Frontline Digital Nation Essay

In the last half century of watching television many authors, critic, and people in general has had an opinion on weather watching television is a good thing or a bad thing. In a couple of recent articles that I’ve read one Author Steven Johnson, who wrote â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter†. Tells us of how violent and gruesome shows of this era are as opposed to shows of the past. Steven also tells us of how there are some good shows that actually teach people and helps them to learn in a different way. The second article that I recently read was â€Å"Thinking Outside The Idiot Box† by Dana Stevens. Not only is Dana an author she is also a paid television critic who states that TV does not make us any smarter and that television is â€Å"brain-liquefying poison† for all but especially for children. Dana insist that Steven Johnson theory be put to the test by having everyone partake in a National TV Turnoff Week event to see if anyone gets any dumber. In my opinion Television has many different purposes, such as keeping us updated with the news, educating us on different species/creature inside and outside our planet, but the main purpose for television is soley for entertainment. When Television is being debated whether it is good or bad, I think that it should be taking into consideration just as any other subject we talk about when past/present is involved, and that consideration is â€Å"Evolution-Things forever evolving or changing†. Take for insistence the way countries would defend their land. In the 1700s militaries fought with swords, in the  1800s militaries were introduce too and fought with muffle rifles and one shot hand guns in which were probably a headache to deal with considering they could only fire their gun once and 2 step process to reload the guns, in the 1900s militaries fought with rockets, missiles, and nuclear bombs and today militaries have perfected the rockets, missiles, and nuclear bombs. â€Å"Evolution†, just as militaries have evolved over the past centuries so has our everyday life. If you can remember back when you was a adolescence the things that you did and/or cared about then such as playing outside with your friends all the time, getting junk food from the store, or just living a carefree world for the most part. As a teenager those adolescence things become less important to you because you are probably into dating, driving, sports or some other kind of school activity. When we became adults the things that we once knew really do not exist because we have evolved over the past years. So why would television b any different? In 1939 when the Television was first introduced the screen was black and white and had no sound. Over the years television became colorful, sound was added and the screen got bigger. Now televisions are in 3D huge and flat. In shows of today such as 24 and The Sopranos: Steven Johnson states how violent and gruesome the shows are and how the â€Å"Sleeper Curve† alters the mental development of young people today because you have to integrate far more information than you would have a comparable TV show decades ago. Dana Stevens believes that shows such as 24 and The Sopranos are the â€Å" great leap forward in human cognition: multi-threading† Which makes viewers behave like â€Å"rats in a behaviorist maze†. I believe that people are entitled to watch whatever show they please because that’s what television is for â€Å"entertainment† after working a long shift and attending school I like to go home and kick my feet up with the remote and watch Whatever show that I think is appealing to me at the time whether it’s a comedy, drama, horror, western, or sitcom. Steven Johnson also states in his article about shows associated with â€Å"quality† entertainment shows such as Murphy Brown and Frasierand how the intelligence arrives fully formed and the witty things that the actors say to one another to avoid lapsing into a tired sitcom but says that â€Å"You no more challenge mind by watching these intelligent shows than you challenge your body by watching Monday Night Football†. Steven also states how another televised intelligence is on the rise that has cognitive benefits ascribed to reading: attention, patience, and retention the parsing of narrative threads. Dana Stevens says shows such as The Teletubies which is a children program instructs toddlers the basics of vegging out. She also states how shows are â€Å"zapworthy† and watching TV only teaches us to watch more TV. I say of course TV makes you want to watch more TV but that is the same as if you were reading a good book. After finishing the book you want to read the sequels to that book because your attention has been hooked and you want to know how, when, and were it takes you. Television is the same way but more visual. Besides television is a multibillion dollar company made by the viewers and just for the viewers. In conclusion I have written to you about the â€Å"Evolution† of our past and present society as it may be related to the military, our everyday lives over time, or whether it’s Television. In any case as long the world spins then any/everything inside is subject to change and as this world change there will always be debates about that change. Some say and believe that Television makes people act out with what they see on the screen into reality. I am not one of those believers because television has only been around for 74 years so what/who was the blame for all of the violence and corruption before television was introduced? I do however believe that no Should be allowed to or allow their children to watch TV all day, As I stated earlier its main purpose is meant for entertainment.

Julius Caesar Concession

Julius Caesar Concession Essay Marcus Brutus was a noble man. He was loyal to himself and never did anything wrong without believing that what he was doing was right. Even though killing Julius Caesar was wicked and evil, when he did it, he had all the right intentions. Up to his very last breath, he thought that he was saving the people of Rome from an unjust ruler. He never wanted anything bad to come from it. He thought that he could bring peace to Rome Marcus Brutus, however, was very easily deceived. As long as someone told him that doing something would bring good, he would do it.This allowed Cassius to quite easily trick Marcus Brutus into doing what he wanted him to do. And being as sneaky as Cassius was he was able to pretty easily blame it on Marcus Brutus. The fact that he could be so easily tricked made him a prime target for Cassius to do the dirty work and share the blame. It can be argues that since he was so easily manipulated that you can’t really tell how goo d of a person he was. But since his intentions were so noble, that he was a truly honest, noble man. Unlike the other conspirators who chose to take place in the assassination of Caesar, Marcus Brutus did it to help his people.All of the others only took place in the assassination due to jealousy and dissatisfaction. And for Marcus Brutus, it was a big sacrifice to him as well, seeing that he and Caesar were good friends. And that that proves just how noble his intentions were. That he would kill his own friend if it meant that others could be safe. Even his enemies (Mark Antony and Octavius Caesar) respected him for the honest man that they knew that he was. He did evil things, that that did not make him an evil man. It’s like the old saying: â€Å"It’s the thought that counts† Works Cited Shakespeare, William Julius Caesar.

Explain how act 1 scene 1 prepares the audience for the actions that follow

Act 1 scene 1 main purpose is to introduce the themes in the play, preparing the reader for the conflict between the contrasting outlooks of the characters. In the first scene we see the friendship groups between the characters also showing the potential ‘lovers' from this initial description, Finding out who is friends with who can also give us explanations to who is going to defend each other and who may want to maliciously trick each other. Shakespeare also shows opposing traits between many characters, even between family members. Hero is polite, quiet, respectful, and gentle, whereas Beatrice is feisty, cynical, witty, and sharp. Similarly there is a contrast between Don John who has evil and deceptive intentions, and his opposite, Don Pedro, who is a loyal and noble person. Don John ‘the bastard' and his vile comrades contrast with Don Pedro the noble prince and his heroic friends. The difference in the brothers' standing in society is mirrored in their personalities. In the first scene, we see an apparent reconciliation between Don John and Don Pedro but the jealous and malicious instincts of Don John can not hide themselves for too long â€Å"I can not hide what I am†, he confesses â€Å"I am a plain dealing villain†. It is ironic how frank Don John is about his character, as many of the protagonists deceive each other, and in Beatrice and Benedict's case they trick even themselves into believing â€Å"I love none†. Deception is a recurrent theme, not only this play but also many of Shakespeare's plays. You can read also Audience Adaptation Paper Hero is a conventional, â€Å"modest young lady†, different in both appearance and personality to her cousin Beatrice. Hero conforms to the patriarchal society of Messina, obeying her father unquestioningly, and behaving demurely, like a woman ‘should'. Beatrice is older than Hero, yet unlike her cousin she is unwilling to conform. Feisty and assertive, Beatrice engages in intelligent wordplay, a ‘merry war' with her male superior, Benedick, referring to him as â€Å"signor mountanto† a fencing term symbolic of the battle of words and wills the two share. Though their insults are biting, their ability to maintain such clever, interconnected sparring seems to illustrate the existence of a strong bond between them. The audience is prepared for the great contrasts in behaviour between the two women from the start of the play, and begins to expect a resolution involving the ‘taming' of Beatrice. We can also assume by Benedick`s description of Beatrice that he does in fact find her more attractive then we first thought and he ‘accidently' reveals he is attracted to Beatrice in comparison to that of Hero, she â€Å"exceeds in beauty†. This is also Benedick showing rudely how â€Å"I do not like (Hero)†. Beatrice and Benedick are perhaps Shakespeare's most famously witty characters; neither lets the other say anything without countering it with a pun or criticism. First impressions of Benedick are of loyalty to his friends, but also of arrogance and he sounds on the outset like a misogynist, proclaiming â€Å"I am loved of all ladies† but â€Å"truly I love none†. As the scene progresses we get small inclinations that maybe he does love someone, â€Å"her cousin exceed her as much in beauty†, showing he finds Beatrice attractive. He engages with Beatrice in a competition to outwit, outsmart, and out-insult the other. As with many of Shakespeare plays we can presume this ‘merry war' is hiding their true feelings. From first impressions we see he is constantly performs for the benefit of others, and indulges in witty banter with many to express his feelings. Claudio from the beginning seems deeply attracted to Hero, showing a romantic outlook with â€Å"soft and delicate desires†. Unfortunately, his fickle and suspicious nature makes him quick to believe evil rumours, and he is hasty to despair and take revenge. He appears to love Hero, but the opinion of others changes his mind so we have to question if this relationship is genuine. It is also strange for us to see his love so quickly in the first scene, as he first notices â€Å"the sweetest lady I ever looked upon†. Don Pedro insists on wooing Hero for Claudio himself, whilst masked, rather than allowing Claudio to profess his love to Hero first, â€Å"I will assume thy part in some disguise†: this is the first introduction to the recurrent theme of appearance and reality.

