Saturday, August 31, 2019

Cells and Movement of Substances

All living things are formed by cells, the structure of these cells varying depending on their function. Animal and plant cells have common features such as a nucleus, cytoplasm and cell membrane. Dissolved substances pass into and out of cells by diffusion Diffusion Diffusion definition: Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a high concentration to a low concentration. Dissolved substances have to pass through the cell membrane to get into or out of a cell. Diffusion is one of the processes that allows this to happen There are many examples of diffusion occurring in our bodies; two of these are: 1. Digested food particles in the gut moving from the gut cavity to the blood in capillary of villus 2. Oxygen particles in the lungs moving from the Alveolar air space to the blood circulating around the lungs Particles continue to move from a high to a low concentration while there is a concentration gradient*. In the lungs, the blood will continue to take in oxygen from the alveolar air spaces, so long as the concentration of oxygen there is greater than that in the blood. Oxygen diffuses across the alveolar walls and goes into the blood, where the circulation takes the oxygen-rich blood away. Osmosis Osmosis Definition: A process by which molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semi permeable membrane* from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one, thus equalizing the concentrations on each side of the membrane. Eventually the level on the more concentrated side of the membrane rises as the molecules move through the membrane, causing the level on the less concentrated side to fall. When the concentration is the same on both sides of the membrane the movement of water will be the same in both directions, and a balance has, in effect, been found. At this point, the net exchange rate of water is zero and consequently there is no more change in the level of the liquids.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Philippine National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management Essay

Crime is inevitable, it occurs every day and it might be even happening right now. It is a nuisance and it greatly affects the society. People has their own reason for doing this kind of atrocity, it is a common understanding that if a person is without a job, he/she wouldn’t gain income, without income, he/she wouldn’t be able to buy their everyday needs, and without the basic needs he/she wouldn’t be able to survive, thus leaving him/her desperate for money, doing anything they can to get it, even if it means to commit a crime, crimes that might endanger the lives of others. The crime rate in the Philippines has been reduced more than 15 percent in the first three months compared with the same period last year regardless of the recent slew of high-profile urban crimes, as said by the late Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo. For the first quarter of the year 2012, the national crime volume declined by 11,219 cases, a drop of 16. 7 percent from a year ago, and Based on reports submitted to him by Chief Superintendent Alex Paul Monteagudo, Philippine National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (PNP-DIDM) chief, the PNP’s national crime solution efficiency rate for the first quarter of 2012 stood at 34. 38 percent, slightly better than the 25. 84 percent efficiency rate for the same period last year, this means that crimes are given justice more often than left unsolved. Evidently, crime rates are responsive to local labor market conditions. Surprisingly, little attention has been given by economists on whether crimes committed by optimizing individuals respond to labor market opportunities. Most recent research has been focused on the effects of criminal justice sanctions. However, most of the researches attempting to measure the effect of the labor market on crime are represented by studies linking unemployment and crime. (Patalinhung, 2011) Unemployment in the country dropped from an estimate of 13. million individuals in the first quarter of the year 2012 to 10. 9 million individuals in the second quarter, according to a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations, this is a proof of improvement in the labor force of the Philippines. However, more than half, or 51. 2 percent of unemployed Filipinos, were in 15-to-24 age group, which only validates the difficulty faced by fresh graduates looking for work, said Rene Ofreneo of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of the Philippines. According to National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) as of October 2012, the Labor Force Participation Rate is 63. 9% of the total population; this means that 36. 1% of the total population is either voluntary or in-voluntary unemployed. Freeman (1982, 1995, and 1999) concluded that unemployment had the expected positive impact on crime, but the magnitude of the impact was modest. Thus, the existing studies on unemployment rate to measure labor market prospects of potential criminals may not be so insightful. Gross National Income per capita may also contribute to the changes of Crime rate in the Philippines, since it determines the total value of good and service that an individual and includes the net factors from abroad. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is confident that the country’s per capita income which is one of the lowest among emerging Asian economies, will significantly improve and may match those of its neighbors over the medium term. BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said ongoing government efforts, such as higher spending on infrastructure and social services would eventually help spread the benefits of economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether Unemployment Rate, Labor Force Participation Rate and Gross National Income per capita has an impact on the changing Crime Rate in the Philippines, the researcher hypothesized that Unemployment Rate has a positive relationship with Crime Rate and both Labor Force Participation Rate and Gross National Income per capita has a negative relationship with Crime Rate.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Buisness Ethics Case Write Up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Buisness Ethics Case Write Up - Essay Example Making such a decision, however, wasn’t easy because the decision would have far-reaching consequences on both the Solidarity Fund and the Gildan Company. This paper discusses and analysis the ethical dilemma that the Solidarity Fund pension scheme, a large pension fund operated by the Quebec federation of labour (QFL), finds itself in following gross misconduct by one of the Companies that the Solidarity fund had heavily invested in. In this case, Gildan Activewear, a Company in which Solidarity fund had heavily invested in was accused of an array of business misconduct ranging from overworking and underpaying workers, excessively high production quotas, and unconducive working environments. Due to the fact the Solidarity Fund had heavily invested in Gildan Activewear and, also, given the fact that the Gildan Activewear investment was the most lucrative investment for the Solidarity Fund, the management of the Solidarity found themselves in a real dilemma in deciding the best course of action to take in response to the Gildan Activewear’s unethical business misconduct. The Solidarity Fund was founded in 1983 by the Quebec federation of labour with the aim of investing its members’ savings in the local Companies. The Solidarity Fund Pension scheme had two core goals. The first goal of the Solidarity Fund was to democratize access to professionally managed retirements accounts, and the second goal was to support jobs creation and growth in Quebec, either through investment in long term and medium sized local companies or by investing in outside companies whose activities were beneficial to the Quebec province.In selecting investment partners, the Solidarity Fund used nonfinancial criteria; the Solidarity Fund sought to invest with the Companies that had conducive working conditions, positive relations with local communities, and commitment to environmental responsibility. Before investing in a Company, therefore, the

