this service still small. This is because they faced some problems, such as risk in transacting on the internet, lack of trust and loyalty of customer and poor of product and service quality. In this table indicates that frequency of familiarity and usage of using ATM is the highest and PC-banking is the lowest percentage. ATM can attracted all of banking customer to use this service because it really brings convenience to the customer since it can save time, reduce difficulty, and enhance flexibility of business transaction to customers. There are 80% that not using telebanking because this service cant provide any cash withdrawal function. However, PC-banking also faced lack of attraction from banking customers due to the new banking service that introduced to this country, which most of customer still unable to accept this new internet service. When customer utilize PC-banking, they may face some problems, such as risk in transacting on the internet, lack of trust and loyalty of customer and product and service quality. Furthermore, e-banking in Malaysia is become increasingly popular on developments in information technology and telecommunications. In Malaysia internet banking service (IBS) was established in six years ago (The Star, 2005). IBS is a convenience and new physical banking service which is to attain more potential customers as it allows bankers to deliver banking services to a wider segment of customers through electronic and interactive communication channels (Goi, 2005), with 12 domestic banks offering IBS to 4.5million subscribers currently (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2007). So surprisingly internet banking has become one of the popular services with 51 percent out of 8,000 of total respondents once a month. In the beginning, there are 5 Malaysia banks have invested millions of ringgit in online banking but these banks are still functioning as dial up intranet facilities. The online service is still unavailable for customers because of the insufficiency of legal framework and security concerns. The investment may be wasted due to the deficiency of important business understanding to support customer adoption if a bank introduces Internet Banking Services without a clear understanding of factors influencing customer adoption (Goi, 2005; Pires and Aisbett, 2002). In table 1 it illustrates the demographic characteristics of the internet bank users and the non-internet bank users among the sample respondents was analyzed. Mean monthly income is the only significant difference appears which it assumed that the internet bank user monthly income is highly than non-internet bank user. It also shows that there is no significant difference between the mean age of the internet bank users and the non-internet bank users. These two groups are equal in percentage of graduates and undergraduates in which both of the groups are nearly about 85%. Background of study The purpose of this research is to identify and evaluate the consumers perception toward e-banking. Consumer perception is important to bankers because of that banker can only understand and determine what customer actually wants to and how e-banking service shall satisfy them. There are some variables will be discussed which are affecting the growth of e-banking in Malaysia. From the customers perspective, internet banking assists a convenient and effective approach to control personal finances without visiting the bank and from any locations, as it is accessible 24 hours a day and 365 days in a year (Rotchanakitumunai and Speece, 2003). Through this report we will discuss about different countries have different customers perception about e-banking. This research also studies whether service or service quality will influences the trust and willingness of customer for using e-banking. Besides that, we also explore the factors which are taken to assess customer perception toward various application of internet banking. The factors that will be assessed are convenience of account transaction, flexibility, reliability, save time and cost. Internet banking is convenient, no geographical barriers, low cost and isnt bound by operational timings (IAMAIs, 2006). More than 50% of total respondents agreed that e-banking is convenient and flexible ways of banking and it also have a variety of transaction related advantages (Divya and Padhmanabhan, 2008). The purposes of internet banking consist of customer convenience through personalized service, cost containment through decline in operating cost, revenue expansion through better quality and additional non-financial services, and performance enhancement by making the service from any location (Bradley Stewart, 2002; Chau Lai, 2003; Frust et al., 2000; Suganthi Balachandran, 2001). How saving of cost and time affect the p erception of customer toward e-banking are also analyzed. So this research main purpose is to examine the variables of the actual perception of customer toward e-banking. Problem statement This research explores and examines some topics which are important elements that help in consumers perception toward e-banking. Banker should understand the need of customer so that they can improve the insufficient of the services. Banker should find out the way to attract more customers to utilize their services. In line with global trends, most customers are not focusing on this internet application. So, we need to solve this problem regarding the importance of the e-banking among customer in the local area. Customer should learn to use internet banking which can bring conveniences without going to the bank. Then customers will obtain satisfaction with the system when it provides them maximum convenience while bank transaction is occurred. The convenience of internet banking is contributing to changing patterns in cash withdrawal and day to day money management and assisting people gain greater control of their finances (Beer, 2006). On the other hand, there are few factors that lead to this problem occurrence. Firstly, not many people start to use e-banking because they still not trust on the system through internet. They will worry and always have a doubt about whether their money is safe. In addition there are few cases of fraud have been reported in online banking. The hacker wills forgery information by entering person information without the owner knowing and takes out his/her money. Secondly, there are lacks of social contact because internet banking dont have any assistance will be served to customer. It will create difficulty to the customer since in the bank there will be banker which will helps and assists customer needs. They will easily give up since there are many lack of skill problems occurred when utilizing the systems. Besides that, it is difficult to do survey since there are a lot of public are faced limitation of time, because it may take times to explain to the public. Research objective To identify what influence consumers perception toward e-banking To determine the factors that affecting consumer perception toward e-banking To find out how service quality influences internet banking user To identify the reason why customer use internet banking To solve the problem customer face toward internet banking To increase the knowledge of customer toward internet banking To improve the insufficient of the internet banking services To enhance the loyalty and trust between consumer and e-banking Significance of study This research is contributed to give customers to better understand about e-banking. There are many features and characteristics of the e-banking that many people still no realize about it. Through this research, we will interview a numeral of people and will explain about internet banking to give consumer to better understand the services that already provided to help them to ease their life. For example, CIMB offers CIMB Bank AirAsia Savers Account, a paperless account which customer will directly enjoy the convenience of viewing their account statement online without require a passbook (AirAsia Berhad, 2007-2010). Such a good service