OPERATIONS MANGEMENT PROJECT- NEW BUSINESS Assignment

OPERATIONS MANGEMENT PROJECT- NEW BUSINESS - Assignment Example The company will first target supermarkets and large retail stores and building management business so as to establish a solid base of clients in Dubai. TESCO Security Company will carefully increase its employee base of security guards, basing on the contracts of clients, and employ both part-time and full-time security guards. The business anticipates good amount of sales during the first one year, and almost double by the end of the third year. Gross margins will be same to the average of the industry, basing on the security guard labor costs vs. billings. After launching the initial investment, a lean first year, and the formation of a training space and office in the second year, the company will be on the edge of expanding through its own internal source of finance after the end of three years. After the business is proved to be successful in other cities, the business may sell its shares to provide an exit strategy for the original founders and investors. TESCO Security will eliminate worries for customers who needs security guards for their facilities, buildings, and events by offering excellent customer services for customers and comprehensive training for their staff Intrinsic forecasting technique ­- comprises of qualitative and quantitative methods. In qualitative method, forecasting is based on subjective method in case of qualitative data is absent. It is based on opinions, best guesses and personal judgment. Contrary, quantitative forecasting is based on formulas and mathematical models. This model believes that what happened in the past will likely happen in the future. The ability to carry out accurate forecasting affects the profitability of our business. Furthermore, the ability to enhance the demand forecasting for client demand then sharing the information downstream allows effective arrangement and

Research Eosin Y with and without Phloxine B Reagents Paper

Eosin Y with and without Phloxine B Reagents - Research Paper Example The physical and chemical properties differ from one isomer to another. The highest melting point is 13.260C (55.870F) for p-xylene and the least is -47.870C (-54.170F) for m-xylene. All isomers have a boiling point around 1400C (2850F). In respect to density, all isomers have a density of around 0.87 g/ml that is less than dense water. In air, one can smell xylene at a concentration of 0.08 to 3.7 ppm while at water one can taste it at 0.53 to 1.8 ppm. In terms of appearance, xylene is a colourless and clear. The compounds related to xylene include benzene, ethylbenzene, mesitylene and toluene. Xylene is practically insoluble in water but soluble in non-polar solvents like the aromatic hydrocarbons (Pujado and Jones, 2006). According to Avery (2008) xylene, is commonly used in a histology lab for cleaning purposes. In the histology lab, technicians apply xylene for the purposes of tissue processing, deparaffinised and cover-slipping. It is termed as the best cleaning agent in a histology lab. It is applied before the infiltrating tissue in the cleaning process. To infiltrate a tissue peace with water, paraffin and alcohol must be removed. By removing, first, dehydration of tissues fixed with aqueous fixation is done by placing it through different alcohols starting from 50 % to 100 % through 70 %, 80 % and 95 %. After dehydrating the tissues, it must be cleaned using Histo-Grade Xylene form alcohol. After completion of this process, the infiltration of the tissue with paraffin can be done. Xylene can also be used in lab to prepare cover-slipping slides. The slides that are stained cannot be cover-slipped until the removal of water takes place. In order to dehydrate the water slide, the stained slide is placed into alcohol. After that the stained slide is placed into xylene in order to remove alcohol. After completion of this

Long-Term Investment Decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Long-Term Investment Decisions - Essay Example The consumer will have to consume the commodity as normal even if the prices are increased. The managers thus should consider the reactions from the competitors before raising prices. Since consumption of the food is maintained, increasing prices may lead to rival firms to sell more units than the firm. This will reduce its sales and market share and hence loses a lot to the competitors. Consumers usually have believed that high prices are associated with high quality. If the firm wants to attract more sales, they should consider increasing quality or rebrand the product as this would change the consumer’s perception of the product in a positive way. They would thus increase their purchasing power making the firms to have high sales. Managers should also have a good timing as to when to increase the prices. During low seasons of the business, they can keep the prices low so that they keep with the increased customers demand however little it may be. These losses can then be recovered in off seasons through producing more units at high prices. For example, during festive seasons and holidays, consumers spend more than expected. The government usually enters into the production process majorly by providing incentives and changes in taxation. Providing subsidies lowers the production cost of the company. The company is able to produce more and increase the market supply (Tisdell & Hartley, 2008). To increase production, they will hire extra labor leading to employment in the economy. As supply increases, demand is relatively constant leading to low prices to the consumers. However, if the government does not provide subsidies, the company operations cost will be high and hence reduce output and will lay off workers leading to unemployment in the economy. This decreases supply and since demand is high, prices will increase leading to inflations in the economy. The government can decide to use tax

Is the Anglo-American special relationship an equal relationship Essay

Is the Anglo-American special relationship an equal relationship - Essay Example The term had its roots in the shared values, common language and historical experiences. The term provided that the two countries were to collaborate in the fight against a common enemy and pursue of common objectives together. The Anglo-American co-operation also discouraged the American manipulation of the British economic weakness. It also helped to manage the mismatch between Britain’s overseas capabilities and commitments. The Anglo-American treaty meant that US was to tolerate the British discriminatory practices such as support for British established overseas interest, the sterling Area and allow the British policy makers to abandon their unsustainable territories without US viewing Britain as a weak country (Dorey 2005, p.73). The aspiration of the Anglo-American relationship seemed unrealistic after the Second World War. This was because of the loan given to UK by US during the Second World War, severe differences over the Palestine question, the unbridled pursuit of international free trade by US, and betrayal in the nuclear research. The reaffirmation of the special relationship between the two countries enabled Britain to regain some of its lost influence in Washington. The relationship created opportunities to for UK to harness Americans powers. the British and US took a central role in the structuring of post war international order by creating institution such as the UN security council, the Bretton Wood system, the NATO and the GATT. The mutual economic interdependence strengthened the partnership between UK and US. For example, the sterling become the reserve currency for the Bretton woods system, America surpassed Australia as the British biggest export market in the year 1956. The Anglo-American economic relation was also crucial in the subordination of the multilateralism enforcement to the western world by US (Dorey 2005, p.74). The central agenda in the Anglo-American co-operation was the defense alliance, which involved the sharin g of military technology and intelligence. For example, the US Atomic Energy act restored the nuclear relationship curtailed by the McMahon Act. Britain also accessed the US key to controversial bases and facilities in the homeland and the Polaris submarine base (Dorey 2005, p.74). Britain also benefited a lot from the Anglo-American relationship during the cold war. America provided several economic relief and the Britain transferred unsustainable territories of Greece and turkey. This was important for the two nations as US was British greatest friend and it helped to maintain the impression of the Anglo-American solidarity. America was the power capable of supporting the British interest, and Britain’s international status relied on the American willingness to treat Britain as a partner in their relationship (Dorey 2005, p.74). The Anglo-American relationship played a crucial role in Britain’s international policy during the Second World War. During this period, Bri tain needed to win US sympathy and material aid so as to survive, especially after the fall of France in July 1940. After 1940, the propaganda about Britain’s ailing economy spread in North America. This made Britain seek financial aid from US president, Franklin Roosevelt in the form of a ‘lend’ lease programme to finance it war programmes (Addison

Societys Fascination with Reality TV Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Societys Fascination with Reality TV - Essay Example Watching a standard TV program is like escaping into a world of fiction and fantasy, where the shocks and jolts that are associated with real life may sometimes be absent. But reality TV offers the lure of so-called truth. It portrays life as it happens, with all its disappointments, hope, anxieties and unexpected events, as well as its mundane, daily grind. The fascination of reality TV for the viewer is in gaining insight into the fears, dreams and expectations of real people. Reality TV programs focus on ordinary, working and middle-class citizens, so it becomes easier for viewers to identify with the characters. To some extent, the fascination for reality TV may also lie in the fact that participants reveal some of the most intimate aspects of their lives. For example the Celebrity Big Brother TV show in the UK where celebrities are asked to live together without contact with the outside world and satisfy certain conditions (www.tv.com). Such programs offer viewers the opportunit y for a voyeuristic look into other peoples’ lives, while for the ones participating in the programs, the focus is a narcissistic one. With the onset of more and sensational kinds of programs on TV, reality TV which attempts to compete with it, offers an equal amount of shock value but drawn from â€Å"reality†, which packs a bigger thrill for viewers as compared to standard TV programs, where viewers are aware that the events are fictional or doctored up in some way. For example, TV shows like â€Å"The Bold and the Beautiful† and â€Å"Dynasty† are enjoyed by viewers, but they are aware of the fictional content of these programs. Reality TV, however, does not represent â€Å"fluff† in any sense of the word. In some instances, it may offer valuable insight into the fears, perceptions and feelings of actual people and viewers are irresistibly drawn by the lure of participating, even temporarily, in other peoples’ lives.