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Participation in the political process Research Paper

Participation in the political process - Research Paper Example Federal government. All states elect state Governors to represent and lead their states. However the powers, privilege, and policy-making allowance of any Governor differs from state to state. For example, the state of Texas Governor’s role is a bit different from the majority of other states. Interestingly enough, the Texas Governorship, rather the territory that would one day be called the state of Texas, has existed longer than the office than the President of the United States (Maddex, 2006). From 1836-1845 the position of Governor was titled the President of the Lone Star Republican prior to the unionization of the state. The present Constitution defines the position of Governor as the Executive power of Texas Governors; however there are limitations to that power. There is a â€Å"pluralism† of the executive powers, which disperses the overall control among a number of elected to boards and committees (Texas State Historical Association, 2014). This decentralization of power is unique and needed. For this reason Texas government, specifically, limited the powers of any individual Governor to prevent any repetition of the past (Maddex, 2006). In order to become a Texas Governor the candidate must be, at least, 30 years old and be a resident of the state for no less than 5 years. The elected Governor is responsible for commanding the military, appointing heads of state agencies, handling states funds and taxes, and can propose bills and has the right to veto those bills presented by others (Texas State Historical Association, 2014).At one time, the Governor was exclusively in control of pardoning of prisoners. However these powers have, also, been limited. In 1929 the state created the Board of Pardons and Paroles, which would be the primary office In charge of prisoner pardons, the Governor is only allowed to act under the advisement of the Board. The Governor

