Monday, January 27, 2020

Animal Intelligence and Evolution of the Human Mind

Animal Intelligence and Evolution of the Human Mind The human brain lacks conspicuous characteristics-such as relative or absolute size-that might account for humans superior intellect. Researchers have found some clues to humanitys aptitude on a smaller scale, such as more neurons in our brains outermost layer. Human intelligence may be best likened to an upgrade of the cognitive capacities of nonhuman primates rather than an exceptionally advanced form of cognition. Subtle refinements in brain architecture, rather than large-scale alterations, make us smarter than other animals. As far as we know, no dog can compose music, no dolphin can speak in rhymes, and no parrot can solve equations with two unknowns. Only humans can perform such intellectual feats, presumably because we are smarter than all other animal species-at least by our own definition of intelligence. Of course, intelligence must emerge from the workings of the three-pound mass of wetware packed inside our skulls. Thus, researchers have tried to identify unique features of the human brain that could account for our superior intellectual abilities. But, anatomically, the human brain is very similar to that of other primates because humans and chimpanzees share an ancestor that walked the earth less than seven million years ago. Accordingly, the human brain contains no highly conspicuous characteristics that might account for the species cleverness. For instance, scientists have failed to find a correlation between absolute or relative brain size and acumen among humans and other animal species. Neither have they been able to discern a parallel between wits and the size or existence of specific regions of the brain, excepting perhaps Brocas area, which governs speech in people. The lack of an obvious structural correlate to human intellect jibes with the idea that our intelligence may not be wholly unique: studies are revealing that chimps, among various other species, possess a diversity of humanlike social and cognitive skills. Nevertheless, researchers have found some microscopic clues to humanitys aptitude. We have more neurons in our brains cerebral cortex (its outermost layer) than other mammals do. The insulation around nerves in the human brain is also thicker than that of other species, enabling the nerves to conduct signals more rapidly. Such biological subtleties, along with behavioral ones, suggest that human intelligence is best likened to an upgrade of the cognitive capacities of nonhuman primates rather than an exceptionally advanced form of cognition. Smart Species Because animals cannot read or speak, their aptitude is difficult to discern, much less measure. Thus, comparative psychologists have invented behavior-based tests to assess birds and mammals abilities to learn and remember, to comprehend numbers and to solve practical problems. Animals of various stripes-but especially nonhuman primates-often earn high marks on such action-oriented IQ tests. During World War I, German psychologist Wolfgang Kà ¶hler, for example, showed that chimpanzees, when confronted with fruit hanging from a high ceiling, devised an ingenious way to get it: they stacked boxes to stand on to reach the fruit. They also constructed long sticks to reach food outside their enclosure. Researchers now know that great apes have a sophisticated understanding of tool use and construction. Psychologists have used such behavioral tests to illuminate similar cognitive feats in other mammals as well as in birds. Pigeons can discriminate between male and female faces and among paintings by different artists; they can also group pictures into categories such as trees, selecting those belonging to a category by pecking with their beaks, an action that often brings a food reward. Crows have intellectual capacities that are overturning conventional wisdom about the brain. Behavioral ecologists, on the other hand, prefer to judge animals on their street smarts-that is, their ability to solve problems relevant to survival in their natural habitats-rather than on their test-taking talents. In this view, intelligence is a cluster of capabilities that evolved in response to particular environments. Some scientists have further proposed that mental or behavioral flexibility, the ability to come up with novel solutions to problems, is another good measure of animal intellect. Among birds, green herons occasionally throw an object in the water to lure curious fish-a trick that, ornithologists have observed, has been reinvented by groups of these animals living in distant locales. Even fish display remarkable practical intelligence, such as the use of tools, in the wild. Cichlid fish, for instance, use leaves as baby carriages for their egg masses. Animals also can display humanlike social intelligence. Monkeys engage in deception, for example; dolphins have been known to care for another injured pod member (displaying empathy), and a whale or porpoise may recognize itself in the mirror. Even some fish exhibit subtle kinds of social skills. Behavioral ecologist Redouan Bshary of the University of Neuchà ¢tel in Switzerland and his colleagues described one such case in a 2006 paper. Bony fish such as the so-called cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) cooperate and remove parasites from the skin of other fish or feed on their mucus. Bsharys team found that bystander fish spent more time next to cleaners the bystanders had observed being cooperative than to other fish. Humans, the authors note, tend to notice altruistic behavior and are more willing to help do-gooders whom they have observed doing favors for others. Similarly, cleaner wrasses observe and evaluate the behavior of other finned ocean denizens and are more willing t o help fish that they have seen