Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Financial Statements & Ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial Statements & Ethics - Assignment Example The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in alliance with the United States Congress in 2002 created the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). Starbucks Cafà © hired an external auditing firm to perform an independent audit of its 2010 financial statements. The Sarbanes Oxley Act mandates that all public firms hire an accounting firm to audit its annual financial statements. There are many bylaws of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that ensure auditor independence is followed. Section 201 of the Act prohibits auditors to perform other non-audit services on clients the company audited (Findlaw). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act also created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). All public accounting firms performing auditing work must be registered with the PCAOB. On November 2, 2010 the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche performed the Independent Auditor Report of the financial statements of Starbucks for fiscal year 2010. The findings from the audit were that the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position of Starbucks Corporation and its subsidiaries as of October 3, 201 0 and September 27, 2009 (Annual Report: Starbucks, 2010). My opinion is that contracting the services of outside firms for auditing and fraud detection services is a sound managerial practice. Based on SOX it is mandatory for public firms to hire external accounting firms to perform annual independent audits. The use of external consultants to prevent fraud can increase the efficiency of a system. The external consultants will look at the company from a fresh perspective. An employee might be closed minded and biased and may miss things due to overconfidence and carelessness. One of the cons of the use of external auditors and consultants is that they can very expensive. Consultants can not monitor the daily activities of a firm otherwise they would become full-time employees. There is a need to create internal controls to prevent fraud. These