Acoustic Emission and Vibration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Acoustic Emission and Vibration - Essay Example The process of early detection has proved to be a very crucial factor in condition monitoring as well as serving as a basic extended CBM component (Zamada and Masuda, 1999, p. 160). Though the two sensors are effectively applied in this process, there exist several differences in their applications as well as a number of advantages and disadvantages over each other. The acoustic emission normally abbreviated as AE refers to sound waves that are normally produced in the event that a material is subjected to stress due to internal changes and external forces. A good example of this phenomenon is the mechanical loading which generates elastic wave’s sources (Lokajicek and Sikula, 1996, p. 312). Over the years, acoustic emission has steadily replaced the use of vibration techniques that were used traditionally. This transformation is closely associated with the better working conditions witnessed while working with acoustic emission. Vibration sensing has been associated with a nu mber of mechanical conditions such as processes that result in energy loses like friction and impacts, machinery deteriorates, and frequencies that come in a broad range. Acoustic emission on the other hand makes use of much higher frequencies when it comes to vibration movements that are synchronous. By using such frequencies, this technique makes it possible to detect signal parts experiencing high signals and also allows the detections of miniscule activities that come in large amounts like brief impacts, slight rubs or crushing of single lubricant particles. This means that acoustic emission technique is in apposition to detect failures that are impending before they take place and goes further to monitor their progress afterwards (Mori, Saruhashi and Mogi, 1994, p. 375). Though vibration analysis has been in operation for many years, it is associated with a number of disadvantages including its knowledge levels that are unsustainable and its requirements being costly while tryi ng to achieve a good diagnosis. The above setbacks make vibration analysis valuable but overly complicated compared to acoustic emission. Acoustic emission offers detecting warnings early enough on small defects and wear while vibration sensing has to wait until a defect occurs before it detects it. Acoustic emission technique also picks up more information as compared to vibration sensing. Some of the additional information picked up by acoustic emission include; friction, lubrication and cracking. Vibration sensing is in no position to pick up such information. Despite this realization, it is evident that the total information that can be picked by acoustic emission is limited as compared to that obtained by vibration analysis (Mori and Obata, 1998, p. 340). The Differences between Acoustic Emission Sensor and Vibration Sensor The acoustic emission signal processing is complicated in such a way that it cannot be conducted by every individual due to its high frequency signal. It ca lls for expertise in the interpretation of the oscilloscope’s squiggly lines. This technique allows machines to be run continuously, slowly, for a duration that is short and to be operated intermittently. Acoustic emission also permits for problem diagnosis on machines to be carried out in its early stages, gives room for maintenance procedures and allows for the monitoring of the improvement. By allowing such procedures and process, the technique provides early information that is real time on faults applicability and sensitivity to a broad speed rotational (Simpson, 1991). Contrary to vibration sensing, acoustic emission

Entering in to a Credit Agreement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Entering in to a Credit Agreement - Essay Example Rest of the amount is paid in small monthly installments. In his scheme of thing, the good sold belongs to the shop until and unless complete money i.e. last installment is not paid to the shop. This was used to be called Hire Purchase agreements but is now called an Installment Sales Agreement. Before entering an agreement for a credit, a person must be fully aware of terms and conditions of the credit. There are certain requirements that need to be complied with while entering an agreement to protect consumer's interest. The Consumer Credit Act 1974 and subsequent amendments lay down certain well defined requirements for a consumer's protection. If these requirements are not met the agreements will be considered as not enforceable without a court order. Various Consumer Credit Acts provide number of rights to the consumers to settle the agreement at any time by giving notice in writing and paying off the amounts owed under the Agreement. A person entering consumer credit or consumer hire agreement should carefully go through the agreement forms and content of document accompanying the agreement. Section 60(1) of CCA requires a credit agreement document to aware debtor or hirer clearly about following: Consumer credit or consumer hire agreement document in the prescribed form, containing all the prescribed terms of the agreement and conforming to regulations under section 60(1), is not signed in the prescribed manner by the debtor or hirer and by or on behalf of the creditor or owner The document does not include all the terms of the agreement, other than implied terms The document is, when presented or sent to the debtor or hirer for signature, in such a state that all its terms are readily legible. Contents of a Credit Agreement According to Credit Agreement Act, debtor or buyer and hirer or seller both arties must sign a written agreement including all terms and conditions. A credit agreement document must include following details: Names and addresses of both the buyer and seller A complete and clear description of the goods The cash price and the other charges (finance charges, insurance and so on) that make up the total price the buyer must pay The deposit that must be paid. No credit agreement is legal until the deposit is paid. The amount of each installment, including the last installment, and the day of the week or month by which it must be paid. All other terms and riders like who will the owner of goods until all the installments or full cost of the good is paid, at what conditions the purchaser can make prepayments or what will be the result if full installments are not paid. Terms and conditions if a seller has sold defective goods or it break down without any fault from purchaser side. Canceling an Agreement There are cases when a

Minority Essay Example for Free

Minority Essay I am a young 23 year old Hispanic girl, I am not married nor do I have kids. I am working towards my degree, live on my own, I have a decent Job, and do not depend on my parents. But as a minority I face the challenge of negative labels in many places I go. I especially deal with them when I am with my 4 nieces and nephews (age range from 6 months-10 years old) in public places. People think I am a typical Latina which includes: being a dropout with no education, four kids (that may be from at least 2 different fathers), no Job, no goals in life, etc. The biggest problem I have faced eing a minority is, being able to overcome negative stereotypes and being able to outweigh statistics. According to statistics from cdc. gov, in 2010, 23. 2% of elementary and high school students were Hispanic, but only 6. 2% of college students were Hispanic. Meaning that Hispanics are not going to college after high-school. This research paper will investigate how people treat me when I am alone and when I am with my four nieces nephews, and how the differences reflect among gender, race, and age. II. Method I utilized a type of participant observation known as complete observation. Playing he role of a complete observer, I observed and recorded the positive and negative, acknowledgement towards me with and without kids, I also observed and recorded the different looks and conversations I was able to get with and without the kids, based on three criteria: gender, race, age. The Setting I selected a very busy mall called NorthPark Center Mall, located in North Dallas off of Central Expressway. I chose this mall for several reasons. First, it is an easy place to view different types of genders, race and age groups. Second, it has several stores that I am able to go into and quickly be able to note the differences among who nters the stores according to gender, race, and age. Lastly, I chose this particular mall because it is huge, containing over 200 stores restaurants, which helped to maximize my potential for observation. Observation Strategy To avoid looking obvious, I observed no longer than 20 minutes anywhere from one central benches located in different areas of the mall, different types of stores which included: Forever 21, Nordstrom, Bebe, Disney Store, Loft, and LEGO, and restaurants inside the mall that included: Luna de Noche Tex-Mex Grill, Hibachi-San, and Maggiands Little Italy, I also observed when walking inside the mall from 2 different ntrances which were from Nordstrom Macys. Moving around from place to place was the only way I could observe discreetly and accurately given the amount of information I had to record for all the individuals. Other ways I considered observing included dressing very poorly maybe with ripped shirt and shorts and my nephews not groomed, not clean, and also the total opposite, also trying to make as much eye contact with someone as much as possible, facial expressions, different conversations as people passed by me in the different entrances, benches, restaurants, ; stores I isited. These strategies were all possible, because doing so allowed me to record valuable information and observe from the different locations and able to note the differences among gender, race, and age. I observed on five different days Monday at 7pm (alone), Wednesday at 5pm (witn my nephews ; nieces), Friday at Oam (alone), Saturday at 5pm (with nephews and nieces) and Sunday at 12pm. I chose to observe on two weekdays and on the weekend and also at different types to be able to diversify my research which allowed me to make a more complete investigation. Therefore, I observed on 3 different weekdays Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which according to a mall cop those are days that an older crowd tend to visit. I also chose the weekend because thats when a more diverse population tends to go and do their shopping. However, according to my own observations it varies among the time, what age groups go since NorthPark is so huge it is very diverse at ALL days and times of the week. That is why I chose different times of the day, ranging from 10am-7pm. I also chose that time range because I believe that vastly different groups of society re active at different times of the day. For example, elders tend to wake up extremely early and go walk some miles at the mall as opposed to a younger crowd that typically go to school or work during the morning time and do their shopping at later times. I believe that by observing at various days and times of the week, I included a more representative sample of the population. Categories and Measurements I based my observations on gender, race, and age, because I believe these criteria highly influence the different looks, facial expressions, comments, manners among people towards me. I chose these three because they are easily determined viewed, and therefore more accurate to measure, although age and race were sometimes hard to determine. One other category I considered measuring was socio- economic status. Although I believe that this may be an important contributing factors to the topic, I decided against using it because I couldnt find a way to accurately determine how wealthy a person is based on a single observation. To determine age and race, I used obvious physical characteristics I could observe to classify a person, such as skin/eye/hair color, style, and language accent if any. For this topic, there wasnt a way to measure exact proximity. I only observed people that actually noticed me no farther than about 2 feet. Ill. Findings Altogether I made a total of 12 observations at different times over 5 separate days. After observing about 200 people that entered the various places inside the mall I observed, I found that more that almost every one of the persons I observed actually said hello smiled at me while I was alone. Less than half, looked at me with a confused face, did not smile, and commented something to the other person they ere with while I was with my 4 nieces and nephews. I found that the day or time didnt matter the huge difference I observed was the gender, age, and race of the people I observed. I found that 60% of males and only 40% females acknowledged me in a positive way, with a smile, opened the door for me while I was alone. The percentages were reversed when I was with my nieces and nephews, only 40% of males and 60% females acknowledged me in a negative way, didnt open the door, made comments or facial expressions towards me and the kids. Race During my research I chose to observe only whites and Atrican-Americans. I tound that 90% of all Whites and African-Americans acknowledged me positively while alone. While I was with the kids it changed drastically, 80% whites and 40% of all blacks acknowledged me in a negative way even when I smiled at each and every one of them. Age When it came down to age, it was a very broad type of positive and negative acknowledgment. Age ranges from 15-60 years old, overall I received positive acknowledgement while I was alone of more than 50% male, blacks from ages 15-60 years old and only about 10% showed negative acknowledgement towards me with the kids. Female, whites, between the ages of 15-45 years old over 40% acknowledged me in a positive way whole I was alone, while 70% acknowledged me an a negative way while I was with the kids. Also, I found that I received much more attention from everyone including cashiers from the various places I was in, when I was with the kids especially when they were not groomed. V. Discussion ; Implications Through my observations I found overall I had a more negative acknowledgement from Whites, females and males. A more positive acknowledgement from Black, males ; females. Also, according to my research elders are more likely to stereotype and cknowledge me negatively when I walk around with my nephews and nieces. While I was alone more than half actually acknowledged me while I was alone. Although gender, age, and race statistics are interesting, I see no real-world application for this information to this situation. As it all varies from the different places that you visit. As stated earlier I chose NorthPark because it would allow me to see a more diverse crowd. Proximity, on the other hand, seems to play a significant role, a man or female no matter the race is very likely to open the door for me while coming in through an ntrance with the kids, especially with a stroller. On the other hand, while I was alone males are more likely to open then the door then females. Solutions In reality there is no true solution that I can provide, that will allow me to be seen in a positive way with or without kids. The only thing I can suggest to my Hispanic, single ladies is to not worry about negative stereotypes or acknowledgements and overcome the bad stats, work hard towards career, not to get married at an early age, and work twice as hard as any other race. V. Conclusions Altogether, this paper exposed several previously unknown facts about the different ttitudes, positive ; negative acknowledgements that people in general have towards young, Hispanic women. What I found much interesting was the fact that I never imagined getting so many bad looks, with kids. I always believed Id be more respected in public when I was with kids, especially because I could blend in as a single mother. If I could I would raise a program to assist young Hispanic women to overcome all stereotypes as they are growing up. As I stated earlier there isnt a solution that I could recommend to avoid stereotypes. Only to work towards goals and dreams, and never give up!