provided by bank, customer wont know about it if they no utilize internet banking. This study has combined varieties of factors from past research to study consumers perception toward e-banking. Both practitioners and academics can obtain the advantages by to better understand the consumers perception in the value of internet banking services. Furthermore, they can also identify the deficiency of the service in e-banking through this research so that the service would be improved to match customers requirement. Hence, customer can properly understand and adapt the problem that they face as necessary. In Malaysia, Maybank has become the first bank to introduce internet banking services (Maybank2u.com) and an combined web-based cash management portal on June 1, 2000. The online banking services will allow customer to perform bill payment, banking enquiry functions, funds transfer, credit card payment and accounts summary as well as transaction history (Suganthi, Balachandher and Balachandran, 2001). However, the influence of consumers acceptance e-banking in Malaysia seems more challenging because of the deficiency of information and academic in e-banking. Scope of study The scope of study is only concentrate about consumer area and perception toward e-banking. In this study, the research will be focus on MMU student, CIMB banking users and businessman that will regularly using banking service. The reason that we choose MMU student is because MMU student will often using online banking systems to pay tuition fees, transfer fund to their friends, check for their transaction account anywhere anytime. Apart from this they can teach their parent to use these services since it is very convenience and saving time, especially to those parent that very busy with their work. Besides that, we also focus on CIMB bank users which they can provide some information through interviews or questionnaires. Then, we will determine how depth the respondents understand about internet banking and what their comment regarding e-banking. Through this research we will resolve the inadequate and insufficient of service of internet banking. In addition to this, for sure business man they want to utilize something that very fast, time-saving, and can assist to their business. They can conduct most of their business on the internet and make transactions between their businesses without going to the bank. It can guarantee service quality for users conducting business transactions while utilizing IT applications and infrastructure. Through this research we can ask for some suggestion or any dissatisfied regarding internet banking from different view of business man, CIMB bank users and MMU student. Limitation of the study The extension of this study include there are large amounts of people still dont have the internet connection in their home and some dont know how to use e-banking services which will result in lack of internet banking users. There is a need for public knowledge to deal with computers and browsers since there are a lot of public still unable to use the internet applications. Besides that, it will lead to the difficulty of development of e-banking in the country. Customer may prefer visiting the bank branch because there are lacks of social contact regarding e-banking will creates difficulty to the customer since in the bank there will be banker which will helps and assists customer needs. Then it may take some time to learn and get to use to internet banking, as it requires a lot of procedures. If banks server down, customer may not access to the website. Secondly, the limitation that I faced is the difficulty of communication with the respondents when interviewing and collecting data for my research. Some of the people will resist for doing the research survey because they thought I wanted to promote or sell something. The thing that I frequently faced is meeting people who reject to answer any question before I start to talk about my research purpose. Organization of research In chapter 1, the main title is introduction which is a beginning section that states the internet banking among difference countries. Background of study explaining what about of a particular topic is placed. Problem statement is focus on the attention of the problem solving team. Research objective is writing about the purpose of this research. In significant of study, I will shift from the particular to the general, and present the importance of the study from target beneficiaries to the people in the community, to the people in the region and nation. Scope of study is focus on the coverage of areas in this research such as student and businessman. The limitation of study is about the restriction that I facing during doing this research. In addition, Chapter 2 is literature reviews. In this chapter reviews and introduces the previous journals related age, income, education, gender, convenience, perceived ease of use, reliability, saving time and cost, service or service quality and trust. I will focus on how these independent variables influence consumers adoption of internet banking. There will be an overview of some journals about consumers adoption toward e-banking will be presented which will used to examine the relationship between independent and dependent variables. In Chapter 3 it is about research methodology that including theoretical framework, hypothesis of study, data collection and data analysis. In Theoretical framework, I will suggest the integrative interrelationships among important variables in the research which is includes age, income, education, gender, convenience, perceived ease of use, reliability, saving time and cost, service or service quality and trust. There are four method are used in data analysis, which are frequency distribution, Pearsons correlation coefficient, cross tabulation and descriptive analysis. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction In this chapter 2, I review many journals about this topic in the various area of e-banking. In the 2.2 those journals are investigating about demographic affects the consumers adoption toward e-banking. In the 2.3, those journals are investigating the factors that influence the consumers adoption toward e-banking. In the 2.4, those journals are investigating about the service or service quality which will influence consumers adoption. In the 2.5, those journals are investigating about influence of trust toward consumers adoption. Demographic According to Kim,Widdows and Yilmazer (2005), age were influencing the attitude of consumers towards internet banking and their ability for learning how to do investment. The younger age groups of consumers are more likely to invest the time to learn to utilize internet banking because this group of consumers can generate more advantages through time saving. Besides that, higher income of consumers will have higher value of time than consumers with lower income, so higher income of the consumer can generate more advantages through adoption of internet banking. More educated consumers may involve fewer training in response to technological change if their general skills facilitate them to be taught the new technology (Bartel and Sicherman, 1998). They also indicated that adoption internet banking of well educated individuals is faster than less educated individuals due to the internet banking, new technology, and warrantees reduction of the time required for money transactions. In Padachi, Rojid and Seetanah (2007) report examined that the younger generation the more they like to utilize the new technological advancements as they are more prefer to adopt e-banking compared to the older generation. Mean age of internet banking users is 45 and 47 for non-internet banking users. Furthermore, the higher of education and income ladder will lead to the greater the probability of customer adopting internet banking. There are 57% of respondent having an education level in the category post graduate and 33% in the category of undergraduate utilizes the service. There are 48% of people using the internet banking that have the