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Theme Of Blindness In Trifles And Oedipus - 744 Words

Everyone has the will to acknowledge the truth or not, but there are some that are blinded to the truth. In the dramas Trifles by Susan Glaspell and Oedipus by Sophocles, Both having some type of blindness as their theme. While using the theme of blindness, the authors try to teach that the truth could sometimes be right in plain sight. In Trifles, you start to see the theme of blindness in Henry,Lewis and George during their investigation of the death of John Wright. An example of this occurs during the scene where the men look for evidence in the kitchen. Doing so they end up finding Minnies frozen and broken jar of fruit. While sheriff Henry ends up dismissing it because he declared it as unimportant, The wives of the men start†¦show more content†¦In Oedipus you can see the theme of blindness in Oedipus multiple times. An example would be during Oedipus ordering anyone who knows anything about the murder of Laius to speak. During this order he curses the murder by saying let that men drag out his life in agony, step by painful step. While thinking he knows what happened and acting quick to find the murder, Oedipus, was blinded to the truth that he didnt know he cursed at himself and the fate that waited for him. Oedipus ends up criticizes the people because of how long its taking to find the murder. While criticizing the people, Oedipus claims to fight for Laius as if he was his own father. This support the idea of blindness being the theme because Oedipus displays his own blindness to the truth. Second example would be when Oedipus accuses Tiresias of plotting to kill Laius, Tiresias being upset tells Oedipus that he is the murder, after insults being flung at each other. Tiresias calls Oedipus the blind one for not seeing the truth after Oedipus mocks Tiresias blindness. This is ironic because Oedipus was blinded by rage and couldnt realize his own blindness. The last example is when Oedipus is trying to get the truth out of the shepherd of his childhood. While the ones that knew about his fate, tried to stop him. Oedipus the only that doesnt know about his fate is so blinded that he threaten to torture and kill the shepherd if he does not speak. This support the idea

Audit & Assurance

Question: Discuss about the social and Ethical Understanding ? Answer : Introduction Businesses have to operate in complex structure today which makes the penetration of frauds easier due to the technological advancement. On one hand, technology has provided a tremendous boost to the growth of the business while opened a variety of route for the conduct of the fraud too. Hence proper planning and execution aids the business in the implementation of its strategies. The strategies need to be undertaken considering various factors that surrounds the business internally as well as externally. A few of the potential areas are discussed hereunder. Business Risk Before the commencement of a business, it is essential to list down the business risks. A business risk can be defined as a risk that arises out of events, circumstances, actions, conditions or such other situations that could adversely impact the ability of the company to achieve its objectives and goals (Dezdar Ainin, 2011). Instances of the same are financial risk like poor credit, going concern and liquidity risk or operational risk like physical disasters, stock shortages or compliance risks like violation of ASX code or incurring fines and penalties, so on and so forth. Hence the first step would be to identify the extent of damage or loss the risk can cause and whether sufficient internal controls are implemented to reduce the occurrence of the risks. A broad indication about the likelihood of occurrence of risk is obtained by the management by making inspections, audits and observations in the potential areas. Internal Controls Internal controls can be defined as a process or check designed by the management and board of directors to provide reasonable assurance that the entity achieves its objectives. The internal controls should ensure accurate and reliable financial reporting, compliance with laws and regulations, effectiveness and efficiency of operations and safeguarding of assets (David, 2009). Analysis shows that the most important factor causing a fraud is poor internal control. This control structure should be established by the management that will aid the management in ensuring that the irregularities are prevented, detected and corrected; assets are safeguarded; financial records are accurately reflected; management policies are adhered to and operational efficiencies are promoted that prevents the unnecessary duplication of errors (O'Brien Marakas, 2009). Irrespective of the due care taken in the design and implementation of internal controls, there a few inherent limitations of internal controls that management needs to be aware of like recording of an unusual or a non-routine transaction, mistake in judgment, management override of controls, changes in conditions and control breakdowns due to carelessness or collusion with staff (Kimball, 2008). Thus a perfect understanding of the working of the control will result in performing surprise tests and checks to analyze the effectiveness of the same. Information Systems As businesses evolve, there are changes in the operating environment, corporate restructuring, expanded foreign operations, rapid growth and appointment of new personnel. All this growth comes with a set of associated risks and has its own implications and consequences (Olsen, 2012). The information systems also have to be adequately designed to consist of procedures and records to initiate record and process business transactions and maintain accountability for assets, liabilities and equity. The prime focus should be presentation of financial information in accordance with the accounting standards (Peter et. al, 2013). The regular updating and maintenance of the information systems is an utmost requirement to capture all the latest business transactions and ensure quality financial reporting. Segregation of duties Division of work is a common feature and requirement in a corporate setup. It has to be ensured that individuals should not be allowed to perform such tasks where they are likely to commit an error and can also conceal or hide the same in the normal course of their duties (Fowler, 2010). There is a chain of activities for instance, executing a transaction, recording a transaction and maintaining custody of assets arising as a result of the transaction. Care needs to be taken that each of these activities should be assigned to different individuals or departments and the same person or department should not be assigned the responsibility in the chain transactions (Porter, 2008). The various steps in the execution of transactions should be assigned to different departments. In this way the responsibility for executing the accounting transaction should be segregated. Monitoring and Control Monitoring is the process by which the quality of internal controls is evaluated. The design and operation of the internal controls is assessed on a regular basis to take corrective actions wherever required. It includes ongoing monitoring, separate evaluations and reporting of deficiencies to the audit committee. Management review is obtained on the same and the response to customer complaints is discussed (Siraj et. al, 2011). Apart from this, it is vital for the company to have physical controls and inherent controls. Physical controls may be either direct which restrict the physical access to certain areas or indirect designing the programs and implementation. The access controls should be designed in a way to prevent the unauthorized access and use of data. Thus these are the few areas of knowledge; advice and recommendations that can help the company function better and execute its strategies in a more efficient manner. Application of teamwork knowledge and skills to work effectively with others across diverse accounting purposes and contexts. There was a time when a single person used to carry out all the work from journals, ledgers till finalization of financial statements. But today, with the increasing requirements of specialization in services, there is a specific person appointed for each function who is specialized in performing the same. Such a structure and framework requires a high level of coordination and teamwork among the members of the chain function. There is a difference between hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills refer to the technical knowledge of performing activities while soft skills are aimed at the manner and mode of communication in a way that is pleasing to deliver. The dimensions of teamwork that are useful in the accounting profession are coordination, decision making, leadership, interpersonal skills, adaptability and communication. Coordination is the method by which the resources, activities and responses are organized in a way to ensure that the accounting tasks are completed in a synchronized and organized manner within the time constraints. Decision making is the ability of the team to make the most efficient utilization of the available resources (Hanson et. al, 2011). Based on the possible evaluation of the available resources, logical and sound decisions are taken. Leadership is the process of assigning tasks to the team members, organizing and planning the work and creating a positive atmosphere within the team. It provides direction for the team. Interpersonal skills refer to the ability to understand the behavior of other team members and function in a way to avoid conflict among the team members. Adaptability refers to the ability to create awareness about the factors that are vital to the accounting task and making the team members adjust and deliver their best in the available conditions (Rud, 2009). Communication refers to the exchange of knowledge and resources among the team members about the status of the task or any problems encountered so on and so forth. Demonstration and application of knowledge of ethical and regulatory perspectives Accounting is the method of recording business transactions in a systematic and reliable manner and provides financial information to the stakeholders. Ethics is an area that impacts all walks of lives of humans. In order to achieve the objectives of the accounting profession, adherence to fundamental principles is a must (Mehdi, 2006). Accounting ethics has been touched upon by various professional bodies and organizations that have drafted rules, a gist of which is discussed hereunder. Integrity An accountant should be honest in performing professional services. Neutrality Professional accountants should be neutral and the services offered by them should be free from any prejudice, conflict of interest, bias or such other influences. Professional Competence care There are lot of developments in the regulations of accountancy profession which the professional accountants have to keep themselves updated with. Hence the accountants should keep themselves updated and render services with care, diligence and competence to do so. Confidentiality The knowledge of business gained from one client should not be shared with another client or used by the professional accountants for their own benefit. This builds trust in the services rendered by the professional accountants. Professional behavior The professional accountants should act in a way that is consistent with the reputation that the profession carries. Actions and words should reflect the credibility that the accountancy profession provides. Thus the ethical and regulatory perspectives of the accountancy profession require the rendering of high quality services that is in line with the latest amendments of laws and accounting standards (CPA, 2016). Illustrations In certain cases, corporate might expect accounting to obtain a favorable result that might require a compromise on the ethical standards. In such cases, for the benefit of the corporate, the accountant should not depart from the ethical standards and continue to render services that are morally valid. The causes for the same are listed below: Recording and accounting of transactions without proper supporting documents Misuse of internal controls Accounting based on altered or forged documents Incomplete registration or existence of dual offices Lack of compliance with financial and tax laws or regulations Use of dominance on subordinates forcing them to record transactions incorrectly Misappropriation of assets Collusion with internal and external auditors for hiding non-compliance and non-disclosure Adoption of improper accounting practices Window dressing the financial irregularities Making of false statements and claims to auditors or relevant authorities Disclosure of confidential information with third parties or competitors Failure to do physical verification of inventory and report incorrect information Providing of incorrect market information to influence the share prices Thus it can be seen that accounting is the commencement point for many bigger frauds that have led corporate houses to fail miserably. An audit of all the transactions cannot be done as auditors use sampling techniques. Hence it is highly likely that the accounting errors might escape and led to further financial distress for the stakeholders who are not aware of the true financial position. Six Step Process to ethical dilemma Relevant Facts Charles is appointed in the Graduate position at a large auditing firm, C B, through the contacts and influence of his father, William, who is a business consultant and a close friend of the audit partner at C B named Tim. Charles is under the supervision of a chartered accountant named Sebastian who is likely to get promoted as a Senior auditor and an Associate in the near future. The major client of C B is BrickBlocks Ltd and William provides business consultancy to a company that is a major competitor of BrickBlocks. This competitor is also audited by C B, but under a different audit partner. Ethical Issues Familiarity is the biggest threat to independence. In this case, independence is impacted in more than one area listed below: Charles is appointed in his fathers close friends office using his contacts and influence. Sebastian is more concerned about his own career despite knowing the fact that the vouching done by Charles is not complete and in compliance with the requirements. The CFO of BrickBlocks is an ex-girlfriend of Charles who assures Charles that Sales are properly accounted as it impacts her bonus as well. Affected Party Always in ethical issues, both parties are at a loss which might or might not be discovered. However in this case, the affected parties are as under: Charles is just using contacts and influences to secure a job and has not obtained it by his own talent, merit and hardwork. Apart from this, Charles has also not taken the initiative to learn the process of auditing sales and accounts receivable which might land him in trouble. Sebastian is affected because he is aware that the quality of audit is not good, yet he is forced to keep quiet for his own personal reasons. Alternatives available While performing an audit, it is necessary that the audit is carried out without any bias or influence and in a neutral manner. Over here the alternatives available are listed below: Charles should be appointed to work under a person not familiar to him. Sebastian should point out the mistakes of Charles irrespective of the fact that William is Tims friend and that Sebastian himself is expecting a promotion. Consequences of alternatives The consequences of the alternatives are discussed below: If Charles works under a third party, his personal knowledge, learning and growth will improve to a great extent. If Sebastian does this, then there are chances his work will be appreciated as it is ethically correct and he will still get the promotion due to him. Recommendations In the light of all these requirements under various sections, it can be concluded that there has been a compromise on the expressing of independent opinion in this audit due to conflict of interest and the breach of confidentiality by use of client information for the benefit of its competitor. It is thus seen how a small appointment can make things worse to a large extent and somehow as more familiar persons join together, the corporate comes to a fall. Hence independence of thoughts and actions are ultimately required to ensure a reasonable quality of audit. Conclusion Professional accountants are undoubtedly having the educational qualification to render services but the true and fair application of this knowledge is considered as an essence. With the technological advancements and the increase in the rights of shareholders, it has become all the more essential for accountants and auditors to provide services with integrity. References David, F.R 2009, Strategic Management: Concept Cases, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Dezdar, S., Ainin, S 2011, The Influence of Organizational Factors on Successful ERP Implementation, Management Decisions vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 911-926 Figueira, J, Greco, S Ehrgott, M 2005, Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis: State of the Art. Fowler, M 2010, Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, Addison Wesley. Hanson, D., Hitt, M., Ireland, R.D., Hoskisson, R.E 2011, Strategic Management: Competitiveness and globalization, South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia Mehdi, K.P 2006, Emerging Trends and Challenges in Information Technology, Management. Idea Group. Kimball, R 2008,The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit, Wiley. O'Brien, J Marakas, G 2009, Management Information Systems, McGraw-Hill. Olsen, E 2012, Strategic Planning Kit for Dummies, John Wiley Sons. Peter R, Alaa S, Aladdin A 2013, Business Intelligence and Performance Management: Theory, Systems, and Industrial Applications, Springer Verlag U.K Porter, M 2008, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors, Free Press Rud, O 2009, Business Intelligence Success Factors: Tools for Aligning Your Business in the Global Economy, Hoboken, N.J: Wiley Sons. Siraj, S., Mikhailov, L. Keane, J. A 2011, Priests: an interactive decision support tool to estimate priorities from pairwise comparison judgments, International Transactions in Operational Research, vol. 12, no.4, pp. 45-61 Weistroffer, H.R, Smith, C.H Narula, SC 2010, Multiple criteria decision support software, Springer: Oxford University Press. CPA 2016, An overview of APES 110 Code of Ethics, viewed 12 December 2016, https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/professional-resources/ethics/apes/overview

