Michigan agricultural college a dream fullfiled Essay

Michigan agricultural college a dream fullfiled - Essay Example In 1850, the state constitutional convention called for the foundation of an Agricultural School under the provision of Article 13, Section 11 – the Morrill Act enacted under Abraham Lincoln’s administration. Interestingly, it was first suggested that this Agricultural School would be part of the University of Michigan. In fact, then-president Henry Tappan lobbied for this school to be built in UM’s own Ann Arbor. However, John C. Holmes of the Michigan State Agricultural Society opposed this, on the ground that the school’s students may end up being neglected by UM. Luckily for him, then-Michigan Governor Kingsley S. Bingham saw things his way, mandating a bill commissioning the establishment of what was then called the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan. Eleven years later would be a moment in history for the school – it saw its first batch of graduates, as well as the Michigan Legislature that allowed it to offer four-year curriculum c ourses and grant degrees on par with more established universities. The beginnings of the Agricultural College were surprisingly humble. Under its first president, Joseph Williams, a member of Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa in addition to being both an accomplished farmer and attorney, it started out with only three buildings and five professors, as well as a student body of 63. Luckily, Williams made the best of the situation, hiring a host of competent professors in the college’s first year. These professors then proceeded to set up sophisticated science laboratories in its College Hall, complete with equipment such as microscopes which were then thought to be state-of-the-art. Needless to say, Michigan Agricultural College flourished under President Williams’s tenure; even relatively early on in its existence, it boasted a wide array of theoretical and practical academics. The Michigan state legislature passed a bill in 1855, which

Effect of Media on Eating Habits Essay Example for Free

Effect of Media on Eating Habits Essay Currently this is a serious and growing concern for public health officials, registered dietitians, and families interested in living their day to day lives in a healthy manner. Youth are at the highest risk. According to the National Health Examination Survey, children ages 11-13 have highest rate of daily television viewing (Brown, 2008, p. 316). In a 2007 study, children were more likely to be overweight when they watched more television (Gable, Chang Krull, 2007). Currently, the second leading cause of actual death according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is poor diet and physical inactivity (Schneider, 2006, p. 270). Trends that lead to poor diet and physical inactivity, eventually obesity in adults and children alike, stem from habits that form early on in childhood. This creates an endless cycle that perpetuates from generation to generation. Obesity is currently an issue that threatens the majority of Americans and its prevalence has increased substantially in the last three decades (Schneider, 2006, p. 72). It’s caused by a number of different factors including genetics, physical inactivity, and poor eating habits. Two of the three factors noted can be strongly associated with television media. A study conducted at the University of Minnesota in 2009 found an increased incidence of eating in front of the television was primarily due to advertising and reduced metabolic rate in adolescence (Barr-Anderson, Larson Nelson, 2009). Reduced metabolic rate decreases one’s need for calories. Individuals of this demographic typically don’t take this fact into consideration and eat as much as before their exposure to television was such a significant part of their daily routine. This tendency leads to unwanted and unnecessary weight gain. Increased weight has shown to elevate the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and most kinds of cancer not to mention obesity (Schneider, 2006, p. 270). A less commonly recognized phenomena related to this issue is that people don’t know what healthy choices are and in turn, they are more likely to fall victim to any temptations set before them. These enticements are provided most commonly by television media advertising directed at less educated, more easily influenced audiences. For example, inexpensive fast food that is a particularly popular type of advertising might seem like a logical source of food for some families that do not have access to, or know anything better. Environment There are many problems that make up this complex and layered situation. Many social, cultural and economic factors contribute to these dietary patterns and eating habits that develop over a lifetime (Schneider, 2006, p. 77). The amount of time children spend with different sources of media from: television, film, video games, and computer or online media is exceedingly taking up the greater part of their time. With the average five and a half hours children spend using media on a daily basis, the only thing they spend more time doing is sleeping (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004). From age two to twenty, only eighteen years, that adds up to over 29,900 hours spent with media and 1. 8 times more than the 16,000 hours spent in school grades k-12 (Grossberg, 2006, p. 93). That equals out to approximately 20 hours per week according to a study done in 2006 (Francis Birch, 2006). Not only in the time spent exposed to media is a risk factor for children, but the way in which the media is consumed is also a major contributor to this situation. In the home, if there is a lack of parental control monitoring children’s media exposure, children are then at a higher risk of being influenced. Children heavily influenced by the media have the ability to manipulate how money is spent and savvy companies see them as the consumers to be targeted (Peregrin, 2001, p. 6). Children sometimes even spend their own money on the products they see repeatedly reinforced around them. Advertisers use this well known fact to target children because they know the powerful influence children can have on their parents purchasing decisions (Peregrin, 2001, p. 56). In an article written in 2001, Registered Dietitian, Adrienne Dorf expressed her opinion about educating childr en who are exposed to excessive media. She emphasized the need to explain the difference between television programs and commercials to children who may not be able to differentiate the two. Dorf urged parents to explain the idea of sales and the fact that the food advertised via commercials may not be the best for our bodies. Dietary habits form over a lifetime and are greatly influenced by the social environment and family setting as well as the media (Schneider, 2006, p. 277). From time to time parents struggle with taking their children into the supermarket for groceries just because they don’t want to fight about what the new craze is in sugary cereal or what unhealthy snack crackers are showing more commercials on television or the latest cartoon characters face on their box. It is a common to see a mother or father who gives in to please their child when he or she throws a tantrum in the middle of the aisle to get something they want. This repeated action can be a detrimental in the long run if it persists and continues. Impact Food industries have a goal to sell as much of their product to the public as possible. They will do anything they can to encourage American’s to eat and spend more money on any of their products. Most food advertised is high in fat, sugar, and salt leading to children in the grocery store begging their parents for candy and unhealthy snack foods (Borzekowski Robinson, 2001). Foods advertised taste â€Å"good† resulting in advertisements publicizing foods with high amounts of sugar, fat, and salt towards younger generations. For example, fast foods and high sugar cereals are two of the most commonly publicized items during children’s programming. Studies have shown that children under the age of 6 years of age cannot distinguish between television programming as opposed to commercial advertising (Borzekowski Robinson, 2001). The primary problem is that children who spend excessive amounts of time exposed to television media are more likely to be overweight. According to the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience, Youth Cohort (NLSY) a strong dose-response relationship was found between television viewing and the prevalence of overweight (Brown, 2008, p. 316). Adolescents from 10 to 15 years old who reported watching more than 5 hours of television per day had greater odds of having a BMI in the 85th percentile (Brown, 2008, p. 316).

The Twenties and Thirties :: American America History

The Twenties and Thirties The twenties and the thirties were very unusual time periods in American History. In some ways they are alike, but in most ways they are very different. The twenties were a time of fun and partying. This is probably the reason it is called the Roaring Twenties. All of the thirties were known as The Great Depression. It was probably called that because of the stock market collapse and the millions of people without jobs. In the twenties, industry took a very big step. The automotive industry was the largest industry there was. The assembly line made mass production possible, and the industry boomed. Henry Ford's assembly line, located in Detroit, Michigan, was the largest one in the country and possibly in the world. When Ford first started making cars, the only car he made was a black Model-T. Almost everybody in the United States had a car. Three-out-of-four families owned one or more cars. With the assembly line they made a lot more cars in one day than they did before. Instead of paying for the cars with cash, people could now use credit to purchase items. Since most families didn't have the money, they would buy the car with credit and pay off the debt later. The thirties was a bad time for the automotive industry. By now Ford had made a Model-A and had three new colors: tan, purple and black. All of the companies were making more cars than they could sell. Nobody had enough money to buy a car because of all of the banks going under. Millions of people lost whole fortunes. Since no one had the money for a car, the cars were not being sold. This caused a big problem. The dealers were very optimistic. They continued to make cars hoping that sales would go up. The new credit law was a wonderful idea. It allowed people to purchase items like a television or radio. The invention of the radio united the nation. The news that was heard on the radio was heard by everyone that had a radio. It was the best form of entertainment of its time. Soon thereafter, the television was invented. Once again people took advantage of the credit and purchased televisions. The television still did not take place of the radio. The radio was still used for listening to music. Many people were spending more money than they had.