Monday, October 28, 2019

Cleft Lip and Palate and its Effect on Speech Essay Example for Free

Cleft Lip and Palate and its Effect on Speech Essay Introduction on Speech and Phonetics   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Phonetics and phonology are concerned with speech – with the ways in which human produce and hear speech. Talking and listening to each other are so much part of normal life that they often seem unremarkable. Yet, as in any scientific field, the curious investigator finds rich complexity beneath the surface. Even the simplest of conversations – an exchange of short greetings, for example – presupposes that the speaker and hearer make sense to each other and understand each other. Their ability to communicate in this way depends in turn on proper bodily functioning (of brain, lungs, larynx, ears and so on), on recognizing each other’s pronunciation a bewildering jumble of unpronounceable and unintelligible noise only underlines the extent of our organization and control of talking and listening within particular social and linguistic conventions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Once we make a decision to start with an examination of speech, we can come up to it on a range of steps. At one step, speech is an issue of anatomy and physiology where we can examine the organs of speech such as tongue and larynx and their role in the creation of speech. Taking another perspective, we can focus on the speech sounds produced by these organs – the units that we commonly try to identify by letters such as a ‘b-sound’ or an ‘m-sound’. But speech is transmitted as sound waves themselves. Taking yet another approach, the term ‘sounds’ is a prompt that speech is proposed to be heard or supposed that it is then probable to concentrate on the manner in which a listener understands and process a sound wave (Clark, Yallop, Fletcher, 2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Phonetics is the study of the sounds of natural language. The use of sounds in speech involves three distinct phases: 1) the production of sounds by the speaker, 2) the transmission of sounds between the speaker and the hearer, and 3) the reception of the sounds by the hearer. Each of these phases especially 1) and 3), which clearly involve the human brain, is an extremely complicated process, each needs to be understood if we wish to have full understanding of the workings of human speech, and each requires its own methods of study. The science of phonetics thus consists of three main branches, each devoted to the study of one of the phases of speech.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Articulatory phonetics is the study of the way in which speech sounds are produced or ‘articulated’ by the speaker. It includes a description of the organs of speech, such as the vocal cords, the tongue and the palate, and how they are used to produce sounds. The description of speech in articulatory terms has a long history, going back to ancient times, and is still considered the most useful type of description for language teaching purposes. Acoustic phonetics is the study of the transmission of speech sounds through the air in the form of air waves. Precise studies of the transmission stage of speech rely heavily on electronic equipment which has only been available since the 1930s and 1940s, but in the relatively short space of time since then great strides have been made in our understanding of the transmission of speech sounds. Acoustic phonetics is not as important in pronunciation teaching as articulatory phonetics, but it can be of valuable assistance in certain areas such as the description of vowel sounds or intonations, which are not easily described in articulatory terms. Auditory phonetics, finally, studies the processes in the ear, auditory nerve and brain which lead to the perception of sounds by the hearer (Hall, 2003). Organs of Speech   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first essential for the student of Phonetics is to have a clear idea of the structure and functions of the various parts of the organs of speech. The term organs of speech is used to refer to parts of the body in the larynx and the vocal tract that are involved in the production of speech. It is a misleading term in that it suggests that we have special physical organs for speaking. This is not so: all our so-called ‘organs of speech’ have primary biological functions relating to our respiratory system and the processing of food (Gussenhoven Jacobs, 1998).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The organs of speech are all bodily structure composed of a variety of tissue types (such as bone, cartilage and skin) which are specific to their biological (rather than linguistic) function. Bodily organs are generally grouped into systems which have particular functions in the life of the organism. These include the respiratory system, the digestive system, and the reproductive system and so on. While it can be argued that the organs of speech form a system, they do not contribute to life support in the same way as other systems, and they are generally not thought of as performing their primary biological function when they are used in speech production (Clark et al., 2006). Nature of Speech Defects   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Speech is a motor act that requires little concentration once it is learned. The energy source for speech is air. The diaphragm is the primary muscle of respiration and air is inhaled and exhaled through the vocal tract, the diaphragm contracts and flattens; this enlarges the thoracic cavity by displacing the abdominal contents downward and expanding the thoracic volume. The external intercostals assist the diaphragm in increasing the size of the thoracic capacity. If these movements are not coordinated, the supply and control of air may be reduced. Lack of coordination occurs during inhalation when the abdominal muscles contract simultaneously with the diaphragm and push the abdominal contents upward. This upward movement decreases the size of the thoracic cavity, which reduced the amount of air available for the production of speech. Restriction of the air supply may lead to reduced loudness, illogical breath groups, limited pitch range, decreased intelligibility and increased expiratory effort. Respiration for speech should be effortless and coordinated with phonation and resonation. Adduction of the vocal folds in a stream of air produces phonation. During quiet respiration, the vocal folds are abducted to an intermediate position by the poster cricoarytenoid muscles. Changes in the vibration pattern may result in altered voice quality, pitch, and loudness and decreased speech intelligibility Communication is a closed loop system. When individuals speak, others hear them and respond to their speech. In addition, individuals hear themselves speak and monitor their speech production. If speech production does not match the specific intention, then speech os modified. When speakers have a speech disorder, they may compensate for the impaired speech production by changing their respiration, phonation, and articulation. If this compensation is carried out in an effortful way, the compensation may be counterproductive and may worsen the symptoms (Brin, Comella, Jankovic, 2004). Speech Assessments   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Speech assessments proper are established from the age of 4 years and allow objective evaluation to take place over a long period.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The articulation of phonemes is routinely evaluated during sessions of repetition as well as free speech.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The speech-language pathologist (SLP) will also evaluate the child’s speech production and some of the aspects of phonology. The SLP will ask the child to say various syllables or words and evaluate the â€Å"correctness† of what the child says. The SLP is trained to listen and compare all aspects of speech to a criterion of correct production. The SLP will comment on the child’s voice quality. Does the child’s voice sound like a typical child’s should at that age? Is it too high-pitched, strained, or too nasal? The SLP will comment on fluency, or the relative ease with which the child talks. Does the child stutter or stammer? The SLP will also perform oral-motor exam. In this exam, the SLP asks the child to do some movements incorporating his tongue, lips, teeth, cheeks, soft palate, and jaw. These movements are checked to see if the child has any weakness or coordination problems with the muscles and structures of the mouth that would influence the child’s ability to produce the speech sounds correctly. The SLP will also do an articulation test. In this test the SLP asks the child to say a group of syllables or words that contain all the sounds of English. The SLP makes a judgment about how correctly the child produced the sound. Sometimes the SLP marks whether the error was an omission (the child did not say the sound at all), a substitution (the child substituted one sound for another; for example the child said â€Å"pish† instead of â€Å"fish†), or a distortion (the child said a sound that was not the correct speech sound and did not sound like another sound). The SLP will list which sounds were produced incorrectly and make suggestions for follow-up therapy (Easterbrooks Estes, 2007). Cleft Lip and Palate   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is the term applied to a fissure in the roof of the mouth (palate) and/or the lip which is present at birth. It is found in varying degrees of severity in about 1 in 700 children. Modern plastic surgery can greatly improve the appearance of the baby and often further cosmetic surgery later will not be necessary. The parent of the child who has cleft lip and/or palate will be given detailed advice specific to his case. In general the team of specialists involved are the pediatrician, plastic surgeon, dentist or orthodontic specialist, and speech therapist (Havard, 1990).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The deficiencies associated with cleft palate depend on the location of the defect in the palate. In the normal palate, the tensor veli palatine and levator palatine muscles within the soft palate insert into an aponeurosis at the midline raphe. In the cleft palate, the muscle fibers follow the medial margin of the cleft and insert into the medial cleft edges and the posterior edge of the lateral bony hard palate. Clefts involving the alveolus can disrupt normal dental development, eruption, and retention.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The subject of normal human facial growth is extremely complex and incompletely understood; and superimposing a cleft defect complicates an already complex process. Many children with clefts will develop collapse of the alveolar arches, midface retrusion, and resultant malocclusion as they approach their teenage years. The underlying cleft deformity itself, as well as the surgical procedures performed to correct the defect, has been implicated as possible contributing causes of these developments. Currently, controversy exists regarding the relationship between surgical procedures and maxillary growth in terms of the sequencing of the surgical procedures, the timing of the cleft repair; whether or not the cleft repair itself has an effect on maxillofacial growth, and the various surgical techniques of lip and palate repair. Of interest, it is common in nonsyndromic older children whose cleft is unrepaired to have relatively normal midfacial projection and occlusion (Bailey, Johnson, Newlands, 2006). The Effects on Speech and Resonance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dental problems in children with cleft lip and palate or craniofacial syndromes can be quite complex. These problems frequently require dental specialists to coordinate treatment with other health care providers in order to properly manage the patient. The specialists involved usually include a pediatric dentist, an orthodontist, an oral maxillofacial surgeon, and a prosthodontist. Together, they monitor and treat problems of the developing dentition, occlusion, and facial growth of the cleft lip/palate patient. As dental professionals reconstruct the oral environment, the speech pathologist leads to a more holistic management of the structural and functional effects of dental and speech abnormalities (Kumme, 2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Speech may be difficult to understand and have a muffled nasal quality, the greatest difficulty being in the pronunciation of consonants. This type of inadequate closure leads to the diagnosis of ‘cleft-palate’ speech, even though the palate is anatomically closed. In some cases adenoid tissue helps to close the space, so its removal by surgery or its decrease at the time of adolescence leads to further deterioration of speech. There may be associated, non-specific neurological symptoms (Baird Gordon, 1983). Cleft Palate Repair   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The reasons for cleft palate repair are improved feeding, speech development and protection of the Eustachian tube, and effect on the growth of the middle third of the face. Not enough attention was paid to the hearing in cleft palate patients and, in the earlier years, the speech was also not given important consideration. All the attention was focused on the growth of the middle third of the face but if one misses the hearing and the speech, the damage is irreversible. The timing of cleft palate repair has always been governed by geographical location. In the European Centers, the repair is delayed for considerably longer, even up to six to seven years. In the English speaking countries, the repair is done around one year of age, but why leave these repairs till so late as speech usually develops by seven months? Physiologically, it is better to repair the palate before speech starts developing, so that postoperative edema and scarring settles down, it is then better to operate in the cleft palate at four months. Traditionally, the treatment of cleft lip and palate was to repair the cleft lip and anterior palate (single layer closure) between six to 12 weeks of age and repair the palate at about 18 months (Desai, 1997).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Currently, the majority of surgeons around the world who treat many of these children prefer to operate around 3 months of age for physiological and technical reasons. A 0.25mm error in alignment in a 1-day-old- child will show noticeable 1 to 2mm malalignment by age 1 year. The cleft palate is repaired best at around age 12 months. This is a compromise. Earlier repair may be an advantage for speech, but it is a disadvantage to subsequent facial growth. Late repair has an opposite effect. It is subsequently easier today to correct an underdeveloped midface in the 10% to 20% of patients in whom it may occur, rather than trying to correct bad speech in nearly all patients so treated by late palate closure. Cleft lip and palate need no longer be devastating deformity that it was 30 years ago, if untreated by an experienced team (which needs to see at least 40 new patients a year), the child should be expected to have normal speech, a symmetrical lip with a fine scar, a nose close to normal in appearance, and a full set of well-fitting teeth. To achieve this requires good patient and parent cooperation. In most cases, further surgery will be required by age 5 years to improve the nose shape. The wearing of orthodontic braces is almost inevitable but should be limited to 1 session in early adolescence. With good psychosocial support and good parenting, such children should grow into normal well-adjusted adults. However, if the quality of the surgery is bad and repeated operations are carried out, the speech and hearing are ignored and the teeth are not treated, then a very different psychological outcome will be present. Unfortunately, this still occurs even in the most advanced countries, if children are treated by either inexperienced or inadequately trained people, or without the benefits of a team approach, or where the team does not have a big enough population load to maintain its expertise (Eder, 1995). Surgical Management of the Primary Deformity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lip Adhesion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If the child presents with a very wide cleft lip and a palate, it may be advantageous to â€Å"help† the cleft to become narrower, thereby facilitating the surgical outcome of the cleft lip repair. Most commonly, presurgical orthopedic molding of the wide cleft palate and lip can be accomplished with a process called â€Å"taping.† In taping, a strip of hypoallergenic tape is applied with tension across the cleft and secured to the child’s cheeks. The tape is worn 24 hours a day and reapplied as needed. Taping causes molding of the bony tissues by applying gentle pressure onto the protruding bony portions of the maxilla. This simple technique can be extremely effective in reducing the width of the cleft in a nonsurgical manner. When taping a ineffective or not tolerated by the infant, a lip adhesion can be considered. The goal of a lip adhesion is to surgically convert a complete cleft lip into an incomplete cleft lip, allowing the definitive lip repair to be performed with less tension. The lip adhesion also orthopedically molds and improves the alignment of the underlying maxillary segments before definitive lip repair. Lip adhesion, if indicated, is the initial procedure and it is performed at 2 to 4 weeks of age. Definitive lip repair follows the adhesion at 4-6 months of age, which allows the scar to mature. The following criteria are used to determine if lip adhesion is needed (following failure of the taping technique): Wide, unilateral complete cleft lip and palate where closure with conventional lip repair might produce excessive tension on the incision Symmetric, wide bilateral complete cleft lip with a very protruding premaxilla Introduction of symmetry to an asymmetric bilateral cleft lip A disadvantage of lip adhesion is the introduction of scar tissue, which can occasionally interfere with the definitive lip repair; although not usually a major concern, this has prompted some surgeons to limit its use. Cleft Lip Repair If no medical contraindications exist, and a lip adhesion has not been performed previously, definite lip repair is accomplished at 8 to 12 weeks of age. In the United States most surgeons follow the â€Å"rule of tens†: lip repair is performed when the infant is at least 10 weeks old, weighs 10 pounds, and has hemoglobin of 10 g. Cleft Palate Restoration Historically, the exact timing of surgical closure of the cleft palate has been controversial. The desire to facilitate velopharyngeal competence for adequate speech favors relatively early closure of the palate, whereas the possible negative influence on maxillofacial growth and occlusion favors relatively late closure. Anatomic factors to consider when evaluating the palate include the extent and width of the cleft (between both the alveolar ridge and palatal shelves); position of the maxillary segments; and, in the bilateral cleft, the size, position, and degree of protrusion of the premaxilla and prolabium. In both unilateral and bilateral complete cleft palate, collapse of the lateral maxillary segment can occur following the lip repair. In some cases, preoperative orthopedics can be used to realign the maxillary segments in a more normal position before the palate is repaired. In bilateral cleft, presurgical orthopedic treatment consists of molding the nasoalveolar process with progressively modified splints, and achieving lengthening of the deficient and short columella tissue, leading to an improved nasal appearance with a single stage procedure. Other groups favor techniques that allow for intranasal correction of the deformity and malposition during the lip repair. Although insufficient space exist to describe all the commonly used techniques, the principles of bilateral lip repair are common among them, including creation of the philtrum from the prolabium and midline tubercle from the lateral vermilion. A symmetric, bilateral complete cleft lip and palate with an adequate and moderately protruding prolabium and premaxilla are used as an example. Asymmetric, bilateral cleft lips and those with a rotated premaxilla can be treated with a one or two-stage closure (using the lip adhesion as the first stage). For children with an extremely protruding premaxilla, presurgical orthopedics may be required before definitive lip repair to move the premaxilla posteriorly, either surgically or via molding with appliances or tape (Bailey et al., 2006). Clinical Alert   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Daily use of folic acid before conception decreases the risk for isolated (not associated with another genetic or congenital malformation) cleft lip or palate by up to 25%. Women of childbearing age should be encouraged to take a daily multivitamin containing folic acid until menopause or until they’re no longer fertile (Kumme, 2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Use of a contoured speech bulb attached to the posterior of a denture to occlude the nasopharynx helps the child develop intelligible speech when a wide horseshoe defect makes surgery impossible. Special nipples and other feeding devices are available to improve feeding patterns and promote nutrition in infants with a cleft lip or palate (Eder, 1995). Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is no comparable series of routine cleft lip repair in newborn within 48 hours over a long period using the same technique; it is extremely difficult to fulfill such requirements as the temptation to alter the technique or timing is so great.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Every now and then, ideas about the treatment and techniques are reported in the literature or at conferences. There was considerable opposition to, and criticism of, our work at every level, nationally as well as internationally.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If one contemplates surgery in the newborn, then a proper team should be assembled. A surgeon should only undertake such a project if he feels it will help the child, not to impress other surgeons. A time will come when there will be fewer surgeons undertaking the treatment of these children in specialized centers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is a safe procedure in the hands of dedicated clinicians and surgeons. Pediatricians and the anesthesiologist should have a final say in the decision for surgery. It is possible to do a formal repair. The scar revision in unilateral cleft is comparable to any other series. In bilateral clefts the plan is to lengthen the columella, repair the orbicularis and narrow the philtrum at the same time at about four or five years of age. It may be worth looking at the technique of palate repair. One has to find a way to achieve repair early on in order to maintain hearing and speech results while achieving excellent maxillary alignment (Desai, 1997). References: Bailey, B. J., Johnson, J. T., Newlands, S. D. (2006). Head Neck Surgeryotolaryngology (4th ed. Vol. 1). Tokyo: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Baird, H. W., Gordon, E. C. (1983). Neurological Evaluation of Infants and Children. London: Cambridge University Press. Brin, M. F., Comella, C. L., Jankovic, J. J. (2004). Dystonia: Etiology, Clinical Features, and Treatment. New York: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Clark, J., Yallop, C., Fletcher, J. (2006). An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Victoria, AU: Blackwell Publishing. Desai, S. N. (1997). Neonatal Surgery of the Cleft Lip and Palate. Hongkong: World Scientific. Easterbrooks, S. R., Estes, E. L. (2007). Helping Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students to Use Spoken Language. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. Eder, R. A. (1995). Craniofacial Anomalies: Psychological Perspectives. New York: Springer. Gussenhoven, C., Jacobs, H. (1998). Understanding Phonology. London: Oxford University Press US. Hall, C. (2003). Modern German Pronunciation: An Introduction for Speakers of English. New York USA: Manchester University Press. Havard, C. W. H. (1990). Blacks Medical Dictionary. Savage, Maryland: Rowman Littlefield. Kumme, A. W. (2000). Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Anomalies: The Effects on Speech and Resonance. San Diego, Canada: Thomson Delmar Learning.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