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Music Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Music - Research Paper Example This kind of music is highly inspired by the music of Appalachia (Peterson). Example of Bluegrass Music: Blue Moon of Kentucky is a beautiful composition by the bluegrass musician, Bill Monroe. It is basically a waltz which was written in 1946. Later, this song was sung and recorded by different other artists including Elvis Presley. It is an official song of Kentucky. The song starts with slow smooth tunes and then picks it pace a bit faster on the notes of banjo and acoustic guitar. The song discusses the moonlight and the romantic aura it creates in the night. The lyrics are simple but very captivating. It has different expressions of love, sadness on saying goodbyes to the loved one and a prayer that this moon will always shine brightly on the one who has just said goodbye. In simple words, it’s a beautiful bluegrass musical composition ( Blue Moon of Kentucky). c- Hanks Williams: Hanks Williams was an American country music artist. He was famous for his excellent musical compositions and song writing. ‘Your Cheating Heart,’ ‘Hey Good Looking,’ and ‘I am so Lonesome I Could Cry’ represent some of his magnificent musical work. His songs have been sung and recorded by different musicians and singers. He was associated with the band Grand Ole Opry. He gave 11 number-one hits in his musical career. His song, Hey Good Lookin’ is a simple musical composition on guitar and banjo. It contains simple lyrics and simplest musical notes. d- Bob Wills: Bob Wills was an American Western swing musician. He was an excellent songwriter. By many musical figures, he is considered as the co-founder of the western swing. He is often known as the ‘King of the Western... This paper shows some kinds of country and western music such as hillbilly music, bluegrass music, new grass, country pop, cajun music, western swing. Hillbilly Music is a specific term used to refer a certain group of people who lives in rural and mountainous areas of the Unites States. Hillbilly is closely associated with country music. The term refers to denote the old-country music or bluegrass. Hillbilly boogie was the first musical tune that contained the word, hillbilly. It was composed by Delmore Brothers in the year 1946. Bluegrass Music is another form of American music which is a subgenre of country music. It is a musical composition of different regions such as it contains musical influence of Scotland, Ireland and England’s traditional folk music on the other hand; it has some musical touch of African American compositions due to the combination of few jazz elements. This kind of music is highly inspired by the music of Appalachia To sum up the paper talks that new grass is one of the major subgenres of bluegrass music. It is a musical revival and combination of different genres used with each other to create a new kind of music. Electric instruments and other genres especially, rock and roll has played a significant role in creating this type. It became known in late 1960s and early 1970s. Gospel music defined the personal, spiritual or communal belief related to the Christian life. It gave new dimension to the musical industry and musical compositions Country pop is a subgenre of country music. Cajun Music is a symbolic music that represents Louisiana. Western swing music is a subgenre of ever-green American country music.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Critical review of Rheumatoid arthritis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical review of Rheumatoid arthritis - Essay Example However, RA involves an attack on the body by its own immune cells (auto-immune disease). Different cases may have different causes. Infectious, genetic, and hormonal factors may play a role. The disease can occur at any age, but it begins most often between the ages of 25 and 55. The disease is more common in older people. Women are affected 2.5 times more often than men. Approximately 1-2% of the total population is affected. The course and the severity of the illness can vary considerably. The onset of the disease is usually gradual, with fatigue, morning stiffness (lasting more than one hour), diffuse muscular aches, loss of appetite, and weakness. Eventually, joint pain appears, with warmth, swelling, tenderness, and stiffness of the joint after inactivity. Joint involvement in RA usually affects both sides of the body equally -- the arthritis is therefore referred to as symmetrical. Wrists, fingers, knees, feet, and ankles are the most commonly affected joints. Severe disease is associated with larger joints that contain more synovium (joint lining). When the synovium becomes inflamed, it secretes more fluid and the joint becomes swollen. Later, the cartilage becomes rough and pitted. The underlying bone eventually becomes affected. Joint destruction begins 1-2 years after the appearance of the disease. Characteristic deformities result from cartilage destruction, bone erosions, and tendon inflammation and rupture. A life-threatening joint complication can occur when the cervical spine becomes unstable as a result of RA. Other features of the disease that do not involve the joints may occur. Rheumatoid nodules are painless, hard, round or oval masses that appear under the skin, usually on pressure points, such as the elbow or Achilles tendon. These are present in about 20% of cases and tend to reflect more severe disease. On occasion, they appear in the eye where they sometimes cause inflammation. If they occur in the lungs, inflammation of the lining of the lung (pleurisy) may occur, causing shortness of breath. Anemia may occur due to failure of the bone marrow to produce enough new red cells to make up for the lost ones. Iron supplements will not usually help this condition because iron utilization in the body becomes impaired. Other blood abnormalities can also be found, for example, platelet counts that are either too high or too low. Rheumatoid vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels) is a serious complication of RA and can be life-threatening. It can lead to skin ulcerations (and subsequent infections), bleeding stomach ulcers (which can lead to massive hemorrhage), and neuropathies (nerve problems causing pain, numbness or tingling). Vasculitis may also affect the brain, nerves, and heart causing strokes, sensory neuropathies (numbness and tingling), heart attacks, or heart failure. Heart complications of RA commonly affect the outer lining of the heart. When inflamed, the condition is referred to as pericarditis. Inflammation of heart muscle, called myocarditis, can also develop. Both of these conditions can lead to congestive heart failure characterized by shortness of breath and fluid accumulation in the lung. Lung involvement is frequent in RA. Fibrosis of the lung tissue leads to shortness of breath and has been reported to occur in 20% of patients with RA. Inflammation of the