The Merchant of Venice Themes in justice Essay Example For Students

The Merchant of Venice Themes in justice Essay The Merchant of Venice was written by William Shakespeare probably around 1596; as a result the audience then was very different from today. During that period the play was written and based the treatment of Jews was very different from today, the reason being society often refuses to except immigrants as actual people that believe still exists today, the treatment of Jews was very poor, Jewish people were not allowed to hold employment except for the job of money lender, this made the Jewish people even more despised by the Christians of the time. The basic idea of the Jew and the merchant dates back centuries before Shakespeares time. The main story is a composed of aspects and ideas from many other stories, the idea of choosing caskets comes from ancient medieval folk tales, shylock is based on the Jew in Marlows play The Jew of Malta, Portias decision making scene (Act One Scene II), appears in Shakespeares earlier pay, two Gentlemen of Verona these links to other stories made the play very popular and familiar to Elizabethan audience. We will write a custom essay on The Merchant of Venice Themes in justice specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now By putting this story in its social context, it is clear that modern society will have a different perspective on the story than their Elizabethan counterpart. Shakespeares target audience would find the irony around Shylock an area of comedy, however a more modern audience would be more inclined to feel sympathetic towards him. The Elizabethan audience would have relished in the story with the villain everyone loves to hate, lots of romance, a good old fashioned Christian hero and a happy ending, sounds just like an episode of Eastenders! The play examines justice in several ways by using two types of justice, firstly legal justice this is the type of justice played out in a courtroom, and secondly moral justice this is the type we expected to do itself, people comeuppance. Several characters are used as vessels for these types of justice, such as Antonio, Shylock and Portia. Having several storylines all on the theme of justice brings an air of uncertainty around who actually gets justice. The story begins with Antonia and Bassanio discussing Bassanios need for money to woe Portia. Antonio suggests Bassanio borrowing money from a moneylender and name Antonio as the loans guarantor. Shylock offers to lend Bassanio the sum of three thousand ducats, however if the loan is not repaid in full within three months Shylock will be entitled to one pound of Antonios flesh. Bassanio heads of to Portia and Jessica, shylocks daughter runs of with Antonios friend, Lorenzo along with most of shylocks riches. Meanwhile Bassanio is met with a challenge set by Portias dead father, two other suitors have failed the test, much to Portias relief, Bassanio selects the correct casket and wins Portias hand in marriage. Graziano, Bassanios friend falls in love with Nerissa Portias lady in waiting. The couples get married, the marriage celebrations are cut short by news that Antonio has bee forced to forfeit the bond to Shylock. Bassanio and Graziano race to his aid. Portia and Nerissa secretly follow the to Antonios trial. Shylock ignores the many pleas to save Antonio. The Duke of Venice sends for a legal expert or Portia in disguise. Portia manages to press charges against Shylock, and he is forced to convert to Christianity and give up all of his wealth, after the trial everyone celebrates their good fortune. One of the most important issues to consider is the bond between Antonio and Shylock. The bond enables Shylock to claim one pound of flesh from Antonio if Bassanio fails to repay the three thousand ducats in three months. The bond was signed fairly and is legally binding, however it could be argued that when the contract was signed Antonio was pressured into signing it. There had always been a long-standing disagreement between Shylock and Antonio. Antonio often lends money to people interest free, ruining shylocks business. .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 , .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 .postImageUrl , .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 , .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260:hover , .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260:visited , .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260:active { border:0!important; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260:active , .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260 .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u24ff14bf17a8f1aabe5762b4181d1260:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Othello And His Tragic Flaw EssayHow like a fawning publican Iooks. I hate him for he is a Christian: But more, for that in low simplicity He lends out money gratis, and brings down The rate of usance here with us in Venice. If I can catch him on the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. He hates our sacred nation, Shylock about Antonio, (Act 1 Scene III) During the conversation between Antonio, Shylock and Bassanio, Shylock uses a bible story to explain how important a guarantee is, in any deal to which Antonio replies: The devil can cite scripture for his purpose, Antonio (Act 1 Scene III) Shylock and Antonio start to argue about there bitter past, Shylock turns the fiery discussion back to the bond, Antonio agrees to the bond, it could be argued that Shylock took advantage of Antonios pride. From a legal perspective the bond is perfectly legal however, morally some would say that putting a price on any amount of human flesh is wrong, a second moral issue is whether or not Shylock had the specific pound of flesh in mind when he announced the bond. The conflict between Jews and Christians is partly to blame for the serve punishment. The bond is defiantly legally binding however morally it is unclear how just the bond is. The guarantee for the bond is unfair as it is immoral to price Antonios heart and the conditions under which it was signed forced Antonio to agree. Antonios trial is one of the most important events in the terms of deciding who gets justice, when looking at the trial the crucial things to remember are; Portia is not a judge and is breaking laws by impersonating one, the court case is biased against Jews and Antonio is held in high regard by the Duke who is overseeing the case. Legally the case is void from the moment it begins as Shylock is unfairly represented, as Portia is impersonating the judge or legal expert, legally Shylock was entitled to a retrial, however apart from this the anti court is anti-Semitic, also Antonio brought along an army of supporters, with the entire courtroom and legal system against him Shylock still has the bond which is legally binding. Shylock is entitled to his pound of flesh. Antonios behaviour in the courtroom is simply subtle way of lulling the courts around to his way of thinking, he plays up to the role of Christian martyr, Antonio the victim, Daniel in the lions den, as he puts it, what we should remember is Antonios treatment of Shylock prior to the case, we know from there first meeting Antonio has always stuck for himself giving as good as he gets and often a bit more. When it comes to the crunch, Portia finds a loophole in the bond the only legally binding scrap of hope Shylock has, Portia discovers Shylock is entitled to one pound of flesh exactly and not a drop of blood, however if we read back to the point where the bond is agreed it states a pound of flesh to be cut out and taken, therefore Portias point is petty and would be disregarded in any fair trial. The second offence Portia tries to pin on Shylock is conspiring to kill a Venetian citizen, Shylock was not trying to kill Antonio if Antonio dyes as a result then it becomes a different matter. Both of Portias points are unjust and unfair, shylocks punishment is very harsh, Shylock instead offers to accept the thrice the bond Bassanio offers gladly, however Portia refuses it, we must question is this her fight for justice or the fact Bassanios purse is full of her money. By forcing Shylock to become a Christian, forfeit his possessions to the state, and forgive his daughter, Antonio is simply mocking Shylock, what do they gain from his punishment. In a fair court the whole case would have been dismissed. .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 , .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 .postImageUrl , .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 , .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971:hover , .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971:visited , .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971:active { border:0!important; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971:active , .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971 .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue38abb72e904f6ac3c78f113892d7971:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Writing about A Dolls House EssayWhen deciding who gets justice, Shylock defiantly receives none of the justice he deserves. The only possible is the bond was server and he deserves his punishment, however, Shylock isnt really evil he has simply bee bullied into the twisted bitter old man we see at the trial by years of anti-Jew ways, his daughter running of with a Christian just before the trial and not having a wife. In terms of Portia and Jessica there are similarities between them, both of them have been set rules by there fathers, Portia follows hers and her father although dead, receives the moral justice he deserves however Jessica ignores her rules adding to the justice Shylock is denied. Antonio on the other hand deserves nothing, he was under no obligation to agree to the bond, although he was undertaking it for the right reasons, Bassanio the reason for the bond tried to persuade Antonio to not bother but Antonios pig headed pride takes charge. Furthermore Antonios treatment of Shylock was utterly appalling and is the ultimate reason for shylocks bitterness. Although it wasnt his fault he couldnt repay the loan, the only reason he entered into it in the end was to prove a point over Shylock. Antonio deserves nothing but somehow justice is miscarried and he gets everything. Portia gets the justice she deserves for obeying her fathers wishes, by Bassanio winning the challenge, however she wrongs Shylock and robs him of his livelihood, and lies to the court, she escapes justice as she should have been tried. In conclusion, Shylock is the one who should be getting the justice as he deserves it, but it is robbed from him by those who dont.