Arthur Millers The Crucible :: Arthur Miller Crucible Essays

Arthur Miller's The Crucible Arthur Miller individualises characters through their style of speech in many ways. Abigail Williams, one of the main characters, is a very attractive young lady, as portrayed in the text. However, her personality is bitter spiteful and vengeful. This has been shown by the way Miller individualises her, through her speech. Abigail is very bossy and has a lot of authority; "Uncle, the rumour of witchcraft is all about: I think you'd best go down and deny it yourself. The parlour's packed with people, sir. I'll sit with her". She seems to take control in a stressful situation, and hence controls people through their fear: "I think you'd best go down". Miller uses this sentence, in order to portray Abigail as a very manipulative and some-what controlling person. Miller also exposes the fact that Abigail is very spiteful and demanding. This is shown when Abigail is having an argument with her uncle, Parris. "She hates me, uncle; she must, for I would not be her slave. It's a bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!" This shows how Abigail puts everyone down, and tries to make out that she is the innocent victim in all the chaos. Another way Miller individualises Abigail, is the way she blames other people to get her self out of trouble- "Not I, sir- Tituba and Ruth". This shows how Miller puts across to the audience, the 'real' Abigail. Yet again, Miller reveals Abigail as being manipulative and controlling. "I have been hurt, Mr Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin' out! I have been near to murder every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil's people- and this is my reward! To be mistrusted, denied questioned like a-". This also shows how Abigail is making everyone else feel sorry for her, as she has been doing the right thing. This is effective as it again brings out the 'real' Abigail, a cunning, sly, deceiving person. Abigail Williams wants to protect herself, and hence confesses, as she wants the same attention as Tituba, not to suffer, This shows her selfishness as she doesn't want to get hung and therefore follows Tituba's lead. "I want to open myself! I want the light of God; I want the sweet love of Jesus!" Miller uses the word "open" to emphasise the fact that Abigail doesn't want to just reveal herself, but "open" her. This then shows the audience how overdramatic Miller makes Abigail. In conclusion, I feel that Miller has effectively individualised Abigail, as a self-centred, overdramatic, deceiving woman. Mr Hale, another one of Miller's characters, however he is not as

Women rights, education, economy, politics

Fundamental aims of Islamic culture include welfare, happiness and progress of human society. Human being was created as the representative of Allah. Both man and woman are required to play an imperative role for the cause of serving humanity in a better way. No progress in the field of culture can be possible unless and until woman plays her divergent role in the society. Islam raised the status of woman to a great extent.She has been given rights to property, rights to take part in economic activities, rights to choose life partner, rights to determine his financial requirements and to overcome these and an honorable social status which was not given by the prior and other contemporary cultures and societies. It is a matter of fact that woman occupied an important place during the Islamic Era and played an active role for the uplift of Society. In this article, I have tried to bring out the importance of the role of woman for the development of Islamic Culture and improvement of an Islamic Society.Key words: Islamic culture; Purpose of creation; Status of women; Right and duties of women; Distinction of Islam Women in ancient civilization There had not been a single civilization in ancient world which did not inflict various forms of pains and cruelties to woman. Study of history reveals that that during different era, women had lost their recognition in their respective civilizations. * Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, NIJML, Islamabad, Pakistan Jih ¤t al-lsl ¤m Vol. 5 Oanuary-June 2012) No. 2 Not only had she lost her capabilities but also her freedom.Moreover, she had to lose her worth and status. She was maltreated in each society and every part of the world. As far as her moral and lawful rights concerned, she had fallen to the lowest level. In different nations of the world, she was living her life in miserable and terrible conditions. She was forced to marry and sometimes into adultery. Other became heirs of her wealth irrespecti ve of the intensity of her financial needs. She secondary to her husband and father or any male member of her family. Her husband used to become the owner of her wealth even before her death and also became her master.It all happened when the nature was changed. It all happened hen nations left the way of God and followed the path of Satan. However, a moderate way, which harmonized with nature, wisdom and human interest, existed there. And this way is Islam which is established by God himself. Women in Greek civilization: Despite the fact that Greek civilization was the most modern civilization among the ancient nations, the Greeks considered woman the essential inconveniences and fountain head of all problems. She was cut-off from society.She had only one Job to do i. e. , to give birth to children. There were many women who were compelled to do adultery. Mothers were also forced to do adultery. Furthermore, sisters were forced to marry against their will. She was looked down up in the society; she was treated as a servant; she was maltreated. Their concept of woman was faulty (1) . Famous writer Demosthenes says, â€Å"Women were used to quench the thirst of sex and men had them as girl friends. They had wives to produce children and girl friend enjoy their physical contact with them†.

Domestic Violence-Abusive Muslim Marriages essays

Domestic Violence-Abusive Muslim Marriages essays The past several decades have witnessed some profound changes in American society, with women and minorities making enormous inroads into the institutionalized racism and white male-domination that had characterized the country for generations. Indeed, it is reasonable to assert that women of all ages and races enjoy unprecedented opportunities and legal protections in the West in general and in the United States in particular today, but the sad reality is that these opportunities and legal protections still do not extend to all segments of American society. One of the major issues that continues to haunt the Islamic community in the United States is the abusive nature of many Muslim marriages, wherein females remain subjugated to their husbands whims by virtue of historic and religious mandates that have not been left behind in the Muslim world. Moreover, the growing body of evidence suggests that the problem is getting worse instead of better, and the secretive nature of the proble m itself contributes to the ability of law enforcement and social work authorities to take any substantive action to help alleviate these problems. To help shed some light on the underlying issues involved, this paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed, scholarly and popular literature to determine the nature of abusive Muslim marriages in the United States, what social workers and feminist theory have to say about the issues, followed by a summary of the research and salient findings in the conclusion. Today, many Muslim wives living in the West continue to be imprisoned in abusive marriages, unable to fight the gossip and shame that comes with defying their culture and religion. Many brides arrive with temporary "marriage" visas obtained through husbands who are U.S. residents or citizens. Lawyers and social workers say an angry or demanding husband might threaten to "call immigration" and have the wife deported, raising the horrify...

Three Infectious Diseases essays

Three Infectious Diseases essays In the beginning diseases were thought to be a kind of punishment from God, rather than an infection caused by a foreign body. Later this was found to be untrue, and we now have an entire field of science devoted to the study of these diseases, the foreign bodies that cause them, and treatments for the diseases. I am prepared to compare 3 infectious diseases. The first disease is AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.. This disease breaks down the immune system and makes it vulnerable to opportunistic diseases. AIDS is caused by HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus attacks white blood cells, and makes the immune system work for the virus rather than the body, and because our immune is so wonderful and strong, it is impossible to beat it, and consequently we cannot beat the virus. Ways that people receive this virus are very clear, through the exchange of body fluids (blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk) . Although saliva does carry some of the virus, it is not enough to infect a person. So, things such as kissing and sharing drinks are safe from transmission of this virus. There is no cure for AIDS or HIV. There are however, symptomatic treatments do exist. These treatments can prolong the life of a patient. Symptoms include: fever, chills, night sweats, skin rashes, headaches, malaise, swollen lymph nodes, a nd general discomfort. Flu-like symptoms occur several months after infection. This epidemic is a current one, which began in the mid- 70s, and has effect virtually everyone from the lower class to upper class white senators. The epidemic appears to be world spread beginning in Africa, spreading to South and North America, then moving on to Europe, and finally spreading to Asia and parts of Australia. Although the number still grows, as of today, 18.8 million people have died from this epidemic. In the 1300's the epidemic we call ABlack Death@, Bubonic Plague, began in China. By 1347, it had spre...

Avoid These 5 Mistakes When NetworkingÂÂ

Avoid These 5 Mistakes When Networking   We all know how daunting networking can be. It’s often the last thing we want to do: going out to â€Å"socialize† when we could be on the couch with take-out and Netflix, having to sell ourselves in every conversation, having to get in front of the right people to make the right impression. But, it has to be done. And it should be done right. Here are 5 common networking pitfalls and how to avoid them.1. Don’t get caught with your pants downEven if you make a last-minute decision to attend, make sure you’re prepared. Don’t forget your business cards. Don’t go up to anyone uninformed. Spend 15 minutes before you hit the party making a game plan- who you’d like to introduce yourself to, what specifically you’d like to accomplish, etc. Do some research into the people and companies you’re likely to run into; this will make for better conversations and you’ll come across as intelligent and on top of your game. Pick yo ur marks and take accurate, appropriate shots.2. Don’t be unprofessionalYou don’t need to  make a special hair appointment or show up in a cocktail dress to a casual after-work event, but you also shouldn’t dress like a slob. Go no lower than business casual, and when in doubt, take your cues from coworkers or other contacts you know are also attending.Once you’re there, act like a professional human. Don’t dismiss people just because they don’t look important. Don’t go around collecting business cards as if you were trick-or-treating. Don’t lie- you’ll always get caught. And make sure to have your elevator pitch practiced and ready to go. There’s nothing worse than being asked what you’re looking for and having to reply â€Å"Uh†¦. Um†¦. Work and stuff?†3. Don’t be naà ¯veAct like you’ve been to a networking event before. Don’t expect a job from every decision-maker you happen to shake hands with. And make sure not to ask for too much from everyone you meet. This is where a little strategic planning can really come in handy. Plan your big asks before you go. Once you’ve made them, try to  relax, act normally, and enjoy yourself. People are just people, after all.4. Don’t be selfishNobody likes a party hog. Don’t be the kind of networker who talks only about herself, thinks only about her needs, barges into conversations uninvited, and otherwise monopolizes everything and everyone. That goes for the shrimp puffs, too.5. Don’t forget to follow upThis is perhaps the most important. If you’ve made good contact with anyone, make sure to send a polite follow-up email the following day. Or even a phone call, depending on your level of connection! And if anyone does you any favors- i.e. puts you in touch with someone or agrees to circulate your resume- make sure to send a gracious thank you ASAP.