assisting third parties. From such studies, scientists have constructed evolutionary hierarchies of intelligence. Primates and cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are considered the smartest mammals. Among primates, humans and apes are considered cleverer than monkeys, and monkeys more so than prosimians. Of the apes, chimpanzees and bonobos rank above gibbons, orangutans and gorillas. Dolphins and sperm whales are supposedly smarter than nonpredatory baleen whales such as blue whales. Among birds, scientists consider parrots, owls and corvids (crows and ravens) the brightest. Such a pecking order argues against the idea that intelligence evolved along a single path, culminating in human acumen. Instead intellect seems to have emerged independently in birds and mammals and also in cetaceans and primates. Heavy Thoughts? What about the brain might underlie these parallel paths to astuteness? One candidate is absolute brain size. Although many studies have linked brain mass with variations in human intelligence [see High- ­Aptitude Minds, by Christian Hoppe and Jelena Stojanovic], size does not always correlate with smarts in different species. For example, clever small animals such as parrots, ravens, rats and relatively diminutive apes have brains of modest proportions, whereas some large animals such as horses and cows with large brains are comparatively dim-witted. Brain bulk cannot account for human intelligence either: At eight to nine kilograms, sperm and killer whale brains far outweigh the 1.4 kilograms of neural tissue inside our heads. As heavy as five kilograms, elephant brains are also much chunkier than ours. Relative brain size-the ratio of brain to body mass-does not provide a satisfying explanation for interspecies differences in smarts either. Humans do compare favorably with many medium and large species: our brain makes up approximately 2 percent of our body weight, whereas the blue whales brain, for instance, is less than one 100th of a percent of its weight. But some tiny, not terribly bright animals such as shrews and squirrels win out in this measure. In general, small animals boast relatively large brains, and large animals harbor relatively small ones. Although absolute brain mass increases with body weight, brain mass as a proportion of body mass tends to decrease with rising body weight. Another cerebral yardstick that scientists have tried to tie to intelligence is the degree of encephalization, measured by the encephalization quotient (EQ). The EQ expresses the extent to which a species relative brain weight deviates from the average in its animal class, say, mammal, bird or amphibian. Here the human brain tops the list: it is seven to eight times larger than would be expected for a mammal of its weight. But EQ does not parallel intellect perfectly either: gibbons and some capuchin monkeys have higher EQs than the more intelligent chimpanzees do, and even a few pro ­sim ­ians-the earliest evolved primates alive today-have higher EQs than gorillas do. Or perhaps the size of the brains outermost layer, the cerebral cortex-the seat of many of our cognitive capacities-is the key. But it turns out that the dimensions of the cerebral cortex depend on those of the entire brain and that the size of the cortex constitutes no better arbiter of a superior mind. The same is true for the prefrontal cortex, the hub of reason and action planning. Although some brain researchers have claimed in the past that the human prefrontal cortex is exceptionally large, recent studies have shown that it is not. The size of this structure in hu ­mans is comparable to its size in other  ­primates and may even be relatively small as compared with its counterpart in elephants and cetaceans. The lack of a large-scale measure of the human brain that could explain our performance may reflect the idea that human intellect may not be totally inimitable. Apes, after all, understand cause and effect, make and use tools, produce and comprehend language, and lie to and imitate others. These primates may even possess a theory of mind-the ability to understand another animals mental state and use it to guide their own behavior. Whales, dolphins and even some birds boast some of these mental talents as well. Thus, adult humans may simply be more intuitive and facile with tools and language than other species are, as opposed to possessing unique cognitive skills. Networking Fittingly, researchers have found the best correlates for intelligence by looking at a much smaller scale. Brains consist of nerve cells, or neurons, and supporting cells called glia. The more neurons, the more extensive and more productive the neuronal networks can be-and those networks determine varied brain functions, including perception, memory, planning and thinking. Large brains do not automatically have more neurons; in fact, neuronal density generally decreases with increasing brain size because of the additional glial cells and blood vessels needed to support a big brain. Humans have 11.5 billion cortical neurons-more than any other mammal, because of the human brains high neuronal density. Humans have only about half a billion more cortical neurons than whales and elephants do, however-not enough to account for the significant cognitive differences between humans and these species. In addition, however, a brains information-processing capacity depends on how fast its nerves conduct electrical impulses. The most rapidly conducting nerves are swathed in sheaths of insulation called myelin. The thicker a nerves myelin sheath, the faster the neural impulses travel along that nerve. The myelinated nerves in the brains of whales and elephants are demonstrably thinner than they are in primates, suggesting that information travels faster in the human brain than it does in the brains of nonprimates. What is