beyond the dead essays

beyond the dead essays This play was the resounding voice of the dead. The direction of the play closely followed the original direction of the script. By that I mean that the unity of the play was contingent on the premise of the original writer. I believe that the director of this play was trying to uphold the message that Irwin Shaw first presented with this play. The play was directed very well. It seemed that it drove the intended message home well, which in this case I would consider an appreciative success. The view that I carried while watching this performance changed dramatically. Before the viewing, and during the first scenes, I was convinced that the plot was too dramatic. There has always been an enormous amount of sacrifice by soldiers during times of war. I thought this to be more of a degrading look at war, and it's atrocities. I believe in the sacrifices of war, or at least I thought I did. The play convinced me that not always is sacrifice necessary, and often times the sac rifice goes unnoticed, or without proper revere for those giving up their lives. I would call the performance a sensitive, yet very real portrayal of the very large, yet mostly unseen, and unappreciated, losses of life. The actors did a pretty good job. On simple terms, they all remembered their lines, and the specific movements required of them. I guess that I don't know that for fact. If there was a mistake though, it was covered very well, which would indicate even better acting to me. The group of men that played the soldiers worked well together. They all seemed to be plagued by exactly the same symptoms. Of course they were all dead, but no one knows how to act dead-alive. Their individual acting of the symptoms was great, because in each we could see the same traits. They all swayed from side to side, or all kept a very somber, quiet look on their faces. Then they six were all further challenged by having to maintain these similarities ...

Alzheimer’s disease Essays

Alzheimer’s disease Essays Alzheimer’s disease Essay Alzheimer’s disease Essay This specific instance is about Eli Lilly developing a new drug which is said to cure Alzheimer’s disease. However, when patients started taking the drug, their condition even regressed. Moreover, they risked developing skin cancer. Although there are various aspects involved here, the problem that this paper will address is that of ethical practices. Lilly obviously conducted laboratory tests which proved successful. When they tested the drug in real people with Alzheimer’s, they realized that it’s not working and it’s even contributing to a worse case of Alzheimer’s. But what could have been done in order to prevent this type of scenario? The next question here is, to what degree must human testing be done in order to serve the common good? Given that the experiment was successful, the next the Lilly will do is to mass produce and manufacture this drug and sell it to people with Alzheimer’s. But now that it turned wrong, were the experiment participants insured before the experimentation began? Should the experts considered stopping the experimentation when the first few symptoms of regression appeared? Lilly is a global pharmaceutical plant leading in most researches to discover new medications for various types of disease. However, in this particular experimentation procedure, pharmaceutical ethics were not applied. There could be a â€Å"greater good† which needs to be attained- even though it means sacrificing other people to do so. Anyway, since the experimentation was not successful and Lilly expressed that it will not continue the research on this drug anymore, then goals were not met. There was no wonder Alzhemier’s drug that was created and it even caused more suffering both to the Alzheimer’s patients who tested the medication and their family. Bibliography Kolata, G. (2010, August 18). Doubt on Tactic in Alzheimer’s Battle. Retrieved August 21, 2010, from nytimes. com/2010/08/19/health/19alzheimers. html? _r=1ref=health Appendix A Doubt on Tactic in Alzheimer’s Battle By GINA KOLATA Published: August 18, 2010 The failure of a promising Alzheimer’s drug in clinical trials highlights the gap between diagnosis - where real progress has recently been made - and treatment of the disease. It was not just that the drug, made by Eli Lilly, did not work - maybe that could be explained by saying the patients’ illness was too far advanced when they received it. It was that the drug actually made them worse, the company said. And the larger the dose they took, the worse were patients’ symptoms of memory loss and inability to care for themselves. Not only that, the drug also increased the risk of skin cancer. So when Lilly announced on Tuesday that it was ending its large clinical trials of that drug, semagacestat, researchers were dismayed. â€Å"Obviously, this is disappointing news, to say the least,† said Dr. Steven Paul, an Alzheimer’s researcher and a recently retired executive vice president at Lilly. Beyond the setback for Lilly, the study raises questions about a leading hypothesis of the cause of Alzheimer’s and how to treat it. The idea, known as the amyloid hypothesis, says the disease occurs when a toxic protein, beta amyloid, accumulates in the brain. The idea is that if beta amyloid levels are reduced, the disease might be slowed, halted or even prevented if treatment starts early enough. The Lilly drug, like most of the more than 100 Alzheimer’s drugs under development, blocks an enzyme, gamma secretase, needed to make beta amyloid. It was among the first shown to breach the blood-brain barrier and reduce levels of beta amyloid in the brain. And, company studies showed, it did reduce amyloid production. â€Å"We did get enough in the brain to have an effect,† said Dr. Eric Siemers, medical director of Lilly’s Alzheimer’s disease team. â€Å"Unfortunately, the effect was not what we wanted. † Now researchers are focused on what went wrong, and why. Some, like Dr. Lon Schneider, an Alzheimer’s researcher at the University of Southern California, say the drug’s failure may mean the field is rushing off a cliff in its near single-minded focus on blocking the production of amyloid. Dr. Schneider, like most leading Alzheimer’s researchers, consults for a number of drug companies, including Lilly. The Lilly study’s failure, he said, â€Å"chips away at that approach to testing the amyloid hypothesis. † â€Å"We don’t know what the drug targets for Alzheimer’s disease are,† Dr. Schneider said. â€Å"We don’t know because we don’t know the causes of Alzheimer’s. † At the very least, said Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, an Alzheimer’s researcher at Duke University, the Lilly result â€Å"clearly tells us that our current views may be too simplistic. † Dr. Doraiswamy said he was not abandoning the amyloid hypothesis. But, he said, â€Å"this is a time of major soul-searching in the field. † â€Å"What worries me is that we don’t know if this was a toxicity unique to Lilly’s drug and this late-stage population or whether it also applies to similar anti-amyloid therapies given at earlier stages of the disease,† Dr. Doraiswamy said. The bad news came on the heels of what researchers see as a resurgence of hope in this challenging field. With new cooperation in research they have made advances in diagnosing Alzheimer’s, a disease that used to be uncertain until autopsy. And those new diagnostic tests are still exciting, researchers said. PET scans of amyloid plaques in the brain and tests of cerebrospinal fluid can show amyloid accumulation long before people have symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and, as recently reported, appear to identify people at high risk of the disease. Researchers believe the best time to try to alter the course of the disease is before memory loss. By then, brain cells are dead or dying and are unlikely to be restored. At this point, though, when there is no treatment, those tests are primarily a benefit for companies testing new therapies and researchers trying to understand the disease’s progress. . The long journey of semagacestat began more than a decade ago when Lilly scientists discovered it could block gamma secretase in laboratory experiments. Years of work followed, showing it appeared safe, that it got into the brains of people, that it reduced the production of amyloid in the brain. Finally, in 2008, Lilly began two large studies of semagacestat, enrolling more than 2,600 people with Alzheimer’s disease. The company did not expect its drug to reverse the disease - patients’ brains were too ravaged for that, said Richard Mohs, Lilly’s team leader in Alzheimer’s research. But it did hope to slow the disease’s progression. Now, with the abrupt end of the studies, patients will continue to be followed but no one will be taking any more of the drug. â€Å"The fact that people got worse means there is biology we don’t understand,† Dr. Mohs said. There are several possible explanations. One is that the drug altered the functioning of other proteins in the brain and body - it now appears that gamma secretase is involved in the production of about 20 proteins in addition to beta amyloid. Companies, including Lilly, are developing drugs that block gamma secretase from making amyloid but have little effect on other proteins. One company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, says that is what its drug does. Its drug is now being tested in two clinical trials. In one, the participants have Alzheimer’s. In the other, they have lesser memory impairment and have brain amyloid PET scans and tests of cerebrospinal fluid showing amyloid is accumulating in their brains, indicating that they are likely to develop Alzheimer’s. â€Å"We still like the amyloid hypothesis,† said Charlie Albright, a Bristol-Myers group director in neuroscience biology. The Lilly drug failure â€Å"doesn’t affect our enthusiasm about going forward. † Another possibility is that the enzyme is decreasing production not just of a dangerous form of amyloid, known as a beta 42, but also of another form, a beta 40, that may protect the brain. Companies are developing so-called selective gamma secretase inhibitors, Dr. Paul said, which only block the production of a beta 42. Lilly and other companies are also testing monoclonal antibodies to reduce amyloid levels. And companies are pursuing a more difficult target - blocking a protein, tau, that accumulates in dead and dying nerve cells after the disease is under way. But Alzheimer’s experts worry about the future. The research is extremely expensive - Lilly spent hundreds of millions of dollars on its failed drug - and it can take a decade or more to know if a drug works. It can take even longer if drugs are tested in people with mild symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease or in people who are at high risk but have no symptoms yet - a direction many think is necessary to really make a difference. â€Å"Failures certainly don’t build energy and enthusiasm,† said Dr. Samuel Gandy, an Alzheimer’s researcher at Mount Sinai Medical Center. â€Å"The market is still there, but failures do take their toll. † A version of this news analysis appeared in print on August 19, 2010, on page A14 of the New York edition.

Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria Research Paper

Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria - Research Paper Example This can partly be attributed to the fact that microbes and bacteria which spread the infections are quite flexible in nature and have a great tendency to resist the effect of antibiotics. Another factor that has increased the resistance of microbes and bacteria against the antibiotics is the increased use of antibiotics. 12500 tons of antibiotics were prescribed in the US in the year 1998. More than 60 percent of the use of antibiotics in the US can be attributed to the agricultural practices resulting in an increase of 18000 tons of antibiotic use yearly (Todar, 2009). These days, almost 70 percent of the infection-causing bacteria are able to resist some common antibiotic drug. Antibiotics were found originally as a result of an experiment conducted in 1928 by Alexander Fleming. In the 1940s, the findings generated by this experiment were employed for mass-production of penicillin using the Penicillium notatum as a mold. Strains resistance of bacteria were started to be found in t he late 1940s. As of today, over 70 percent bacteria which are responsible for the spread of the hospital-based infections resist at least one antibiotic. There are myriad of reasons for the continued spread of the antibiotic resistance. These reasons include but are not limited to the excessive recommendation of the antibiotics’ by the doctors, retarded compliance of the patients with the prescribed treatments, employment of the antibiotics as growth drivers in the animals, insufficient hygiene of the hospital environment and enhanced international voyage. There are two fundamental ways in which the resistance of bacteria can be improved. The first way is by employing a built-in feature that facilitates the exchange of resistance genes among the bacterial DNA. The second way is by mutation. Antibiotics kill the cells of the bacteria by causing a distortion in the critical function. â€Å"This is achieved in the cell in much the same way that a saboteur can cause a massive j etliner to crash by simply cutting the hydraulic lines† (Purdom, 2007). Antibiotic resistance of bacteria works only by causing a disruption in the functional systems. Evolution of the bacteria into man needs strengthening of these systems. It becomes difficult for the antibiotic to link with the altered protein when the bacteria â€Å"have a mutation in the DNA which codes for one of those proteins† (Purdom, 2007). Public health is exposed to a lot of threats with the increase in antimicrobial resistance because it declines the efficiency of the antimicrobial treatment and increases the mortality rate, morbidity and the cost of healthcare in the long run. The mortality rate jumped from 0.2 percent to 3.4 per cent upon the outbreak of resistant Salmonella spp. Strains. â€Å"In 1995 the cost of containing an outbreak of infection caused by methicillin-resistant S. aureus in a district general hospital in the United Kingdom was estimated to exceed US$ 560 000†¦whil e the annual health care cost associated with the treatment of resistant infections in the USA was estimated at over US$ 4 billion† (Smith and Coast, 2002, p. 126).

Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 10

Book Review - Essay Example The author has described how the hormonal changes in different stages of woman’s life create different physical and behavioral changes in her and how these changes help her to cope with different roles that she plays at in her life. The book â€Å"The Female Brain† is a good book for understanding the difference in brain structure and hormones of women and men. However, the dramatic and the magazine like style of writing make the book lose the ‘depth’ of the subject matter. Hence, even though the book gives some meaningful and important facts about the female brain, the repetitive nature of the information makes the book lose its grip on the reader. After reading the whole book, the reader feels that the author had only few things to discuss about the female behavior and everything else was added just to increase the pages of the book. The essence of the book is the effort by the author to reveal that woman’s emotions, values, desires, decisions and the perception of reality are hugely influenced by the neurological effects caused by the hormones. The hormones that influence women’s brain and men’s brain are different and hence, their behavioral pattern, emotional pattern and thinking pattern are different. The author has discussed how the three major hormones of estrogen, dopamine and oxytocin influence woman’s mind and body to develop the ‘feminine’ qualities in her. The book reveals how estrogen is responsible for unique qualities like empathy and intuition in women. Women have a natural tendency to read emotions in body language, seek social interaction, trust others and remain loyal. According to the author, these qualities are unique to women because estrogen makes them seek social interaction and emotional bonding. The presence of the hormone oxytocin makes women tru st others easily. Hormone dopamine is responsible for craving of sex and love in women. On the other hand, as the

Violent Video Games Essay Example for Free

Violent Video Games Essay Video games are becoming one of the favorite’s children all over the world. Every child could like to behave or act like an artist or actor whose acts are violent. The behavioral patterns of children have changed to violence and wherever they do something or any activity, they do it with a lot of violence, imitating what they saw on the video games. The world is breeding a generation of children who are violent which therefore means that the world in a few tears will be full of a generation of violent people. The minds of these children have also been changed and affected as the continued feeding into their minds with violent video games has made them to be different human beings all together. The sales of video games have grown drastically to a level which is alarming. The impact of excessive watching of the video games is clearly seen as to the way children are behaving and how they have been addicted to watching them. The hypothesis for this discussion could be â€Å"that the continued watching of violent games by the children has caused psychological problems in children and this has resulted to changes in their behavioral patterns. † Allowing the children the watch violent video games is infact doing injustice to them because it is one way of destroying them morally, socially and psychologically. An immediate action has to be taken and that a remedy must be found to protect these children from getting too much exposed to watching violent video games. For the children to grow up and develop into responsible adults in future, parents have the responsibility to find out and know what their children are watching and then take the necessary action. No parent could wish his/her child to be become violent or in any way that is against the good morals. The thesis should be supported because it is meant to protect the children from engaging themselves in watching violent video games that ultimately will influence them to change their morals and imitate bad ones. A research conducted by Anderson, C. A. , Bushman, B. J. (2001) on the Effects of Violent Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior concluded that the more children ere exposed to watching violent video games, the more there are likely to be affected psychologically . This thesis will help the parents and the guardians to be alert to check on what their children are watching and if they notice a strange behavior by their children, then they should be in a position to find out why and take the necessary action. In their book Dill, K. E. , Dill, J. C. (1998). Video Game Violence: A Review of the Empirical Literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, they argue that parents have a major responsibility of knowing what their children are doing and watching. Failure to do so will be followed by worst consequences that will be their own making. The hypothesis will also give a background for further research on violent video games and their impact on the psychological development of the children. According to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology on Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and Life by Anderson, C. A. , Dill, K. E. (2000) they argue and urge that more research should be conducted in future to find out the psychological impacts on the children and more related issues should be brought in as the parents are the contributing factors to this issue because they also watch the violent video games with their children. There are those whom may not agree with the hypothesis may be because they have not been able to gather enough evidence or may be they feel and think that children are too young to be psychologically affected by watching violent video games. Children mostly like watching violent videos which shows acts of violence that they later practice. Parents have not been keen to check on what content their children are watching, but they are the first ones to complain about the behavioral changes of their children which are deviant, rude and violent. Over the past few years, several studies (Creasey, G. L. , Myers, B. J. 1986) have been carried on the psychological effects of violent video games on children. The majority of this research looked at the associations between video game use and the aggressive behavior and also on the effects of video games on school performance. Even though the video games are designed for entertaining, challenging and educational, most of them include the violent content. Recent research on video games indicates that as many as 89% of the games contain violent content and therefore, among the games that are purchased and played by the children contains violence. Playing violent video games increases the aggressive behaviors of children, increases their aggressive cognitions, their aggressive emotions, their physiological arousal and decreases their prosocial behaviors. These effects have psychologically affected the children and completely changed their behavioral patterns. Parents do not often put limits on how much time the children are allowed to play video games and how often the same parents checked on the contents of the video games. Even a few of them check the video content and found it to be violent, on a few occasions could deny their children from watching them. (American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, 2000) Children have perfected the best ways to convince their parents to buy for them the video games they could like to watch. They even convince their parents that the video games they are about to watch are not violent, to which their parents just accepts without any further investigation. The parents have been victims of violence meted against them by their own children who have become violent through watching violent video games. Children spend most of their time, especially during holidays to watch video games at the expense of their educational studies. The contents of the video games being played could certainly affect the relationship between the amount of their play time and their school performance. Children who use computers to play violent or non-violent video games perform more poorly in school, whereas those who use computers in performing school work performed better. This is clear indicator that excessive or continued watching of violent video games intoxicates the mind and changes the reasoning and concentration of children on educational maters (Dill, K. E. , Dill, J. C. 1998). Teachers in various schools are raising concern on the changed behavior patterns of the children. They are saying that the children have become rude, brutal and bullies amongst the other children and to the teachers. The children feel superior and muscular enough to respond to any fights. The boys are the majority victims than the girls, though girls are also interested in watching violent video games but not as boys. Boys quite often harass girls using the techniques they have watched, liked and imitated. They feel that they are mature enough and can behave exactly like what they watched on the video games. This makes them to forget that they are still young children whose minds have been tainted with violent materials (Van Schie, E. G. M. , Wiegman, O. 1997). Conclusion Children should not be allowed to watch violent video games when they are still young. This greatly affects their psychological development, changing their behavioral patterns. It is painful for parents and guardians when the children they are supposed to take care of become rude, violent, deviant and act as if they are criminals by dressing, way of speaking. It is their responsibility to make sure that whatever material their children watch has the right material content and teaches good morals. If the children will experience psychological problems through watching violent video games, even their academic performance will go down. The acts of violence copied by the children will be of negative impact to them, hence we will in future have a society which will be violent. Something must be done through concerted efforts to rectify the situation before it is too late. As children begin to see the world in aggressive terms and therefore begin to act aggressively, their personality changes to become more aggressive and hostile. These changes will result in increased opportunities for aggressive behavior, because of both changes in the individual’s personality and the changes in the situations the individual (child) is likely to get involved in as others react to the individual. This is all brought about by watching violent video games. Recommendations Several recommendations can be of great help and these include; the parents should play the video games with the children. From this they will be able to know what their children are exposed to watch and how they will react to different features in the game, parents should know their children, in that if a child becomes aggressive after watching violent video games, they should stop buying such games regardless the child’s age, parents should talk with the children if they sense that their children are disturbed after watching a violent video game. This could be an opportunity for the parent and the children to discuss more deeply on the video games, the parents should set limits for watching the video games. Infact they should censor the video games before the children watch them and the video game makers should be informed that the games they are making and selling for children to watch are more violent and bringing more harm to the children and so should make games that are children friendly. The teachers at school should also assist the parents in counseling the children who they discover that they have been victims of watching violent video games. If this has affected their class work, they should inform their parents so that they can look for a way forward together to help these children to return to normality. References American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, American Medical Association (2000). Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children Anderson, C. A. , Dill, K. E. (2000). Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Anderson, C. A. , Bushman, B. J. (2001). Effects of Violent Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A meta-analytic Review of the Scientific Literature. Psychological Science. Creasey, G. L. , Myers, B. J. (1986). Video Games and Children: Effects on Leisure Activities, Schoolwork, and Peer Involvement. Merrill–Palmer Quarterly, 32 Dill, K. E. , Dill, J. C. (1998). Video Game Violence: A Review of the Empirical Literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior Lynch, P. J. (1999). Hostility, Type A Behavior, and Stress Hormones at Rest and After Playing Violent Video Games in Teenagers. Psychosomatic Medicine Van Schie, E. G. M. , Wiegman, O. (1997). Children and VideoGames: Leisure Activities, Aggression, Social Integration, and School Performance. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