income group of Rs 30000 to 49000, which means the higher income earners are more sensible in utilizing internet. In the Jane, Jeanne and Marianne (2004) report explores the discoveries of demographic correlates of technology acceptance have constructed varying results with respect to important relationships to adoption. Men and women show to have dissimilar acceptance rates of specific computer technologies which men will more prefer on adopting technologies application(Gefen and Straub, 1997), but gender appear not to be found to have a direct on adoption of technology in general (Taylor and Todd, 1995; Gefen and Straub, 1997). The research show that the probability of higher income households ($75000 or more) being current users of ABP was 15 points higher than low income households (under $25000) and was more likely to adopt e-banking. However, research examined younger persons are being more likely to adopt which has also linked age and adoption of technologies (Zeithaml and Gilly, 1987; Trocchia and Janda, 2000; Karjaluoto, 2002; Lee, 2002). The research shows that the age of 65 of respond ents were less likely to adopt phone banking and PC banking compared to medium and youngest group. People with married status are more likely to adopt than single males or females because when it comes to bank accounts, married couples may have jointly held accounts. In region variable households living in the northeast were more likely than in the midwest to have adopted or to intend to adopt phone banking or ABP. In the Demographic characteristics of Western Australian users of electronic banking journal published by Catherine, Simone and Katherine (2005) explored that most online banking customers were male while the majority of telephone banking customers were females. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001 stated that consumers of Western Australia, who are between 18 and 24 years of age, employed, male, have higher levels of education, and higher incomes have been examined to be more likely to use information technology that those are older, unemployed, lower incomes and have lower levels of education. The authors also examined 58.4% of the internet banking users are being in professional, administrative, managerial or para-professional occupations. This is because males in these occupations often utilize technologies such as computers and the internet in the workplace, providing them access to the required hardware and possibly encouraging a preference for online interaction with pr oviders. Filoto, Tanzi and Saita (1997); Jayawardhena and Foley (2000); Thornton and White (2001); Pereira (2002) have found these customers may be on higher incomes due to their more educated and/or highly skilled and therefore they are in occupations that need them to be more practiced at using technology-based service delivery modes. Mitchell (1998) and Tan (1999) stated that education may not be an important aspect for EFTPOS users because transactions are usually performed in retail settings and they involve retail personnel who assist the completion of transactions for consumers. Jayawardhena and Foley (2000), Orenstein (1998) and Thornton and White (2001) argued that online banking consumers are more likely to have higher than average education and they may frequently be students because of their higher exposure to technologies such as internet and computer. Councils on the Ageing (2002) stated that in some studies have recommended that older consumers may be discouraged from the utilization of electronic banking by issues such as limitation of mobility and visibility. In Jun Wu, 2005 report examined that the products and services people purchase varies during the different stages of their lives. The result of demographic age profile in this research shows that the 21 to 29 age group is dominant. Furthermore, consumers that more educated will have more money available to spend because of better education, and this influences their life-styles. Wilkie (1990) stated that it will influences which type of products they purchase, what kind of stores to purchase them in, and what prices they are willing to pay as people achieve higher education. Customers with better educated be likely to have better paying occupations than not well educated customers (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000) because a persons level of education can affect strongly on their ability to create income and their consumer spending potential. Polatoglu and Ekin (2001) explored that high levels of education improve a consumers ability to process more complicated information and make decision s. Income is a famous demographic variable for segmenting markets due to the income levels affect consumer wants and determines their purchasing power (Lamb, 2000). Purchasing power is influenced by inflation, recession, the international valu Advantages of E-banking Advantages of E-banking Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction Nowadays, Malaysia is a multi sector economy and technology development based on the presence of many technological inventions. Traditional banking act as physical bank and delivery channel which to give customers to place or get their money out of the bank safety deposit boxes, managing checking or current accounts, paying cheques drawn by customers. However, e-banking is one of the technological inventions that give conveniences to customers to manage financial transactions on a secure website performed by retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society. E-banking is also called electronic banking which is the automated delivery of new banking services and products directly to customers through electronic, interactive communication channels. It brings many benefits and capabilities to customer compared to traditional banking. E-banking is fast and convenient way of using computer to easy access to the bank in 24hours. E-banking utilizes the internet system as the delivery channel by which to accomplish banking activity, for example, paying bills, transferring funds, viewing checking and savings account balances, paying mortgages and purchasing financial instruments and certificates of deposits (Haque et al, 2009). Internet banking enable customers to access their general information and accounts of bank products and services through PC or other intelligent device using web browser software on 24 hours a day and 7days a week, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft internet explorer (Mohamad, Hanudin, Suddin, Noren, 2007). The development in information technology have had an tremendous effect in development of more flexible payment methods and more user-friendly banking services in the world of banking (Serkan, Safak, Eda, 2004). There are some features that fall into several categories of internet banking which are transactional, non-transactional, financial institution administration, support of multiple users having varying levels of authority, transaction approval process and wire transfer. In transactional, e-banking act as account and financial transactions, pay bills, wire transfer and apply for loan or new account, investment purchase or sale and others. Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) is an electronic billing which customer can pay bill and receives payment easily, faster, and conveniently over anywhere and any times. Customer perception is interpretation of sensory mind and experienced by customer. The convenience of e-banking are attracted customers and provided no cost charged to customers. Customers have started accepting this internet service and assessing the banks based on their easy to access and convenience. With great confidence toward e-banking, customers are willing uses the internet banking to transfer fund, pay bills, and lot more with a excellent-secured system. It also can establish the relationship between trust and loyalty of customer toward e-banking. Internet banking in USA and Europe The dramatic growth in internet usage has generated a segment of customers with the ability and desire to conduct banking transactions completely online (Mathew and George, 2003). The internet explosion in the late-1990s brings people more convenience with various applications over the web. In the mid-1990s, customers using internet as monetary business transaction over the web as the financial institutions had implemented e-banking. The majority of US-based banks are escalating their investment in technology and hedging their bets while research specifies that a substantial portion of the customer base may always demand the type of personal interaction that can only be provided by individual branch personnel (Alstad, 2002). TowerGroups prediction is highlighted by CRMToday on IT spending by large banks in USA, which the amounts is 24.1 billion in 2004 as compare to 22 billion in 2002. Besides that, many US banks, such as Bank of America and Umpqua Bank are lending from social media channels, offering social networking, pod casting, web casts and other interactive tools. Now competitors can establish an internet bank for as little as $6 million in the USA compared to the cost of setting up a traditional brick and mortar bank (estimated at between $25 and $30 million) (Nathan, 1999). CRMToday (2003a) also stated that without major consumers adoption internet banking would not achieve as profitable as promise although there are increasing in amounts of online banking customers. According to the European Central Bank in 2002 (centeno, 2003), the level of services and its quality differ according to the country and the banks even though all main banks provide internet banking services. Bughin, 2001 investigated that the adoption rate is examined to be averaging only 17% of internet users or less than 6% of total bank customers. The author also stated that there are 60% internet customers do not have subject in buying books, CDs or low valued item through online but are reluctant to create online banking transactions. Furthermore, there are differences of internet banking adoption also existed among some countries in Europe. Around 18-25% of populations in Estonia are utilizing internet banking services whereas Italian bank had about no on-line customers by early 2000, banks in Malta initiated internet banking services in December 2002 (Centeno, 2003). Furthermore, there are differences of adoption among banks within the same country. Bughin (2001) stated an example, a leading banks in France have diffusion rate over 11% while minor bank such as the credit commercial de France have translated only 2% of its customers to online for the same period. Internet banking in Turkey In Turkey, there are over 18% of banking customers using e-banking actively (Jamaluddin, Osman, Sukru and Kemal, 2008). Since 1997 internet banking has been recognized as a feasible alternative distribution channel by Turkish commercial banks due to the deregulation in the financial sector, escalation of computer literacy, the rapid diffusion of electronic commerce, strong commitments to reduce operating costs, changing customer demands for innovative financial products and services and create customer convenience (Hakan, 2008). Due to the low cost of attracting customer to utilize internet banking and retaining existing innovation-demanding customers during the past two decades, most of Turkish commercial banks found it irresistible to invest large amounts in online banking although the customer take up of internet banking appeared to be very slow. In addition, the actual number of utilizing e-banking users appeared to be between 1 and 1.2 million (30%) in 2003 although 2million people (50%) were forecasted to utilize e-banking by 2003 (Akinci, 2004; Celik, 2002; Ozkan, 2003). Furthermore, in turkey the numbers of active internet banking accounts are escalating from 150,000 in 2000 to 5.5 million in 2007 and grew annually by 68 percent (Higgs, 2000). In comparison, although this illustrates that internet banking has experienced strong and sustained growth since its inception, Turkey has a lower internet banking penetration rate than that of many European countries. The research on internet banking by individual customers in the country has been required to improve customers understanding of how their particular beliefs or motives affect their utilization of the services. Internet Banking In Australia Internet banking growth continued rapidly in Australia with a 26 % increase in the internet banking customer population to 5.5 million users (approximately 34% of the adult population) going on over the 12 months to May 2005 (ACNielsen, 2005). The report stated there are over 7.2 million consumers accessed 27 millions accounts in 2003 which is an increase of 31% compared to 16.2% in 2002 (MISC, 2004). The report showed that users are more efficient in utilizing Internet banking services and transacting more amounts utilizing fewer sessions. Furthermore, internet banking services are increasingly attracted among users women and 50+ years age group is the highest growing in all category. There are 54% of Australian adults were utilizing telephone banking and an estimated 25% of employed internet banking after a period of strong electronic banking market development between 1997 and 2002. Small and medium banks in USA provide more user-friendly services than larger banks and achieved well in the area of personal internet banking, and website reliability and transactional capabilities while larger banks in Australia offer more variety services than smaller banks. Nevertheless, small and medium sized banks in Australia have found to provide more user-friendly services than larger banks and are successful in offering personal banking services. Internet Banking In Malaysia Since achieving independence in the 1957 banking activities in Malaysia has changed enormously with appearances of new technology application. In the 1980, the first Automated teller Machines (ATMs) was introduced which was be the most visible piece of evidence of the emerging electronic banking in Malaysia. ATM is a computerized telecommunications device that used for transfer funds between checking, balance enquiry, cash withdrawal, savings and credit card accounts, bill payments, making cash and check deposits and making payments to application for initial public offerings in Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. This technology brought the revolution were longer banking hours which unlimited beyond office hours (BNM Annual Reports, 1985-1997). Apart from this, the next changes in this evolutionary process will be the telebanking and PC-banking in the 1990s. In the early 1990 telebanking was introduced in Malaysia as delivery channel for branch financial services via telecommunications devices connected to an automated system of the bank where customers can perform retail banking transactions through using Automated Voice Response (AVR) technology. The functions of telebanking are almost similar to the ATM services except withdrawal and deposit of cash. Telebanking brings convenience, extended access and significant time saving to the customers. The insufficiency of cash withdrawal function in telebanking leads to the poor customer response to telebanking. In the 1990s, ten local commercial banks are offering PC-banking or home banking services. PC-banking is an online banking device which customer can utilize their computers in anywhere anytime for account transactions by subscribing and dialing into the banks intranet proprietary software system. PC-banking can raise speed, decrease cost and enhance flexibility of business transactions which is more suitable among corporate customers. In the half of 1990, the number of customer that utilizes this service still small. This is because they faced some problems, such as risk in transacting on the internet, lack of trust and loyalty of customer and poor of product and service quality. In this table indicates that frequency of familiarity and usage of using ATM is the highest and PC-banking is the lowest percentage. ATM can attracted all of banking customer to use this service because it really brings convenience to the customer since