Provide support to maintain and develop skills for everyday life Essay Example for Free

Provide support to maintain and develop skills for everyday life Essay Skills for everyday life allow people to do the things that meet their daily needs. These are also known as activities of daily living that have a direct affect on any individual’s health and well-being. It is often thought that care workers look after people by doing things for them. Another approach is to do things with people. Today care workers should work in partnership with individuals and groups of individuals. Partnership is about working together as equals in order to : -Support the individual to make as many decisions about their care as possible -Support the individual to do as much for themselves as possible. Activities of daily living – skills that directly affect an individual’s everyday health and well- being Partnership – working together as equals. Working in partnership can maintain and develop individual skills . Care workers can still involve the individual even when doing things for them. They consider individual needs when maintaining skills for everyday life. Doing things for individuals: Providing too much care can make people’s problems worse: Individuals can lose skills they once used Individuals do not learn new skills -Individuals do not regain skills they have lost. Read more:  Outline Agreed Ways of Working That Relate to Managing Pain and Discomfort At different stages of life individuals might have different health problems that affect their skills for everyday life.Being aware of the activities of daily living helps care workers understand the problems that individuals might have. Problems with everyday living skills: -Physical health ( Feeling unwell such as with a fever leads to tiredness and inability to carry on with the usual activities of daily living. -Learning disabilities (An individual with learning disabilities might take longer to learn new everyday skills) -Mental health (An individual with mental health problems might neglect themselves so they do not eat and drink) People may not be strong enough to dress themselves or prepare their own meals. -Physical disability (Some physical disabilities prevent individuals  going shopping unsupported) -Social isolation (An individual who is lonely is less likely to communicate with others) Care workers can develop their understanding of an individual’s condition and how best to work in partnership to maintain, regain and develop their skills.If a condition prevents an individual from using skills of everyday life, the result can have a significant impact on the person’s quality of life. The effect of conditions on everyday skills: -Pain -Inconvenience -Isolation -Humiliation -Distress -Discomfort