Annual Report- Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Annual Report- Starbucks - Essay Example The financial performance of the company during the first quarter of the current year speaks for itself. The consolidated net revenues increased to $2.7 billion, representing an increase of 4% over the previous period. Store sales increased by 4% both due to increased traffic and higher average ticket. Consolidated operating margin improved by 850 basis points to 13%. Earnings per share have registered an impressive rise of nearly 250% and stood at $0.32 in 2010 as compared to $0.09 for the comparative period in 2009. The improved performance is the result of the enthusiastic response to our products and services by our customers. Our continuing efforts at innovation, and success in providing our customers with enhanced experiences, along with cost reduction measures, have contributed to the better performance. As we continue to direct our efforts in these areas, we are confident of being able to maintain the momentum of growth that we have achieved. To consolidate the gains made by us in the previous year, and to sustain and improve on our growth, we are adopting a strategy of structural changes that is expected to improve performance through a new and powerful regional support model. In addition to making changes to our approach in established markets, we are also expanding in emerging markets, particularly China, which we foresee as our largest market outside the United States. In keeping with our mission of being more than passionate purveyors of coffee, we continue to concentrate on providing a rewarding overall experience to our customers. In this effort, we continue to be guided by our values such as respect for the individual, promoting diversity, and adherence to the highest ethical standards in all our operations. As we march ahead with the confidence generated by the success of our innovative approaches in the year just gone by, and the enthusiastic response of our

Treaty of Sevres And The Founding of Modern Turkey Essay

Treaty of Sevres And The Founding of Modern Turkey - Essay Example On 12th February 1920, the Ottoman parliament was forced to shut down after their regular session ended. The parliament was thereby abolished a month later on 18th March 1920. Neither the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI Vahdeddin was able to ratify this agreement in parliament five months later, nor could the official newspaper (Takvim-i-Vakayi) publish its details. It was decided that the Ottoman Empire would be represented by four signatories during the signing at Sevres near Paris. However, prior to the ratification, the Turkish War of Independence forced the former wartime Allies to re-negotiate, re-sign and ratify the new Treaty of Lausanne 1923. The terms of the treaty broadly outlined changes to three different areas of land controlled by the Ottomans – Middle East, Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire. Armenia and Hejaz (now a part of Saudi Arabia) were given their independence. Kurdistan was to be given independence with Mosul (the Kurdish vilayet) joining independent Kurdistan. The wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement assigned Mesopotamia and Palestine to the United Kingdom as mandated states. Lebanon and most of Syria was given to France under a mandate as well. Nine-year Italian-occupied Dodecanese and Rhodes including portions of southern Anatolia were given to Italy completely. Greece was given Thrace and Western Anatolia including the crucial port of Izmir or Smyrna. The remaining Bosphorus, Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara were demilitarized and internationalized as part of the Sevres Treaty.

U06d2 Legal Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

U06d2 Legal Reporting - Essay Example There are several issues that are covered by the law and these include abuses like sexual abuse, child abuse or any form of misconduct with the elderly (Pozgar G. D., 2006). Also, any form of misconduct or irresponsibility shown in regards to communicable diseases can also be reported and filed against. To ensure the best for all within the society and also at the healthcare centers, the doctors and the healthcare centers are required to participate in reporting any form of suspected child abuse or elderly abuse (Syrett, 2008). The government is very strict in these matters and is working towards the well being of all within the society. The health care workers are also liable to report any rapes, harassment, and all birth and deaths are also expected to be kept up – to – date to ensure an accurate census. The government has allowed for the health care personnel to participate and help the society by reporting any kind of suspicious behavior, however if this right and responsibility is dishonored and misused to falsely report, then the individual can also be faced with serious consequences like civil and even criminal obligations (Pozgar, Santucci, & Pinnella, 2009). There have also been a number of processes and reporting systems that have been implemented to ensure that all healthcare organizations report the incidents and any form of any communicable disease is curbed at the starting point itself. The states also have laws to curb the possibility of any new disease to spread and to create an epidemic (Pozgar G. D., 2006). To be able to curb this, the government requires the state to report any and all irregular or unexpected similar symptoms in numerous patients. To also ensure higher safety and security of the patients and the processes being accurate in the healthcare industry th ere is a requirement to also report any errors from the health care end (Nathanson, 1995). Along with the safety of

Global Strategy Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global Strategy Plan - Essay Example Because of worldwide business expansion, the recognition of IBM-International Business Machines Corporation extended throughout the world. In the era of innovation, IBM product line has increased significantly. IBM first introduced LAN-Local Area of Networks and became the pioneer of LAN. This process allows PC users to exchange data, information, files etc. and to share printers within an office complex. In the twenty first century, IBM has become a renowned name in IT service management, consulting business and computer software-hardware industry. Samuel J. Palmisano is the president and CEO of IBM since 2002. (History of IBM, 27 March 2010, pp. 1-13)Â   Brief History- This article creates a complete dynamic model of global strategic planning for IBM. This dynamic model shows many aspects of strategic planning system of IBM. Within this dynamic model of framework, some issues like competitive assessment, focusing on strategic issues, portfolio planning, threat or opportunity analysis, business intelligence and performance management will be emphasized and analyzed. Over the years, IBM has refined their strategic planning process. This strategic planning process works as a structure for decision-making. Like many other multinational business giants, IBM management team emphasizes on global business development. Staring with IT services, IBM is now diversifying themselves into different business solution providers like IT infrastructure, enterprise solutions, business consulting, outsourcing services and business intelligence etc. At IBM, Information Technology means achieving high and real business performance that is reflected in th e business objective and venerable business commitment. IBM provides high-class business solutions with greater efficiency and accessibility to their clients. The management of IBM wants to anticipate and adapt to future changes and uncertainties rather than the victim of them. The IT, IT enabled

Family Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Family Law - Case Study Example (Morley 2005 International Law) At this point I would explain to Dorothy that in order to proceed she would be required to show that the marriage is unsalvageable and the both her and George agree that the marriage should be dissolved. This is not to say that if George does not want a divorce, Dorothy will not be able to file for one. What it means is that George could contest it and if that situation arises she will need support to present to the court to prove that there are grounds and conditions for the divorce. I would also advise Dorothy to talk with George and pursue coming to an agreement prior to filing for the divorce. This is because if the divorce is somewhat amicable and the property and assets have been discussed and there will not be a fight over the divorce will go more smoothly both in court and for them personally. The following law pertains to the circumstances being somewhat amicable: 1.7.1 The decree nisi is the court's decision to grant a divorce provided that nothing comes to light which may alter the Judgement. The certificate given as a result of this decision shows the period of time that is to be allowed for this purpose. If nothing comes to light, the decree absolute is issued at the end of the waiting period. The decree nisi is therefore a temporary document only and the decree absolute must always be seen. (Morley 2005 International Law) I would advise Dorothy that due to the length of her marriage the assets of both her and George would in most circumstances be split down the middle. However if they come to an agreement regarding particular property or assets I would strongly advise Dorothy to talk it out with George and when they reach an agreement on how the property and assets should be divided to contact me, her divorce attorney, so that I can prepare the proper legal document indicating the property and asset agreement. I would also advise Dorothy to include anything personal or sentimental even though she may not think it of value. In order to ensure receipt of items of sentimental or other value she must notify me so that I could include it in the formal legal documents. At this time I would also advise Dorothy that it would not be wise for her to assume any agreements made between George and herself would necessarily be kept and that any agreements made, of any kind for property, assets, sentimental items o r anything else needs to be put into the divorce paperwork. After discussing all of this information with Dorothy I would then go over divorce conditions in detail and strongly advise her that the fact that she wants to make a fresh life for herself while she is still young enough to enjoy it is not a good condition. Divorce conditions include: In England & Wales obtaining a divorce requires a written application (called a petition) to the court by either the husband or the wife. Applications for divorce are dealt with by the County Court and spouses have to apply to that court for their divorce. The applicant has to prove that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and has to provide evidence of one of the five facts listed below: No application for divorce can be made until at least one year after the date of the marriage.

Global Strategy Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global Strategy Plan - Essay Example Because of worldwide business expansion, the recognition of IBM-International Business Machines Corporation extended throughout the world. In the era of innovation, IBM product line has increased significantly. IBM first introduced LAN-Local Area of Networks and became the pioneer of LAN. This process allows PC users to exchange data, information, files etc. and to share printers within an office complex. In the twenty first century, IBM has become a renowned name in IT service management, consulting business and computer software-hardware industry. Samuel J. Palmisano is the president and CEO of IBM since 2002. (History of IBM, 27 March 2010, pp. 1-13)Â   Brief History- This article creates a complete dynamic model of global strategic planning for IBM. This dynamic model shows many aspects of strategic planning system of IBM. Within this dynamic model of framework, some issues like competitive assessment, focusing on strategic issues, portfolio planning, threat or opportunity analysis, business intelligence and performance management will be emphasized and analyzed. Over the years, IBM has refined their strategic planning process. This strategic planning process works as a structure for decision-making. Like many other multinational business giants, IBM management team emphasizes on global business development. Staring with IT services, IBM is now diversifying themselves into different business solution providers like IT infrastructure, enterprise solutions, business consulting, outsourcing services and business intelligence etc. At IBM, Information Technology means achieving high and real business performance that is reflected in th e business objective and venerable business commitment. IBM provides high-class business solutions with greater efficiency and accessibility to their clients. The management of IBM wants to anticipate and adapt to future changes and uncertainties rather than the victim of them. The IT, IT enabled

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant and Roman Fever by Edith Wharton Essay