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Compare and contrast the degree of emergence of two current emerging Essay

Compare and contrast the degree of emergence of two current emerging markets in the same region - Essay Example Emerging economies can be understood as those rapid growth countries with low-income that utilises economic liberalisation as the major factor of growth. The emerging economies must satisfy two criteria namely rapid economic growth and government policies that favour economic liberalisation and implementation of free-market system (Hoskisson & Et. Al., 2000). The countries that are reforming their economies along the market-oriented lines, offering various opportunities in trade, technology transfers as well as foreign direct investments are known as emerging countries. According to the World Bank, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil and Russia are the five biggest emerging countries. Furthermore, there are other countries such as Mexico, Poland, Turkey, South Korea, South Africa and Argentina. It is worth mentioning that each of the countries are vital as an individual markets and the effort put on by each of the economy collectively may assist in changing the face of the global economi cs and politics (Li, 2011). It is quite important to comprehend the reason behind the creation of emerging markets. There are two reasons: one being the state-led economic development and the other being the need for capital investment. At the outset, the state-led economic development could not produce sustainable growth in the traditional developing countries that forced these countries to adopt open door policies. Secondly, capital was required by the developing countries in order to finance their development. However, the traditional government borrowing didn’t permit the development process. It has been evident from the past records that the developing countries were not able to manage the borrowed funds well and in an efficient manner in order to support their economic growth. Therefore, as a result they started to rely on equity investments in order to finance their economic growth. They seek to attract the equity investment from the private investors in order to partn er with them. However, in order to attract the equity financing, it is quite important to create a favourable climate for the foreign investors. Therefore, this change in the financing sources was another factor that led to rise of the emerging markets (Li, 2011). It can be noted that there has been change in the traditional view of the development with the rise in the emerging markets. The first thing to note is that the foreign investment is replaced by foreign assistance. In the recent times, it can be said that the investment in the emerging market is not associated with the traditional notion of providing developmental assistance to the poorer countries. It has further been noted that the emerging markets are lessening their trade relations with the industrialised nations and are more directed towards new market opportunities. With the surmounting two-way capital flows and trade among the emerging markets as well as industrialised countries, it generally demonstrates the change from dependency to global interdependency. In addition, it has further been noted that with the emergence of the internet, the accelerated information exchange is integrating the emerging

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Induction of Gene Expression Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Induction of Gene Expression - Research Paper Example They are preceded by a single promoter/operator region which controls the expression of all three genes. Even further upstream of the promoter lies the gene lacI which codes for the lac repressor protein. This protein is a regulator and binds to the promoter/operator region of the lac operon in the absence of lactose in the medium. This is simply an economic measure by the bacterium to prevent the wasteful synthesis of enzymes when they are not needed. In the presence of lactose, the repression is relieved as lactose binds to the repressor protein and changes its conformation in a manner that makes it dissociate from the promoter. However, there is an added control level to the regulation of this operon. In the presence of a preferred substrate, like glucose or its modified form, glucose -6- phosphate, the bacterium will still not synthesize lactose even though this is present in the medium along with glucose. This phenomenon is called catabolite repression. The mechanism involves the CAP protein which also can increase expression of the lac operon. When glucose levels are high, cyclic AMP levels lower. Cyclic AMP forms a complex with CAP before it binds to the DNA. So, when the cyclic AMP levels are lowered, the CAP protein bound to DNA also decreases, thus lowering the transcription of lac genes. ... Since the natural substrate lactose and the products of its metabolism are not coloured detection of their formation is difficult. For this purpose, the analog ONPG is used which upon hydrolysis yields a product which is deep yellow in colour and can be spectrophotometrically quantified to follow the reaction and hence the expression patterns of the operon. The aim of the work is to use this analog and others to obtain a better understanding of the workings of the lac operon. MATERIALS AND METHODS Culturing of the bacteria: 10 ml each of E. coli (lac+ strain) which had reached mid-log phase was aliquoted into separate flasks and incubated at 28- 30 C gently shaking to ensure aeration. The cells were allowed to continue growing. Induction: Two sets of induction experiments were performed. The first set was induced with IPTG at a final concentration of 0.5 mM. The second set was also induced with 0.5 mM IPTG but in addition glucose was added to the medium to a final concentration of 30 mM. For the first set 1 ml samples were taken out at intervals of 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 and 48 minutes and used for the assay of galactosidase activity. For set 2, samples were removed at intervals of 10 and 45 minutes after induction with IPTG. As a control, 1 ml of the culture was removed prior to induction from both sets and used as uninduced controls. -galactosidase assays: To determine whether expression of the operon was taking place, the activity of galactosidase was assayed as follows. 0.1 ml of the culture samples removed at each time point were transferred into spectrophotometer tubes appropriately labeled. 1.5 ml of ONPG assay medium was added to each tube. (100 ml of assay medium contains 8 mg ONPG, 0.1 ml mercaptoethanol, 0.001 M MgSO4, pH7). After brief vortexing