Aspects of wicked problems

Aspects of wicked problems Introduction When facing a design problem, designers need to consider a wide range of factors to ensure that it is as successful as possible. When a design problem is ill-defined a wicked problem arises, which complicated the process more. Sustainability is a very important consideration when designing. Its also important that designers understand the role they are playing, and exactly what their task is. Ive looked at these things and related them to my own design experiences when possible. Wicked Problems Definition Wicked designs can be summarised as problems that are difficult to solve, where there is no real obvious solution that will fully resolve the initial problem. This can be due to unclear, unspecific or changing requirements that can make it hard for the designer to know exactly the situation they are designing for. Furthermore, as one aspect within the product is solved, other problems may be unveiled leading to more problems. A typical example of a wicked problem outside the area of design is politics whatever is done there are still problems and not everyone is happy, additionally as politicians solve issues more emerge. The term wicked design has been defined by ten characteristics compiled by Rittel and Webber (1973) shown below. Number Characteristic There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem Wicked problems have no stopping rule Solutions to wicked problems are not true or false, but better or worse There is no immediate and no ultimate test of a solution to a wicked problem Every solution to a wicked problem is a one shot operation because there is no opportunity to learn by trial and error every attempt counts significantly Wicked problems do not have an enumerable (or an exhaustively describable) set of potential solutions, nor is there a well described set of permissible operations that may be incorporated into the plan Every wicked problem is essentially unique Every wicked problem can be considered to be a symptom of another problem The existence of a discrepancy representing a wicked problem can be explained in numerous ways. The choice of explanation determines the nature of the problems resolution The planner has no right to be wrong (planners are liable for the consequences of the actions the generate) Explaining the Characteristics There is no definite formulation of a wicked problem Model3When faced with a wicked problem, it is often difficult to state exactly what this problem is, and what you are aiming to do. This can therefore lead to confusion as to whether or not the issue has been resolved, it is a continuous problem. In my design experiences, I have picked up on things that I didnt initially think about whilst doing research and consulting users. For example whilst doing my product study on Speedo fast skin swimsuits, when I gave a questionnaire to a user it highlighted issues that I didnt initially consider such the users experience whilst using it, such as feeling claustrophobic. This led me to look further into the research Speedo had done regarding comfort. The whole design process ends up being a learning experience because you have to thoroughly look into all aspects necessary in order to try and solve the wicked problem. Figure 1 below shows that the design process is continuous it is a never ending circle. Wicked problems have no stopping point A wicked problem can arise when you are designing and there is no clear or obvious place to stop at they dont have an exhaustive end point. You can go on and on developing and altering the design but the end point will never be clear because of the nature of the problem being solved. In my previous design experiences, the stopping point has always been when I have met all the identified required needs stated in the specification, when the time limit prevents me from going any further, and when I have received positive feedback about the design, illustrating that potential users are happy with it. It is also important to ensure that the design has been explored thoroughly from all perspectives. Time and deadlines are often the most contributing factor to determine the point you stop at. This may lead to the design not being fully explored. In a lot of my design experiences, especially at GCSE, I had to move on to the next part of the design process before fully exploring everything a s the opportunities were endless, it was a wicked problem design something to be sold by the National Trust in their shops Solutions to wicked problems cant be described as true or false but good or bad Solutions to design problems cant be described as true or false or right or wrong because it varies depending on whom is using the product. Designs are normally described using personal opinion by evaluating them from different perspectives and considering various factors, for example, function, size, ease of use etc. A design cannot just be classed as right or wrong, its not that simple, parts of it may be correct whereas others might not work. A design may be perfect for one specific group of people but not at all for others. Constructive criticism is a good thing to use when looking at solutions, considering good points, bad points and ways to improve. For example, for AS level I made a lamp intended for use by children, the aesthetics I came up with would suit children but wouldnt appeal to many others. Designers may be given the same brief to work from, yet the end results will not all be the same. This doesnt mean that one person is right and the rest are wrong, the problem has just been solved in other ways depending on how the designer has interpreted it. Every wicked problem can be considered a symptom of another problem A lot of designs can continuously be improved and developed due to reasons such as new technology and materials being developed. Wicked designs cant ever be fully solved; they depend on trends, opinions, financial situations etc. So you may temporarily satisfy the design criteria but not in the long run. An example of this is mobile phones; they are constantly changing and getting better to meet peoples needs and to compete with competitive brands. Figure 2 below suited the need at the time it was designed you could phone off it. Now, figure 3 meets the needs of people, it is multi functional and does everything from browsing the internet to video calling. Every wicked problem can be considered a symptom of another problem. Products that seem out of date now would have been designed to suit the target market at the time they were designed; it is not because of a fault of the designer. Sustainability now has much more importance than previously so the way products are made has change d. Designers know that it is a current issue so strive to create products that are sustainable. Industrial designers and engineers Often it is hard to distinguish between the role of the engineer and that of the industrial designer because the way they work is so similar; however there are some influencing differences. The engineer is more concerned about the technological aspects of the design and the accuracy of it. There is often a right or wrong answer as it frequently involves mathematics and science. On the other hand, the industrial designer focuses more upon the aesthetics, production, social and environmental impact, sustainability and price. There is no definite answer to the initial brief; it is a matter of opinion. Their aim is to make the product appeal to users so that they will buy it. The role of the industrial designer is to create and execute design solutions towards problems of form, usability, user ergonomics, marketing, brand development and sales http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_design Aug 2008 Engineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering Nov 2009. My experience For my AS project I designed a lamp inspired by the design movement pop art for young children. It was be a night light. For my A Level project, I designed something to encourage healthy eating for children and families to improve their lifestyle. I choose to do the product shown below, you place each persons photo in the frame on the box, and whenever you eat an item of fruit or vegetable (one of your five a day) you put a counter in the slot above your photo. For both of these, some aspects of the design process were considered to be traditional industrial design, and some considered to be the responsibility of the engineer. Role of industrial designer in my experience Industrial design was involved in my A level project because aesthetics was a very important factor to ensure that children would want to use the product. This involved considering colour, shapes, finish and form. Cultural and social concerns played an important part in the designing. I did some research and found that interactive learning was one of the better ways to educate and influence children. I also found out that gentle competitiveness would encourage people to interact with the product. In this case it was done by competing to see who could eat the most fruit/vegetables in one day, recorded by putting counters in the slot above your photo. It was important for me to consider cost and manufacture to ensure that the product would be accessible to people of as many backgrounds as possible. Safety was also an important factor in this design as its intended to be used by children, the parts couldnt be too small and there couldnt be any sharp parts. The industrial designer also n eeded to consider the materials to be used, and the surface finish needed. Role of engineer in my experience The role of the engineer was to make sure that the design provided the required function, and that performance was up to the right level. I had to make sure that the gap between the two sheets for the counters to slot into was exactly the right size so that the counters didnt get stuck, but didnt move around too much. I also had to make sure that the dimensions were correct so that the top black piece fitted into the base securely enough, yet it could be removed to tip upside down to remove the counters. A lot of precision was needed to ensure that the pieces all fitted together correctly. For my lamp it was the role of the engineer to ensure that the electrical parts of the design functioned correctly and that they were held inside the casing safely. Sustainability Sustainability has become a very important influence when designing due to societys increasing concern about it. Designers need to think about the product they are designing from cradle to grave, meaning they need to consider where the materials are obtained from whether they are readily available, renewable or non renewable and where they have to be shipped from. The manufacturing process then needs to be considered to ensure that it causes the most minimal effect on the environment and that the conditions workers are in are acceptable. Packaging needs to be thought about to make sure that it is not in excess, and so that the shape is as efficient as possible for transportation. Figure 7 compares the cradle to gate method (just considering the products lifecycle until it is sold) and the cradle to grave idea, where you consider the products impact after its useful life has ended. Sustainability can be split into three categories economic, social and environmental. The sustainabili ty handbook defines them all, the economic one means considering economic implications of our actions including ensuring that there is an economic benefit both to the region from which the product came and to the region in which it is marketed. The social one means ensuring that our own and other peoples quality of life and human rights are not compromised to fulfill our expectations or demands. And the environmental one can be defined as ensuring that our actions and lifestyles dont cause the planets resources to be used at unsustainable rates. When designing a product, as a designer you should consider each of these three categories and the potential impact your product will have on them. Defenitions of Sustainability Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs Sustainability is all about preserving the worlds natural resources for future generations. A fully sustainable industry would be one that has zero impact or a positive impact on the environment. My experience of sustainability My experience of sustainability involved several factors. My material choice was an important factor. I had to find out how easily available various materials were, what is done with them after their useful life has ended and how they are processed. With my A level project, once the user has finished with the product, the different materials can easily be split into MDF and acrylic ready to be recycled. This concept reflects the idea that Papanek had (1994) of designing for disassembly; designing products so that they are easy to take apart and sort for recycling. He referred to the concept as assemble for disassembly. He proposed that different materials shouldnt be mixed unless its unavoidable in order to simplify the separation process. When considering what wood to use, I decided that there was no need to use a rare wood that would likely have had to have been shipped into the country as this would cause unnecessary environmental damage. I also needed to consider how the material would be processed, for example metal needs a lot higher temperatures to work with than plastics so needs more energy to provide that initial heat which is often created using fossil fuels. How I could improve my design experience With respect to my lamp project, I think that if I had worked more from the perspective of the engineer I may have created a more useful product. If I could do it again I would incorporate a dimmer switch so that the light emitted can be varied as its intended use was to be a nightlight. I think when I was doing the project I was mainly looking at it from the point of view of the industrial designer as I put a lot of consideration into the aesthetics and desirability. In order to make my A level design more sustainable, I could use another of Papaneks ideas (1994), which is to use scrap materials that are left over from production to create other products. For example, the circles cut out to make the frame could be used as counters in a game, or they could possibly be used to make jewelry with. An option to make my design more sustainable would be to use recycled materials to create the product, this option was a bit limited in school but a possibility would be to create the frame an d counters out of recycled polymer. Conclusion I have looked into the concept of wicked designs and understand how they make it hard for designers to fully satisfy the need when addressing this type of problem. They involve many complications that often lead to more, and it makes it hard for designers to create acceptable solutions. To ensure that they do the best that they can designers should understand the nature of wicked problems and all that they entail. I have looked into the roles of the industrial designer and the engineer and have related them to my work to understand the difference between the two, also how the tasks of the two sometimes overlap. I have seen how sustainability is an important factor that affects the way designers need to approach their tasks, and that they need to consider the products implications early on in the design rather than just at the end. I have examined all of the above factors and related them to my work where possible. I have also looked to see where I could improve what I have done in th e past with what I have found out. References Wicked Problems article. http//en-wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem (2009) Rittel and Webber accessed on 24.11.09 Figure 1: Learn. http://learn.lboro.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1455 week 3, EWLN power point, slide 13. Accessed on 12.11.09 Figure 2 : http://jamesoff.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/dsc_4159.jpg accessed on 24.11.09 Figure 3: http://myofferpal.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/apple-iphone.jpg accessed on 24.11.09 The sustainability handbook. William Blackburn. Published 02.01.07 by Environmental Law Institute Figure 7: http://www.scienceinthebox.com/en_UK/programs/laundrydetergent_en.html Industrial design article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_design (2008) Accessed on 25.11.09 Engineering. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering (2009) Accessed on 25.11.09 Eco Logic. Design for the Real World 1985. Victor Papanek.

The History and Rise of Christianity Essay -- Religious Persecution, r

Intro: Christianity is the largest religion in the world with over 2.1 billion followers. That’s 33% of all the people in the world. No other religion can compare to it. Other religions like Judaism and Sikhism have less than 1% of the people in the world as followers. Christianity was started around 1 A.D. when Jesus Christ of Nazareth was born, although he didn’t start preaching until he was 10 or 11 years old. His teachings weren’t accepted as a state religion until around 313 A.D. by the Roman emperor, Constantine. Most Jews pulled out of the Roman religion to study Judean law and wait the coming of the Messiah that they were promised in the Old Testament of the bible (Christian scripture). This particular religion was accepted because there were too many cults, mysteries and philosophies about the way of life. Christianity also accepted (and still accepts) any believer, from workers, to slaves, even ex-criminals and women. Christian belief is based on the verse of John 3:16. â€Å"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that who ever believes in him sh...

Life Choices as Represented in Robert Frosts Road Not Taken Essay

Life Choices as Represented in Robert Frost's Road Not Taken Choices are never easy, facing hundreds upon thousands of them in our lifetime, man has to make decisions based upon these choices. Some decisions are clear while others are sometimes not clear and more difficult to make. The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is a prime example of these choices in life. This poem is a first person narrative that is seen by most people as being told by Frost. The poem opens up with the narrator encountering a point in the woods that has a trail diverge into two separate paths. In the poem Frost presents the idea of man facing the difficult predilection of a moment and a lifetime. I believe this idea in the poem is embodied in the fork in the road, the decision between the two paths, and the decision to select the road not taken. Someone's life could be metaphorically related to a walk through the woods filled with many twists and turns. Throughout this journey there are instances where choices between alternate paths have to be made and the route you choose to take is not always an easy one to determine. For most people, the fork in the road represents the speaker's encounter of having to choose between two paths knowing that this decision will affect the rest of his life. Frost presents to the reader a moment in anyone's life where a strenuous and problematic choice has to be made. The two paths represent the options that someone has to choose from. Faced with these decisions, he or she has to weigh their options carefully to make this choice. While reading this poem I was able to visualize the speaker looking far down both paths to see what each of them would bring. Though the speaker's sight is somewhat limited, on... ... is simply taking a stroll trough the woods because he says in line 13, "I kept the first for another day," which leads me to believe that the next time he is walking in those woods he'll take the first path. I guess that Frost did his job because this poem has caused so much controversy and debates over the years. I just can't really fathom that this path was the meaning of life in a way. I know that my view of the piece is not the only true way to go but I also know that this is poetry and it is meant to be looked at from different angles. I wouldn't be surprised if someone took the angle of saying that Frost was drunk and couldn't find his way home. There is no real answer to what this poem is about and I'm just taking the realist approach and saying that "The Road Not Taken," is not about life's ultimate choice but rather simply about a walk in the park.