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant and Roman Fever by Edith Wharton - Essay Example This essay explores the importance of endings in two stories "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant, and "Roman Fever" by Edith Wharton. Ending have been used to facilitate an unexpected change of plot /achieve plot twist towards the end in the two stories. The type of ending used here is called twist ending. There is an unexpected change of outcome towards the end of the story and this brings up an unexpected conclusion to the story. For example, the two women start talking about the mix of love relationships they had before they just got married. Mrs. Ansley had been in love with the husband of Mrs. Slade before he married her. The two woman had been living as friends since childhood and were now chatting as friends as well. Just towards the end of the story, they reveal the grudges they have had against each other all this years and the tricks they had played on each other. For old woman, and both being widows, this is not the kind of thing anyone would expect them to hold much impor tance to youthful love battles (Wharton 1). Looking at the story the necklace, the author has also successfully managed to use a twist ending. Loisel and her had bought a new necklace for Mrs. Forester to replace the lost necklace and had kept this as a secret between themselves for 10 good years. They had been paying dearly for it and no one would expect that Loisel would want to reveal it least it brings up an enemity between them. Surprisingly, Loisel decided to tell Mrs. Forester the truth. To her amazement, she was not angered, instead, Mrs. Forester showed love to her old friend and even confessed that her original necklace was not real diamond nut fake, costing only five hundred francs (Maupassant 1). The importance of the use of twist ending in the two stories allows the readers of the two stories to re-evaluate the narratives and their characters as well. For example, one would have thought Mrs. Forester as a harsher strict women because of the fear in Loisel and her husban d. However, a reverse of this was revealed when she takes Loisel in two hands and tells her the truth behind her old necklaces. The type of ending is also important in allowing the readers to make discoveries in the two stories for example, only through the last portion of the story do the readers come to know the things that contributed to the somehow cold type of friendship and hidden grudges between Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade. It reveals the romantic rivalry in their youth that made Mrs Slade to harbour feelings of hatred and jealousy against Mrs Ansley. By the words of Mrs. Ansley, †I had Barbara†, it reveals Barbara was an illegitimate child she had with Delphin, Mrs. Slades husband. At the same time, it helps to reveal the truth behind the rich-looking nature of Mrs Forester. She was not that rich but she gained status by going for substitutes and no one knew of this. Endings have also been used in the two stories to surprise their audiences. This type of ending is called surprise ending. The use of surprise ending as revealed in the last lines by Mrs. Ansley in the story the Roman fever. No reader would imagine the daughters of the two women were not only friends. They were sisters. Mrs. Ansley surprises her friend and the audience of the story by speaking in a way that revealed that Mrs. Slade’s plan to disappoint her friend and make her separate from her fiancee had turned out to be her luck. The

Equal Pay and the Glass Ceiling - Key Issues for Women Essay Example for Free

Equal Pay and the Glass Ceiling Key Issues for Women Essay Glass ceiling can be described as an economic term that refers to a scenario where the promotion of a qualified individual to a higher rank within an organization is overlooked so he or she is stuck at lower ranks mainly because of factors driven by discrimination, especially gender and racism (Arnwine, 2010). However, other factors considered as barriers to advancement at work place may include disabilities and aging. A good example are barriers women face when aspiring or attempting to attain higher position which is senior as well as to have higher salary levels in workplaces such as government offices, education, nonprofit organizations and business organizations. Indeed, glass ceiling is a term that was first used to refer to factors that barred women from promotion in the work place in the US yet they possessed the necessary qualifications (Hakim, 2004). Women are vital for contribution of work force around the globe and thus they should be regarded as equally potential like men. Despite their potential, women have been marginalized in various fields and especially in their work place since they are not much considered for advancement in their job groups even if they have the same qualification for promotion as their men counterpart employees. This is critical issue that should be addressed by the human resource management to ensure that job opportunities and promotions are granted on merit but not by any discrimination of whichever form. There is need for human resource management to combat glass ceiling, expand leadership roles of women and also advancement of women in their work places in both domestic and global fronts (International labor Office, 2004). Human resource managers and professionals can have a great impact in an organization because their role in recruitment and promotion of employees (Crampton, Hodge, Mishra, 1997). In other words, they ensure the well-being of all employees, especially with effect to job satisfaction to so that employees carry out their roles effectively. In that effect they should be concerned and have knowledge on how the phenomenon of glass ceiling may be impacting the organization reputation either indirectly or directly. They should also have to understand how this phenomenon is impacting the customer loyalty, growth potential, skill set diversity, and even the organization’s bottom line. Often, the chief executive officer or the organization’s president should invite the professionals of human resource in a meeting and discuss on the possible organization’s changes that could be made in order to reduce glass ceiling which has been in existence. This would maximize the organization’s reputation and performance. The human resource managers should also have knowledge of the organization’s employment laws, practices and programs. This is because the law can protect certain groups such as the women viewed as minority in labor markets. These professionals should also have the knowledge on the potential impacts that barriers caused by glass ceiling may have on the performance of the concerned employee. In some countries such as the United States, work place discrimination, especially sexual discrimination is illegal as stipulated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, even though it exists in various forms. For instance, women may be discriminated in forms such as low salary increments and generally lower pay as compared to their male counterparts (International labor Office, 2004). This discrimination may also be manifested in the practices of hiring, promotional opportunities, development and training activities are disproportionate in favor of the men. Human resource professionals have the potential of impacting barriers of glass-ceiling either negatively or positively due to the changes in workplace which they implement or facilitate such as employee recruitment, development and trainings, transfers, succession planning, promotions and terminations. In many organizations, affirmative action plans (AAF) should be conducted to utilize analysis that compares number of minorities and women who are available in labor markets with the ones employed in their organization (Hakim, 2004). Another requirement of compliance is the review of corporate management, which is sometimes known as glass-ceiling audits and is usually conducted when the organization is conducting the audit of affirmative action plan and focus primarily on the process of decision making of CEO and senior executives. For non-compliance of affirmative action plans for a company, it can be fined severely and also companies who do not comply with employment laws may also have unfavorable publicity. The glass ceiling evidence can be described as invisible, overt or covert (Arnwine, 2010). Glass ceiling has spread its roots to the gender based barriers which run gamut from the stereotypes of gender to leadership styles that are preferred up to the ranks of high management. The glass ceiling effect sign is the gender-biased compensation where by anecdotal reports and studies have shown big discrepancies on salary favoring men even for similar job levels in the same organizations. Discrepancies favoring men exists in many organizations which are of different sizes. In these organizations women who do not have opportunities of gaining other competences are not likely to get any chance of adding their skills unlike their counterpart men working at the same organization (Crampton, Hodge, Mishra, 1997). Women mostly do not get chances of training in various management fields in most organization and this is a vice that need to be sort out since the world is changing and women are breaking the glass ceiling and are now in senior position in many large organizations including high ranking government offices. Another indicator which shows glass ceiling in an organization is when advancement of women is hampered by corporate cultures that are well-ingrained. Corporate practices and policies for example may maintain status quo in a manner that men are kept in the corporate power positions (International labor Office, 2004). Mostly the board directors in many organizations comprise men as the majority and they may also perpetuate the men status quo by choosing chief executive officers who are like them so as to plant the vice of glass ceiling in the organization. Other barriers that can be said to be gender based are communication and behavioral styles that vastly differ from norms of company and the lack of women opportunity of gaining line experience and also the general management. Human resource professionals should iron out the norms and policies, which can be a barrier to advancement of any group of individuals in the organization and ensure that employees are all motivated without discrimination. Human resource professionals should understand that challenges of work and personal life balance can have impact on women advancement and failure of dealing with them can result to the phenomenon of glass ceiling. They should have the assumption that women are care givers of the family and especially for the elderly and children and thus they may not meet all their work responsibilities due to family responsibilities. Furthermore, there are organizations which cannot give some programs that will involve outside commitment to women especially for the positions which are at senior levels. Therefore a lot of women are disadvantaged to take aspiration steps of advancing in the organization. In addition, promotion opportunities are often given in favor of men mainly due to their developmental prospects which include networks and mentoring (Hakim, 2004). Women are limited to access of the informal networks that men use in developing relationship networks in the organization or company. These networks tend to eliminate women because of nature of their work or sometimes the promotion or advancement may be perceived as male activities and thus this contribute to work place gender barriers. The human resource professionals should ensure that all organization activities are conducted in the organization but should not be discussed outside especially on the matter of promotion or job advancement in the organization. They should also see the need of balancing the personnel who are in the management and leadership line to include women so long as they are competent for such posts. Human resource personnel should avoid glass ceiling by avoiding perception of seeing women as being incompetent in various fields like management and stop stereotyping them. They should do away with the barriers that prevent women from advancing in the organization such as societal barriers and governmental barriers. In recruiting new employees in the organization they should not consider the potential candidates with any discrimination under whatever grounds. The recruitment personnel should not stereotype people and consider other people such as men being more suitable thus leaving women out and may be they could be more competent than the men selected. The government officials who are responsible for recruiting new employees should not be biased on a certain group of people since this is one thing that contributes to glass ceiling placing women on the losing end. Another point of view is that the human resource personnel should wipe out business and structural barriers such as recruitment and out reach practices which can make the minorities and women not to be considered in recruitments. They should also be conscious about the corporate climate which isolate and alienate women from receiving promotions and job advancement in the organization they are working in so as to break the glass ceiling. Another area of adjustment is the training where many organization personnel responsible for training employees have pipeline barriers making women in the organization to receive poor training, which make them unable to have carrier growth in their organization (Crampton, Hodge, Mishra, 1997). They should also eliminate inadequate mentoring in the organization to make women able to be considered for such promotional posts in the organization rather than mentoring men only. Rating and testing systems should not be biased in the organization but should be fair and job advancement should be granted on the merit of performance and competence so as to avoid imbalance of the people in leadership positions in the organization. Internal communication networks in the organization should not be limited to some people but the networks should be among all the employees working together because this is one barrier which makes women to lag behind at the times of job advancements and promotions. To reduce or eliminate glass ceiling in the organization, women employees should not be limited when it comes to job rotation and assignments because limitation of such nature may lead to executive suite. The institutions should not be too much rigid to deny women employees the balance between work and family. With no access of training, developmental assignment, mentoring and other activities of job enhancement, too many women who are qualified are cut short before they reach their aspirations. Corporate leaders should realize that there is need of input and talent of minorities and women at the senior levels in their organization to meet the need of the changing environment in the market (International labor Office, 2004). The demographic and competition internationally is changing and requires all types of gender so as to improve the today’s global world economy. Breaking glass ceiling should be addressed as economic imperative and is the bottom line critical issue in every business internationally and also a pocketbook issue to the working women together with their families. The chief executive officers should focus on job diversity so as to influence the organization culture and create atmosphere which utilizes fully capabilities and talents of the diverse workforce. Setting timetables and goals for diversity of the work force is a business extension practice that can enable it to weigh their growth and progress. Line manager should be held responsible to break the glass ceiling and thus they should have systems of rewarding and compensating in accordance to the diversity objectives accomplishment. Organizations should have affirmative actions to ensure that all employees have access to opportunities equally and they should be based on merit and ability. Opportunities of advancement should be promoted to people who can effectively contribute to the performance of the organization. This means that the rich talent should be used so as to improve the economic stability and also to break the glass ceiling. Another way of breaking glass ceiling is for the organizations to make expansion of their traditional recruitment networks to use a method that seek candidates with experience and backgrounds of non-customary. All in all, the human resource professionals should be concerned on how they can break glass ceiling in their organizations because the world has changed and also glass ceiling is one of the issue that is much of concern in the today life. There is need of selecting and promoting employees in an organization on the grounds of merit so as to improve performance of the organization and have competent employees who know how to tackle changes as they come. References Arnwine, B. (2010). Breaking the Glass Ceiling. Retrieved July 19, 2010, from http://www. newdeal20. org/2010/03/29/breaking-the-glass-ceiling-9240/ Crampton, S. , Hodge, J. , Mishra, J. (1997). The Equal Pay Act: The first 30 Years. Public Personnel Management, 26, 12-21. Hakim, C. (2004). Key Issues in Women’s Work: Female Diversity and the Polarization of Women’s. Oregon: Routledge Cavendish. International labor Office. (2004). Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management. Retrieved July 19, 2010, from http://www. ilo. org/dyn/gender/docs/RES/292/f267981337