State schooling and learning concepts :: essays research papers

While young people were grouped together and instructed/trained/initiated into adult life in the very earliest human civilizations, the story of state schooling best begins with Plato (427-347 BC), who really laid much of the philosophical and pedagogical framework for schools as we know them in the West. Plato believed that education and schools were the most important function of the state, and that school spending should equal that of the military. Precisely because schools were so important in Plato’s conception of the ideal state, he was adamant that education not be left to private interests, who could not be trusted to keep the good of the whole in mind. In The Republic Plato asserted that the state should take responsibility for training children from the age of three and that each citizen could be guided by the system towards an ideal conception of justice and into the social class and occupation best suited for him. Education had to be universalized so that all citizens2 could be effectively screened and placed. In this Plato was emphatic that it was the state’s job to support and control schools and to make them compulsory. There was no question in Plato’s mind that schools should be designed by the state to support the state. Through the rise of the Roman Empire Greek educational conceptions remained dominant, while being retrofitted to become more focused around literature, sciences, music, dancing, while becoming more pedagogically utilitarian. While the Romans overwhelmingly left education up to private citizens and independent schools, a succession of emperors became interested in public education. Monarchs like Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius developed various common school programs by insisting that municipalities set up schools for the public (largely children of families too poor to attend private institutions) staffed by physicians, grammarians and sophists. As the Roman Empire disintegrated however, ideals of secular education declined along with it, and for a millennia education became largely a matter of one’s relationship with God, and religious schools in various forms dominated European conceptions of education. The clerical monopoly of education established in the age of transition from the ancient world to the modern lasted for more than a thousand years, and its effects on the intellectual life of Europe were tremendous.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Community Engagement Essay

Engaging in the community as well as engaging ourselves with the issues of our society makes us aware and open to the different theories regarding the roles and relationship that contributes to it. Awareness and being concerned to the society are some of the characteristic that we all should have to be able to understand what the things that most of the times are affects our engagement to the society that we have now. This essay mainly gives knowledge and understanding about community engagement and critically discusses the role as well as the relationship of community engagement to the society. In addition, there are some relevant theories to be used in discussion on the roles and relationship of community engagement to the society that may help better understand the nature of community engagement such as ethical theory, communicative theory and citizenship theory. There are several definitions of community engagement and these definitions represent or symbolize the culture, beliefs and tradition of every group that provided the meaning of it. Even though community engagement is defined differently or characterized in many different ways by various groups, still these definitions have only one common meaning. Generally, community engagement is defined as the process wherein community groups or institutions work mutually to address circumstances and situations that impact or greatly influence the well-being of those groups. In practice, community engagement is a combination of social science and art. The science comes from sociology, political science, cultural anthropology, organizational development, psychology, social work, and other disciplines with organizing concepts drawn from the literature on community participation, community mobilization, constituency building, community psychology, cultural influences, and other sources. On the other hand, the vital artistic element needed for the community engagement includes the utilization of understanding, skill, and sensitivity to apply and adapt the science in ways that fit the community and purposes of specific engagement efforts (SCDC 2009) Community Engagement is the process of creating a harmonious relationship within community members who will do their tasks side-by-side with the society as an on-going partner, in any and each way imaginable, producing an army that can maintain for the mission, and with the ultimate goal of making the community a better place to live (Gottlieb 2009). Engagement helps communities articulate, develop and achieve their goals’ Sarkissian et. al. (2009,pp. 5-6). From that definition, community engagement has to recognize their goals before involve other community to help with. According to Howard & Butcher (2007), community engagement refers to the collaboration between the higher education institutions as well as their larger communities, which include the local, regional/state, national and global communities to achieve a common beneficial trading and development of knowledge as well as resources in a context of reciprocity and relationship. There are several activities that a community engagement has. These include service-learning, voter registration drives, community-based research, community-centered forums, alternative spring breaks, community-based internships, and lastly, the community service. In addition to the definition given, the National Standards for Community Engagement define community engagement as the one which develops and sustains a working relationship between one or more public institutions and one or more community teams, to better help them both to understand and work on the needs or situations that the community encounters (SCDC 2009). When it comes to the roles of community engagement to the society, probably the most common question being raised is on the importance and role of it and how does it function to the community. As mentioned above, community engagement refers to the connection and relationship between communities to achieve development as well as to implement policies, programs and services ( Howard & Butcher 2007) . It simply functions as the process of working collaboratively with the community to address issues influencing their lives. The effectiveness of community engagement is dependent upon a shared understanding of the meaning, principles and processes involved. In addition to this, community engagement also recognizes the privileges and the rights of the people living in the community to free and share their opinions and to get involved in the business of government. Through community engagement, the society is being recognized and accepted as a significant source of expertise that may affect the government decisions and other institutions to improve the quality and delivery of public service. To better achieve what a community engagement desires, there should be a harmonious and mutual relationship within the community. These relationships are based on trust as well as openness, and are shaped and produced at both personal and institutional levels. There should be also sustainability in a sense that community engagement needs relationships, partnerships and activities that can be sustainable for a longer period of time. The community engagement should also work on purpose and based on goals that mutually beneficial for all concerned parties. In addition, communication is vital for community engagement to work well. Communication strategies are vital to support relationship formation, ensure sustainability as well as to improve understanding of initiatives amongst communities (Gottlieb 2009). There are studies conducted and theories formulated that allowed researchers to develop organizing concepts about communities and the different methods or means on how they are mobilized. These theories help us to better understand the importance of community engagement as well as to the most effective way to engage people in addressing public health issues and concerns. One of these theories is the ethical theory. The definition of ethics is ‘many concepts that explain the process of decision making aimed at making the right choices’ (Breit 2007,p. 308). Ethical theory is closely aligned with the responsibilities to public that are attached to one’s role in a given context (James et al. 2010, p. 226). For example the issue of media ethics in the music industry, film, and television become a contentious issue because the industry was accused of giving negative impact to public, but the industry stated that public or audience who should be responsible to filter the media content they have been consume (James et al. 2010, p. 221). To live in a society that is relatively stable and predictable, where each individual is able to pursue their personal best interests and goals, some minimal rules would have to be developed or acknowledged which would support mutually advantageous cooperation among the individuals of the society. The existence of ethics in the world of communication is very necessary, although in practice still far from expectations. Being an individual living within the society we should be respected about our opinion to maintain self-preservation and pursue human self interest. Because as a rational human being living within the community we can follow and obey rules that the society applies as long as it is fairly applied to everyone. Existence of governments also helps the people abide the rules and laws of the society and completely ensures cooperativeness as long as their self-interest would benefit. Since people are competitive in nature the society should also provide an equal opportunity for all people to have the chance to live a good life. And this theory it shows that people engaging in the community through their work, position, power, and other essentials to them best explains how important our relationship to the society. And it is only through engagement in the society. Second theory that is very vital to the community engagement is the communication theory. Communication is a very significant factor not only in a community engagement but also in activities of our daily lives. Without proper communication, man will not have a means to express their insights and feelings to each other. Without it, there will be chaos and problems that might arise all over the world. Thus communication is essential as the basic unit for creating understanding and harmonious relationship with one another (Hirst & Harrison 2007, p. 25). In community engagement, communication is pragmatic as it opens interaction, gives information as well as creates or fixes discussions. It may be in informal or formal channels of communication, as long as everybody understands what everybody wants to imply. In addition, communication helps people to share their visions and make clear and realistic goals. Through people’s ability to communicate with each other community engagement is best ensure. In this postmodern era, it seems like progress of communication has been supported by technologies. The Internet as a part of media has growth very rapidly and become one of the most important parts in people lives and help people to communication. In other side, Internet also helps community engagement to communicate all over the world. Another theory that can really useful is citizenship theory. According to Hudson & Kane (2000, p. 223) citizenship is a status to a member of community and also have rights and responsibilities that is may be linked to what values and ideals that society holds. Basically, there are two kind of citizenship such as active and passive citizenship. Active citizenship is some people which always aspire to become active and involved or participate in public life in their community and passive citizenship is naturalized born to be member of society and never get involved (Hudson & Kane 2000, p. 223). Mostly, active citizenship will be volunteers to spend their time but passive citizenship in general tend to spend their time in very similar ways with active citizenship and decided becoming non-volunteers. However, there are some important differences, the amount of time each of there groups spends watching television. On average, those who have never volunteered watch 436 more hours of television that volunteers each year. Active citizenship can help promote development of community engagement. Active citizenship more cares about society and respect the most basic of human rights and insist on access to democratic principles for all people of the world. In conclusion, this essay is of great help for the students as well as the other readers and researchers for them to better understand the nature of community engagement and the importance of it to the society where they belong. And hopefully the readers would somehow pick up some important facts inside the above mentioned theories. All this theories can be better solution to the ethical problems associated with spin. It also gives the importance of community engagement as well as its roles, functions and relationships with the society. To better understand the critical discussion made on this paper, it also utilizes three among the many theories on community engagement such as the communication theory and citizenship theory. These theories, although they are still theories, are important factors that greatly affect the community engagement. It gives us some ideas that would help the people to be aware of what they can do to our society’s development and to ourselves. Community engagement actually just have one purpose generally refers to the community engagement as a process wherein community, groups and institutions work hand in hand or give mutual effort to deal with the situations and circumstances that give impact to their own well-being.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Importance of Eucharist in the Catholic Faith