Political, Social And Moral Me Essay -- essays research papers

Theodore Seuss Geisel, better known to generations of readers all over the world as "Dr. Seuss," is the American author of many popular children’s books. Dr. Seuss’ "deft combination of easy words, swift rhymes and batty nonsense" (Horn 69) has convinced many children that reading does not have to be a boring chore, but instead can be fun and entertaining. Amidst these wacky drawings of zany characters spouting off crazy rhetoric, there is much hidden symbolism. Many of Dr. Seuss’ works contain political, social, and moral messages. Political messages in Dr. Seuss’ works include war, economic and environmental themes. Two of Dr. Seuss’ later works, The Butter Battle Book and The Lorax, "take strong stands on the dangers of indifference to world affairs." (Horn 70) In The Butter Battle Book, Seuss takes nuclear war as his theme. Two groups of animals live on either side of a stone wall. One side eats their bread butter side up, while the other side eats their bread butter side down. Because of each group’s odd ways, neither side trusts the other. Each side sets up a border patrol with mild protection. Over the course of the book, the weapons get more complicated and powerful until each side invents "the bitsy big-boy boomeroo," a very powerful bomb. Each side is ready to destroy the other when the books ends. These groups could represent the nuclear opponents of the time, mainly the United States and Russia. "In this book Dr. Seuss turns didactic and cal ls up many moral arguments adults make against nuclear proliferation." (Lystad 1) This book "ends without resolution of the issues" (Lystad 2) and leaves it up to the reader to decide his or her own beliefs on nuclear war. Political issues arise again in Green Eggs and Ham. In this book "Sam-I-Am’s persistence convinces a friend to try an unusual - but tasty - dish." (Horn 67) This confrontation between Sam-I-Am and his friend is "so obviously a parable about the struggle between capitalist and socialist ideologies." (Atkinson 132) It can be said that Sam-I-Am represents the capitalist United States trying to convince communist countries to try the new, strange and unusual dish of green eggs and ham, which represents capitalism. ... ... the kind-hearted elephant agrees to help a lazy bird by sitting on her egg while she flies off for a vacation. The mother bird decides to never come back. Horton suffers through many problems such as bad weather and being ridiculed by the other animals. In the end, Horton is rewarded when the egg hatches into an elephant-bird. All of these works "suggest to the reader that individual can and should be responsible for the welfare of others." (Horn 70) Within the playful artwork and imaginative language, Dr. Seuss’ children’s books convey ideas about nuclear proliferation, environmental hazards, economics, fascism, and morality. Despite the fact that some of these works are more than fifty years old, the important messages within them still hold true today. Whether or not the parents who buy the books of Dr. Seuss realize the value placed in them, their value as teaching tools for children cannot be disputed. In all, the messages given by Dr. Seuss through his works could be the very essence of this writers popularity. The messages are basic and widely applicable, ensuring that his work can be useful to and enjoyed by all. Political, Social And Moral Me Essay -- essays research papers Theodore Seuss Geisel, better known to generations of readers all over the world as "Dr. Seuss," is the American author of many popular children’s books. Dr. Seuss’ "deft combination of easy words, swift rhymes and batty nonsense" (Horn 69) has convinced many children that reading does not have to be a boring chore, but instead can be fun and entertaining. Amidst these wacky drawings of zany characters spouting off crazy rhetoric, there is much hidden symbolism. Many of Dr. Seuss’ works contain political, social, and moral messages. Political messages in Dr. Seuss’ works include war, economic and environmental themes. Two of Dr. Seuss’ later works, The Butter Battle Book and The Lorax, "take strong stands on the dangers of indifference to world affairs." (Horn 70) In The Butter Battle Book, Seuss takes nuclear war as his theme. Two groups of animals live on either side of a stone wall. One side eats their bread butter side up, while the other side eats their bread butter side down. Because of each group’s odd ways, neither side trusts the other. Each side sets up a border patrol with mild protection. Over the course of the book, the weapons get more complicated and powerful until each side invents "the bitsy big-boy boomeroo," a very powerful bomb. Each side is ready to destroy the other when the books ends. These groups could represent the nuclear opponents of the time, mainly the United States and Russia. "In this book Dr. Seuss turns didactic and cal ls up many moral arguments adults make against nuclear proliferation." (Lystad 1) This book "ends without resolution of the issues" (Lystad 2) and leaves it up to the reader to decide his or her own beliefs on nuclear war. Political issues arise again in Green Eggs and Ham. In this book "Sam-I-Am’s persistence convinces a friend to try an unusual - but tasty - dish." (Horn 67) This confrontation between Sam-I-Am and his friend is "so obviously a parable about the struggle between capitalist and socialist ideologies." (Atkinson 132) It can be said that Sam-I-Am represents the capitalist United States trying to convince communist countries to try the new, strange and unusual dish of green eggs and ham, which represents capitalism. ... ... the kind-hearted elephant agrees to help a lazy bird by sitting on her egg while she flies off for a vacation. The mother bird decides to never come back. Horton suffers through many problems such as bad weather and being ridiculed by the other animals. In the end, Horton is rewarded when the egg hatches into an elephant-bird. All of these works "suggest to the reader that individual can and should be responsible for the welfare of others." (Horn 70) Within the playful artwork and imaginative language, Dr. Seuss’ children’s books convey ideas about nuclear proliferation, environmental hazards, economics, fascism, and morality. Despite the fact that some of these works are more than fifty years old, the important messages within them still hold true today. Whether or not the parents who buy the books of Dr. Seuss realize the value placed in them, their value as teaching tools for children cannot be disputed. In all, the messages given by Dr. Seuss through his works could be the very essence of this writers popularity. The messages are basic and widely applicable, ensuring that his work can be useful to and enjoyed by all.

Economic and Political Systems of Cuba Essay

The Economic System in Cuba is known to be communism. Communism can be defined as a scheme of equalizing the social conditions of life. This system considers the termination of inequalities in the possession of property as well as the distribution of wealth equally to all individuals. Therefore, the means to achieve this is by the collectivization of all private property. By extension, collectivization is the process of forming collective communities where property and resources are owned by the community and not individuals. Freedom of expression is also mediated by the state. Communism is a system that usually is unsuccessful however, the only way that communism may be achieved is if every single member of a communist society is in complete agreement with the arrangement which was mentioned above. In early Cuban Political history, there were various communist as well as anarchist organizations for example the Communist Party of Cuba which was initiated in the early 1920’s by Julio Antonio Mella, Carlos Balino, Jose Marti and Fabio Grobart. It was then later led by both the first secretary and secondary secretary: – Fidel Castro and Raul Castro respectively. In Cuba, no other political party other than that of the Communist Party of Cuba is allowed to be formed in the fear that a non – communist party which will be funded by the United States of America would intervene and claim Cuba’s independence. In comparison to other ruling communist parties around the world, the communist party in Cuba retains a stricter approach and adherence to the tradition of Marxism – Leninism and the traditional Soviet Model. In addition, the Cuban Political System is described as authentic which is based on the unique history of the struggle for equality amongst individuals as well as independence. Cuba is a republic with a centralized socialist system with a structure of the State of Republic of Cuba as follows: –* National Assembly of People’s Power * Council of State * Council of Ministers * Provincial and Municipal Governments * Judiciary System