it can save time, reduce difficulty, and enhance flexibility of business transaction to customers. There are 80% that not using telebanking because this service cant provide any cash withdrawal function. However, PC-banking also faced lack of attraction from banking customers due to the new banking service that introduced to this country, which most of customer still unable to accept this new internet service. When customer utilize PC-banking, they may face some problems, such as risk in transacting on the internet, lack of trust and loyalty of customer and product and service quality. Furthermore, e-banking in Malaysia is become increasingly popular on developments in information technology and telecommunications. In Malaysia internet banking service (IBS) was established in six years ago (The Star, 2005). IBS is a convenience and new physical banking service which is to attain more potential customers as it allows bankers to deliver banking services to a wider segment of customers through electronic and interactive communication channels (Goi, 2005), with 12 domestic banks offering IBS to 4.5million subscribers currently (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2007). So surprisingly internet banking has become one of the popular services with 51 percent out of 8,000 of total respondents once a month. In the beginning, there are 5 Malaysia banks have invested millions of ringgit in online banking but these banks are still functioning as dial up intranet facilities. The online service is still unavailable for customers because of the insufficiency of legal framework and security concerns. The investment may be wasted due to the deficiency of important business understanding to support customer adoption if a bank introduces Internet Banking Services without a clear understanding of factors influencing customer adoption (Goi, 2005; Pires and Aisbett, 2002). In table 1 it illustrates the demographic characteristics of the internet bank users and the non-internet bank users among the sample respondents was analyzed. Mean monthly income is the only significant difference appears which it assumed that the internet bank user monthly income is highly than non-internet bank user. It also shows that there is no significant difference between the mean age of the internet bank users and the non-internet bank users. These two groups are equal in percentage of graduates and undergraduates in which both of the groups are nearly about 85%. Background of study The purpose of this research is to identify and evaluate the consumers perception toward e-banking. Consumer perception is important to bankers because of that banker can only understand and determine what customer actually wants to and how e-banking service shall satisfy them. There are some variables will be discussed which are affecting the growth of e-banking in Malaysia. From the customers perspective, internet banking assists a convenient and effective approach to control personal finances without visiting the bank and from any locations, as it is accessible 24 hours a day and 365 days in a year (Rotchanakitumunai and Speece, 2003). Through this report we will discuss about different countries have different customers perception about e-banking. This research also studies whether service or service quality will influences the trust and willingness of customer for using e-banking. Besides that, we also explore the factors which are taken to assess customer perception toward various application of internet banking. The factors that will be assessed are convenience of account transaction, flexibility, reliability, save time and cost. Internet banking is convenient, no geographical barriers, low cost and isnt bound by operational timings (IAMAIs, 2006). More than 50% of total respondents agreed that e-banking is convenient and flexible ways of banking and it also have a variety of transaction related advantages (Divya and Padhmanabhan, 2008). The purposes of internet banking consist of customer convenience through personalized service, cost containment through decline in operating cost, revenue expansion through better quality and additional non-financial services, and performance enhancement by making the service from any location (Bradley Stewart, 2002; Chau Lai, 2003; Frust et al., 2000; Suganthi Balachandran, 2001). How saving of cost and time affect the p erception of customer toward e-banking are also analyzed. So this research main purpose is to examine the variables of the actual perception of customer toward e-banking. Problem statement This research explores and examines some topics which are important elements that help in consumers perception toward e-banking. Banker should understand the need of customer so that they can improve the insufficient of the services. Banker should find out the way to attract more customers to utilize their services. In line with global trends, most customers are not focusing on this internet application. So, we need to solve this problem regarding the importance of the e-banking among customer in the local area. Customer should learn to use internet banking which can bring conveniences without going to the bank. Then customers will obtain satisfaction with the system when it provides them maximum convenience while bank transaction is occurred. The convenience of internet banking is contributing to changing patterns in cash withdrawal and day to day money management and assisting people gain greater control of their finances (Beer, 2006). On the other hand, there are few factors that lead to this problem occurrence. Firstly, not many people start to use e-banking because they still not trust on the system through internet. They will worry and always have a doubt about whether their money is safe. In addition there are few cases of fraud have been reported in online banking. The hacker wills forgery information by entering person information without the owner knowing and takes out his/her money. Secondly, there are lacks of social contact because internet banking dont have any assistance will be served to customer. It will create difficulty to the customer since in the bank there will be banker which will helps and assists customer needs. They will easily give up since there are many lack of skill problems occurred when utilizing the systems. Besides that, it is difficult to do survey since there are a lot of public are faced limitation of time, because it may take times to explain to the public. Research objective To identify what influence consumers perception toward e-banking To determine the factors that affecting consumer perception toward e-banking To find out how service quality influences internet banking user To identify the reason why customer use internet banking To solve the problem customer face toward internet banking To increase the knowledge of customer toward internet banking To improve the insufficient of the internet banking services To enhance the loyalty and trust between consumer and e-banking Significance of study This research is contributed to give customers to better understand about e-banking. There are many features and characteristics of the e-banking that many people still no realize about it. Through this research, we will interview a numeral of people and will explain about internet banking to give consumer to better understand the services that already provided to help them to ease their life. For example, CIMB offers CIMB Bank AirAsia Savers Account, a paperless account which customer will directly enjoy the convenience of viewing their account statement online without require a passbook (AirAsia Berhad, 2007-2010). Such a good service provided by bank, customer wont know about it if they no utilize internet banking. This study has combined varieties of factors from past research to study consumers perception toward e-banking. Both practitioners and academics can obtain the advantages by to better understand the consumers perception in the value of internet banking services. Furthermore, they can also identify the deficiency of the service in e-banking through this research so