Eucharist in the Catholic Faith In order to understand the Catholic faith, a person has to know the mysteries of the church, or in other words, sacraments. Sacraments are special occasions where God’s presence can be felt. Each sacrament provides us with grace with the life of God in our souls. Eucharist is one of the essential sacraments in the church because it is a way of literally bonding with Christ Himself, as He is truly present under the appearance of bread and wine. Receiving the host is important in the Catholic faith because it strengthens our relationship with God.When we receive communion, Christ dwells in us and we in Him. As the bread is broken down, the Holy Spirit sets us free and cleanses us from our sins. Taking communion must remind each individual that Christ will dwell in our bodies. This should make us more respectful to others and ourselves by following a Christ-like behavior. A person not taking communion will not be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Go d Himself said: â€Å"Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:54) The Eucharist is a share in the inheritance of Heaven. Our vocation on this earth is to be holy and to follow God’s commandments, which include taking the Eucharist, so we can live with God eternally. Whenever someone is taking communion, he is reminded with God’s love to us. Communion is a reminder that God died to save us on the cross to shed His blood for us. Communion is Christ sharing His heavenly award with us. Before He was betrayed, Jesus told His disciples to eat the bread and drink the wine.We still we still practice this until now as a way of remembering the sacrifice of God’s Son who paid the ultimate price for the atonement of our sins. In conclusion, the Eucharist is definitely one of the important sacraments according to the Catholic faith. Without it, none of us will be saved on the last day. Taking communion regu larly helps strengthen the relationship with Christ, as each person meets Him on the alter every Sunday. Without His salvation on the cross, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy all the Holy gift of the Eucharist.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

At the end of the play Malcolm refers to Macbeth this dead butcher. How for do you agree with this description Essays

At the end of the play Malcolm refers to Macbeth this dead butcher. How for do you agree with this description Essays At the end of the play Malcolm refers to Macbeth this dead butcher. How for do you agree with this description Paper At the end of the play Malcolm refers to Macbeth this dead butcher. How for do you agree with this description Paper As we know Malcolm refers to Macbeth as a dead butcher. This could be defined as a butcher feels no emotion when hacking, or chopping meat; a butcher may hold a bloody knife bloody, he may relish what he does and has no emotion or regrets, because this is his job. This implies that the manner in which Macbeth has killed is thoughtless, and shows no emotion when killing. When referring back to the quotation, Malcolm says this at the end of the play when Macbeth has been killed, makes this statement because Macbeth had killed his father. Malcolm has used a metaphor here when describing Macbeth as this dead butcher. Although we can hold Macbeth responsible for all the physical murders he has done, we can also hold him responsible for the entire mental killing he has done, because he has planned to kill.At the beginning of the play we hear about Macbeth before we see him, he is referred to as a brave, bloody, valiant fighter. He is deemed as a hero by his king and soldiers, for brave Macbeth well he deserves that name, this tells us audience that Macbeth is a good and loyal warrior. We also read about Macbeth as a bloody killer on the battle field, whist they were fighting against the Norwegian and how savagely and brutally he killed the traitor Macdonald, till he unseemed him from the nave to thchaps, and fixed his head upon our battlements, this was a killing that was justified because Macdonald was a traitor, here Macbeth is almost butcher like. After the battle Macbeth and Banquo come across three witches, they greet Macbeth with the following words, All hail Macbeth hail to thee, thane of glamis thane of cawdor that shalt be king here after, this quote is claiming that Macbeth will rise from thane of glamis to cawdor and then soon become king.Macbeth is intrigued and wants to know more, stay you imperfect speakers tell me more, contrastingly Banquo on the other hand is not consented or intrigued by there prophecy. He does not think abou t their prophecy until a messenger comes from the king making Macbeth thane of cawdor. A seed of ambition has been planted into Macbeths mind when they arrive, and Duncan makes Malcolm, his son, prince of Cumberland, Macbeth starts to think that this is an obstacle in his way, on which I must fall down or else for in my way it lies stars hide your fires, let not light see my block and deep, he starts to think of murder my thought, whose murder is yet but fantastical he implies that murdering Duncan would be like a dream or a fantasy, and is shocked with what he is thinking and decides to leave it to fate.Lady Macbeth has told Macbeth to look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it lady Macbeth has helped the seed of ambition in Macbeth to take over all his thoughts to not kill king Duncan. Before the killing of Duncan Macbeth weighs up the reasons for and against if Im going to do it Id better do it quickly if my plan goes wrong what ever happens afterward is worth it, here Macbeth is weighing the reason to kill the king. Hosts dont kill their guest, they should protect them Duncan is a good king it seams unfair to kill him it all could go wrong and comeback to haunt me, these are reasons he has weighed up the reasons not to kill him. Macbeth is having a fight within himself whether to kill Duncan or not but has more reasons not to contribute to the killing of Duncan, because he is a good king.At the end of his monolog he has decided that this is only his ambition motivating him and decides to proceed no further in the business, but Lady Macbeth holds him to his vow to kill Duncan, telling him that I have given suck, and know How tender tis to love the babe that milks meI would, while it was smiling in my faceAnd dashd the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this., and refers to him as a coward. Macbeth, swayed, asks her: If we should fail She answers, But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and well not fail, this tells us that Macbeth is very weak against his wife, and that her soul purpose is to change his mind. At the end of Act1 sc 7 Macbeth has decided that he is going to go through with the murder I am settled and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat.At the beginning of act 2 Banquo is a little weary and does not want to sleep, he feels uncomfortable and is laid with a burden. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, Macbeth however whilst talking to Banquo is acting like how Macbeth told him to, look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it. This is very ironic because he is planning traitorous thoughts of murder. Now that Macbeth has committed the murder he feels sorry and regret this is a sorry sightIm afraid to think of what I have done and metaphorically thinks that he has murdered sleep, here he is not butcher like because he knows what he has done wrong, and feel regret after the murder. Straight after this murder the next morning when Macduff sees the king dead he is a fraid to speak of it, Do not bid me speak, see and then speak your selves. When Macbeth enters along with Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Donaldbain and Malcolm, Macbeth instantly butcher like kills the two guards who were drugged by Lady Macbeth; he does this so that the guards looked like the ones who killed King Duncan.Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have made the witches prophecy came true. However Banquo is suspicious of Macbeth thou hast it now, King, cawdor, glamis all as the weird women promised and fear thou playedst most fowly fort, hear Banquo is everything Macbeth used to be. Macbeth knows that Banquo is suspicious and knows that he has to kill him, but when the two having there conversation, Macbeth is acting like the innocent flower but the serpent underneath it. Ride you this afternoon? ist for you ride? fail not our feast. Whilst in this dialogue Macbeth is very deceitful, the fears Banquo because he was also there when the prophecy was said that Macbeth shall be King and Banquo has all the good qualities Macbeth had at the beginning of the play but since has lost, Banquo reminds Macbeth of who he was nobility and loyalty.This time Macbeth does not need to be cohurst by lady Macbeth instead he tells her to be innocent of the knowledge, derest chuck, till thou applaud the deed, this shows that this time he has totally acted on his own King of Scotland is nothing if people one suspicious of him even though he his King now he stated to himself to be thus is nothing but to be safely thus, our fears in Banquo stick deep and in his royalty in nature in his signs that which would feard, he explains in this soliloquy that being king of Scotland is nothing if people are suspicious of him. However this time Macbeth is not going to commit the murder himself he is going to his murderers to do it, he makes them believe that Banquo held them back both you know Banquo was your enemy so is he mine

Monday, October 21, 2019

Speech To Persuade Essay

Speech To Persuade Essay Speech To Persuade Essay Olivia Dimas Comp. Purple â€Å"More than half a trillion US dollars are spent on welfare yet poverty levels remain the same† (Cover, Matt). Welfare abuse in the United States is a huge problem and wastes trillions of taxpayer dollars each year. Those who are applying for welfare should undergo a mandatory drug test. This will prevent those who apply for welfare who’s intent is unhonorable from receiving benefits. The welfare system is meant to help out struggling families and to help get them back on their feet, but the welfare system has been mistreated and highly abused. The abuse of the welfare system has become a serious problem in today’s society. Around 34% of US individuals are currently on welfare and receive welfare benefits, many of these individuals or families are abusing the welfare system and taking government money when they do not truly need it (Barron, Roanen). Many people in the United States rely too much on welfare for their sole source of income to support their family, as oppose to finding a job and supporting their family with their own money that they earned. Welfare abuse is often passed on through generations and families have no motivation to ever get jobs or an education. â€Å"Around 20% of Americans rely on government for some kind of economic assistance† (Capitalism Institute). Qualifications for food stamps are lowering and it is becoming increasi ngly easier to get benefits even if they are not needed. Therefore, welfare fraud is a growing problem in the United States and must be put to a halt or at the very least diminished. To help diminish this abuse the United States should require all who apply for any form of welfare (Medicaid, food stamps, etc.) to undergo a mandatory drug test, and be required to take a drug test every month they are still on welfare. This must be done to prevent taxpayers from having to use their money on individuals who abuse the system and don’t truly need financial aid. â€Å"Federal welfare spending in fiscal year 2011 totaled $668 billion, spread out over 126 programs, while the poverty rate that remains high at 15.1 percent, roughly where it was in 1965† (Cover, Matt). This means that although taxpayers are paying a great deal of money to help those in â€Å"need† the poverty levels in the United States remains the same as it did years ago. Some believe that only a few people use drugs who receive benefits but studys have shown the 15 to 25 percent of welfare recipients abuse drugs (Kirst-Ashman, Karen). These are just individuals have been discovered a busing drugs, the actual percentage is likely much higher. Drug testing before providing benefits has already taken affect in many parts of the United States. â€Å"At least 28 states put forth proposals requiring drug testing for public assistance applicants or recipients in 2012. Four states, Utah, Georgia, Tennessee and Oklahoma passed legislation† (National Conference of State Legislators). If all the United States were to require drug testing government spending on financial aid would indefinitely diminish greatly and government would be able to use these savings to improve other components of the nation. Therefore if drug tests were given before benefits were provided the U.S. would save a great deal of money. To stop the abuses to the welfare system many measures must be taken. The welfare system, although flawed, should remain intact because it actually is a big help to those families or