Private Schools vs. Public Schools :: Private Schools vs. Public Schools

The first position of chapter three is supportive of private schools. This position feels that private schools prevent the public schools from having a total monopoly over education by offering the community an alternative choice. This choice also produces competition with public schools for student enrollment. This position views public schools as something a student must accept as the only option if his or her parents can not afford a private school education. This is an obvious short coming to private schools, since they do not operate on the taxpayers' funds. However, some private schools do provide scholarships to poorer families. However, one distinct advantage of private schools is their abilities to satisfy their students' special needs. A military academy, for example, provides the strict discipline that some students need. Basically, a private school works for the students' desires, while a public school demands that its students work for their designated needs. The intellectual climate at a private school is more academically oriented than public schools. Private education provides students with a broader education that accepts diversity. Public education, however, does not have as much diversity due to strict public control that tries to avoid offending others. Private schools are considered to be more experimental because they try and accept new ideas faster. The American public generally seems to support private education, according to this position.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second position of chapter three favors public schools. This position feels that private schools are an unnecessary burden and expense to the public. Private schools have the tendency to tarnish the image and reputations of good public schools. Magnet, or theme-oriented, schools are public schools that provide various, specific programs of study for their students to choose from. An example of a magnet school is the dance school on the television program Fame. Despite some criticism, public schools are still a strong force in America. This is in part because public schools bring together different races into one school building. Private schools are intended for the wealthy, according to this position. The isolation created by a wealthy-only atmosphere prevents students from being exposed to reality. A controversial topic regarding private schools is that parents can obtain vouchers to send their children there. This is another free ride for the wealthy, the very people who do not need governmental assistance. Overall, this position views private schools as privilege available and dedicated to the wealthy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My personal opinion of chapter three favors private education. Despite the fact that I attended a public school, I feel that private schools have as much right to exist and operate as do public schools.

Mountainside Industries consultant report Essay

Upon analyzing the ongoing problems facing Mountainside Industries in effort to increase efficiency and reduce production cost. Company-wide resolutions must be implemented. This report comes to the following conclusion that in efforts to rectify the proceeding situations, Mountainside Industries should implement the following; communicate to all employees a shared vision for the company’s future, reconstruct the administrative framework, encourage employees to take initiative, and planning and implementing a proper payroll system that will result in smoother operations and efficiency. Shared Vision of Company’s Future Creating a clear and effective future company vision delivers many benefits to the business. Not only does a clear, shared vision help define the values of a company and its employees, but it also helps guide the behavior of all employees. A strong vision also leads to improved productivity and efficiency, in which seems to be a growing problem for Mountainside Industries. With a clearly communicated vision, Mountainside Industries will encourage involvement from its employees and create a sense of shared vision that will enable the organization to realize the benefits associated with a strong sense of vision. It is important to create this company-wide vision in order to benefit the company. Restructuring the Administrative framework at Mountainside Industries If the company aims to resolving the occurring issues with its employees, it is important for the company to employ a proper leadership style. The improper management strategies of the Administrative System at Mountainside Industries, in conjunction with lack of proper communication has caused the financial status of the industry to become unsteady. Currently, a major issue lies between the manager’s more authoritative approach in which the workers feel obliged to respect the leader, as opposed to the more lenient  operations occurring prior to the new leadership changes that has caused productions to slow. In order to resolve these issues, the company should introduce a â€Å"Code of Ethics† that both administrative and production employees must abide by to keep from any future employee/management complications from arising. This will resolve the current resentment tissues that the employees have incurred for management, and will improve the relationship between mana gement and employee. Encourage Employees to Take Initiative In order to encourage employees to become more involved within the company, the need for employees to take initiative on their own to do what needs to be done is the best way to insure the company’s future as profitable. The problem that pertains at Mountainside Industries is that the company lacks in treating all members of the company as valuable, which remains to be a major issue. The workers are unhappy because they feel that there is unfair treatment occurring leading them feel discouraged and invaluable. Employees need to be encouraged and rewarded for being involved, as well as taking initiative, and sharing ideas. In addition to helping the organization save money by reducing costs, improving processes, and delight the company’s ethics, taking initiative makes the employee’s job much more exciting encouraging them make things happen. A company that encourages their employees to get involved in the decision making process will encourage employees to become more involved as well as increase productivity within the company. Planning and Implementing a Proper Payroll System In order to increase company efficiency, the company should implement a payroll system that compensates employees according to their productivity output and efficiency. Currently, workers complain that the wages are low, and turnover is high among the young males, which they then compensate for by taking breaks or taking home with them company materials, causing production cost to increase and efficiency levels to decrease. A proper payroll system will improve the efficiency of the workforce, and increase  production due to monetary incentives. Rewarding workers for their efforts will keep the workforce from veering off their intended duties, thereby reducing employee turnover and costs. It is vital for the company to implement a proper payroll system if they are to entourage workers cut costs and increase efficiency to insure the company’s future goals are reached.

Adolescent and Predictable and Unpredictable Elenents of This Transition and Associated Life-Stage Essay

Abdallah. Ayda Critical Reflection Essay Introduction Within the context of nursing there has been a significant change in nursing in the last two decades, where nursing and medical knowledge has led to changes where patients can no longer stay in hospital and reduction in hospital beds. Professionals who are employed in the healthcare industry are dealing with acutely ill patients who are in more need of care (usher et al 2009). As professionals we must discover the nature that is offered to us by responding and using reflective thoughts to enhance the important aspects in society (Lauder et al 2004). And qualified nurses, acknowledge and understanding is essential for their practice to remain current, continuous improvement in reflecting on our thoughts, and what we do becomes Habitual to our practice (usher et al 2008). It is a necessity for nurses to use critical thinking as it helps gather relevant information to assist practitioners in examining assumptions and identify relatio nships and patterns (Parker & Clare 2000). We begin this chapter by exploring the concept of critical reflection and why it is important for a nurse, as well as provide an over view of the related legislation that requires the use of reflective thinking in practice by registered nurses, the next section addresses the Gibbs Cycle of what, why and overview of definitions of reflection. Nurses are becoming more aware of the need to utilize and improve their practice, as well as consider the political, social structure issues affecting it. (Taylor 2000). As changes are occurring with the nursing context it is essential for nurses to analyze and respond to different challenges. Initiatively, reflection is the foundation of organizing difficult situations when faced, it also is easily understood, if any problem aroused in the work place (usher et al 2008). John (1998), explains the description of reflection of when being faced with contradictions allows practitioners to assess, think critically and reflect on their practice. In addition reflection is a process which allows existence in acknowledge in the way nursing theory, for example can. Reflection is cognitive in relation to changes of things we do which is not a technique or curriculum element. See more:  First Poem for You Essay Reflective practice enables practitioners to learn from their experiences and what they do, how they do it, what they say in relation to their home  and work, in the significant of others and wider society and culture. Nurses who engage in some form of activity are set out by regulatory authorities indicate an adoption with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, (ANMC). Competency standards for registered nurses (2005), in the early 1990’s Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, (ANMC) had first adopted the national competency standards for registered nurses. Establishment of the organization was in 1992, to develop a national approach to nursing and Midwifery regulation. To ensure and deliver safe competent care, the (ANMC) worked together with the state and territory nursing and midwifery authorities (NMRAS) to produce national standard. In relation, to the AHPRA’S Scheme, which came into effect of 1st of July, 2010, the operations are governed by the health and practitioner regulation national law Act, 2009 (QLD) and each state and territory. In addition with the national scheme, responsibility was taken over for the regulation of nurses and midwifes in Australia, and taken ownership of the national competency standard for registered nurses. The minimum care standards for a nurse in Australia are the 4 domains provisions and coordination of care, professional practice, critical thinking and analysis, collaborative and therapeutic practice. The domains of reflections which also include self-appraisal reflecting on ones own practices by feeling and beliefs and professional development. The domains have all been set out for the nurse to reflect on practice, reflectively and ethically (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council 2008a, 2006). Reflections a verb which means to reflect on one thought (Hancock 1999). This might recall what one thinks and memories in a cognitive act such as overviewing identifying error. (Taylor 2000). Reflection is an activity in the guidance of an action before it happens. (Francis 1995). Rolfe et al (2001), argue that knowledge for practice that does not come from text books or lectures. In addition they call it scientific knowledge that practitioners pick up from everyday knowledge, reflection is the process of theorizing about that knowledge. In consideration, of the reflective views of recognizing strengths and weaknesses and my education enables me to make positive changes to my future practice by using Gibbs Cycle model. Gibbs Reflective Cycle ï‚ · ï‚ · Gibbs model begins with asking what happened. What was your feeling? This allows me to think what accured at the time of event. ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · What was my role in the situation? What was I trying to achieve and what action to take? What was the response of others and what they thought? We move from the second stage of Gibbs Cycle. ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · What does this tell me about my patients? What is the model is model of care I am using? How is my attitude towards the patient? What should I have done to make this better? Final stage of Gibbs model. ï‚ · ï‚ · What do I need to do to make things better? Question myself about improving patient care; widen my knowledge to improve patient care. Conclusion: During my research I began to acknowledge the fact that critical reflection is essential in nursing to enable to look back words on errors made in the work place. Gibbs Cycle is the tool in reflecting back on thoughts and actions accomplished by nurses. If we look back on what we do and how we do it, high care of patient care can be monitored easily without causing harm in the work place. (ANMC) embraces all nurses and practitioners to engage in some type of activity to enhance reflective thinking as it helps in gathering relevant and current information as it is part of the legislation. I feel it has come to my mind that critical reflection it is an important tool on reflecting ones thoughts. Perception of my role: Critical reflection has knowledge me to look backwards and think of things we do. It has changed my perception of nursing as my knowledge expanded enormously towards my role as a nurse since commencing my university degree. I feel I have a responsibility as a nurse to follow the nursing and midwifery council scheme to remain current.