more, neuronal messages must travel longer distances in the relatively large brains of elephants and whales than they do in the more compact human brain. The resulting boost in information-processing speed may at least partly explain the disparity in aptitude between humans and other big-brained creatures. Among humans cerebral advantages, language may be the most obvious. Various animals can convey complex messages to other members of their species; they can communicate about objects that are not in sight and relay information about individuals and events. Chimpanzees, gorillas, dolphins and parrots can even understand and use human speech, gestures or symbols in constructions of up to about three words. But even after years of training, none of these creatures develops verbal skills more advanced than those of a three-year-old child. In humans, grammar and vocabulary all but explode at age three. This timing corresponds with the development of Brocas speech area in the left frontal lobe, which may be unique to humans. That is, scientists are unsure whether a direct precursor to this speech region exists in the nonhuman primate brain. The absence of an intricately wired language region in the brains of other species may explain why, of all animals, humans alone have a language that contains complex grammar. Researchers date the development of human grammar and syntax to between 80,000 and 100,000 years ago, which makes it a relatively recent evolutionary advance. It was also one that probably greatly enhanced human intellect.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

The Value of Bar Mitzvah Essay -- Bar Mitzvah Speech

This is a Torah portion that I feel represented my values as a whole. The portion is a part of the Parsha Ha-Shavuah which centers on the story of Sarah (Abrahams wife) having a baby at a very old age, and the details around that. Included in the part that I’m reading, theres emphasis that you should be generally hospitable towards others, and that families don’t always follow â€Å"Traditional† patterns. Now, let me explain my values and how they fit into that Parsha: Humor- Humor is important to me because it helps me keep a fresh, clear outlook on life and just generally brightens someone's day- or my day- in general. Also there's that old stereotype that â€Å"Jews have so much to joke about they can't stop.† So why not just keep making jokes about everything!? It certainly helped us get through some of the hardships that our ancestors had, and in my experience, humor can make any situation better. Family- To me, family is the same things as Community; another value that plays at least a small part in my life. Community is family and Family is Community. I think of the Duke Lemur Center as a community of people who all love doing the same thing, but at the same time I like to think of it as a family as well. There’s also the more traditional sense of family that we all know about. Moms, Dads, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and other extended family members. Loyalty- I chose loyalty for a few reasons, but mostly the first thing I thought when I saw this was: Wouldn't it be ironic to choose â€Å"Loyalty† as a value, but then not stay loyal to your values and choice of values? The whole thing about loyalty- to people and things – Is keeping the belief or whatever faith you had in that thing or person and sticking to ... ...ence, and the editorial work my Dad helped me do on this (and almost everything I write today), because boy do I need it! I’d also like to thank My Uncle for the hard work he’s put into leading the whole thing, and being a generally awesome uncle. Lastly, I’d like to fully thank Ira for all the hard work he put into helping me make this whole process manageable. Arranging the meetings, giving me guidance and nudges towards the right direction, and being the guy who I can ask questions of and get a straight answer from. So, Ira, thank you so much! Obviously I am very grateful, and I hope we can continue to get to know each other even when this is done. What this experience has meant to me/done for me...why it was worth all the effort I put into it. Works Cited Marx, Harpo. 1961. Harpo speaks! [New York]: B. Geis Associates; distributed by Random House.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Facebook, Strategic Management Analysis

An environmental scanning refers to the process that systematically uses information about trends, patterns and relationships within an organization’s internal and external environment to determine the future direction of the organization. Through an understanding of the nature and speed of changes in that particular environment, an environmental scan is likely to help identify possible ventures, challenges, and developments that are important to the organization. An organization that could benefit tremendously from strategic planning and especially environmental scanning is Facebook. Facebook is a social network organization that is considered the largest online network in the world (Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith, 2013). According to these researchers Facebook reported $1 billion profit in revenue, with 85% of this revenue coming from advertising. However since we are living in an era where technology is constantly upgrading and competition is fierce, it is vital that the managers of Facebook stay abreast of the competition by conducting environmental scanning to determine the trend and weaknesses of the organization to prevent strategic surprises. As competition increases in a particular industry, changes become swifter in the external environment; consequently, information from the external environment contributes important elements to the effectiveness of the long-term plans. In an external analysis of Facebook, three correlated environments are relevant: Natural Physical Environment According to Wheelen and Hunger (2012) the natural environment includes physical resources, wildlife, and climate that are a fundamental part of life on earth. It is obvious that in recent years the regularity and severity of storms, tornados, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events have increased in the United States and worldwide, and this trend is likely to continue. Pine (2011) informed us that increase in natural hazards and the rising of sea-level are expected along the coastal areas, therefore it is necessary to understand the nature of coastal natural, social, and economic environments and their interactions in guaranteeing a sustainable future. In the case of Facebook, extreme weather events could result in loss of Internet service, breakdown in telecommunication infrastructure, lifestyle changes, and regional shift in population. Although the loss of Internet service and breakdown in telecommunication infrastructure due to inclement weather may be perceived as threats to the organization; lifestyle changes and regional shift in population may reveal opportunities for Facebook. A scan of the external environment may lead to the creating of more modern system that is in-tune with the needs of the population. With the movement of people, Facebook media may be used to locate missing relatives and friends. A shift in population could result in an increase in the younger more tech-savy generation who view Facebook as a way of keeping in touch with others. Since mobile phone reception system may experience overcrowding during this time, Facebook could capitalize on this situation to use its â€Å"friends and family† network to keep others informed of storms and inclement weather events. Through an environmental scan, the managers may realize that planning is needed to extend their network to accommodate the movement of the population. A scan may also reveal weaknesses in infrastructure that could be modified ahead of weather-related crises to minimize the length of time consumers are out of service where weather situations are predicted but cannot be prevented. Although these factors may present threats to the stability of the organization, there are areas that may be presented as opportunities. Societal Environment The societal environment according to Wheelen and Hunger (2012) is the social system of human that makes up those general forces that do not directly affect the short-term activities of the organization, but can, and frequently do influence its long-term decision. Wheelen et al. (2012) mentioned that the number of possible strategic factors is very high because each country can be represented by its own exclusive sets of societal forces. Some well-known strategic forces includes: economic forces, sociocultural forces, and political-legal forces. 1 The Economic Forces. The Economic Forces of the environment alludes to the combination of economic systems of the country, the structural framework of economic policies of the government and the organization of the capital market, the type of endowment, business cycles, and the socio-economic infrastructure of the organization. A drift in the economic area can have effect on social media like Facebook. For example, in 2011 Facebook reported $1 billion profit with 85% coming from advertisement. A weak economy will lead to less sales and subsequently advertising. Equally, a drop in interest rate will mean sales of electronic products and services. The economic development of countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and China is having huge effect on the rest of the world, especially in areas of computer software and telecommunications. An increase in income will also likely to lead to an increase in spending for electronic products and investments in social media services. These factors should present opportunities for Facebook. 2 Sociocultural Forces Sociocultural forces encompass a number of variables such as demographic trends. In the United States, the demographic bulge known as the â€Å"baby boomers† has affected the demands of the market in many industries. This group of people according to Wheelen et al. is now in their 50s and 60s but is the largest group in all developed countries. Wheelen et al. contended that sociological variables such as customs and conventions, cost, cultural heritage, and movement of labor have severe effects on the business. The nature of goods and services is determined by the demand of the people which in turn affect the way the business operates. In the case of Facebook, several transformations are needed to attract the baby boomers who are the largest users of advertisements on the web. Since senior are normally worried about their privacy and security, it is important that Facebook institute an environmental scan that ensure the preservation of privacy of senior Facebook page, the failure of which would be a severe threat to the stability of the company. The desire for companionship with baby boomers whose children have already grown and have left the nest have increased so Facebook could provide the type of interaction some of these seniors need. However, there is the need to make the sire more attractive and senior-friendly by step-by-step tutorial for setting up a page and navigating the network. In addition, remembering passwords have become a tremendous burden for some members of the baby boom generation. In order to continue a viable operation, Facebook should institute a system that helps baby boomers to log on to their page by correctly answering a series of questions. This system would present opportunities for the company. 