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Can You Take the SAT Without Geometry

Can You Take the SAT Without Geometry SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The math section of the SAT covers four main areas: number /operations, algebra, data analysis /statistics, and geometry. If you've never taken a geometry class or feel it's not your strong suit, is itstill possible for youto score highly on the SAT math section? This article will let you know how much geometry is actually on the SATand how well you can score with little or no previous knowledge of the subject. First, how many of the math questions actually ask you about shapes and angles? How Much Geometry Is On the SAT? About 25% to 30% of the math questions are considered geometry questions. This equates to about 15 of the total 54 math questions (44 multiple choice and 10 grid-ins). These approximately 15 questions may cover a number of concepts. What Concepts In Geometry Are Covered? The questions may cover Area and perimeter of a polygon (triangles, squares, pentagons, and so forth) Area and cirumference of a circle Volume of a box, cube, and cylinder Pythagorean Theorem and special properties of isosceles, equilaterla, and right triangles Properties of parallel and perpendicular lines Coordinate geometry Geometric visualization Slope Similarity Transformations Below isan example of an SAT geometry questionabout surface area and volume of a polygon of medium level difficulty. If you're familiar with how to calculate surface area and volume, then it basically turns into an algebra problem where you solve for x. The correct answer here, by the way, is (C) 60. Do any of the above conceptssound familiar? If not, what's the highest score you can hope to achieve on the SAT math section? What Score Can You Get Without Geometry? If you skip all of the geometry questions and answer all of the other math questions correctly, then the highest score you can achieve is a 620. Of course, this isn't a particularly realistic scenario. You can't guarantee you'llanswerall of the other questions perfectly, nor will you necessarily be unable to answer any geometry questions just because you haven't taken a geometry class. Self-studying can go a long way, and some of the geometry questions may even be intuitive and easy for you to figure out. To give you a deeper understanding of how well you can score on the math section, let's review exactly how it's scored. First, you get a raw score that consists of one point for every correct answer, 0 points for skipped answers, and -1/4 point for wrong answers. If you answered every single question right, for instance, your raw score would be 54 (one point each for 54 correctly answered questions). This raw score is then converted to a scaled score between 200 and 800 by a process called equating, which takes into account the scores of everyone who took that test, along with a number of other variables. A raw score of 54 would equate to a perfect scaled score of800. So where did I get that number, 620? This chart shows how raw scores converted to scaled scores on last year's SAT. If you were to get15 geometry questions wrong, and the remaining 39 math questions correct, then your raw score would be 39. As you can see in the chart, a 39 equates to a 620. Again, since this isn't a very realistic scenario, this chart can give you a better idea of what scores you can aim to achieve on the SAT with little or no knowledge of geometry. I cut it off at 420, but as you know, the lowest score on the math section is a 200. Raw Score Scaled Score Raw Score Scaled Scored 54 800 35 590 53 790 34 580 52 760 33 570 51 740 32 560 50 720 31 550 49 710 30 540 48 700 29 540 47 690 28 530 46 680 27 530 45 670 26 510 44 660 25 500 43 650 24 490 42 640 23 480 41 640 22 470 40 630 21 460 39 620 20 450 38 610 19 440 37 600 18 430 36 590 17 420 These exact conversionsmay vary slightly from year to year, but they stay roughly the same. If you're curious about how the Critical Reading and Writing sections are scored (all the sections are a littledifferent)you can check out the scoring charts here. Now that you have a sense of what topics are covered and how the math section is scored, what can you take away from this information? SAT Math Section Takeaways At 25% to 30%, geometry concepts make upa significant part of the math section on the SAT. If you haven't taken geometry in school, it's definitely a good idea to try to learn some of the concepts on your own through your SAT prep. The geometry questions usually aren't too advanced, so you might be able to get a lot of them right with just a basic knowledge of the concepts and some practice. Seek out some representative questions and you should be able to anticipate and prepare yourself for the ones that will show up on your official SAT. SAT Questions of the Day can be a great introduction, and full length practice tests are very useful once you have some familiarity with the concepts. With some review of geometry on your own, you can probably enhance your overall math score a great deal. What's Next? When are you planning to take the SAT? Depending on your grade, you will likely be aiming for different target scores. Read about what makes a good score for 9thgrade, what's good for 10th, and what's a good score for your final SAT score for colleges. Are you figuring out your study plan for the SAT, or not sure how to fit in test prep with all the other things you've got going on in your life? This article helps you set target scores and plan out a study schedule so you can achieve high scores on this important test. Are you eventually aimingto get a perfect 800 on the math section of the SAT? This article by a full scorer breaks down how to achievethat elusive 800. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points?We have the industry's leading SAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and SAT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. Check out our 5-day free trial today:

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Emerging Political Tensions between Israel and Palestine Research Paper

Emerging Political Tensions between Israel and Palestine - Research Paper Example Palestine is controlled by two governing bodies i.e. Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank. The division of governance has resulted in suspension of peace making attempts between Israel and Palestine. The recent war occurred in 2014, is a result of political tensions between the two states. This research paper focuses on the major political issues due to which peace-making attempts have been failing between the states. The conflicts between Israel and Palestine have become sensitive at present due to several issues. In the year 2006, the Palestinian Authority held elections in Gaza and the West Bank on the request of George W. Bush’s administration and Israeli support. Despite making attempts, Hamas won the majority of seats. The United States responded by cutting off aid to Palestinian Authority, on the other hand the Israelis withheld tax revenues they collected on Palestinian’s behalf. The Bush’s administration encouraged Abbas to go against Hamas with the help of Fatah and its chief Mohammad Dahlan (Brownlee 113). The circumstances were severe during the period and Fatah was defeated by Hamas in the battle. Finally Hamas took charge in Gaza. These situations became even worse when United States did not make any attempt to talk to the new formed government. The Israelis started to block exports from Gaza, which led to drop of per capita income to 17 percent in the year 2011, compared to 2005. The Israelis even banned exports to the West Bank, which made the life of people worse in Gaza. The people of Gaza were suffering from unemployment and malnutrition on a very high scale. The circumstances forced Hamas to attack Israelis, for the benefit of their people and save his government. The attacks disturbed the life of people and most of the citizens were exposed to threat. The occurrence of cold-war was merely due to the political issues that happened in the year 2006.  

Inferential Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Inferential - Statistics Project Example The data sets are divided into two sets; Android, Windows and Others representing the operating systems in the market and a dependent variable Smartphone on the category indicating the total cell phone sold with the operating system. The independent variables are the App is representing the App store, GUI represents the Graphical User Interface of the smartphone and the Functionality representing the functions carried out by the operating systems and the apps. The data is bivariate data as two variables are measured in a single study (William Mendenhall III, 2013). We calculated the operating system market share and the customer buying behavior towards the software capabilities of the smartphone. Most consumers prefer smartphones running on Android platform; on average 10 Android phones are sold daily. The consumer‘s are influenced by the app store on the phone, with 9 people every day says that the app store matters to them most. The positive coefficient indicates the directional effects of the independent variables and the effect they will have on the depend variable smartphone. Thus, with an increase in App, GUI or Functionality results to increase in sales of smartphones. Meaning that the consumer behavior depends on the software installed or can be installed on the gizmo. Goodness to fit ≠¥ 0.80 or 80% and we reject Reject H0 if p-value ≠¤ ÃŽ ±, where ÃŽ ± is the level of significance for the test (David R. Anderson, 2011). Thus p-value ≠¥ 0.0000, thus the null hypothesis is accepted. At 95% confidence level (1.869, 5.088), this are plausible values of parameter where mean may lie; thus, we expect more consumers to be influenced by App store parameter in smartphone. Thus we expect the sales of Android phones to increase with the same parameter as they are the market

Friday, October 18, 2019

The Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake Epicenter Coursework

The Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake Epicenter - Coursework Example There were 227,898 estimated casualties (confirmed death toll=184,167) caused by the tsunami. In Indonesia alone, there were 130,736 people confirmed dead. In Tanzania, on the other hand, there was only 10 confirmed death report caused by the tsunami incident. Yes, there was more than one tsunami that occurred in the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake. The first two successions of waves produced by the tsunami had 30 minutes gap. Afterward, the third wave occurred an hour and a half later. The third wave was the most powerful among the tsunami waves. During the earthquake, the seabed abruptly rises in the vertical direction by several meters. Eventually, massive volumes of water are displaced resulting in a tsunami that damaged or struck the affected areas. There are two visible signs before the tsunami strikes in some places. First, the earthquake itself is the most obvious warning sign for the tsunami to occur. And second, when the sea recedes from the coastline like what happened around the Indian Ocean, it is already a sign that what may follow next is a fatal tsunami. 26. Why was the damage and life loss greater in Sri Lanka than in Bangladesh? Assume that a) the countries are the same distance from the epicenter, and b) both countries have low-lying coastal land). FYI, the effects in Africa (Somalia, for example) were greater than in Bangladesh. The reason why Sri Lanka has greater damage or death toll in contrast to Bangladesh is that of the nature of the earthquake in relation to the rupture zone. In fact, the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake proceeded more slowly in the direction towards the northern rupture zone. In the process, it gradually decreases the energy produced by the water displacement.