AHL Finals Essays - Overtime, Rochester Americans, Portland Pirates

AHL Finals Essays - Overtime, Rochester Americans, Portland Pirates AHL Finals When the Rochester Americans started the AHL finals, they were looking to add to their sixth Calder Cup banner to the ceiling. To get to this feat, they would have to go through the Portland Pirates. For teams making the playoffs, all teams start fresh and every team has a shot to win it all. This year's finals, is true of that last sentence because both teams had losing records for the regular season. When the playoffs arrive, that's the sign that the best hockey is yet to be played. When the Rochester Americans skated into the first two games on home ice, they had a chance to leave Rochester with a two game to none lead. They won the important first game 5-3 and won the second game of the series 5-1, taking a 2-0 lead into Portland. Portland had the same chance that Rochester had in winning the first two games on home ice and they sure did that. They won game three, 3-2 and also won game four, 5-4 tying the series at 2. Since the series is tied at 2, the AHL final is now a best of three games. The next game is critical for both teams because the winner of game five has to win only 1 game while the losing team has to win both of the games to win the championship. Now that the series is tied at 2, the teams will play game five in Portland and then travel to Rochester to play the remainder of the games until the champions are crowned. For most of the game, Portland lead at the end of the 1st period and 2nd period. That's when Rochester decided to take over the 3rd period by scoring the only goal and setting the stage for overtime. Whoever scores the first goal, wins game five and has to win just one more game to win the championship. In overtime, Rochester's Scott Nichol scored at the 4:17 mark of overtime to win game five. Now all Rochester has to do is win game six or seven to add to their championship banners. For the rest of the series, the teams would travel to Rochester for games six and seven. With Rochester leading 3-2, the fans of the Americans fled to the War Memorial in a flurry. The game itself was very interesting for both teams because the only team showing up to rink to play was the Portland team. With that in mind, many Rochester fans had visions of a win but Portland decided to ruin the celebration by winning game six, 5-1 and sending it to game seven. Many Rochester fans were disappointed because they wanted their team to win the league championship. Since the Portland Pirates won game six, some of the fans at the game stayed at the rink to assure them of a ticket to game seven. That's when the city of Rochester got excited and many more fans showed up to buy tickets to the final game in North America. When comparing the line of fans wanting tickets to game seven was nothing compared to game six. The difference in the two lines was probably the distance. The closer you were to the box office, the better chance you had of attending game seven. When Portland won game six at the hockey rink, they had Rochester fans scurrying for tickets the next day. The last game of the series was the most important to any player. Game seven was a very memorable hockey game for the fans in Rochester. After the first period, the Pirates had a 1-0 lead and looking to increase it during the second. In the second period, the momentum changed with Rochester scoring the only goal in the period. With the score tied at 1, the third period would be the most important period of the entire season. In that 3rd period, only one goal was scored and that goal was scored by Rochester's Brian Holzinger at the 2:34 mark. That goal was the one that captured the franchises sixth Calder Cup championship banner. Looking back on the AHL finals, who would've been able to tell that both teams had losing records during the regular season. When the Rochester Americans won game seven, that victory granted the Americans a chance to raise their sixth Calder Cup banner. For the players, it means a lot for winning the league championship for the season. The first reason being that many players on the winning

What They Are and How They Were Formed

What They Are and How They Were Formed The word pluvial is Latin for the word rain; therefore, a pluvial lake is often thought of as a formerly large lake created by excessive rain paired with little evaporation. In geography though, the presence of an ancient pluvial lake or its remnants represents a period when the worlds climate was much different from present-day conditions. Historically, such shifts changed arid areas into places with extremely wet conditions. There are also present-day pluvial lakes that show the importance of various weather patterns to a location. In addition to being referred to as pluvial lakes, ancient lakes associated with former wet periods are sometimes put into the category of paleolakes. Formation of Pluvial Lakes The study of pluvial lakes today is mostly tied to that of ice ages and glaciation as the ancient lakes have left distinct landform features. The most prominent and well studied of these lakes are usually related to the last glacial period as this is when they are thought to have formed. Most of these lakes formed in arid locations where there was initially not enough rain and mountain snow to establish a drainage system with rivers and lakes. As the climate then cooled with the onset of climate change, these dry locations turned wet because of different air flows caused by the large continental ice sheets and their weather patterns. With more precipitation, stream runoff increased and began to fill the basins in the formerly dry areas. Over time, as more water became available with the increased moisture, the lakes enlarged and spread across places with lower elevations creating enormous pluvial lakes. Shrinking of Pluvial Lakes Just as pluvial lakes are created by climate fluctuations, they are also destroyed by them over time. For example, as the Holocene epoch began after the last glaciation temperatures around the world rose. As a result, the continental ice sheets melted, again causing a shift in world weather patterns and making the newly wet areas once again arid. This period of little precipitation caused the pluvial lakes to experience a drop in their water levels. Such lakes are usually endorheic, meaning they are a closed drainage basin that retains precipitation and its runoff but it does not have a drainage outlet. Therefore without a sophisticated drainage system and no incoming water, the lakes began to gradually evaporate in the dry, warm conditions usually found in their locations. Â   Some of Today’s Pluvial Lakes Though the most famous of todays pluvial lakes are significantly smaller than they used to be because of the lack of precipitation, their remnants are important aspects of many landscapes around the world. The United States Great Basin area is famous for having the remains of two large pluvial lakes Lakes Bonneville and Lahontan. Lake Bonneville (map of former Lake Bonneville) once covered nearly all of Utah as well as portions of Idaho and Nevada. It formed about 32,000 years ago and lasted until approximately 16,800 years ago. Lake Bonnevilles demise came with reduced precipitation and evaporation, but most of its water was lost as it overflowed through Red Rock Pass in Idaho after the Bear River was diverted to Lake Bonneville following lava flows in the area. However, as time passed and little rain fell into what remained of the lake, it continued to shrink. The Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats are the largest remaining portions of Lake Bonneville today. Lake Lahontan (map of former Lake Lahontan) is a pluvial lake that covered nearly all of northwestern Nevada as well as parts of northeastern California and southern Oregon. At its peak about 12,700 years ago, it covered approximately 8,500 square miles (22,000 square kilometers). Like Lake Bonneville, Lake Lahontans waters gradually began to evaporate resulting in a drop in lake level over time. Today, the only remaining lakes are Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake, both of which are located in Nevada. The rest of the lake’s remnants consist of dry playas and rock formations where the ancient shoreline was. In addition to these ancient pluvial lakes, several lakes still exist around the world today and are dependent on an areas precipitation patterns. Lake Eyre in South Australia is one. During the dry season portions of the Eyre Basin are dry playas but when the rainy season begins the nearby rivers flow to the basin, increasing the lake’s size and depth. This is dependent though on the seasonal fluctuations of the monsoon and some years the lake can be much larger and deeper than others. Todays pluvial lakes represent the importance of precipitation patterns and the availability of water for a locale; whereas the remains of ancient lakes show how a shift in such patterns can alter an area. Regardless of whether or not a pluvial lake is ancient or still existing today though, they are important components of an area’s landscape and will remain so as long as they continue to form and later disappear.

Mulvey's Analysis of Visual Structure Extended to Consider Racial Essay

Mulvey's Analysis of Visual Structure Extended to Consider Racial Difference - Essay Example Her work was inspired by theories presented by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan (Mulvey 836). She incorporated their theories as â€Å"political weapons† (Mulvey 833) into her own work. Based on these concepts, she contended that conventional Hollywood cinema place the viewer in a masculine subject situation; and women are depicted as mere objects of admiration. Traditional Hollywood cinema fostered spectators to relate to the hero, evidently a man. She states (Mulvey 837): â€Å"In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness. Woman displayed as sexual object is the leit-motif of erotic spectacle: from pin-ups to striptease, from Ziegfeld to Busby Berkeley, she holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire. Mainstream film neatly combined spectacle and narrative.† On the other hand, Mulvey states that wom en were â€Å"to-be-looked-at-ness† (Mulvey 837). She conceived two primary roles in which males construed female characters during this era. These were â€Å"voyeuristic† and â€Å"fetishist†. ... In addition, that she had not borne in mind that the impact of a feminist role might be different on bisexual or heterosexual spectators. Moreover, she failed to account for media audience researches related to fans and their interface with celebrities. Mulvey wrote in rebuttal that the purpose of her writing was to provoke though and present novel notions instead of a logical academic work. However, her views were slightly modified on some issues as demonstrated in her subsequent article â€Å"Afterthoughts on Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema†. Generally, the portrayal of blacks in Hollywood cinema and their categorical absence in films leads to condemnation by spectators. Normally, black spectators avoid identifying themselves with depicted characters and even oppose the convincing elements of films. Most articles such as Mulvey’s ‘Imaginary Signifier by Christian Metz’, ‘Difference’ by Stephen Heath and the like revolved around issues of gendered viewership. Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott have presented an attention-grabbing analysis of the personification of blacks in Hollywood in their article titled â€Å"How the Movies Made a President† (Dargis and Scott). They illustrate the development of characters assigned to blacks during the previous decades â€Å"from the ghetto to the boardroom, from supporting roles in kitchens, liveries, and social-problem movies to the rarefied summit of the Hollywood A-list†. This draws attention towards the crucial resemblance between how blacks are allotted stereotypical and relegated roles and how women encountered similar derogatory treatment. Although, the stereotyping in characters is different for the two groups; but primarily it represents the