Limited Household Participation in the Stock Market Phenomenon Analysis

LIMITED HOUSEHOLD PARTICIPATION IN THE STOCK MARKET PHENOMENON ANALYSIS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION3 2. FACTORS THAT DETERMINE STOCKHOLDING DECISION OF HOUSEHOLDS4 2. 1. Wealth4 2. 2. Intelligence quotient (IQ) and cognitive skills4 2. 3. Education4 2. 4. Country4 2. 5. Information availability and ease to trade6 2. 6. Market trust6 2. 7. Age7 2. 8. Marital status7 2. 9. Sociability (social interaction)8 2. 10. Personal values9 2. 11. Life satisfaction9 2. 12. Health10 2. 3. Risk aversion10 3. CONCLUSIONS12 4. REFERENCES13 1. INTRODUCTION There are a lot of researches made to investigate the reasons why households participation in the stock market is relatively low. According to the numbers, only 21% of EU households participate in stockholding (European Survey of Consumer Finances, 2009). This looks irrational because the majority of the society members do not capture their chance to win additional benefits from their wealth in the stock market.The purpose of this exploratory research is to provide general insights about current status of households stock market participation and explain the variables that have effects on stockholding decision by households. Currently, the households investment level can be treated as market inefficiency due to irrational or unconscious households behavior. However, there is a number of external factors that influence the decision making in this field too.The statistics from variuos countries imply differences even among highly developed countries with similar GDP per capita like Italy with 14% and UK with 26% households stockholding level (European Survey of Consumer Finances, 2009). This means that there are externalities that lead to such differences and not just irrational households behavior determine the situation. To draw the full picture, this research focuses on both types of factors – internal and external. The following chapters include short analysis of the main factors that have impact on household st ockholding decision and the summary. . FACTORS THAT DETERMINE STOCKHOLDING DECISION OF HOUSEHOLDS 2. 1. Wealth Wealth refers to accumulated tangible and intangible assets. It is obvious that for stock investing households need to have some tangible assets to buy stocks. Therefore, wealth is one of the main factors that determine whether a household can actually invest, or in other words, convert savings to investment. According to the survey, 31% of respondents in EU state that they have some savings but do not participate in any kind of investing (European Survey of Consumer Finances, 2009).Households starting to invest face a number of costs such as time spent to understand the stock market system, get familiar with markets situation and trading flow. It may seem that the knowledge gain does not cost anything but there are opportunity costs when it comes to time. Other than that, there are also some direct tangible costs like transaction costs, taxes and other fees for the brokera ge. Of course for wealthier households this kind of barriers are less relevant, however, poorer households might be considering if possible benefits outweigh the costs. . 2. Intelligence quotient (IQ) and cognitive skills IQ is probably the most common measure to assess human intelligence. There is no doubt that beneficial stockholding requires appropriate level of intelligence to make good investing decisions. According to recent researches, there is a correlation between IQ and participation in stock market (IQ and Stock Market Participation, 2011). Households’ heads with higher IQ tend to diversify, hold mutual funds, more stocks and eventually bear lower risks with higher returns.In addition to IQ, it is worth to mention cognitive skills that have impact on participation and successfullness of stockholding. Good cognitive skills lead to lower time costs for getting knowledge and higher awareness that are so crucial for investing. 2. 3. Education In general, education prov ides a lot of advantages for societies and its members. Self development is crucial to gain cognitive skills, general knowledge, increase awareness and gain variuos experiences. These are the traits necessary for successful participation in stock markets.It is proven that education has positive correlation with households stockholding participation. More specifically, even one additional year of schooling increases the possibility of participation by 7% – 8% (Stock market participation and household characteristics in Europe, 2010). Moreover, decisions making of educated households’ heads are more rational. 2. 4. Country As it is mentioned in the introduction, different countries have created different environments for stock markets and, therefore, this is one more factor that can influence households stockholding decision.More specifically, governments can influence investment climate by adjusting such variables as taxes, laws, infrastructure, education, general count ry’s stability and even more. The Figure 1 below represents country specific percentage of households having direct and indirect stockholdings between 2006 and 2007 (Stock market participation and household characteristics in Europe, 2010). Figure 1. Stock market participation and household characteristics in Europe, 2010. In order to improve the opportunities for households to participate in tock markets, while at the same time to make it easier to enter the above-mentioned markets to new entrants, and to improve the conditions of participation for existing participants, and finally – to ensure the stability of financial markets, government often takes appropriate actions, whose has a relatively high impact on the further development of stock markets. Government must ensure the macroeconomic stability of financial markets, while at the same time they must ensure the existence of an open economy.A theory of an open economy is very important on the development of stock markets, because only in this case people and companies can freely trade in goods and services with other people and businesses, so that has a major impact on the growth of financial markets. Another neccessary condition for the success of any stock market is its repayment of stock dividends culture – before making any type of investment it must be ensured that stockholders will be allowed to get their dividends at a pre-determined time and at a pre-determined amounts.Talking about ensuring the fair trading process, European Union in 2004 released the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) (this directive was implemented three years later, in 2007), in order to open the door to the creation of new trading platforms directly operated by intermediaries, and in 2008, nine major investment banks (BNP Paribas, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Societe Generale and UBS) has launched new pan-European equities tr ading platform (based in London) called â€Å"Project Turquoise†.Has this directive had an impact on stock markets? Yes. The issuance of this directive led European Union to increase competition and consumer protection in investment services. In order to complete this section about relevant government efforts, we must conclude that the relevant government actions truly has a significant effect on the growth of stock (and bond) markets, promotes fair trade among all countries included in the process of buying / selling stocks, and eventually – influences country's economic level to ncrease. But are these actions sufficient enough in order to ensure the increase of the involvement of households in the stock markets in the future? 2. 5. Information availability and ease to trade Technologies and their development have huge impact on everyday households life. Although nowadays the majority of wealthy households have ability to use the Internet, two decades earlier this was different and households participation in stock market rate was different too.The research of impact of the Internet to stock market participation reveals that there are strong evidences that the Internet penetration contributed to increased amount of households participating in stock market (Stock Market Participation and the Internet, 2008). According to the same research, the usage of the Internet increases the possibility to have stocks by 7%. This is mostly because of ease of stock trading (online trading), lower transaction costs and lower information costs. 2. 6. Market trustTrust is important factor for household’s decision to invest in stock market. Financial markets involve much risk and uncertainty. To tell the truth, the majority of households whose invest in stocks don't fully understand how the capital markets actually function. There needs to be some faith and certainty in this process. If it is known that a certain person or a company is unreliable and untrus tworthy, you, simply, don’t want to have any kind of business and common interests with them. The same is with households.In deciding whether to buy stocks, investors takes into account the risk of being cheated, so those households, whose generally are more trusting, are also more likely to invest in the financial markets, and those who are less trusting are less likely to invest in the market. Collapses of financial markets and its key participants – individual companies’ (when fraud was initiated and tolerated by heads of major companies) not only lowers the distribution of expected payoffs, but at the same time reduces the confidence in the system, which generates these enefits. A great example – company â€Å"Enron†. â€Å"Enron† was one of the biggest U. S. energy companies, however, when it was revealed lots of obscure in accounting procedures (it can be considered as a fraud), performed in 1990 on both â€Å"Enron† and its par tner, accounting company â€Å"Arthur Andersen†, there was a bankruptcy initiated on â€Å"Enron† – it was the largest bankruptcy in U. S. history. Share price fell from $ 90 to a few cents, and since those shares was considered to be very reliable, this bankruptcy was considered as disaster in the financial world.Company’s shareholders lost nearly $11 billion. What do you think, what impact do these examples of companies’ breakdowns have on the growth in confidence in financial markets? 2. 7. Age Another interesting fact in observing limited household stock market participation phenomenon – age. One of the factors that influence household’s decisions about stockholdings is the age’s effect on risk tolerance. There was a research done, in order to identify the risk tolerance level within specified age groups, and it showed that the risk tolerance decreases within the age.According to a research done by Rui Yao, Michael S. Gutte r, and Sherman D. Hanna, where they analyzed the effect of race and ethnicity on subjective financial risk tolerance, measuring age as a continuous variable, found out that each year increase in age decreased a probability of taking any type of risk by almost 2 %. Another factor, having significant impact on household investment decisions according to its age, is income.As this factor was discussed at one of the beginning pages of this research paper, it is worth to remind that different age groups receives different amounts of wages, what has an impact on their ability to act and to invest in financial markets. Finally, it is an interesting fact that interpersonal trust (trust is our previously described factor due to limited household participation in stock market, but this time this factor is viewed from a slightly different perspective) is more important for stock market participation decision within younger age groups and political orientation within older age groups. . 8. Mari tal status It’s not a secret that marital status is another important factor, which has a significant impact on household’s decisions whether to participate in the stock market or not. Married people are more willing to take (and share with each other) a certain level of risk than those, whose are living alone, and those, whose are living together, but are not married at all. There was a research done in order to identify the effects of marriage and divorce on financial investments.According to this research, women are more likely to invest in the stock market after their marriage, and take back their investment after divorce, while at the same time men shows quite different patterns on investment decisions. This suggests that the female gender is more risk averse than men (risk averse is also identified as one of the factors that has an impact on household’s investment decisions in the stock market), but in terms of couples who are married, a degree of risk mor e or less evenly distributes among themselves.It is worth to mention that marriage increases the likelihood of future investments in the financial markets for both men and women. There are lots of household finance literature available both online and in libraries, where it is often highlighted the differences in men and women behaviors while investing (marital status, as one of the factors having impact on households decision whether to participate in stock market or not, can be analyzed in a little bit different way.That’s true – by gender and by risk level each gender has possibility to take on themselves). According to the literature, the differences on investment preferences between men and women are more exposed, when individuals rather than married couples are being analyzed, because as it was mentioned earlier, married investors takes more risk than single investors. A distribution in risk by gender, talking in terms of marital status, is not the only reason fo r limited household participation in stock market. There an be distinguished several different factors, attributable to marital status – it‘s changes in household risk preferences, changes in background risks, and, also, changes in economic resources. 