Motivating and Retaining Employees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Motivating and Retaining Employees - Essay Example One problem that may be identified with the Company is the need for the human resource department to design and implement measures to promote retention of these valuable employees. Since the Company attracts highly skilled and capable employees, the same employees will also be valued by the rival, competitor firms and McKinsey and Company must take steps to ensure that employees feel valued and appreciated, so that the Company is able to retain them rather than losing them to competitor firms. This Paper will identify measures that have been found to be successful in attracting and retaining good employees so that the Company can retain a good competitive advantage in the market. It will assess the relative benefits of monetary rewards as compared to intrinsic rewards such as recognition and which policy may better serve the company in promoting retention of the best employees. Several companies have successfully achieved a competitive advantage through the restructuring of their human resource management systems to provide financial benefits to employees, as pointed out by Schuler and Macmillan (1984). In the Bairnco Corporation, bonuses were linked to performance for top-level executives and the company was able to almost double its sales from $270 million to $442 million in the short span of two years. In the case of Lincoln Electric, workers receive a share in the profits, which imbues workers with a high motivation to produce. When employees are offered profit sharing and incentives, it may help to enhance their performance and increase retention. Oller (2002) discusses how employees at various design and printing firms are rewarded for jobs well done with monetary benefits, such as gift cash vouchers, free lunches or contributions for educational purposes. Such reward and recognition for work done well functions as a strong motivation for employees and helps them.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Race as a factor in the evaluation of the admissions process Case Study

Race as a factor in the evaluation of the admissions process - Case Study Example Race as a factor in the evaluation of the admissions’ process The moral defense of a university’s practice to incorporate race as a factor in the evaluation of the admissions’ process can be examined through the application of diversity and diversity compensation arguments. The presence of obvious group disadvantage which is experienced by members of a certain race would imply that the consideration of race as a factor in admissions is conducive to the reduction of the racial groups’ social limitations while, eliminating the aspects of historical discrimination, the prejudiced mindset of mass media, educational, occupational and residential segregation and the negative impact of the cycle of poverty. The accumulation of this aspect promotes the emergence of individual disadvantages which translates into group disadvantage. For example, research on career opportunities and housing arrangements for racial groups indicates that discrimination and stereotyping is prevalent. The presence of these elements adversely affects the ability of minority students and harms their potential for further development. Through the application of the concepts of aforementioned arguments it can be concluded that race can be justified as an element of consideration in the holistic admissions process which evaluates the individual candidate’s abilities beyond the traditional measures of admissions criteria and takes into account the significance of their life experiences.

Applying Microeconomics to Business Research Paper

Applying Microeconomics to Business - Research Paper Example on, Tisdell and Hartley (2001) states that businesses managers could take advantage of knowledge of government microeconomic policy as well as its economic impacts in a number of ways. For instance Tisdell and Hartley (2001) explains that they apply it to project how the economic situation of their businesses or the industry may change as a consequence of a change in the microeconomic policy, for example with removal or cuts in tariffs or subsidies previous enacted to protect the industry. Secondly, a lot of countries have regulation prohibiting certain trade practices. In particular situations, governments may prohibit mergers of firms or acquisitions of companies supposing they could reduce competition within an industry to considerable levels, or lead to monopoly. Thus, it is essential for business managers to be aware of these laws and regulations and this requires that they understand microeconomic concepts (Tisdell and Hartley, 2001). It is also beneficial for business managers to understand economic arguments and concepts that might be used as a counter argument for a business merger or acquisition if the government opposes it. Certainly, there are several other areas of government economic policy that require business managers to have a good understanding of microeconomics. These areas include economic concept of science and technology, specifically the economics of intellectual property laws. As Kahneman and Tversky (2000) explains intellectual property rights entail patents, copyrights and plant variety rights and trade marks. Mumbo adds that public policies to control and exploitation of environment and natural resources have recently become more widespread ad these normally have an economic justification. Microeconomic effects of industrial relations policies, international business, investment polices and public finance aspects usually have a critical consequence for the economic performance of a business. Managers can as well use

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Race as a factor in the evaluation of the admissions process Case Study

Race as a factor in the evaluation of the admissions process - Case Study Example Race as a factor in the evaluation of the admissions’ process The moral defense of a university’s practice to incorporate race as a factor in the evaluation of the admissions’ process can be examined through the application of diversity and diversity compensation arguments. The presence of obvious group disadvantage which is experienced by members of a certain race would imply that the consideration of race as a factor in admissions is conducive to the reduction of the racial groups’ social limitations while, eliminating the aspects of historical discrimination, the prejudiced mindset of mass media, educational, occupational and residential segregation and the negative impact of the cycle of poverty. The accumulation of this aspect promotes the emergence of individual disadvantages which translates into group disadvantage. For example, research on career opportunities and housing arrangements for racial groups indicates that discrimination and stereotyping is prevalent. The presence of these elements adversely affects the ability of minority students and harms their potential for further development. Through the application of the concepts of aforementioned arguments it can be concluded that race can be justified as an element of consideration in the holistic admissions process which evaluates the individual candidate’s abilities beyond the traditional measures of admissions criteria and takes into account the significance of their life experiences.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Critical Analysis of Malcolm X Learning to Read Essay

Critical Analysis of Malcolm X Learning to Read - Essay Example Malcolm X’s â€Å"Learning to Read† has several important points. In addition to his narrative of how he got his education, Malcolm X’s essay also revealed how he came to be a leader of the black separatist movement that urged black Americans to cut their political, social and economic ties with the white community. The essay â€Å"Learning to Read† emphasized more what it intended to say when it expressed the experience of incredulity of the author’s first attempt to write sensibly. Malcolm X’s first sentence â€Å"It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire some kind of a homemade education† beautifully expressed the mindset when the author began his self-education.   Also, the comparison that he â€Å"had been the most articulate hustler out there† yet he â€Å"wasn’t even functional† to write a simple English provided the reader a â€Å"feel† of the difficulty of hi s experience of trying to write. Malcolm X was already an educated man when wrote his essay â€Å"Learning to Read† but he chose to use the analogy â€Å"nearly all the words that might as well have been in Chinese† to depict the colloquial perspective of an uneducated man who was having a hard time understanding the text of the books. We may think that assigning the word â€Å"Chinese† to a written text that is not understood to be wrong but the context of the essay made it appropriate and emphatic.... The usage of a street language â€Å"some kind of homemade education† also emphasized without explaining further what his state of mind was. Also, the comparison that he â€Å"had been the most articulate hustler out there† yet he â€Å"wasn’t even functional† to write a simple English provided the reader a â€Å"feel† of the difficulty of his experience of trying to write. Malcolm X was already an educated man when wrote his essay â€Å"Learning to Read† but he chose to use the analogy â€Å"nearly all the words that might as well have been in Chinese† to depict the colloquial perspective of an uneducated man who was having a hard time understanding the text of the books. We may think that assigning the word â€Å"Chinese† to a written text that is not understood to be wrong but the context of the essay made it appropriate and emphatic. In between his understanding how the white man had oppressed the non-whites, Malcolm X craft ily narrated his journey towards his learning that is engaging to the reader. The narration about how he would sneak past the guard to read during â€Å"lights out† time in prison made the essay more personal and engaging. The emphasis on his painstaking effort to copy the whole library to his tablet and reading it aloud to himself tells that he literally started as ignorant about the written text. Then slowly, his word based broadened and begun to understand the books that he wanted to read. From then on, there was no stopping for him to read and to search further for knowledge. It will be inappropriate to describe that Malcolm X was able to educate himself despite him being in prison. In his words, he was even grateful of his circumstances because it lead him towards erudition, â€Å"prison enabled