that the service would be improved to match customers requirement. Hence, customer can properly understand and adapt the problem that they face as necessary. In Malaysia, Maybank has become the first bank to introduce internet banking services (Maybank2u.com) and an combined web-based cash management portal on June 1, 2000. The online banking services will allow customer to perform bill payment, banking enquiry functions, funds transfer, credit card payment and accounts summary as well as transaction history (Suganthi, Balachandher and Balachandran, 2001). However, the influence of consumers acceptance e-banking in Malaysia seems more challenging because of the deficiency of information and academic in e-banking. Scope of study The scope of study is only concentrate about consumer area and perception toward e-banking. In this study, the research will be focus on MMU student, CIMB banking users and businessman that will regularly using banking service. The reason that we choose MMU student is because MMU student will often using online banking systems to pay tuition fees, transfer fund to their friends, check for their transaction account anywhere anytime. Apart from this they can teach their parent to use these services since it is very convenience and saving time, especially to those parent that very busy with their work. Besides that, we also focus on CIMB bank users which they can provide some information through interviews or questionnaires. Then, we will determine how depth the respondents understand about internet banking and what their comment regarding e-banking. Through this research we will resolve the inadequate and insufficient of service of internet banking. In addition to this, for sure business man they want to utilize something that very fast, time-saving, and can assist to their business. They can conduct most of their business on the internet and make transactions between their businesses without going to the bank. It can guarantee service quality for users conducting business transactions while utilizing IT applications and infrastructure. Through this research we can ask for some suggestion or any dissatisfied regarding internet banking from different view of business man, CIMB bank users and MMU student. Limitation of the study The extension of this study include there are large amounts of people still dont have the internet connection in their home and some dont know how to use e-banking services which will result in lack of internet banking users. There is a need for public knowledge to deal with computers and browsers since there are a lot of public still unable to use the internet applications. Besides that, it will lead to the difficulty of development of e-banking in the country. Customer may prefer visiting the bank branch because there are lacks of social contact regarding e-banking will creates difficulty to the customer since in the bank there will be banker which will helps and assists customer needs. Then it may take some time to learn and get to use to internet banking, as it requires a lot of procedures. If banks server down, customer may not access to the website. Secondly, the limitation that I faced is the difficulty of communication with the respondents when interviewing and collecting data for my research. Some of the people will resist for doing the research survey because they thought I wanted to promote or sell something. The thing that I frequently faced is meeting people who reject to answer any question before I start to talk about my research purpose. Organization of research In chapter 1, the main title is introduction which is a beginning section that states the internet banking among difference countries. Background of study explaining what about of a particular topic is placed. Problem statement is focus on the attention of the problem solving team. Research objective is writing about the purpose of this research. In significant of study, I will shift from the particular to the general, and present the importance of the study from target beneficiaries to the people in the community, to the people in the region and nation. Scope of study is focus on the coverage of areas in this research such as student and businessman. The limitation of study is about the restriction that I facing during doing this research. In addition, Chapter 2 is literature reviews. In this chapter reviews and introduces the previous journals related age, income, education, gender, convenience, perceived ease of use, reliability, saving time and cost, service or service quality and trust. I will focus on how these independent variables influence consumers adoption of internet banking. There will be an overview of some journals about consumers adoption toward e-banking will be presented which will used to examine the relationship between independent and dependent variables. In Chapter 3 it is about research methodology that including theoretical framework, hypothesis of study, data collection and data analysis. In Theoretical framework, I will suggest the integrative interrelationships among important variables in the research which is includes age, income, education, gender, convenience, perceived ease of use, reliability, saving time and cost, service or service quality and trust. There are four method are used in data analysis, which are frequency distribution, Pearsons correlation coefficient, cross tabulation and descriptive analysis. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction In this chapter 2, I review many journals about this topic in the various area of e-banking. In the 2.2 those journals are investigating about demographic affects the consumers adoption toward e-banking. In the 2.3, those journals are investigating the factors that influence the consumers adoption toward e-banking. In the 2.4, those journals are investigating about the service or service quality which will influence consumers adoption. In the 2.5, those journals are investigating about influence of trust toward consumers adoption. Demographic According to Kim,Widdows and Yilmazer (2005), age were influencing the attitude of consumers towards internet banking and their ability for learning how to do investment. The younger age groups of consumers are more likely to invest the time to learn to utilize internet banking because this group of consumers can generate more advantages through time saving. Besides that, higher income of consumers will have higher value of time than consumers with lower income, so higher income of the consumer can generate more advantages through adoption of internet banking. More educated consumers may involve fewer training in response to technological change if their general skills facilitate them to be taught the new technology (Bartel and Sicherman, 1998). They also indicated that adoption internet banking of well educated individuals is faster than less educated individuals due to the internet banking, new technology, and warrantees reduction of the time required for money transactions. In Padachi, Rojid and Seetanah (2007) report examined that the younger generation the more they like to utilize the new technological advancements as they are more prefer to adopt e-banking compared to the older generation. Mean age of internet banking users is 45 and 47 for non-internet banking users. Furthermore, the higher of education and income ladder will lead to the greater the probability of customer adopting internet banking. There are 57% of respondent having an education level in the category post graduate and 33% in the category of undergraduate utilizes the service. There are 48% of people using the internet banking that have the income group of Rs 30000 to 49000, which means the higher income earners are more sensible in utilizing internet. In the Jane, Jeanne and Marianne (2004) report explores the discoveries of demographic correlates of technology acceptance have constructed varying results with respect to important relationships to adoption. Men and women show to have dissimilar acceptance rates of specific computer technologies which men will more prefer on adopting