What is a MBA Really Worth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What is a MBA Really Worth - Essay Example Some degrees are more profitable according to Weston (2006) who states that although her assumptions, based on 1996 Census Bureau figures, are an understatement as there are too many factors. She determined the "present value" of the increase in future income that could be expected with various educations by the fact that a dollar paid in the future is worth less than a dollar today. Ditto, usually, a bachelor's degree. Any bachelor's degree you get at a public university is likely to pay off handsomely, as well. If you're attending a private college, though, you might want to steer clear of education degrees. Some degrees are a step back. Thinking of a master's degree in a liberal arts or social sciences field Let's hope you're in it for the love of learning, because on average there doesn't seem to be any financial payoff. High school graduates earned about $25,000 per year while college graduates with a Bachelor's degree earned about $48,000 per year. This is a difference of $700,000 over a time period of thirty years. This was based on statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, National Student Loan Survey, Nellie Mae 2002. (Thinking about College: Is it Worth it, n.d.) In conclusion, a college education is worth the time and costs especially in certain careers, or fields, in the long run. There are also intrinsic values that are priceless. Student Say College is Worth It (2005) quotes Krueger (2005), "But in addition to just learning job skills, college has become about honing life skills and learning to balance academics with rigorous work and extracurricular schedules. Gorsuch (2005) is also quoted, "college experience is based on internships, study abroad, networking opportunities, making lifelong friends, and pretty much everything done outside the confines of the classroom that makes

Friday, August 23, 2019

Problems that researchers in the Arab world encounter Assignment

Problems that researchers in the Arab world encounter - Assignment Example The region has received good reputation with regard to oil production. Current research has shown that the Arab world is the largest oil producer in the world contributing to more than half of the entire world’s oil. The region has an even larger potential and if the researchers in the area had the needed facilities to carry out their activities, they would discover even more opportunities for growth. Leaders in the region have promised researchers a large amount of funding to purchase the equipments they require to carry out the research on areas that could produce benefits to society (Tessler, 2011). Funding has become a very great problem to assist the people in the region to scale even larger places. Almost all of the finances dedicated to research come from the government. This has been a very great challenge because it does not have the excess money to offer to the research institutions. The few private sector individuals that carry out research face the money problem and consequently end up not achieving their goals in the research field (Daniells, 2009). The number of research institutions has had a steady growth rate over the years. However, the output from these institutions is very low and this is owing to the high illiteracy levels in the area. A majority of the young people in the region come from rich families where they get to take over or rather run their family businesses. This makes most of these young people fall out of school. This has made current researchers lack people to assist them with their research and this has made them lack the motivation they require. Another problem that researchers in the area face is regarding brain drain. For the few individuals that succeed in going to school, they graduate and go to other countries to work. Some of these people have a large amount of knowledge that could help their countries with research. When these people go to other regions, they leave the initial