Effect of Learning Environment on Child Arithmetic Skills

Effect of Learning Environment on Child Arithmetic Skills Abstract The main aim of this experiment is to find out whether learning environments will affect children’s arithmetic skills. The hypothesis is children in kindergarten will performed better in arithmetic skills than children receiving home-schooling (N=40). These 40 children will be categorize into 2 groups, Boys and Girls and according to their learning environments, they are sub-grouped into kindergarten and home learning environments. Two different arithmetic tasks were carried out to assess the children skills. The experiment lasted for 12 weeks and at the end of the last week, all the scores were tabulated for the groups. A factorial between design was used in this experiment The statistical analysis yielded support for the hypothesis that children who study in kindergarten score better than children who study at home. However, due to lack of generalisation to population, further replication of the study is recommended with adequate sample size. How Learning Environments Affect Children Arithmetic Skills Acquiring basic literacy skills bring about a significant change to the advances in  research and educational practices. The preschooler years are viewed as the point whereby those kids are at their crucial point to learn the basic abilities of learning in how to read and write. So there is a dilemma for parents whether they should send their child to kindergarten or they should go along with homeschooling. Children tend to learn numbers counting before language acquisition and formal education (Lipton Spelke, 2003; Xu, Spelke, Goddard, 2005). As the child progress, his numerical accuracy gradually refined throughout his childhood until he gained more insightful knowledge in later year. (Halberda Feigenson, 2008). Subsequently, with language acquisition, children will understand the numbers in words and break them in smaller groups (Wynn, 1996), that are within their counting range and gradually move outside of the range to know more numbers (Lipton Spelke, 2006). Talking about cognitive development in children, Jean Piaget (1896) had devoted all his life to study how children think and not to just what children know. Piaget believes that children are able to seek understanding of the world through the process of assimilation and accommodation. Therefore, Piaget placed great emphasize on cognitive development associated with the experience and not social interaction. Another perspective of cognitive development is a Russian psychologist Lev  Vygosky(1896). Vygosky focused on culture and society when it comes to cognitive learning ability. He believed that children learn differently when they are learning independent as compared to learning under the guidance of a more capable partner. This is what he called ‘zone of proximal development†. In conclusion, Vygosky believed that cognitive development is affected by social interaction as compared to be independent. The difference in how Piaget and Vygotsky’s approaches to children cognitive development are the concept of individualistic and social processes. On a research study by Rea and Reys (1970), before children start to enrol in formal education, they are equipped with little of mathematical understanding .Children from early age is constantly practicing their counting skill. Geary (2004)stated that childrens counting abilities could be seen as a combination of inherent constraints and inductions based on counting experiences Seo and Ginsburg (2004) studied the types of informal mathematical activities which four- and five-year-old children express in natural settings during free play. Children demonstrated five mathematical categories; classification activities, magnitude activities, enumeration activities, dynamics and pattern and shape activities. According to Sarama and Clements (2009), children construct mathematics notions as they get actively engaged in the following sorts of play: sensorimotor or manipulative play, symbolic constructive play, symbolic dramatic play and games with rules. Children getting involved in play use it as a means to get them in problem solving situations to develop their thinking on mathematical ideas and procedures. Informal mathematical knowledge undergoes considerable development during the  preschool years and provides a basis for the later acquisition of formal mathematics in the school context (Clements and Sarama 2007). In this sense, successful early childhood instruction builds on children’s informal knowledge and supports the linkage of this prior thinking to more analytical mathematical representations, while taking into account diversity in terms of language, culture, needs and interests. Children possess informal knowledge of many complex mathematical ideas, enjoy the challenges of playing with these complex ideas and, with adult or peer guidance, they can achieve greater understanding than previously expected (Ginsburg, Greenes and Balfanz 2003). It was hypothesized in this study that children who receive education in kindergarten performed better in their arithmetic skills as to children who are receiving their education at home. Another hypothesis in this study is that boys in both school and home will score higher than girls in home and school environment in the assessment test. Methods Participants There will be a total of 40 toddlers involve in this experiment and they are staying at the same community area. They will be divided into 10 male and 10 female toddlers will attend the designated kindergarten while the remaining toddlers will be receiving home schooling at their own respective homes.The age of the toddler will be 5 years old for both genders to ensure fairness of their learning capability. The two different teaching environments that are set for this experiment will be at a kindergarten or at the toddlers’ homes Materials Math ability task. Math ability was measured using the Early Number Concepts component of the British Ability Scales II (Elliot et al., 1996). This math test comprises 24 items that assess various basic numerical competencies through four items (Recognizing numbers names and numerals, identifying quantitative relationships and matching corresponding Number estimation task Three number lines were used: 0 –10, 0 –20 and 0 –100. Each line was 25-cm long, with 0 on the left end and 10, 20, or 100 on the right end, depending on the scale. Procedure The 20 children will be divided into 2 groups according to their genders and in each group, they will be further split in another two groups, based on their learning environments kindergarten or home schooling. The children were instructed to follow the instructions in accordance to each task. The children are shown pictures and they were told to use pencil to circle the correct answer in the given questions. Next, they were told to match the same shapes from a group of mixed shapes of all sizes. Lastly, they were given simple basic addition and subtraction problems to solve and verbally voice out the answer. The total scores for the worksheet will be 20 marks. Results A factorial between groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate the effects of gender and learning environments on children’s arithmetic skills. Shapiro-Wilk and Levene’s test were used to evaluate the assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance respectively. Neither was violated. Levene’s statistics for the test of equality is non-significant with F (3, 36) = .679, p=.571. The results for ANOVA was statically significant with children who attend kindergarten performed better than children who did not attend kindergarten with F (1, 36) = 8.112, p=.001, Õ ²2= .184, as well as statistically significant main effect for practice, F( 1, 36) = 1.073, p=.307, Õ ²2= .029. However, there is no significant interaction indicated that the effect of different learning environments on children’s arithmetic skills are associated with gender differences, F(1,36)= 1.00,p=0.01. The nature of the interaction is shown in Figure 1. Discussion This study aims to find out whether 5-year old children who attend kindergarten tend to have better arithmetic skills than children who have home schooling. This is a double blind experiment whereby both experimenter and children are unaware of what are there being tested, this is to protect the experiment from having the observer-expectancy effect. It was hypothesized that children who attend kindergarten tend to have higher scores than those children who have home schooling, and it was supported by the data using two-way analysis of variances (ANOVA). The data showed that there is a significant difference of the scores between the two learning environments. The two approaches that Piaget and Vygotsky had come across with are closely associated with the type of learning environments which children learn their cognitive skills in both kindergarten and home schooling. Children who attend kindergarten tend to be following Vygotsky’s concept of ‘zone of proximal development whereby children are able to learn under an adult’s supervision while children who receive educations at home from their parents, the home-schoolers are moving towards Piaget’s teaching as the children depend on themselves to gain knowledge about what is happening around them. As the child progresses from infants, his/her ability to learn also progresses along with the growth. Infants demonstrated word segmentation ability when adults were talking to them. When they reach the preschool age, environment play a significant role in their learning ability. At this age group, they are prone to pick up new information quickly even though it is an adult conversation (Whitehurst Valdez-Menchaca, 1988). So, the new information that the child had picked up, if the learning environment and the caregivers reinforces them to gain a better understanding of the things around them, the child will be more advanced in learning new skills. Therefore, in order for child to acquire good arithmetic skills, they can be exposed to more numbers-related information and problems and a positive reinforcement learning environment to gain better understanding of arithmetic problems. However, despite the fact children at the early onset toddlers’ age they are constantly using their arithmetic skills during their playtime with other children such as counting the numbers in their group and dividing themselves up for their games, but parents’ are always looking for educational videos to stimulate those children’s intellectual development at home(McCormick, 1998),which indeed raises the children’s academic achievement but it lowers their expectancies of success and pride in accomplishments in their future (Deborah.,et,al., 1995). Studies are consistent with the hypothesis that children tend to gain better cognitive development in kindergarten as children are exposed to active interaction conservations, feedbacks and corrections are given to them so they are able to understand the concept better to avoid future mistakes. There are some limitations in this experiment. First limitations is generalization of the population, the sample size of this children was taken at one community area and the conclusions are based on the responses of those pre-schoolers children that have yet to have better understanding of the world. Therefore it does not generate enough data to prove that this experiment is reliable. This greatly reduces the external validity of this experiment. Second limitation is the history effect whereby some children are enrolled in other arithmetic classes that could possibly allow them to score higher than the others and eventually lead them to become outliers in the groups. This is one of the confound variable which this experiment had failed to control. Therefore, further studies are needed to eliminate this variable and including a control group will eliminate this confound. In conclusion, there are some improvements that need to make for this experiment to have better reliability and usefulness to the population. Researchers who are curious about how children acquire higher level of arithmetic abilities or cognitive development should conduct more studies and analyse how different age groups solve problems or question with increasing difficulty under different learning environments, what are some of the tools that they use to assist them in the process of learning, and last of all, the interaction between gender and learning environment should be further analyse and require further research.