3 Political-Legal Forces According to Wheelen et al. (2012) the political-legal forces are the forces that distribute power and provide constraining and protecting laws and regulations. It may also include the decision made by the courts. The political environment of a country is swayed by the philosophy of political parties, ideology of government or the ruling party; stability of the political system, foreign policy, Defense and military policy, and the image the country and its leaders project outside the country. Some of the more well-known political-legal variables include, antitrust regulation, environmental protection laws, immigration laws, tax laws, Foreign sweat shops, foreign trade regulation and stability of the government. Trends in the political-legal area have important business repercussions, not only on the level of competition within the industry but also on which strategies might be successful. Many business leaders think that there are too much stringent regulations governing businesses in order to conform to society’s environmental concerns. On the other hand, many businesses would like to see more aggressive approach to enforcing anti-trust laws. A number of research and environmental scanning has been done by Facebook to explore the dynamics of its network. An online article by Weigel (2012) described Facebook as a vehicle for organizing and expressing dissent, and one that has been proven to be an effective tool in many protests, causes, uprisings, and conflicts, but they also lead to the possibility of monitoring by the government and exposing activists to surveillance and punishment. According to Streitfeld and Hardy (2013) the Internet was established as a tool of liberation and knowledge but recently a bleak vision emerged when it was revealed that the United States government is using it as a monitoring and tracking device. In addition, threats by Federal Reserve Commission to impose greater supervision on how personal data was being used online resulted in the formation in 1998 of the Online Privacy Alliance (Streitfeld & Hardy). However, except for this factor, political technology have very little impact on the stability of Facebook. 4 Technological Forces Technological forces are described by Wheelen et al. as those forces that generate problem-solving inventions. Changes in technology can also have tremendous impact on businesses since they all depend on technology to operate. Technological environment affects the business in relations to investment in technology, regular application of technology and the effects of technology on markets. Technology is constantly providing new method for communication; therefore the use of technology in our lives is always expanding. Facebook is at the center of technology advancement because as technology advanced so will the methods we use for communicating. The birth of Facebook brought in another era of communication in our lives, and it is obvious that the society will continue to develop new ways to pass on messages to each other. Facebook’s $1 billion profit in 2011 is an indication that technology will continue to advance; therefore this advancement in technology presents opportunities for the organization. The Task (Industry) Environment The task environment according to Wheelen et al. (2012) includes those elements or groups that directly affect a corporation and, consequently are affected by it; these include governments, local communities, suppliers, competitors, customers, creditors, employees/labor unions, special interest groups, and trade associations. In doing an external environmental scan the business manager must assess various industry forces. Wheelen et al. used the Porter’s 5-Forces model to illustrate the forces that make up the Industry environment. The Porter’s 5-forces model is a tool used by corporations to provide an analysis of their competition and to help determine strategy. This five-forces model examines the strength of five specific competitive forces which work together to determine long-term profit and competition within an industry. However, Wheelen et al. (2012) mentioned that a sixth forces has been added to reflect the power of other groups, and the government over the activities of industries. In a scan of an industry, a corporation must examine the importance of each of the six forces to the success of the company: threat of new entrants, rivalry among existing firms, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and bargaining power of other stakeholders. 1. Threat of New Entrants It is clear that new entrant to any industry bring new capacity, competition, and aspiration to gain a position of status in that industry. Therefore new entrants are threats to organizations that are already in the industry. A new entrant to an industry is able to learn from the mistakes of his competitors and improve upon these weaknesses. In the case of Facebook, new entrants will always be considered a threat since technology by nature is subjected to metamorphosis. The position of Facebook in the industry is strong; therefore the barriers to new entrants are high based on the following: (a) Economies of scales: Even though the start-up cost incurred by Zuckerberg was small at the inception, a new entrant to the industry would not be able to enter the market on a small scale and compete against a company like Facebook, and if they enter on a large scale, there is the possibility of reaction from Facebook who would be better equipped to contend against competitors in the industry. This prevents new companies from breaking into this industry quickly. In addition, the investment of large capital presents a significant amount of risk to a new company. (b) Switching cost: Facebook is an established organization, individual have spent a significant amount of time learning to use this network, so they would be somewhat reluctant to change for another media. (c) Government policy: There are already privacy issues arising from the use of social media so the government may be reluctant to give license