Thursday, August 22, 2019

People today freely use The Internet Essay Example for Free

People today freely use The Internet Essay People today freely use The Internet, E-mail, and Online Messaging to communicate with other people. It’s a great way to talk to loved ones who live far away, conduct business, and just have fun with friends, but there is a downside. People who we don’t know can obtain information about us by tracking e-mails and messages and unless these things are encrypted, everything we write can be pulled up and used against us. That is why people who use the Internet need to be much more aware of their online privacy and security. The Internet started in 1969 by the U. S. overnment. They wanted a communication system that couldn’t be destroyed in the event of an emergency. It consisted of four computers linked together called DARPANET. In the 1970’s people found that they could use this system to send messages between the computers to get to other people. More and more people started using this system and by the end of the 70’s, it was international. The earliest found company to use instant messaging was Mirabilis in November of 1996. Instant messaging is like a telephone conversation done between two people on the computer in real time. Popular companies that have instant messaging are AOL, Yahoo, and NET Messenger Service. E-mail or Electronic Mail is a way of composing, sending, and receiving messages over the computer. E-mail started in 1965, which means it actually began before the Internet and in fact helped start the Internet. First e-mail was used for multiple users to communicate through a mainframe computer. Now even though the government does not have control over the Internet in present day, they can still monitor what individuals are writing especially after September 11th. â€Å"The Sept. 1 terrorists relied heavily on the Internet, and the hijackers appear to have plotted their carnage using Yahoo e-mail. † The FBI believes they can now catch suspected terrorists by looking at suspicious email, but what constitutes suspicious? They have developed a program called Carnivore that looks through e-mail to find suspicious information. But, critics of this are not so sure of it’s benefits becau se it can be used to look for keywords such as â€Å"hijack† in mass amounts of e-mails, and whenever it finds an e-mail or message that has that word the FBI is entitled to read that message. If someone is just asking another person through e-mail about the current terrorist situation will that set off an alarm with the FBI and now that person’s e-mails will be tracked? Very possibly. The PATRIOT (Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act provides investigators with more flexibility to pursue interception of e-mail messages, and monitoring of Web surfing and other PC-based communications. But does the general public believe that that government should have the right to look into private e-mails if they could catch a terrorist by doing it? According to a survey of PCWorld. m, â€Å"a total of 60 percent said they had serious concerns about giving the government more access to personal e-mail while 38 percent said they had little or no concern. † While the government and FBI feel that this is a completely legitimate way to weed out the terrorists in America, many others find it a complete invasion of privacy. This isn’t only a government vs. he people issue. As of 2004, â€Å"1 in 5 companies has had employees electronic messages subpoenaed in the course of a lawsuit or regulatory investigation† and â€Å"another 13 percent of 840 companies surveyed this year have battled workplace lawsuits triggered by employee e-mail. This means that private emails being sent while at work can be retrieved and used against a person in a court of law. The right to privacy is completely being revoked in these situations. That is why Americans need to be more aware of how to protect their privacy and there are ways to do this. First is by looking at the actual disclaimers that most people just sign without actually reading. American Online or AOL and Yahoo are two major providers of both e-mail and instant messaging. Looking into what their privacy policies are, you find this. Your AIM information consists of personally identifiable information collected or received about you when you register. Your AIM information may be shared within AOL and its business divisions. Your AIM information, including the contents of your online communications, may be accessed and disclosed in response to legal process (for example, a court order, search warrant or subpoena), or in other circumstances in which AOL has a good faith belief that AIM or AOL are being used for unlawful purposes. AOL may also access or disclose your AIM information when necessary to protect the rights or property of AIM or AOL, or in special cases such as a threat to your safety or that of others. (http://www. aol. com/info/p_privacy. adp. ) Yahoo’s disclaimer is similar saying that â€Å"Yahoo! collects personally identifiable information when you register for a