Monday, October 14, 2019

Hope Focused Marriage Counseling Essay Example for Free

Hope Focused Marriage Counseling Essay Unlike other explorations insinuated in the context of research, marriage counseling has been one of the unspecialized fields emerged with theoretical assumptions and practice (Stuckert, 2003). This however, has been the challenge to psychologists and practitioners in defying the thought that marriage cannot be taken into research since its hypotheses and results of practice have been acclimated, nevertheless the volume available for study is accumulated. Everett L. Worthington Jr. , a psychology professor and the proponent of over 150 articles tackling issues on marriage, forgiveness and reconciliation was able to find standard procedures on how to keep marriages anchored on Christianity based marital therapy. More specifically, through the light of his year 1999 published book, Hope-Focused Marriage Counseling, couples are to be taken to a self rehabilitation which will give hope to individuals who are living in a room full of skeptic viewpoints about marriage and eventually open a realization that his substantial research shall lead them to a path where â€Å"miracles do happen in the real world. † (Worthington, 1999) Overview Marriage is a shadow of the relationship that we are expected to have with Jesus—permanent, loving, committed. (Eph 5:32) Everett L. Worthington begins his book with a verse in the bible which depicts the meaning of marriage in the most moral and Christian way thus giving a connotation that helping troubled couples is not an easy task. However, she points out the fact that the extent of healing relationships is through developing a character of Christ embodied in every individual’s personality and manifest such with one’s relationships to his or her social network as well (Worthington, 1999). Further, he stresses that when a relationship has Christ as vanguard, life will be inhabited with the verity of love, faith and hope and that then is the start of a bright thing. Strengths What makes his book amazing falls on the grounds of analytic and realistic situations as the core of the gist of the whole scenario. Initially introducing theories then later putting the theories into practice makes readers able to divulge their selves in the dimension that the author intends them to live with. His strategies (advices, so to speak) draws out a hysteria which will make readers know their respective state in life at first, hence, for having been given the momentum to realize what is happening in their lives, they will seek for answers on how to save them from their presumed agony. Further, his approaches through exercises which are efficient to exhibit (Worthington, 1999)—drawing fundamental values, the promotion of confession and forgiveness, communication intensification, aiding conflict resolution, alterations of the pattern of thinking, intimacy development, and the cementing of commitment—gives grandeur to the book as readers can implement these exercises with their partners or core groups. Realistically crafted, he gives marriage counseling a twist by inculcating his own experiences which gives conviction to the statements and recommendations written in his book. One fascinating fact on the book is its distinctiveness in course, since unlike other books on marriage counseling, typically establishing manuals which synonymously suggest divorce or annulment so as not to complicate the situation, this book thinks otherwise. Though the author admitted that is hard and rarely possible in the contemporary society—divorce is legal and other forms of law that allow couples to â€Å"live† without the need of marital rites—still, he fervently believes that the sacred matrimony must be preserved even if others no longer accept as true the tradition and the essence of spiritual intimacy. These ideas represented in the book will coin back the integrity, accountability, prudence and proper teaching among couples. Weaknesses â€Å"Hope-focused rather than problem-focused† (Worthington, 1999) this is the toweringly hopeful campaign of the author. Thus, because of globalization, cultural diversity and the differences of every individual, there may be some who may not appreciate the book for reasons that inhibit the issue on dissimilarity of character, viewpoint in life, tradition and environmental influences. It is evident that the target audiences of the book are Christians—although optimistic individuals would also be interested in reading the book—hence this leads us to a remorseful realization that it will not drive â€Å"naysayer† or a pessimist to read it. Still, fingers are crossed on the intent of the book, and that is to spread the thought that â€Å"change is possible† and in the long run, every couple will be given a new outlook on their marriage for the benefit of their family. Conclusions and further remarks The functions of the husband and the wife bear a multifaceted blueprint of expectations of the responses which are to come from one another. Hence as humans, challenges and trials are inevitable aspects in life and must therefore be taken with full accountability after having vowed under the sacred matrimony and under the blessing of the church. However, in the present era, where several factors influence every person’s character and personality, asking for help and intervention from one who truly understands the quintessence of love and marriage is a an ideal act to do (Stuckert, 2003). Communication mostly is the main problem of couples and Worthington is able to help by producing a masterpiece which, with confidence, he believes will save troubled marriages. Forgive. Reconcile. Change can happen if one will listen while the other speaks. References Stuckert, R. P. (2003). Role Perception and Marital Satisfaction. A Configurational Approach. Marriage and Family Living, 25(4), 415-419. Worthington, E. L. (1999). Hope-Focused Marriage Counseling: A Guide to Brief Therapy. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Approaches to Responding to Discrimination

Approaches to Responding to Discrimination People with mental illness are one of the most marginalised groups in society. Stigma and discrimination affect tangata whai ora’s (TWO) quality of life, prevent them from full access to education, employment, and housing, contribute to lower incomes, increase relapse, and result in exclusion from the society. This damaging effect on the person is often persisting even after resolution of the symptoms. The evidence shows that a combination of approaches and intervention methods at different levels times and in range of settings is the most effective in reducing stigma and discrimination (Gale, 2004). The effective approaches ensuring sustainable change take account of education, promotion, respect, and have to be supported by policy and legislation as essential parts of building a successful, integrated society. (Sayce, 2000) â€Å"Raising awareness and changing attitudes are not enough on their own – because attitudes are not necessarily a reliable predictor of behaviour. Effective approaches also require work to promote social inclusion and empowerment, creating an environment of intolerance to prejudice and ensuring change is sustainable and supported by policy and legislation† (Gale, 2004). Public Policy The New Zealand Government laid its expectation from mental health and addiction services in Te Tahuhu: the second mental health and addiction plan 2005-2015. Te Tahuhu is the policy on mental health and addiction that identifies challenges, ascertains outcome the Government strives to achieve, and provides direction for the continued development of the sector. The main focus is on improvement, recovery and wellness of tangata whai ora. Implementation of the plan, on the other hand, and improving mental health outcomes for TWO is the focus of Te Kokiri. It (Ministry of health, 2006)ascertains specific actions and responsible organisations for achieving them. â€Å"Understanding mental illness and addiction in the general community is critical to reducing stigma and discrimination, both of which can reduce an individual’s sense of belonging and participation in society† (Ministry of health, 2005). The outcomes include full participation of tangata whai ora in society and have the same opportunities as everyone else. Among Ten leading challenges are inclusion and support on the part of employers and effective support, protection and redress for TWO who are discriminated against. The action plan contains promotion of social inclusion, implementation of the next step of the ‘Like Minds like Mine’ project as part of a multi-agency plan to reduce discrimination, develop activities to address the discrimination by addiction users. Mass media campaigns A well-known anti-stigma and discrimination public education campaign in New Zealand â€Å"Like minds, like mine† (Like Minds) started in 1997, funded by the Ministry of Health and the Health promotion Agency, and implemented by 26 regional providers. The campaign is directed at reducing discrimination associated with mental health and increasing social inclusion through advertising, community activities, research, events, education, helpline, newsletters, website, and training. It has been proven by international research that sustained mental health antidiscrimination programs is the best practice in achieving behavioural change. The National Like minds campaign invested a great deal of time and energy in programs aimed at tackling stigma and discrimination, yield improvement in public attitudes towards mental health. â€Å"Advertising involving the stories of well-known and famous people who have experienced mental illness has created significant interest, awareness and improved attitudes among the general public. Local community education and other follow-up activities have also contributed to this success† (Vaughan, G Hansen, C, 2004). For years campaign has challenged public stereotypes, attitudes, demonization and alienation of tangat whai ora. The effective approaches that underpinned the campaign are: Its nature: robust, multileveled, evidence-based and responding to a changing environment The involvement of tangata whai ora in the campaign has been critical to its success. They personally leading the work and dispelling stereotypes and prejudice through their personal experience and knowledge. Amplifying social contact with TWO. â€Å"Face to face contact and community engagement are often the most effective ways to reduce stigma and discrimination† (Alexander, L.A Link B.G, 2003). Famous and everyday people with mental illness spoke to media and employers about their experience made the campaign human and personal. Focus on the positive: emphasising abilities, supporting development of the TWO’s capacity to contribute Modelling social inclusion Education about human rights The new National â€Å"Like minds, like mine† plan for 2014-2019 states that â€Å"the Ministry of Health will continue national efforts to reduce stigma†¦ providing direction for the continuation of the journey towards social inclusion for people with mental illness in New Zealand† (Ministry of Health, 2014). It identified that to this day disrespectful attitudes (stigma) and unfair treatment (discrimination) are among the biggest barriers to social inclusion for tangata whai ora. The role of the programme is to ensure that public demonstrate socially inclusive attitudes and behaviours towards TWO and in so doing, increasing their opportunity to fully participate in community life. Health promotion Mental health promotion refers to the actions taken to strengthen mental health and is a powerful resource with significant potential. Research is showing that its initiatives can have concrete, positive outcomes for the entire population. Building on strength: A guide for action is a practical mental health promotion document designed for the service providers, communities and government bodies of the country that focuses on wellness, healthy populations and the community taking control. Building on strength promotion is consistent with a vision for recovery and participation. Its aims are to: build (inclusive and supportive) healthy communities; work across sectors (i.e. social services, education, housing, employment, ext.) to address the broader determinants of wellbeing; improving skills of the workforce; leadership through policy; to encourage research, innovation and development that can affect mental health and wellbeing of different population groups. One of the principles of the New Zealand health strategy is to promote active involvement of tangata whai ora and communities at all strata of policy development. â€Å"People who have experience of mental illness have vital contribution to make to our understanding of illness prevention and as advocates for mental health promotion† (Ministry of Health, 2001). A central theme for tangata whai ora is their experience of the stigma and discrimination, and the denial of their rights of citizenship. Hence ‘Building on Strength’ supports participation of tangata whai ora in the development and delivery of programmes and continue to work to eliminate stigma and discrimination. The examples of mental health promotion given in the Building on strength guide include Te Pae Mahutonga: a model for Mà ¤ori health promotion, and the Fonofale Model. Both holistic models highlight views of their respective communities on wellness and relational harmony of different elements. Te Pae Mà ¤hutonga is, the Maori name for the Southern Cross constellation of stars, â€Å"used as a symbolic map for bringing together the significant components of health promotion, as they apply to Maori health†¦ Te Pae Mà ¤hutonga model suggests that health promotion is about creating a climate within which human potential can be realised† (Durie, 1999). The four central stars reflect the four key goals of health promotion: Mauriora (security of cultural identity), Waiora (environmental protection and connectedness), Toiora (a shift from harmful to healthy lifestyles), Te Oranga (increasing the extent of participation in society). The two pointers – prerequisites for the effective health promotion are Nga Manukura (leadership) and Te Mana Whakahaere (the level of autonomy and self-determination). Service development and educational measures Service development measures are intended to improve education and training for people coming into the mental health professional services. Support workers who are showing respect and kindness towards tangata whai ora, have the right skills, values and attitudes make an enormous impact on their recovery process. The Ministry of Health developed the programme with the focus on putting the TWO’s needs and lives first. Let’s get real: Real Skills for people working in mental health and addiction builds workforce’s resources and knowledge to provide qualitative and effective service delivery. The framework has seven Real Skills which are underpinned by the essential values and attitudes across the sector to achieve Te Tahuhu outcomes. One of them is challenging stigma and discrimination. â€Å"Every person working in a mental health and addiction treatment service uses strategies to challenge stigma and discrimination, and provides and promotes a valued place for service users† (Ministry of Health, 2008). The latest include understanding, recognising, minimising and challenging of the impact of stigma and discrimination on TWO; using non-judgemental language; promoting and facilitating inclusion; modelling non-discriminatory behaviour; and using non-discriminatory practices.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Should You Buy a Harley Davidson? :: Harley Davidson