technologies application(Gefen and Straub, 1997), but gender appear not to be found to have a direct on adoption of technology in general (Taylor and Todd, 1995; Gefen and Straub, 1997). The research show that the probability of higher income households ($75000 or more) being current users of ABP was 15 points higher than low income households (under $25000) and was more likely to adopt e-banking. However, research examined younger persons are being more likely to adopt which has also linked age and adoption of technologies (Zeithaml and Gilly, 1987; Trocchia and Janda, 2000; Karjaluoto, 2002; Lee, 2002). The research shows that the age of 65 of respond ents were less likely to adopt phone banking and PC banking compared to medium and youngest group. People with married status are more likely to adopt than single males or females because when it comes to bank accounts, married couples may have jointly held accounts. In region variable households living in the northeast were more likely than in the midwest to have adopted or to intend to adopt phone banking or ABP. In the Demographic characteristics of Western Australian users of electronic banking journal published by Catherine, Simone and Katherine (2005) explored that most online banking customers were male while the majority of telephone banking customers were females. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001 stated that consumers of Western Australia, who are between 18 and 24 years of age, employed, male, have higher levels of education, and higher incomes have been examined to be more likely to use information technology that those are older, unemployed, lower incomes and have lower levels of education. The authors also examined 58.4% of the internet banking users are being in professional, administrative, managerial or para-professional occupations. This is because males in these occupations often utilize technologies such as computers and the internet in the workplace, providing them access to the required hardware and possibly encouraging a preference for online interaction with pr oviders. Filoto, Tanzi and Saita (1997); Jayawardhena and Foley (2000); Thornton and White (2001); Pereira (2002) have found these customers may be on higher incomes due to their more educated and/or highly skilled and therefore they are in occupations that need them to be more practiced at using technology-based service delivery modes. Mitchell (1998) and Tan (1999) stated that education may not be an important aspect for EFTPOS users because transactions are usually performed in retail settings and they involve retail personnel who assist the completion of transactions for consumers. Jayawardhena and Foley (2000), Orenstein (1998) and Thornton and White (2001) argued that online banking consumers are more likely to have higher than average education and they may frequently be students because of their higher exposure to technologies such as internet and computer. Councils on the Ageing (2002) stated that in some studies have recommended that older consumers may be discouraged from the utilization of electronic banking by issues such as limitation of mobility and visibility. In Jun Wu, 2005 report examined that the products and services people purchase varies during the different stages of their lives. The result of demographic age profile in this research shows that the 21 to 29 age group is dominant. Furthermore, consumers that more educated will have more money available to spend because of better education, and this influences their life-styles. Wilkie (1990) stated that it will influences which type of products they purchase, what kind of stores to purchase them in, and what prices they are willing to pay as people achieve higher education. Customers with better educated be likely to have better paying occupations than not well educated customers (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000) because a persons level of education can affect strongly on their ability to create income and their consumer spending potential. Polatoglu and Ekin (2001) explored that high levels of education improve a consumers ability to process more complicated information and make decision s. Income is a famous demographic variable for segmenting markets due to the income levels affect consumer wants and determines their purchasing power (Lamb, 2000). Purchasing power is influenced by inflation, recession, the international valu

The Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki History Essay

The Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki History Essay Introduction Americas decision to use two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II has been a topic of intense debate for years following the incident. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are one of best documented historical events in history, while provoking lasting, fervently heated reactions. The purpose of this research paper is to explore the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, examine the causes, interpretations and consequences of the bombings. History of Hiroshima The early history of Hiroshima dates back to the 6th century, when some of the first Shinto Shrines were erected on Hiroshima bay (Cameron, 2005). Modern Hiroshima, meaning wide island, was founded in 1589 (Cameron, 2005). The citys many canals and wharves made importing goods from the countryside easy, while its bridges connected all parts of the growing metropolis. Hiroshima had become such an important base for the Japanese military that the Imperial Headquarters were temporarily relocated there. Summer 1945 The time period is summer of 1945, the United States and its allies have been at war with Germany and just concluded peace (Mishler, 2008). The United States has also been at war with Imperial Japan since the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941(Mishler, 2008). During the course of the war in Japan, America had a very important decision to make. One of the options was to drop a newly tested bomb on the Japanese hoping to get them to swiftly surrender.   The latter option was to have a mass land invasion on Japan and hope to defeat with total force. No matter what option was selected, it was known that a substantial amount of casualties would ensue. When President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Vice President Harry S. Truman became president (Constitutional Rights Foundation). At this time, President Truman attempted to fill the spot that President Roosevelt occupied for twelve years. Truman was thrust into a role that he was not necessarily prepared for and into an administration that had been operating essentially without his input (Kort, 2007). Unfortunately, Roosevelt had never included his vice president in discussions about the atomic bomb. Two weeks after becoming president, he was finally fully briefed about the gadget, as General Groves called the bomb (Constitutional Rights Foundation). Secretary of War Stimson took the primary role of filling in President Truman on the details of the Manhattan Project, which Truman had known nothing about (Kort, 2007). According to Kort (2007), the Manhattan Project was led by a variety of scientific discoveries in the 1920s and 1930s. During this time of scientific innovation, Hitler had been steadily rising to power in Germany, and before long, physicist Leo Szilard and fellow Hungarians Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller became worried (Kort, 2007).   They decided that the President of the United States must be informed about the new fission technology that had been discovered, which they believed was capable of making bombs.   The three physicists enlisted the help of Albert Einstein, the foremost scientist in that period, and together they drafted a letter addressed to President Roosevelt (Kort, 2007). Albert Einsteins famous 1939 letter, drafted by physicist Leo Szilard (who was named Humanist of the Year some twenty years later), convinced President Roosevelt to start the Manhattan Project, describing their beliefs that nuclear fission Would lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conc eivable that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may thus be constructed (Milam, 2010). The mixture of Frances fall to Germany in 1940, the belief that Germany was ahead in the race for the atomic bomb, and the bombing of Pearl Harbor soon influenced Roosevelt that something more had to be done on this atomic research (Kort, 2007).   