Financial Crisis in South Korea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Crisis in South Korea - Essay Example The financial crisis in South Korea was worsened by the wave of bankruptcies that occurred in the corporate sector of the South Korea. 1 In spite of the fact that the cause for financial crisis in South East Asia was common for most of the countries, the observers could not agree upon some specific reasons pertaining to the development of Korean economy and especially the level of leverage in the corporate sector of economy of the South Korea. For instance, according to the research of Paola Bongini and Giovanni Ferri, the leverage in pre crisis period was high both for profitable companies and poor performing, less profitable ones. Thus one could not assume that the leverage had been caused by the ingrained inefficiency of the corporations; moreover the results of their research showed that the companies were leveraged because of the high growth; thus the authors concluded that direct relationship between the growth rate of the company and the level of leverage was present.2 The sec ond question that authors addressed was the role that the level of the leverage plaid in the bankruptcies of several corporations in the South Korea. The results obtained by the researchers confirmed the hypothesis that reliance on the banking financing could decrease the probability of bankruptcy whereas the reliance on intermediated credit might increase the possibility of bankruptcy; these results were explained by the fact that bank credits in contrast to the intermediated were more negotiable ones. 3 The findings also showed that there was a correlation between the interest coverage ratios and the probability of the bankruptcy. Companies with low interest coverage ratios had higher probability of the bankruptcy and visa versa; as low interest coverage ratio might indicate the vulnerability of the company that could be worsened by the unexpected sharp increase in the interest rate. Trade credits as the experience of the South Korea showed may increase the possibility of the bankruptcy of the enterprises as trade creditors are less inclined to modify the credit conditions, thus those companies that relied on the trade credits were especially vulnerable. At the end of the nineties many economic researchers attempted to access the role of the huge enterprises plaid in the accumulation of the capital in national economy; most of the researchers agreed that large conglomerations created national capital, however there were some controversies surrounding the efficiency of the internal market capital. On the one hand such scientists as Stein claimed that internal capital market are more efficient than external ones as they decrease transition costs as well as provide better incentives in the process of credit allocation, whereas other researchers asserted that internal capital might reduce value-added process within the group as the managers of the conglomerate may be engrossed in the cross subsidizing process that could hamper the development of the company and would not add the value to the group; apart from this the companies- members of the conglomerate usually have less financial constraints than other companies in the market, that have to rely on their cash flows or on the credits from other financial institutions So the researchers came to the conclusion that leverage coupled with liquidity constraints was the most

Planning and Goal Setting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Planning and Goal Setting - Essay Example For instance, he may ask that interviews be carried out around campus in a bid to gather certain information. For instance if the principal has heard of several complaints on numerous occasions, in order to have an idea of how many people are discontented, he may ask for data concerning this to be collected so as to enable him to act if need be. This is done mostly while analyzing data collected, mostly through questionnaires. If there was a certain question concerning this, then the campus leader will look at the responses and this will help in determining personnel needs. This article seeks to focus on a fundamental issue- the shortage of teachers and how to get more young people interested in the profession. Although this issue has been raised over a number of years, proper plans have not been put in place. This article outlines plans that have been proposed and implemented over years. For instance; CAPE. Identify the principal competencies and supporting standards involved or implicated in the reading, (e.g., Competency 5 and Competency 6, , including the following standard: Analyze the implications of various factors (e.g., staffing patterns, class scheduling formats, school organizational structures, student discipline practices) for teaching and learning, (Competency 5); Implement effective, appropriate, and legal strategies for the recruitment, screening, selection, assignment, induction, development, evaluation, promotion, discipline and dismissal of campus staff, (Competency 6). Implement old plans instead of making new plans. There are already plans on how to deal with the shortage of teachers; however these plans are usually scrapped for new ones without full implementation. Planning without implementation is an act in futility. The acute shortage of teachers is caused by the modern view of a teacher. A job deemed to be almost ‘menial’.

English Premier League and their Asian focus Essay Example for Free

English Premier League and their Asian focus Essay Club football is now truly globalised. Clubs are no more small community based which are known in that locality, they are now huge organisations owned by the richest businessmen’s of the world. The transfer spend of each club is increasing at a mind boggling pace. Every year clubs are breaking their transfer record fees. The increase in this expenditure has led to clubs being debt laden, with some of the biggest clubs in the world having debts which in normal business prudence would be suicidal. Thus the need for new revenue streams. Thus English premier league clubs set out all over the world to find out new revenue streams, and thus they found and fell in love with Asia. Asia is unique because though they themselves fare poorly in FIFA rankings and have rarely ruled the football world, their passion for football is second to none. In fact there are more followers and fans of English premier league football clubs in Asia than in England. The high growth rate in Asian countries has also resulted in people desiring for more. Thus in certain parts of South East Asia, weekends means EPL and Beer. But Why EPL Why not Serie A, Bundesliga or the la liga The reasons are many. While now La liga biggies Real Madrid and Barcelona have equal presence in Asian market, but still as a whole there is more EPL presence. First is Tv rights and Tv timing. The match timings in Asian countries are rarely real late nights or early mornings. The match timings are convenient. Though mostly it is the English premier league clubs and Football association’s ability to get into the Asian market early. Now every year during the season break in England there is a tournament called the premier league Asia trophy. In 2013 it was won by the runners up of EPL, Manchester City. The ever increasing value of TV rights deals for the EPL in Asia, an area with vast growth potential given the regions enormous and upwardly mobile population. On their trips to Asia, clubs charge appearance fees to play friendly games, and benefit from sales of official merchandise. And they trade on their popularity by signing sponsorship deals involving everything from banks and credit cards to beer, telecoms, airlines, and even tomato juice. The growth prospect is immense and they have just started. The threat though lies with the other big European leagues who are slowly  starting to focus more and more on Asia. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Ac Milan etc are now increasing their presence in Asia in a bullish manner. Even these countries themselves are getting better in football and have their own club system. Other sports like baseball and basketball also pose a serious threat. Though all said and done Asian love affair of English clubs is still on the growth stage and the potential is immense. As the premier league chief executive Richard Scudamore himself told, Our global fan base is just short of a billion, and half of those are here in Asia, so it (Asia) is a hugely important part of what we do,

Delta Airlines :: essays research papers fc

While sitting in Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport, one cannot help but to notice and feel an overwhelming dominant presence of one particular airline. Delta as we know it today, traces its roots way back to 1924. Huff Daland Dusters was founded as the world’s first aerial crop dusting organization. In 1928 the company became Delta Air Service, and the following year Delta carried its first passengers over a route stretching from Dallas, Texas to Jackson, Mississippi with stops in Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana. In 1941, the company moved its headquarters from Monroe to Atlanta, Georgia. Although headquartered in Atlanta, Delta is a Delaware corporation (Delaware is the most â€Å"pro-business† state in the US). Delta Air Lines Inc. provides air transportation for passengers and freight throughout the United States and around the world. As of February 1, 2001, Delta (including its wholly owned subsidiaries, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc. and Comair, Inc.) served 201 domestic cities in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as 50 cities in 32 countries. With its domestic and international code share partners, Delta's route network covers 218 domestic cities in 48 states, and 131 cities in 58 countries. When analyzing Delta, you do not have to search very far before quite possibly one its strongest attribute rears its head. Based on calendar 2000 data, Delta is the largest U.S. airline in terms of aircraft departures and passengers enplaned, and third largest as measured by operating revenues and revenue passenger miles flown. Delta is the leading U.S. airline in the transatlantic, offering the most daily flight departures, serving the largest number of nonstop markets and carrying more passengers than any other U.S. airline. Delta Air Lines transports more passengers worldwide than any other airline. Through a vast worldwide route system Delta has flown over 117 million passengers, more than any other airline in the world. Delta mainline, domestic and international service, Delta Express, Delta Shuttle, Delta Connection ®, Delta Sky Team and Worldwide Partners operate 6,400 flights each day to over 450 cities in 98 countries. Not only is Delta a beast in the market it wields its power quite intelligently. Along with this momentous market share, Delta has enormous control over some of the nations key gateways. Delta controls 72 percent of the air traffic at Salt Lake Utah. This mid west city is a gateway to most of the key major cities on the pacific coast as well as mid west.