I have conversed with many other motorcycle riders about what motorcycle is the best. Many riders had wanted, ordered or already purchased a Harley. Reasons I hear from other riders and potentially interested persons as to why they have to have a Harley: It is the only real American made motorcycle. A Harley is the best motorcycle on the road. Harley Davidson is the oldest motorcycle company. A Harley Davidson is a good investment. American riders do not want to ride "Jap Junk." Riders do not want to start on something small and have to trade up. Fact: Harley Davidson is not the only American made motorcycle. There is a myth that Harley is the only American made motorcycle. To believe that, you would need to overlook the Honda of America plant in Marysville, Ohio and the Kawasaki Plant in Nebraska. Both are manufacturing plants, not assembly plants. That means that Honda does not ship in boxes of parts and put them together here as part of some evil conspiracy. Simple fact, it makes good business sense to manufacture their motorcycles in the USA. Manufacturers will be the first to tell you that the work force here is skilled, the U.S. suppliers and vendors produce excellent pieces. Take a good look at the contemporary Harley Davidson; it has quite a collection of foreign made parts. I do not have a problem with this; lets just keep it in perspective. Finally, manufacturers cannot just claim something is "Made in the USA." The Federal Trade Commission has specific criteria for what percentage of the parts must be ma de and sourced in the USA. There have been years where a larger percentage of a Honda Goldwing was USA made and sourced than a Harley Davidson. Everyone wants to think their motorcycle is "the best." I have owned several different brands of motorcycles. I would not call any of my former motorcycles "the best." Yes, maybe they were the best sport bikes in a given year, or touring model, or trail bike at the moment. Each and every motorcycle I have owned had room for improvement. What would make a Harley Davidson the best? Best should be defined as a motorcycle that suits you and your primary use for it. Should You Buy a Harley Davidson? :: Harley Davidson I have conversed with many other motorcycle riders about what motorcycle is the best. Many riders had wanted, ordered or already purchased a Harley. Reasons I hear from other riders and potentially interested persons as to why they have to have a Harley: It is the only real American made motorcycle. A Harley is the best motorcycle on the road. Harley Davidson is the oldest motorcycle company. A Harley Davidson is a good investment. American riders do not want to ride "Jap Junk." Riders do not want to start on something small and have to trade up. Fact: Harley Davidson is not the only American made motorcycle. There is a myth that Harley is the only American made motorcycle. To believe that, you would need to overlook the Honda of America plant in Marysville, Ohio and the Kawasaki Plant in Nebraska. Both are manufacturing plants, not assembly plants. That means that Honda does not ship in boxes of parts and put them together here as part of some evil conspiracy. Simple fact, it makes good business sense to manufacture their motorcycles in the USA. Manufacturers will be the first to tell you that the work force here is skilled, the U.S. suppliers and vendors produce excellent pieces. Take a good look at the contemporary Harley Davidson; it has quite a collection of foreign made parts. I do not have a problem with this; lets just keep it in perspective. Finally, manufacturers cannot just claim something is "Made in the USA." The Federal Trade Commission has specific criteria for what percentage of the parts must be ma de and sourced in the USA. There have been years where a larger percentage of a Honda Goldwing was USA made and sourced than a Harley Davidson. Everyone wants to think their motorcycle is "the best." I have owned several different brands of motorcycles. I would not call any of my former motorcycles "the best." Yes, maybe they were the best sport bikes in a given year, or touring model, or trail bike at the moment. Each and every motorcycle I have owned had room for improvement. What would make a Harley Davidson the best? Best should be defined as a motorcycle that suits you and your primary use for it.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Biography of Erik Erikson Essay

A few years after Erik’s birth, her mother took him to a local jewish pediatrician, Dr. Theodor Homburger for a treatment of minor illness. His mother and the pediatrician eventually fell in love. He quickly developed a sense that something was wrong his mother and father were Jewish his own physical appearance was clearly Scandinavian. later on he found the truth about his heritage, his identity crisis was worsened. Rejecting his stepfather’s plea to become physician. He went to Europe and enrolled in art school and eager to learn about culture and history. He returned home at the age of 25 prepared to settle down and teach art for a living. Erikson was asked by his former high school friend Peter Blos to join him as a teacher in Experimental Nursery school in Vienna where he met Anna Freud and her famous father Sigmund Freud. Anna Freud was trying to convert psychoanalytic interest in childhood experiences of adult. Erikson shared her pioneering interest and was eventually trained by her as a child analyst. Erikson was still unsure to earn his living a psychoanalyst because still wanted to paint and draw. However, he began to see a connection between psychoanalysis and art. He observed that children’s dream and play involve important visual images that only later are translated into words in therapy. Concepts and Principles Erikson’s position represents a systematic extension of Freud’s view of the role of ego in personality functioning. Erikson is a Freudian ego-psychologist. Erikson proposed that ego often operates independently of id emotions and motivation. Ego functions to help individual adapt to challenges presented by the surrounding. Ego Psychology Emphasized the integration of biological and psychosocial forces in determination of personality functioning. Epigenetic Principle The idea that human development is governed by a sequence of stages that depend on genetic or hereditary factors This principle says that we develop through a predetermined unfolding of our personalities in eight stages. Our progress through each stage is in part determined by our success, or lack of success â€Å"crisis†, in all the previous stages. Crisis defined as the crucial period in every stage. Virtue â€Å"inherent strength or active quality† human qualities or strength emerge from successful resolution of crisis. Psychosocial Development: Stages of Ego Development Stage Basic Conflict Virtue Important Events Outcome Infancy (birth to 18 months) Trust vs. Mistrust HOPE Feeding Children develop a sense of trust when caregivers provide reliability, care, and affection. A lack of this will lead to mistrust. Early Childhood (2 to 3 years) Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt WILL Toilet Training Children need to develop a sense of personal control over physical skills and a sense of independence. Success leads to feelings of autonomy, failure results in feelings of shame and doubt. Preschool/Play Age (3 to 5 years) Initiative vs. Guilt PURPOSE Exploration Children need to begin asserting control and power over the environment. Success in this stage leads to a sense of purpose. Children who try to exert too much power experience disapproval, resulting in a sense of guilt. School Age (6 to 11 years) Industry vs. Inferiority COMPETENCE School Children need to cope with new social and academic demands. Success leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority. Adolescence (12 to 18 years) Identity vs. Role Confusion FIDELITY Social Relationships Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to yourself, while failure leads to role confusion and a weak sense of self. Young Adulthood (19 to 40 years) Intimacy vs. Isolation LOVE Relationships Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness and isolation. Middle Adulthood (40 to 65 years) Generativity vs. Stagnation CARE Work and Parenthood Adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often by having children or creating a positive change that benefits other people. Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world. Maturity(65 to death) Ego Integrity vs. Despair WISDOM Reflection on Life Older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment. Success at this stage leads to feelings of wisdom, while failure results in regret, bitterness, and despair. Strengths and Weaknesses of Erik Erikson’s Theory Strengths Comprehensiveness It addresses itself to wide variety of phenomenon both normal and abnormal and seeks to biological, social, cultural and historical factors. Heuristic Value Within Psychology, Erikson’s work has contributed directly to lifespan psychology and the development of adult psychology. Applied Value Erikson’s work has practical impact in the area of child psychology and psychiatry, counseling, education and social work. Weaknesses Male Bias Erik Erikson articulated psychosocial stage describes the life cycle hallmarks of white, western society and may not apply well to other cultures or even to our own today/present time. Erikson’s positive outcome (such as autonomy, initiative, industry) virtues (such as will, purpose and competence) are frequently seen as characteristics of healthy male development. And his negative ones, (doubt, guilt and inferiority) are seen as reflecting unhealthy female development. Gilligan’s studies of girl and women’s development suggest different positive values emerge in healthy development. Connection, responsibility, and care replace autonomy, mastery  and power. Precision and Testability Erikson’s theory fails to meet the criterion of precision and testability. He defined the concept of ego to sustain sameness and continuity in the face of changing fate. Evidently the concept is extremely complex and does not readily precise measurement. Therapy/Application of Erik Erikson’s Theory Research Erikson believed that social and historical factors affect the formation of ego identity, which in turn affects the nature of the personality. One such example of the work of social factors in personality development is the women’s movement. Studies have found that most adolescent women today include a career orientation as part of their ego identity. Research in the area of identity crisis show that this stage may begin around 12 and be resolved by the time a person is 18. However, for some people, identity may not occur until as late as age 24. Erikson believed that people in the maturity and old age stage of psychosocial development spend time recalling and examining their life, accepting or regretting past choices. However one study showed no significant differences between younger adults compared to older adults in reported frequency of life reflections. However, younger people engaged in reflection to gain self-insight and find solutions to current problems, while older people used reflection of their past to evaluate their lives Play Therapy Erikson used play therapy to conduct research on his theory, focusing on what he called play construction. In his studies, boys and girls constructed a scene for an imaginary movie using dolls, toy animals, automobiles, and wooden blocks. Girls tended to build low enclosures, while boys focused on exteriors, action, and height. Based on biological differences, according to Erikson; girls build low enclosures in which people are walled in, and  boys would build towers. Research today still persists that traditional gender stereotyping between girls and boys exists. Girls typically play with dolls, jewelry, and toy kitchen implements, while boys play with trucks, soldiers, and guns. â€Å"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. And anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new†