Roosevelt quickly assigned his top security advisors to form committees on this project, and to determine what should be done and how. By the end of 1942, bomb research had become bomb assembly, and the Manhattan Project was now run by the military (Milam, 2010). The Bombing Henry L. Stimson, the secretary of war from 1940 to 1945, would influence President Trumans crucial decision on whether to invade or bomb Japan (Sherwin, 1995). On the morning of August 6, 1945, the United States U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 Enola Gay dropped a uranium gun type device code named Little Boy on the city of Hiroshima (Military History, 2009). There were some 350,000 people living in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. Approximately 140,000 died that day and in the five months that followed (Military History, 2009). Blackened, bloodied, skinless masses of corpses were floating in macabre positions in the Kyuohotagawa and the Motoyasugawa rivers. Long lines of shuffling figuresclothes burned right off the body; hair standing on end or singed off the scalp; skin peeling and dripping off arms, legs, backs; hands outstretched, zombie-likewere all wandering blindly after the bombing (Military History, 2009). This hellish scene was played out in utter darkness, for the mushroom cloud, that carrier of black rain and persistent death, had turned day into night and modern technology into humanitys greatest nemesis (Military History, 2009). According to Cameron (2005), after the Bombing of Hiroshima, President Truman issued this statement in reference to the use of a new weapon and promising the following: If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware. The Emperor did not respond and three days later, the B-29 Bockscar levels much of Nagasaki with a plutonium implosion type device code named Fat Man (Military History, 2009). Its estimated that the second bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9 claimed another 80,000 lives (Military History, 2009). The same day, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Hirohito said that continuing the war can only mean destruction for the nation. He then declared that Japan must accept surrender (Constitutional Rights Foundation). Interpretations There are various views related to the use of the atomic bombs and their rationalization. The nuclear attacks on Japan were justified in an effort to win the war with the fewest casualties possible. Some believe that because Japanese soldiers were known for their vicious fighting styles, the invasion of Japan would have led to American casualties in the hundreds of thousands or maybe even millions (OConnor, 2010). Additional explanations include that the US spent almost 2 billion dollars developing the bombs and those costs needed to be justified (OConnor, 2010). Even for their swift demolition, the Hiroshima and the Nagasaki bombs were extremely inefficient. Only one of the fifty kilograms of uranium present detonated in Little Boy the affectionate nickname given to that weapon of mass destruction by those responsible (Milam, 2010). Hiroshima could have been even more horrifying than it was if one dares imagine. After all, the best minds in the world were feverishly working on these projects (Milam, 2010). Ironically, Einstein later became a peace activist and days before his death signed Bertrand Russells 1955 Russell-Einstein Manifesto along with ten other esteemed scientists and intellectuals (Milam, 2010). It begins with the words: In the tragic situation which confronts humanity, we feel that scientists should assemble in conference to appraise the perils that have arisen as a result of the development of weapons of mass destruction. It ends with the oft-repeated phrase: We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest (Milam, 2010). Secretary of war, Stimson, later revealed that the decision to use the atomic bomb was in part intended to satisfy the doubts of that rather difficult class of community which will have charge of the education of the next generation, namely educators and historians (Sherwin, 1995). He also wrote that the sole motivation was to save American lives by ending the war as quickly as possible (Sherwin, 1995). What he failed to discuss were the Japanese messages intercepted by United States military intelligence indicating that the Japanese had been trying to surrender conditionally since June of 1945 (Sherwin, 1945). Consequences The effects of the bombings were massive on all levels. The lives of the Japanese were forever affected. Tsutomu Yamaguchi, then a 29-year-old ship engineer with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, was walking to the company shipyard in Hiroshima when Little Boy, the worlds first strategic atomic bomb, detonated in midair less than 2 miles away (Military History, 2009). The blast knocked him unconscious, burst his left eardrum and burned his upper torso. Three days later, back home in Nagasaki, Yamaguchi was recounting his story to a skeptical boss when Fat Man, the second strategic atomic bomb, exploded over that city, also less than 2 miles away (Military History, 2009). The shock wave knocked both men to the floor and tore off Yamaguchis bandages (Military History, 2009). The engineer spent more than a decade recovering from his physical injuries. His wife and infant son escaped the Nagasaki explosion with minor wounds, but the family was plagued by poor health. His son died of cancer in 2005 at age 59 (Military History, 2009). Yamaguchi is now formally recognized as a double-hibakusha (explosion-affected person) and has become a vocal proponent of nuclear disarmament (Military History, 2009). The reason that I hate the atomic bomb is because of what it does to the dignity of human beings, Yamaguchi explained to The Times. Having been granted this miracle, it is my responsibility to pass on the truth, (Military History, 2009). According to Cameron (2005), 226,598 officially certified survivors of the atomic bombings are still alive in Japan today. The actual number of hibakusha is likely much larger, as many could not meet the strict and sometimes subjective qualifications for certification, while others have left Japan. The average age of these witnesses, however, is now seventy-three. Most have been struggling with radiation-related illness for much of their lives, and death will surely have silenced the majority of them by the seventieth anniversary of the bombing in 2015 (Cameron, 2005). Then fourteen year-old Akihiro Takahashi remembers waiting to go into his classroom then waking up with burns all over his body. He made his way to the river to try to extinguish his burning flesh (Cameron, 2005). His physical suffering had only begun; he now must visit a hospital daily for hour-long treatments for liver cancer and the admission that he worries every day about his health (Cameron, 2005). In addition to health related effects endured, there were also international effects of the atomic bombings. World War II came to an end and a peace treaty was formed between the United States, Japan and forty eight nations (OConnor, 2010). Creators of the bomb had not received the feelings towards the bomb that they predicted and the scientists soon came to the conclusion that this bomb should not be used (Cameron, 2005).    Conclusion The decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan was one of the most controversial issues of the twentieth century. The bombings will continue to remain a heated debate for many years to come. The exact strength of mind for the use of the atomic bombs will never be fully understood and the same question will be asked time and time again, Did it have to happen?