to another such organization. (d) Access to distribution channels: A new entrant would have to establish its distribution channel in an industry that is already captured by Facebook. According to Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith (2013) 85% of Facebook’s revenue came from advertising. (e) Cost disadvantages independent of size: Facebook is already established in the industry, they have access to the expertise, technology, notoriety, and government approval to keep the organization functioning. (f) Product differentiation: Facebook is well-known, and this medium has a strong customer support. In October 2012 Facebook registered its billionth user, becoming the largest online social network in the world (Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith, 2013). Recently, the acquisition of Instagram has solidified Facebook in the industry. Essentially, with this force it is not easy for an organization to enter the industry. 2. Threat of Substitute Products or Services Substitute products naturally present competition in the industry because as more substitutes come on the market the demand becomes more flexible since customers have more alternative. In the case of social networking medium, MySpace has been able continue operation as a type of social networking medium but has not been have to hold a position of dominance in the social networking media because Facebook is more advanced and provides more options. Therefore, this substitute does not present a threat to Facebook. According to Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith (2013) LinkedIn has become the leader in professional networking; again this is a professional site and not a social networking site, and the site has not been used as a substitute for Facebook. The threat from substitute services is low in this case. 3. Rivalry Among Existing Firms Competition is likely to be high if entry to the industry is easy. Since entry to the social networking industry presents many barriers, it is unlikely that there will be much rivalry in this industry. However, Piskorski, Eisenmann, and Smith (2013) contended that Twitter and Google came into existence as rivals to Facebook although they have not been able to maintain any position of dominance since Facebook has been able to present more features than the other, thus there is a large differentiation between Facebook and its competitors, their strategies are different, and the rate of growth is vastly dissimilar since Facebook has been able to maintain its market position, and has potential for greater gain than its competitors. The strength of this force is also low. 4. Bargaining Power of Buyers In the social networking industry the bargaining power of buyers is important because if users are not inspired they will lose interest. Facebook has ensured the stability of its position in the industry by creating innovative and stimulating programs to keep users enthused. However, there is a vast difference in the service provided by Facebook and its competitors, so substitution is not easily found. This force does not present a threat to Facebook. 5. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Suppliers can influence an industry significantly as they determine price increases. In the case of Facebook, its suppliers include advertisers, game developers like Zynga, Spotify, Netflix, Hulu and the networks it uses to deliver its services. However, since these products are important to the maintenance of Facebook in the position of dominance in the industry, as they offer diversity to a site that could otherwise have been uninter esting. The bargaining power of suppliers in this case is medium.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Influence of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Amoung Kenyan Teenage...

SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH PROPOSAL. Influence of drug and alcohol abuse among Kenyan teenage Education. BY BRIAN MUNGA (J15-3021-11) TAKEN BY: Catherine Mavyala DECLARATION I declare that Influence of drug and alcohol abuse among Kenyan teenage Education is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 07 August 2012 Signature Date Brian Munga Student No. J15/3021/11 KEY TERMS Drug abuse; Kenya; secondary schools; students; drug-related problems; addressing drug abuse; prevention†¦show more content†¦Also alcohol is assessed by the medical experts that it can be used to increase the metabolism or improve the digestion of an individual. With the help of appropriate alcohol intake, the system of an older person can be stabilized. Therefore, the use of alcohol or liquor became popular among the people with advanced age. For throughout the years, the alcohols became part of the government’s subject for banning. The reason behind this provision is because the increasing demands that also affects the teenage and young adults’ population. Little wonder, then that the immediate past UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan once said â€Å"Drugs are tearing apart our societies, spawning crime, spreading diseases such as aids, and killing our youths and our future†. Background of the Study. According to a report by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB, 2006), the East African region has become the fallback for drug dealers following increased control of traditional routes through the Netherlands and Spain. The warning followed the discovery of cocaine worth 6.4 billion Kenya shillings in Malindi and Nairobi on December 14, 2004 (Daily Nation, March 2, 2006). In a speech delivered during the official closing of the African convention of Principals (ACP) in Kenya on 27th August, 2004, the former Minister for Education, Late Honorable George Saitoti noted that some cities in Africa had been identified as either destinations or conduits for hard drugs. Drug