Essay --

Two years ago, I started getting frequent headaches and dizziness. I was extremely stubborn and did not want to see my primary physician concerning my change in condition. I was checking my blood pressure more frequently and couldn’t help to notice the increase in pressure. I monitored my vitals for about six months. I tried everything I possibly could to change my lifestyle to aid in the relief. I started to run more and make healthier food choices. Nothing worked! My pressures maintained high. I was reluctant to visit the doctor. I personally did not want to be dependent on medications. After a long discussion with my spouse I realized I was being selfish. I scheduled an office visit the following week for a professional opinion. From the time I entered and left the primary care office, I was treated with dignity and respect. I felt extremely comfortable. I was happy I decided to commit myself. It was a big step to admit I wasn’t healthy. The nursing staff was completely empathic and concerned for me and my family. I could see I was the only thing that mattered while they were i... Essay -- Two years ago, I started getting frequent headaches and dizziness. I was extremely stubborn and did not want to see my primary physician concerning my change in condition. I was checking my blood pressure more frequently and couldn’t help to notice the increase in pressure. I monitored my vitals for about six months. I tried everything I possibly could to change my lifestyle to aid in the relief. I started to run more and make healthier food choices. Nothing worked! My pressures maintained high. I was reluctant to visit the doctor. I personally did not want to be dependent on medications. After a long discussion with my spouse I realized I was being selfish. I scheduled an office visit the following week for a professional opinion. From the time I entered and left the primary care office, I was treated with dignity and respect. I felt extremely comfortable. I was happy I decided to commit myself. It was a big step to admit I wasn’t healthy. The nursing staff was completely empathic and concerned for me and my family. I could see I was the only thing that mattered while they were i...

Meaning of life †Happiness Essay

By Occasionally, there comes a time in everyone’s life when they ask themselves if they have a purpose. This question is not easy to answer, but can only be answered by the person themselves. I once asked myself this very question. My purpose in life is simply to live. My answer to this question may be wrong, may look simple, and you may even laugh at it, but it means much more than it seems. The term â€Å"to live† has many meanings to me. Love, happiness, charity, and justice are just a few meanings I feel are parallel to this term. Love is a constant reminder of why I would want to have a purpose in life. When a person loves with their heart, the feeling they have is like no other. Anyone can love with his or her mind or body, but love of the heart and soul is hard to come by. I have loved with my mind many times before, but its not the same. I believe I have been struck with love, because it hit me like a freight train. The swift perfume and luscious looks of a girl are usually only temporary and I forget about it after the essence is gone. Although I believe I found the perfect combination of perfume, looks, and personality. Her name is Jodi Block. She is the the coolest person I know. She likes me for who I really am and doesn’t laugh at me for mistakes I make, or ever criticizes me for anything I do. She is always there with a compliment or telling me how good of a job I did on something. She is always there to listen to me when I have get something off my chest. I don’t know what I would do with out her. At the current moment, the only people I love with my heart are Jodi, my mother and father, and my two siblings Jordan and Erin. I don’t like to admit it, but its the truth. Like any son or daughter, I would be devastated if anything ever happened to them before their time. They are my main reason for wanting to succeed. The world has come to know that being happy is better than being sad. I believe the reason for this can never have an exact answer, but happiness is good and sadness is bad. Almost everyone agrees with this statement. The dilemma we must face ourselves with is what makes us happy and sad. There is no universal constant that makes everyone happy or everyone sad. The factors are for everyone. For myself, going hunting, fishing, driving, and being with Jodi are fun and make me happy. These factors associated with myself are for the most part positive activities. Surrounding myself with positive reflections comes by nature. Many people these days are materially well off, but are unhappy. We surround ourselves with clever toys, movies, and fashionable clothing, but in reality we are as mortal as any other is. Like most, I feel infringed upon when negativity is present. Though happiness is the goal of most, being sad is necessary. To be always happy in life would be as useless as having Christmas day everyday. We would soon begin detesting it. The question we must ask ourselves is what do we need to have that perfect balance of happiness? True happiness can only come from the understanding of that individual’s environment and nature of existence. Charity is a virtue that is deemed torturous by some, prosperous by others, but a necessity by most. Helping the fellow man has been known to happen since the dawn of time. Think of how many charitable acts have been committed throughout our many years of existence. Some of us would not be alive today if it were not for the fact. Think of when that soldier helped his comrade out of the trench or when that businessman spared a few coins for the homeless man on the street. These few examples show that when a person is in a time of need and they are not helped, grave dangers lie ahead until they are helped. Personally, I feel it is a duty to commit a charitable act when possible. If volunteer work is needed and I do not sign up without good reason, I normally feel guilty. I put myself in the position of the needed. If I were that person in need, would I have someone to help me? I answer yes through volunteer work, donations, or charitable acts. Charity is a necessity to those who receive, a simple act to those who give, and blessing to us all. Some have said that you can measure a person’s worth by how successful they have been. I beg to differ because of other factors, but prosperity is a virtue deemed important. I want to prosper in the future not only because I would like to make my parents proud, but because I was born for success. For years it has been engraved into my sub conscience that if I work hard, I will be prosperous. I plan on leading a successful life, but prosperity is not limited to long-term future actions. Anyone can be successful in just setting a worthwhile goal and accomplishing it. In the past two years I’ve sat through numerous business lectures and career workshops that were designed to broaden my intellectual thinking of the job market. Quite frankly, I’m sick of hearing about statistics with this technology field and how much money I can make in that one. I’ve learned plenty of skills to make myself prosperous and even learned â€Å"the art of verbal manipulation†, which is supposedly going to help me get a higher salary. Prosperity has its importance, but I say you can measure a person’s worth by how happy they are and have been. Knowing your personality is an aspect of life that I feel is important. You must be able to judge yourself before you can judge another. Personally, I have a moderate preference for emotions and impressions, but prefer my own familiar traits because that is where I feel most at ease. I don’t like being in strange places or having numerous relationships. I prefer having a small number of friends that are deep and important, rather than a ton of friends that I see every once in a while. An important component of my personality is reflected in my lifestyle. My preference is for that of a spontaneous and flexible life, rather than a set and fixed one. Taking things as they come is intriguing to me and surprises in life are even better. Feeling good about oneself is vital to survival. Without it, extreme measures, including suicide, may be taken. Though I do have my occasional letdowns, I am happy with who I am and with what I have become. Next to love and happiness, I feel drive and dedication are the most important virtues a person can have. Because I live my life from goal to goal, achieving and having other virtues come that much more easily. My most recent goal was to make sure I get to work and back home safely. My current goal is to try and write over four pages for my philosophy of life essay. Though I’m not quite there yet, setting goals comes natural to me. I do not prefer to write my goals down and keep track of how I’m doing on them. I rather keep them in my head and refer to them when needed. This is a previously stated aspect of my personality. Whether everyone knows it or not, setting and thinking out our goals is the basis for achieving them. Drive and dedication achieve goals for any hardworking individual. Above love, happiness, and dedication is my relationship with God. Though I have not visited his home on a consistent basis, I know when to pay my respect. I feel praising Him is necessary, but I choose to do it in my own way. I tend to pray when least expected. My relationship with God may not be to full scale, but I believe Him, love Him, praise Him, and respect Him. The rest is just details. I asked myself if I had a purpose in life during my junior year of high school. At the time, I had almost no idea of what I was asking myself. Though I still do not know the meaning of life, I know my purpose in life is to live with happiness, love, prosperity, charity, justice, and determination. My relationship and praise of God is the most important factor. In summary, I long to love, but do not love to long. Happiness and contentment are thrived on by all, but not all realize that it is charity which will bring these virtues. Besides these, drive and determination will also bring a person to be prosperous and happy. My philosophy is to live life to its fullest with no virtuous restrictions on yourself. Always taking another chance, exploring the boundaries, fighting my limitations. Always wanting more than I can have, opening doors that are better left closed, and wounds that should have long since healed. Accomplishing little in my endeavors to fulfill my life and trying to make sense of it all. Always trying to make the impossible a reality, attempting to fix the unrepairable. Doing things the hard way is how I make my way, thriving on stress and attempting the impossible. Some say I take great pleasure in self-affliction, I ask if there is any other way.