Yahoo! account,† and â€Å"we reasonably believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities. Basically both are stating that, for the most part, our privacies are protected unless there is a need to look at the e-mails or messages being sent. That is a big but though. People should read that and decipher that the government or business we work at could basically make up a story as to why they need to read an email and both of these e-mail companies would have to comply. That really isn’t protecting us. At least we should know ahead of time though that these are the company policies so it shouldn’t come as a surprise if our privacy was breached. This brings us to the concept of encryption. â€Å"Chances are that nobody is watching the data you send out, but unless the information is over a secure (encrypted) connection, you cant be reasonably sure that its safe. † The definition of encryption is â€Å"the process of encoding information in such a way that only the person (or computer) with the key can decode it. † There are different encryption systems, but essentially two computers have secret codes that hold the key to decoding the messages sent between them. So if a message is encrypted, only your friend’s computer will be able to read what you sent to them. Does this type of security interest the common person? It definitely should and is quite easy to obtain. There are messenger services that provide e-mail and instant messaging. One is called Hushmail, which includes encryption enhancements. All you have to do is sign up for it just like you would Yahoo! or AOL and the only downside is that storage space is limited. But the option is out there for people to choose safety over unnecessary storage. Yahoo! nd AOL are the trusted and most used e-mail and instant message companies so most people just subscribe to these two, but really need to research what else is out there in regards to encrypted messaging companies like Hushmail. Customers of AOL though can upgrade to AIM 5. 2, which uses encrypted messages. Yahoo! on the other hand only has a form of encryption. The â€Å"system sends the message unprotected to Yahoos server. The recipient is given a URL to view the document on an SSL-protected web page. † Consumers feel this is a weak link because the message is still being sent without it being secure, but it is a step forward. There are other simple general steps that a consumer should do or at least think about before signing onto an e-mailing system. One is to always know the software that you are downloading onto your computer. Many programs appear to be legitimate, but they really just want to get your information and use it for bad reasons that veer into your personal privacy. Also, if a person shares a computer with many people, like a college library system, that person needs to make sure they clear their passwords and personal information before leaving their seat. And basically people just need to be more suspicious. Even though that’s a bad outlook, if you’re messages are not encrypted, then you need to be more aware of what you’re writing. If you think it could be construed in a negative way, then you shouldn’t send it over an unprotected system that could one-day work against you. In conclusion, â€Å"although companies and other entities operating in the online or electronic commerce environment have a responsibility to ensure the privacy of personally identifiable information online, the Online Privacy Alliance believes that consumers also have a role to play. Consumers should look for privacy policies on the web sites they visit as well as be aware of the various self-enforcement mechanisms currently available. †After the tragedy of September 11th, the government does need to do certain things in order to further protect our country against another attack, but this shouldn’t mean attacking American’s privacy and security. Americans shouldn’t have to live in constant fear of Big Brother looking into our personal letters and messages to loved ones and friends, and also shouldn’t be afraid that some things being said are going to be taken the wrong way. That is the opposite of making us feel more secure and safe because that basically means we’re being attacked from within our own government. Saying that, there are many things that we, as consumers, are responsible for knowing what is out there to give us more security. There is encryption and the big companies out there that provide e-mail and instant messaging are getting on board and providing encrypted programs for us to use. We should also be responsible enough to actually read all disclaimers that we usually don’t bother to read so that we are not shocked when we learn that the government just looked at our private message to someone. It’s hard as one person to fight something like Carnivore, but we can do simple things like read disclaimers, be smart about what e-mail programs we subscribe to and be safe and responsible when we are on the Internet.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Challenges and opportunities that social media networks offer