2. 9. Sociability (social interaction) Is it not true that working with a good company of friends involves more fun and at the same time the overall productivity increases? At the same time, don‘t you feel safer when you purchase a good, that was tested by people living in your environment, and it was recommended as a reliable and useful good?Another example would be a participation in any social program, where there previously participated, for example, your neighbours or friends – your decision-making process is very strongly influenced by the people of your environment, and here takes place the so-called phenomenon of word-of-mouth communication. All these examples perfectly suites to define one more factor , which explains limited household participation in stock market phenomenon – it is sociability, or, in other words, household‘s social interaction.Harvard Business School provides us with an opportunity to observe their findings about sociability‘s impact on stockholding decisions. Firstly, according to a research done, social households – those households, that has friendly and warm relations with their neighbours, are more likely to participate in stock markets, than those, whose relations with their neighbours are ruined or there aren‘t any neighbours in their environment. Secondly, as the proof of the first claim about sociability, researchers indicates that the impact of sociability is much more higher in those states with higher stock market participation rates.Quite „unexpectedâ€Å", right? Finally, they found out that differential between social and non-social households appears to have widened since 1990s. We often encounter with wor d-of-mouth communication‘s impact in our everyday‘s life, but when you are trying to assess sociability‘s influence on household decisions whether to participate on stock markets or not, you then realize the true power of a word. Word-of-mouth information sharing is key point in understanding sociability as another factor of limited household stockholding decisions, so we state that there‘s a significant impact of social interaction on such like household decisions. 2. 10. Personal values This research is gradually beginning to analyze not only the superficial factors, that affects household decisions related to stock market participation, but it also tries to look a little bit deeper into personal characteristics of an investor. One of the most important internal factor, having a great impact on investor‘s financial decisions, is personal values of an individual.A technical definition of personal values would be that it‘s the strongest internal p rovisions, having a large impact on our everyday decisions. Those everyday decisions are better know as our consumption decisions, they are also a major driver of our voting decisions and so on. Compared to other internal factors, such as risk aversion or life satisfaction (those are our next two internal factors, whose will be discussed a little bit later in this research), studies about personal values and its impact on our everyday‘s life are more preferable by today‘s researchers.According to their findings, personal values are connected to various demographic variables, i. e. Self-Transcedence and Openness to Change are the values that are proven to become more important when the level of education gets higher. It have also been proven that personal values are associated with social involvement, where, according to researchers, social involvement increases with the level of education. Finally, about two thirds of all studies shows that political orientation has stro ngest association with personal values.As every person has different values, the same is with political orientation – as there are many factors affecting citizens‘ lives, such as the income inequality, national security and so on, it is natural, however, that different values are emphasized in different environments. So what’s a true effect of personal values on investment decisions? Firstly, people with self-enhancement values of power and achievement are more likely to invest in stock markets than the others.And secondly, it is observed that personal values have a significant impact on those groups of people and their decisions, where investing in stock markets is relatively rare. 2. 11. Life satisfaction Isn’t it true that happier, more optimistic and satisfied with their life people embraces better decisions? What are the differences between pessimistic and optimistic people? – Optimists are more likely to believe that future economic conditions will improve. On the other hand, it is observed that optimistic people are working longer hours, they are more likely to remarry after divorce.So, optimism and life satisfaction are other important factors influencing households’ economy-related decisions. There was a research by Cambridge university‘s researchers done, where they found that optimism is highly correlated with stock ownership. People with higher levels of life satisfaction lives longer. Mostly. Therefore they think they are further from retirement, hence they are trying to control financial factors that are known that could affect their lifespan.It‘s a fact, that people, whose are more satisfied with their life, are working more, they are less pre-disposed towards retirement. What is more, it is more likely that one day they‘ll create any kind of business, so they‘ll become self-employed. Finally, optimistic people are more likely to remarry after divorce. All of this suggests that lif e satisfaction and optimism truly is a critical component of economic-decision making, and that those two factors plays an important role both on household decisions related to stock market participation and economic welfare of stockholders. . 12. Health Health risk is increasingly viewed as an important form of background risk that affects household portfolio decisions. According to household‘s level of health (whether it‘s poor or good) there‘s a possibility to detect whether household is willing to participate on the stock market or not – poor health is associated with smaller amount of risky assets and greater amount of safe assets. Researchers are trying to evaluate the links between health, health risk and portfolio selection.Recently it was observed that it does not matter whether households are trying to control their level of income and variety of socio-demographic characteristics, poor health decreases the probability of owning risky assets  œ for example, those households with poor health entails a higher risk of unexpected out-of-pocket medical expenditures, and prefers to own a corporate or government bond instead of holding a stock. Despite the fact that health risk quite often leads to a previously mentioned higher out-of-pocket medical expenditure risk, two possible outcomes can arise from such things.In particular, households may start changing the allocation of their financial resources, that can reduce their exposure to financial risk. On the second case, households can increase their precautionary saving, what reduces their ability to act in stock markets. At this point it is worth to mention that the intervention of government organizations reduces the impact of health risks related to household‘s stockholding decisions. That‘s why – it is observed that countries without adequate health care laws tends not to invest in risky financial assets, so this suggests an important role of such laws in shaping household‘s portfolio decisions. . 13. Risk aversion Finally, last but not least – factor, which had a significant role on this entire research. That’s risk aversion. We’ve emphasized different levels of risks on our study and their impact on household stockholding decisions, such as health risk or the age effect on risk tolerance. It has became clear that risk aversion reduces the probability of household‘s investments on risky assets. As the standard portfolio theory states, the amount of wealth a person wishes o invest in risky assets, depends directly on his degree of risk aversion, so it is logical to assume that if a person is more risk averse, he will hold safer portfolios. There was a research done several years in a row (from 1998 to 2001), where researchers found out that risk aversion has an effect not only on the structure of portfolio, but it also has an impact on the final decision whether an individual wants to become a stoc kholder (you should remember that previously we had a little discussion about that entry costs affects individuals‘ stock market participation decisions, too).Finally, talking about risk aversion‘s relation to other factors affecting stockholding decisions, it is found that risk aversion is negatively correlated with wealth. That‘s true – risk aversion decreases when wealth levels increases, and vice versa. To complete our discussion, another interesting fact – it was identified, that women are more risk averse than men, however, differences between genders, tends to be larger in single households (remember what effect on household‘s decisions on stockholding has marital status). 3. CONCLUSIONSIn general, all present researches about the topic agree that household stock market participation currently is not at the efficient point. There are a lot of complex factors that have impact on household stockholding decision and those have been discussed . However, some researchers observe even more correlations with stockholding decision and such interesting variables as race or living place but due to the limited scope of this exploratory research, these interesting factors are not taken into consideration. Needless to say, there are plenty of not mentioned factors that determine the level of stockholding.Of course, the governments are motivated to encourage investment level of households to make stock markets more efficient. There are some great examples how particular countries managed to increase the level of household stockholding over time. However, the complexity of the factors that lead to higher efficiency in each country are hard to determine and need further analysis to determine what works for each country particularly. Unfortunately, not all factors can be stabilized by the government. The global financial crisis of 2007-2008 showed that trust crisis in stock markets can not be handled so easily.Therefore, the only way to ensure sustainable stockholding growth is to adjust the system itself and add measures that could protect stockholders and decrease the possibility of such recessions. 4. REFERENCES 1. James P. Dow, Jr. , â€Å"Age, investing horizon and asset allocation†, 2008 2. George Korniotis, â€Å"Does Investment Skill Decline due to Cognitive Aging or Improve with Experience? †, 2007 3. Sule Alan, â€Å"Entry Costs and Stock Market Participation Over the Life Cycle†, 2006 4. Janus Capital Group, â€Å"European Survey of Consumer Finances†, 2009 5.Luigi Guiso, Paola Sapienza and Luigi Zingales, â€Å"Trusting the Stock Market†, 2008 6. Vicki Bogan, â€Å"Stock Market Participation and the Internet†, 2008 7. Mark Grinblatt, Matti Keloharju Juhani Linnainmaa, â€Å"IQ and Stock Market Participation†, 2011 8. Charlotte Christiansen, Juanna Cchroter Joensen, Jesper Rangvid, â€Å"Are Economists More Likely to Hold Stocks? †, 2007 9. Elin a Laakso, â€Å"Stock market participation and household characteristics in Europe†, 2010 10. Paul Gerrans, „Gender Differences in Retirement Savings Decisionsâ€Å" 11.Jeffrey R. Brown, Zoran Ivkovic, Paul A. Smith, Scott Weisbenner, „Neighbors Matter:Causal Community Effects and Stock Market Participationâ€Å", 2006 12. Dimitris Georgarakos, Giacomo Pasini, „Trust, Sociability and Stock Market Participationâ€Å", 2009 13. Kaustia, M. , Torstila, S. „Stock market aversion? Political preferences and stock market participation. â€Å", 2010 14. Shawn Cole, Gauri Kartini Shastry, „Smart Money: The Effect of Education, Cognitive Ability, and Financial Literacy on Financial Market Participationâ€Å", 2008 – 2009 15.George Korniotis, „Does Investment Skill Decline due to Cognitive Aging or Improve with Experience? â€Å", 2007 16. Rosen, H. , Wu, S. , „Portfolio choice and health status. Journal of Financial Economics ", 2004. 17. Edwards R. D. , „Health Risk and Portfolio Choiceâ€Å", 2005 18. Christiansen C. , Rangvid J. , Joensen J. S. , â€Å"The Effects of Marriage and Divorce on Financial Investments: Learning to Love or Hate Risk? †, 2010 19. Christiansen C. , Rangvid J. , Joensen J. S. , â€Å"Fiction or Fact: Systematic Gender Differences in Financial Investments? , 2010 20. Niilo Luotonen, „Personal Values and Stock Market Participation – Evidence from Finnish University Studentsâ€Å", 2009 21. Sule Alan, „Entry Costs and Stock Market Participation Over the Life Cycleâ€Å", 2006 22. Yao, R. , Gutter, M. S. , Hanna, S. D. , „The financial risk tolerance of Blacks, Hispanics and Whitesâ€Å", 2005 23. Rui Yao, Deanna L. Sharpe, Feifei Wang, „Decomposing the age effect on risk toleranceâ€Å", 2010 24. Tullio Jappelli, Marco Pagano, „FINANCIAL MARKET INTEGRATION UNDER EMUâ€Å", 2008