Principles of Banking and Finance Essay

What does Sub-Prime Crisis means? Sub Prime lending which is also known as near-prime, non-prime and second chance lending, means lending to people who might have trouble repaying the loan due to income ability or credit ratings which previously would not have been available to them. Credit ratings that might be not favorable to them with the standards set up initially by Financial Institutions slowly dwindle to less strict under-writing of loans. which could also due to an influx of foreign capital making lending easier to these group of people, the investment banks that sold the repackage mortgages to the consumers which is one of the way to fund for capital, and the Housing Urban Development of America policy to ensure that its citizens has access to mortgage loans easily. The cheaper interest rate packaged by the Financial Institutions which seems more affordable for the consumer for the first 1 to 5 years and the thereafter interest rate would have jumped significantly. The loan s here generally referred to mortgage loans. The Crisis started or snowball into what it was in 2007 in my opinion was due to greed. Greed into thinking that the property boom would continue in perpetuity so that the borrowers could cash out more from their current property market valuation, with this cash out in terms of personal loan they could fund or finance their lifestyle be it buying a new property for investment purposes, to flip or for rental. For the luxury in life they choose to enjoy now, spending future money. As the economy slowed, jobs are being taken away from corporation in America to other countries which have a cheaper source of overhead expenses and manpower. People are being retrenched thus causing them to start defaulting on their loan repayments. A statistic done has shown that the American households do not have any savings but was laden with debt instead. The housing bubble burst, the market does not have that much capital as it used to have to continue to push property prices up anymore, thus causing the market to slow overall, foreclosures of their properties was happening. Consumers was also unable to obtain a refinancing which they had planned previously to lower their interest rate again when it went up, as financial institutions feel the pinched and controlled its lending. How did the Financial Institutions played a part in this? In the past banks have financed their mortgage lending activities through the deposits they receive from their customers. This has confined the amount of mortgage lending they could do. In recent years, banks have designed a new model where they repackage these mortgages to be sold to the bond markets. This has made it a lot easier to fund additional borrowing from the investors and interest rate was low. But it has also led to abuses as banks no longer have the incentive to check carefully the mortgages they issue to the lenders. The failure to check and curb lending in return for the possibility of profit was one of the causes. The first sign of the sub-prime crisis was as early as 2007 when HSBC Finance which is part of the banks north American subsidiary has to write off 880 million in sub-prime lending. The business has become unsustainable as borrowers started to default. The new model which we have come to know is known either as Mortgaged backed Assets or Collateral Debts Obl igations. The repackage mortgages are being sold to the bond markets, before they can be sold, credit rating agency will determine and give the model a rating. A credit rating for an issuer takes into consideration the issuer’s credit worthiness example its ability to pay back a loan, and affects the interest rate applied to the particular security being issued. These MBS or CDOs as it has come to know are usually marketed to countries which has a surplus in its balance sheet as it was generally known that Asians believe in savings rather than spending future money thus the products were usually marketed in Asia, It is allege that the rating agencies experienced from conflicts of interest, as they were paid by investment banks and other firms that organize and sell these structured securities to investors. If there are not to give favorable ratings to these products they risk the underwriter of these securities to another rating agency. It would be hard to sell these products if they are not being given a rating to begin with. Once they are sold the banks have in a way diverted part of the risk to the consumers. Investors should not rely too heavily on these ratings agencies opinions but instead carry out their own homework in the safeness of debt level as well as others related securities. Probably the opinions of the agencies enable them to get a conclusion, however based on past decade of event, it can only be consider as off base when it comes to the risk of credit event. Investors should try to put themselves in the shoes of the product pushers, asking themselves very important points like, why do you need to sell these products? Do you own any of these products yourself? If it is as good as you mention have the private investors bought and participated a substantial amount of their savings in it? Perhaps there need to be some form of intermediaries whereby no conflict of interest will affect their opinion and report of these products. A case study in Singapore itself which has made headlines during this crisis was the minibond saga which was being sold in Singapore by a couple of Financial Institutions. The originator of this series of structured products was the now defunct Lehman Brothers. The Minibond was being illustrated to the local consumer as a bond which is not the case it is actually a Collateral Debts Obligations. The relationship managers in banks are eager to sell the product because of the high commission and the consumer who are eager to buy because the returns are much higher than the fixed deposit being offered by the banks. An estimated of 500 million Singapore dollars was purchased for the Minibonds by consumers. It stirred a series of conflicts with the Financial Institutions that sold these products, the consumers cried fouled into being mis-sold of it, some of the consumers managed to get back part of their investment and vowed not to touch these structured products ever again. We can take a look back into the 1990s where one of the policy set up and enforce by the Housing and Urban Development of America, was one of the cause of the sub prime crisis. With the support of the government, HUD has less mortgage restriction requirements on its borrowers. The mandate was that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which was regulated by HUD, was to generate up to 8 million more homeowners in America. It was known as the â€Å"National Homeownership Strategy†. No down payment was required, 100% financing for the property was the norm. This was partly possible due to the influx of cheap money in the market, wit h this cheap money consumers speculated with the market, they kept buying new homes thus the good years of where the appreciation of the property keep going up. Financial Institutions dare to lend due to the market confidence that it can only keep going up, borrowers confidence that the market too can only keep going up. A check with HUD official website, apparently the US government is still supporting home ownership program without first addressing a stable income issue. Only with a stable income can a person make regular commitment to his or her housing loan commitment. Kudos to the Singapore government for taking appropriate actions during the last few years when their economy was recovering, the measures taken to prevent over speculation of the property market in Singapore. Homebuyers with the extra cash were snapping up properties, either for owner’s occupation or for investment purposes. The government either learned from the Sub-prime crisis or foreseen that if it continues the way it is going, a market crash might be imminent or the crash will be too fast and hard, no soft landing for the consumers. As they knew that property market have its up and down. Steps was taken, it used to be 90/10. Whereby the buyer have to come up with 10% cash and the remaining 90% can be financed through a financial institutions regardless of the number of property they currently owned. It was changed to 80/20 rule, 20% of which is the owner’s own cash an 80% through financing. Surprisingly it did not deter the consumers, the market still kept soaring. The next rule implemented was the 80/20 rule for first time buyers, meaning buyers without any current mortgage loan, for buyers with an existing mortgage which was not yet paid up; they are only eligible for 60/40. 60% financing for their new property and an increased in the stamp duty to be paid for to the government if it was their 3rd property for Singaporean. The hardest hit was the foreigners who are seeking to invest their money in Singapore properties as they have to pay additional 10% stamp duty which is likely to deter most of them. P rices still kept going up, the latest ruling was much more complex than the previous few. If one is looking at 80% financing one can only borrow up to the age of 65 years old and tenure of not more than 30 years. Which was not the case previously, in previous scenario it was dependent on different Banks guideline in Singapore, they could lend up to the age of 70, 75 or 80. They stepped in and put a cap at 65 as they believe that is the retirement age. If you want to extend your loan tenure your financing amount will drop to either 60% or 40%. I believe the government did this as they knew that the US is going ahead with Quantitative Easing 3, they want to prevent too much hot money from landing in Singapore shore. To sum up, we learned from our mistakes and grow not to make the same mistake twice. A healthy economy is based on real economic goods with value. Hopefully US can still continue to create innovative products like Apple and keep their manufacturing production in US soil, get employment rate up. The citizens have to maintain their expectations in terms of salary wise and spend within their means. Tighten up their way of lending and controlling Banks to a certain extent, a culture that is profit driven but with ethnics. Can heed the investment guru jim roger’s advice to focus on farming as there will be a food shortage in time to come. Induce good saving habits in everyone to save up for a rainy day. http://www.ethicalquote.com/docs/SubprimeMortgageCrisis.pdf http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7073131.stm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_policies_and_the_subprime_mortgage_crisis http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060902626.html http://www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/mortgages-with-no-money-down/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2816291/HSBC-hit-by-sub-prime-crisis.html