Academic Achievement of Homeschooled Children Essay

These days many American children are schooled at home, with the number growing more and more per year; however, t the same time home schooling has received less attention than other recent changes in the educational system. It could be argued that home schooling may have a much larger impact on educational system, both in the short and long run. This research will basically provide the home school population, its growth and its characteristics. Also, with the beginning of a discussion of the data sources used in the analysis, this research examines characteristics of home schooled children and their families such as those characteristics most relevant for gauging trends in home schooling. Lastly, there will be talked about implications of home schooling for regular schools and a brief conclusion. Therefore, based on all these researches, I am going to research whether or not home-based education cause higher academic achievement than the institutional schooling in U. S. A. Proposal Methods The researchers will use quantitative research regarding the influence of the educational background of parents on the performance of their home schooled children. The performance of the home schooled children will be quantified in comparison with the public school children with also varying educational backgrounds. Survey method—using will be used in order to obtain the more generalized results of the study. Participants will be contacted first through phone to have permission or consent of being part of the study. This part will also inform the family, especially the parents about the research study that will be conducted. According to Timothy Johnson of University of Illinois at Chicago, having an informed consent of the participants is part of the ethics of conducting researches. (Johnson) If the participants agree on being part of the study, mailed questionnaires will be distributed. The group that I propose to study is 75 homeschooled eleventh (11th) and twelfth (12th) graders. The chosen sample size is a significant number in order to study the influence of the educational background of parents on their homeschooled children since 75 is not much of a high number, making it too pricey or having too much effort given on the study, or not too low of a number. Studies were also made regarding the influence of parents on their homeschooled children, but these studies were more focused on the primary education (Grades 1-4, as indicated in the Literature Review), and not on the high school level. This study will further explore if the influence of parent’ educational background will change if the students are at a higher level of schooling. This study will also be limited on eleventh and twelfth graders. The sample size 75 students will be divided into three groups. Group 1 will consist of children that have been schooled at home by parents that have less than a high school education. Group 2 will consist of children that have been homeschooled by parents that have a high school education. Group 3 will consist of 25 children that have been homeschooled by parents. Additionally, 75 public school children also in eleventh (11th) and twelfth (12th) grade will serve as the control group. Group 4 will consist of children that have been schooled in the public school system and whose parents have less than a high school education. Group 5 will consist of 25 children have been schooled in public school and have parents that have a high school education and Group 6 will consist of 25 children that have been schooled in public school whose parents have a college education. These particular groups were chosen to research two key areas addressed in the research proposal. First the area of whether homeschooled children outperform those that are educated by public school. Second this method will attempt to address if the parents education significantly impacts academic achievement in both groups. Eleventh (11th) and Twelfth (12th) grade students were chosen for this research because they are at the end of their respective high school education and one can better assess their overall education. Obtaining the data necessary to conduct the research will consist identifying the test subjects in home school by contacting a home school association within the target state(s) for a mailing list of parents. A small questionnaire will be sent out to ascertain the educational background of parents with return postage and a request that they mail the questionnaire back. This feedback will be divided into the three groups identified to study. At this point, 25 families will be randomly chosen from each group and contacted by the researcher via telephone. If a family elects not to be part of the study group, another family will be randomly chosen from that category. The researchers will continue to distribute questionnaires on families that fit the criteria, until a response is made. Once a telephone interview with the parents is conducted and they have agreed to participate, a paper assessment will be mailed to the family. A return envelope with postage paid will be sent with the assessment. This assessment will be an ACT/SAT style test addressing the four main academic components: Math, Reading, Science, and English. The child or children will have 24 hours to complete the assessment and return it to either the post office or mailbox so that the return envelope can be stamped for that day. This method will put urgency into the test being completed and sent back and may reduce some forms of cheating. While a computerized test was considered, it may not be possible for all children schooled at home to have computer access so a paper assessment was the most versatile method of data collection. The same process will be conducted for the public school children. Eligible families will be identified by contacting the target state(s) Department of Education. Again, a paper questionnaire will be sent asking for data on the parents’ education and a request to return it. These parents will also be contacted for permission. Once consent is given, the assessment will be sent to the family with the same procedure outlined above. In Groups 1, 2, and 3 we can assess the general academic achievement of children schooled at home. We can also measure, to a degree, how much the parents own education impacts the academic achievements of the child or children. The same is true of Groups 4, 5, and 6. In the case of the latter group, parents’ education may not be relevant however it is necessary for the continuity of the study. In order to obtain accurate results, these assessments should be conducted sometime within the school year after the first quarter of either the eleventh (11th) or (12th) grade. Students should be assessed after being accustomed to their routine learning guidelines in their respective schooling. Respondents will also be assured that they will be guaranteed that their responses will be confidential, as also stated in the Code of Standards of Council of American Survey Research Organizations. (Council of American Survey Research Organizations, 2009) In a working paper written for the U. S. Census Bureau, Kurt Bauman pointed out several characteristics that may determine home school trends (Bauman, 2001). However, the purpose of this study is purely to identify academic achievement within both the home school student group and public school student group. SURVEY QUESTIONS: The survey questions will be divided into three parts: basic information, performance section. These questions will be the same for Groups 1, 2, and 3, and Groups 4, 5, and 6. The first part, as the name says, contains all the basic information about the student and the parents. This part will include the educational background of the parents, the reasons for home schooling, what they know about the regulations regarding home schooling of their state, etc. The questionnaire for those that are homeschooled, in order, will provide this series of questions: name, name of parents, age, grade, educational background of parents, number of years being homeschooled, reason/s of being homeschooled, and organizations that are involved in regarding homeschooling. The questions, on the other hand, of those that are in public schools will be the same of the homeschooled questionnaire, except for the last three questions. The next part on the other hand, will include the academic test that will determine the performance of the student. The students will answer questions on subject matters like Math, Science, Reading and English, in order to at least have a grasp about their overall academic knowledge. ETHICS ON RESEARCH The researchers acknowledge the fact that the study can be a critical matter especially for parents since discrimination, especially on educational backgrounds, might be possible. However, it is also an essential for the researchers to keep in mind the ethics of conducting a research as stated by Thomas Watson. First is that the researchers will give privacy to the respondents, meaning they can willingly say or not say information that they aren’t comfortable with. Second, the researchers will ensure voluntary participation—that is, the researchers will respect if they want to be part of the research or not. Lastly, the researchers will maintain confidentiality and non-attribution. The respondents will remain to be anonymous. (Watson, 1996) References Bauman, Kurt J. , Home Schooling in the United States: Trends and Characteristics, (2001). Retrieved April 13, 2010 from the U. S. Census Bureau website: http://www. census. gov/population/www/documentation/twps0053/twps0053. html Literature Review Academic Achievement of Homeschooled Children Does home-based education cause higher academic achievement than the institutional schooling in California? Early studies as well as the more recent studies illustrate that this is indeed possible, as they examine the academic performances of homeschooled students in different locations and with various independent variables. For instance, Belfield and Levin (2005) showed that homeschooled students have better SAT verbal scores than the non-homeschooled students. Although homeschooled students have higher SAT math scores as well, the gap seems to be greater in the verbal scores (Belfield & Levin, 2005). After controlling for 21 independent variables, Belfield and Levin showed that the advantage of homeschooled students over private school students was reduced, but the great gap still exists when the comparison is between homeschooled students and public schools students. Moreover, the scores of the homeschooled students and private school students in SAT are at par with each other, with no group outperforming the other (Belfield & Levin, 2005). According to Basham et al. (2007), whether having at least one or no parent as a certified teacher do not significantly matter on the achievement levels of the homeschooled children, although parents who acquired university degree have homeschooled children who outperform significantly those parents who did not earned a degree. However, Bansham illustrate that regardless of these parental backgrounds, homeschooled children all scored between the range of 80 to 90 percent, as opposed to the average score of 63 percent for public school students, who have parents with university degree and average score of 28 percent of public school students who have parents with no degree. Moreover, around 25 percent of homeschooled students have academic performances better than students above their age-level studying either in public or private schools (Bauman, 2002). This can be seen in grade 1 to 4 homeschooled students. All of them perform better compared to the performance of the non-homeschooled students of at least one-grade level higher (McDowell & Ray, 2000). When it comes to 8th grade, the homeschooled students have academic performances better than non-homeschooled students at least four grade levels higher. All these evidences illustrate that being homeschooled leads to better academic performances despite the children’s background, which would have played negative roles when the children were not homeschooled (McDowell & Ray, 2000). Homeschooling reduce or eliminate altogether the negative effects low family income, low parental educational attainment, large family size, race or ethnicity or even gender would have played if the students were not educated in the home setting (Bansham et al. , 2007, Ray, 2000; Ray & Eagleson, 2008). Not having computers or other materials required by formal schools or not having access to public libraries seems not to matter as much for homeschooled students as compared to homeschooled students as well (Bansham et al. , 2007). All these factors do not affect how the children perform academically either. The academic achievements of homeschooled children cannot be generalized. Researchers doubt generalizations because it is difficult to compare homeschooled children and those who are not. However, despite all the doubts of the generalizabilty of the better academic performance of homeschooled children, more and more studies are producing evidence that homeschooled children achieve better performance against their non-homeschooled peers on various types of tests (Basham et al, 2007). The present study will determine if in California, the same findings would emerge. the scores of the homeschooled students and certain Californian private school students in SAT will be examined to test this. Factors such as socio-economic background, gender and ethnicity will also be tested to determine whether each of them will have a significant relationship with the academic achievement of homeschooled students in California. Homeschooling laws depend on the state where the family is residing—whether be it the requirements of the parents, the testing procedure, etc. In a state like Washington, parents are required to have 45 quarter units of college level credit, complete parent qualifying course, an average of an hour a week meeting with a certified teacher, and a qualification to provide home-based teaching instruction by the superintended of the local school district. (Russell, 2008) The case is otherwise different in Michigan since no law requires for parents or teachers to have certain qualifications in order to teach. ( Home School Legal Defense Association, 2009) According to Home School Legal Defense Association, there are already 40 states that adopted the home school regulations. It is also stated in their website that â€Å"Forty-one states do not require home school parents to meet any specific teacher qualifications. The eight states which require only a high school diploma or a GED are: GA, NC, NM, OH, PA, SC, TN, and WV. DC also requires either a high school diploma or GED. (In TN, there is no qualification requirement for grades K-8 if home school is associated with a church-related school). The remaining state has the following qualification requirements: ND requires only a high school diploma or GED, provided that the parent is monitored by a certified teacher for two years. † There are three states who qualify home school teachers to be â€Å"competent† such as CA, KS, and NY. Having less than GED are considered to be competent in those three states. (Home School Legal Defense Association) References Bansham, P. , Merrifield, J. , Hepburn, C. R. (2007). â€Å"Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream. Studies in Education Policy. † The Fraser Institute. Retrieved from http://www. netzwerk-bildungsfreiheit. de/pdf/From_the_extreme_to_the_mainstream. pdf Bauman, K. J. (2002). Home schooling in the United States: Trends and Characteristics. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10(26). Retrieved from http://epaa. asu. edu/epaa/v10n26. html. Belfield, Clive R. and Henry M. Levin (2005). Privatizing Education Choice: Consequences for Parents, Schools and Public Policy. Boulder, C. O. : Paradigm Publishers. McDowell, Susan A. and Brian D. Ray (2000). â€Å"The Home Education Movement in Context, Practice, and Theory. † Peabody Journal of Education, 75(11), 1-7 Ray, B. D. (2000). Home schooling: The ameliorator of negative influences on learning? Peabody Journal of Education, 75(1 & 2), 71-106. Ray, B. D. , & Eagleson, B. K. (2008, August 14). State regulation of homeschooling and homeschoolers’ SAT scores. Journal of Academic Leadership, 6(3). Retrieved from http://www. academicleadership. org/emprical_research/State_Regulation_of_Homeschooling_and_Homeschoolers_SAT_Scores. shtml Bibliography Home School Legal Defense Association. (2009). Home Schooling in the United States: A Legal Analysis. Retrieved April 30, 2010, from Home School Legal Defense Association: http://www. hslda. org/laws/analysis/Michigan. pdf Council of American Survey Research Organizations. (2009). CASRO Code of Standards and Ethics for Survey Research. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from Council of American Survey Research Organizations: http://www. casro. org/codeofstandards. cfm Home School Legal Defense Association. (n. d. ). Summary of Home School Laws in the Fifty States. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from Home School Legal Defense Association: http://www. hslda. org/laws/Summary_of_Laws. pdf Johnson, T. (n. d. ). Ethical Issues in the Conduct of Survey Research. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs: http://www. srl. uic. edu/seminars/ethicsint. htm Russell, L. (2008, June 12). Washington Homeschool Law. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from Suite 101: http://homeschool-regulations. suite101. com/article. cfm/washington_homeschool_law Watson, T. (1996). Survey and Interview Ethics for Data Gatherers and Respondents. Retrieved April 30, 2010, from Independent Job Analysis: http://www. ijoa. org/imta96/paper64. html