Final Project

Final Project Part 2(Worth 20% of your grade) Student Name: James Keys Class/Section: CMIS 102 Professor Name: Jose Romero Assignment due date: 11/4/12 // Which State. cpp #include â€Å"stdafx. h† #include <iostream> #include <string> using namespace std; int main() { int x = 0; int found = 0; int count=0; float sum; float average; int age[10]; string name[10]; string Find_State = â€Å"†; string state[10]; string state_abbr[10]; bool okay = true; do { cout << â€Å"Enter the family member's name. Type ‘done' when complete. ;lt;;lt; endl; cin ;gt;;gt; name[count]; if ( name[count] == â€Å"DONE† || name[count]==†done†) { okay = false; break; } cout ;lt;;lt; â€Å"Enter family member's age† ;lt;;lt; endl; cin ;gt;;gt; age[count]; cout ;lt;;lt; â€Å"Which state is † ;lt;;lt; name[count] ;lt;;lt; † from? Type in CA, NY, TX, VA, VT? † ;lt;;lt; endl; cin ;gt;;gt; state[count]; if ( state[count] ==  "CA† || state[count] == â€Å"ca†) { state[count] = â€Å"California†; state_abbr[count] = â€Å"CA†; }else if (state[count]==†TX† || state[count] == â€Å"tx†) { state[count] = â€Å"Texas†; tate_abbr[count] = â€Å"TX†; } else if (state[count]==†VA† || state[count] == â€Å"va†) { state[count] = â€Å"Virginia†; state_abbr[count] = â€Å"VA†; } else if (state[count]==†NY† || state[count] == â€Å"ny†) { state[count] = â€Å"New York†; state_abbr[count] = â€Å"NY†; } else if (state[count]==†VT† || state[count] == â€Å"vt†) { state[count] = â€Å"Vermont†; state_abbr[count] = â€Å"VT†; } else { cout ;lt;;lt; â€Å"I don't understand!! † ;lt;;lt; endl; count–; } count++; } while (okay || count ! = 10); char yn=' ‘; do { cout << â€Å"Do you wish to list people living in a certain state? << en dl; cin >> yn; if ( yn == ‘Y') { cout << â€Å"Enter the state abbreviation : â€Å"; cin >> Find_State; for (x=0;x<count;x++) if (state_abbr[x] == Find_State) { cout << name[x] << † lives in † << state[x] << endl; found++; } if (! found) { cout << â€Å"Couldn't find anyone living in the state of † << Find_State << â€Å". † << endl; } } else if ( yn == ‘N') cout << â€Å"Okay, we'll continue on!! † << endl << endl; break; } while (yn ! ‘Y' || yn ! = ‘N'); sum = 0. 0; average = 0. 0; for ( x=0;x<count;x++) { sum = sum + age[x]; } average = sum/count; cout << endl << endl << â€Å"The average age of your family is † << average << † years old. † << endl << endl; cout << â€Å"The entered data was :† << endl << endl; for ( x=0; x < count ;x++) { cout << name[x] << † lives in † << state[x] << † and is † << age[x] << † years old. † << endl; } return 0;

Arguments against abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arguments against abortion - Essay Example The controversy lies on when and whether abortion should be done and the extent to which it should be denied or encouraged. It is this debate that has caused other countries to legalize abortion, such as the US, while others, such as Brazil, still consider the procedure illegal (Naden, 2008). This paper argues against abortion, based on its conflict with religious and moral standards, and thus supports its illegalization. First, abortion involves taking human life away, hence tantamount to murder. With this argument, it would be critical to understand when life begins. Proponents of abortion argue that an embryo is not a human being. They argue that it is only until such an embryo acquires human characteristics that it shall be recognized as a human (Thomson, 2010). However, these proponents do not draw a clear line from which an embryo becomes human. Therefore, it would be more reasonable to consider an embryo as a full human or a person (Beckwith 1992). According to England (1996), the embryo starts developing immediately an oocyte is fertilized by a sperm, a process that results in the formation of a zygote. A zygote is a large diploid cell and is the beginning of human life. It means that life begins at conception and thus the humanness of an embryo immediately after fertilization. This pro-life argument has been in existence in the history of the world for a long time. For instance, Naden (2008) observes that the Bible refers to the unborn as a child. It therefore recognizes the fact that an embryo already qualifies as a human being. Therefore, life begins at conception. This means that at whatever stage of pregnancy, from the first day to the last day of the ninth month, whatever is borne in the womb is a human being. As such, aborting pregnancy at any stage amounts to murder, and thus immoral. Secondly, having observed that abortion is tantamount to murder, it is against religious principles to decide on the death of a person, in this case the embryo, as only God reserves the sole power to decide when one should die. In basic terms, abortion is killing. No one holds the right to decide on the death or even life of an innocent person. However, Thomson (2010) observes that in situations where the life of the woman is at risk of death, say due to a cardiac condition that could prevent carrying the pregnancy to term, then she has the right to abort. Both the mother and the fetus have the right to life. Carrying out an abortion amounts to killing the fetus while doing nothing does not mean killing the mother, but rather letting her die. Furthermore, killing the fetus would be killing an innocent life that does not aim at killing the mother. Choosing between letting one die and killing an innocent person, the former holds moral expectations. However, if the mother opts for an abortion, it would not be considered as immoral, but rather an act to save her life. The mother’s right of deciding what happens to and in her body outweighs the right of the fetus to life. Finally, there are a myriad of physiological and psychological risks associated with abortion making it impermissible. Abortion remains an elusive area of study for a majority of doctors. Even after the procedure was legalized in the US, a Columbia University Medical Center professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Carolyn Westhoff, observes that the situation has not changed significantly with large teaching hospitals and medical schools not treating abortion as an important training area (Naden, 2008). This means that the area lacks adequate qualified personnel to handle the procedure. This leaves the task to physicians at freestanding clinics, exposing the women

Islam's Cultural Unity and Political Diversity Essay - 2

Islam's Cultural Unity and Political Diversity - Essay Example All who devote their faith to Islam must, therefore, heed its teachings on injustice. Justice is a virtue that if upheld by most societies of the world, the world can be a much peaceful community. Since the time of creation, justice has been preached to the world by both religious and unreligious means. The big problem is that injustice still runs the society to date. It is not news to hear a person being prosecuted without trial today or a person mobbed to death because of an accusation of theft, burglary and so forth. Injustice has grown to a level that is almost irreversible. Beefed with the various discriminations based on race, religion and political affiliations and interests, injustice all over the world is the order of the day. Despite the good teachings of Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon Him) and the Quran people have chosen to ignore the lessons and go on with wrongdoing. From the Quran teaching on peace, it is clear that one should not personal interests to hinder justice. Those who believe in the good teachings should stand with integrity and shun injustice with actions and not mere words. In so doing, they could help many people to get justice as so required. Prophet Muhammad also teaches us about justice. He tells us that among the six things that would guarantee us Paradise, is getting our hands off injustice. In the clip number two, Yusuf Hamza brings out how injustice is in play in the world today. In the third minute of the discussion, he narrates how the western countries and the other powerful states play the blame game of wars. He says that the powerful countries have always accused the Islamic countries to be producing weapons of mass destruction. He argues that the weapons are made by the mostly the Western nations and sell them to the Islamic countries that are then triggered against themselves to use the weapons. What the Western countries are doing is not just in the face

Mrs Fields Cookies Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Mrs Fields Cookies - Case Study Example Debbi and Randy while acquiring control of LPB thought that there were many similarities found in the two chains—Mrs Fields Cookies and LPB. According to Randy LPB was, â€Å"a logical extension for the bakery aspect of Mrs. Fields' Cookies† (Cash and Ostrofsky 9). Debbi and Randy saw the affiliation of LPB with Mrs Fields Cookies as a step taken for business expansion as the two chains suited each other. They were interested in combining the two forms of stores. Both of the store chains dealt with bakery items due to which, their combination business was not a destructive step. The senior managers working at Mrs Fields Cookies were given a chance to run the stores of LPB for understanding the working systems of the new chain (Cash and Ostrofsky 10). According to Debbi and Randy, LPB business was similar to their own as they have matching products, same customers, similar managerial issues and challenges and so on. By noticing the two chains, it is quite straightforward to consider that the two have a sameness in many terms, their working procedures, their products, and their consumers are very much alike. The chains are divided into a network of stores operative at various places. This feature also makes them alike in terms of their functional procedures and way of processing. According to my consideration, this affiliation is a prospective one for Mrs Fields cookies and the step of opening combination stores is going to be a successful one. The MIS (Managerial Information System) developed and employed at Mrs Fields Cookies is quite a useful information system as it keeps the capability of connecting all the outlets and stores of Mrs Fields Cookies. Paul Quinn is the director of MIS running at Mrs Fields Cookies (Cash and Ostrofsky 7). Paul Quinn had to report directly to Randy for every kind of information related to stores and outlets. The MIS is very supportive as it enables the managers to have easier options for decision making and informat ion gathering. According to Randy, if machines can do the jobs of people, more people should not be employed as smaller groups play smart.