Challenges and opportunities that social media networks offer The availability of digital media such as satellite and mobile phones, the digital television and most importantly the internet, as a means for communication makes Internet Marketing (IM) very different from the Conventional Marketing. McDonald and Wilson (1999) elaborately highlighted the key difference between traditional media and new media. With particular emphasises on IM the authors proposed what they call The 6 Is of e-marketing mix. The authors posit that the relevance of the 6 Is are twofold (i) they draw emphasis on the practical aspects of IM such as direct response and personalization and (ii) provide an understanding of strategic issues such as restructuring of the industry and the changes in the integrated channel communications. The 6 Is of e-marketing mix Interactivity In the case of traditional media the marketing message is predominately broadcasted from a company to its target audience, thereby implying the existence of a push factor. This process of communication provides little scope for interaction with the customers. However, on the Internet, contact is initiated by the customer who, in most cases, is seeking information, implying the existence of a pull factor (Deighton, 1996). Figure 1.13 pg28 Intelligence The internet renders itself as a cost effective means of conducting market research. The internet is an especially useful tool in gathering information about customer perceptions about the product/ service. Individualism (Fig 1.14) pg 30 As illustrated in the diagram above, new media forms allow marketing communications to be tailored to the individual that the message is meant for, unlike in the case of traditional media wherein communication is mass media and the same message is disseminated to its audiences. (Lasswell 1984, Katz and Lazarsfeld 1955) Further, the inherent feature of personalisation that new media forms offer to marketers is an important building block in managing relationships with customers. Integration (diagram: A New Marketing Paradigm for Electronic Commerce) The conventional marketing communication model witnesses a fundamental alteration in the presence of a hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environment (CME) like the internet (Hoffman and Novak 1996). The internet enables an increased scope for an integrated marketing communication. The CME communication model provides a platform for consumers to interact with each other, the medium and the company itself. The most drastic departure from the traditional media is the opportunity for the consumers to generate content onto the medium. Hence, in the CME model the primary relationship is with the receiver and the CME, and not between the sender and the receiver, which is the case in traditional media.( Hoffman, 1996) The active role of the consumers makes it imperative for marketers to integrate their communication messages. Industry restructuring. Concepts such as disintermediation and reintermediation (Chaffey et al, 2003) are important considerations for companies that operate in a CME. Disintermediation refers to the process of eliminating conventional intermediaries such as agents and brokers, who previously linked the company to its customers. Reintermediation is the process of creating new age intermediaries between the company and its customer, given the presence of the internet. These new age intermediaries are often referred to as cybermediaries (Shankar et al, 1996) and include virtual communities like forums, fan clubs and user groups, search engines like Google and Bing , virtual resellers like Amazon and eBay. Independence of location The internet provides the possibility of an increased reach of a companys marketing communications to the global audience. This can often translate into reaching international markets and audiences. Social media networks: AN INTRODUCTION Social media networks, though a relatively new terrain for most companies and brand managers had its humble beginnings when Open Diary was founded in 1950s with the intent to create a community of diary writers. A few years later, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis introduced Usenet, letting its users post articles to its groups. (Kaplan et al, 2010). Dating sites that enabled its users to create profiles and even update pictures and online forums, which were the more user friendly and sophisticated versions of BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems), are all building blocks of the social media networks as we know it today. With the passage of time and the technological developments that . SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS: OPPOTUNTIES AND CHALLENGES Social networking sites: Social networking sites like face book, my space, twitter and orkut are platforms for Internet users to create individual profiles with personal information, make new friends and connect with old ones and even for business networking, in some cases. Users can use certain applications which help them connect to each other through instant messaging and sending emails between each other, creating personalised profiles for themselves which can be accessed by colleagues and friends etc. Such applications are known as Social networking sites. Personal profiles are highly specialised as they are suited to the users needs. He/she can upload audio files, videos, blogs as well photos into the profile which can be shared to other friends. Facebook is considered to be the largest social networking site and it is interesting to note that it was originally founded by US based Mark Zuckerberg who wanted to stay in touch with his friends in Harvard Unviersity. Myspace is also another example of a social networking site which has over 250 million users worldwide. SNS are being used for market research with regard to netnography as well as creating brand communities by different companies. SNS have also been used especially well for promoting movies for example when film makers create a fan page of their movie which allows user to access information such as trailers, photos and download games for free. Similarly companies sponsoring football clubs have used SNS such as Myspace to allow fans to feel closer to the teams they support. Apart from marketing their products through SNS other companies go to the extent of using SNS as a distribution channel for their products for example 1-800- flowers a US based florist has allowed facebook users to send virtual flowers to whomsoever they desire or send the real ones by directing users to their company website.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Factors influencing assessment of language in school

Factors influencing assessment of language in school Due to the globalization, some people whose first language is not English are the fastest-growing school population, and in Australias classroom are becoming increasingly diverse. Take Deakin university for example, the students in the classroom come from Italy, America, China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Australia and so on. Many students are from none English Speaking countries and different cultural background. They share the considerable challenge of having to learn English while responding to the subject-matter demands of school. This article is to explore the cultural understandings which underpin pedagogies used in international education. Moreover, there has been great recent interest in the social and policy context of language testing and assessment. McNamara (1998)comments on the recency of discussion of the ethics of language testing, an area in which social values are a main concern; while the previous relative neglect of these issues in research on language testing has been doc umented by Kunnan (1996), quoted from Hamp-Lyons article. Finally, because effective use of technology must be supported by significant investment in hardware, software, infrastructure, professional development, and support services, over the last decade, technology is introduced into the nations school systems, ultimately, the schools will be held accountable for these investments. Assessment refers to the collection and interpretation of information about learners knowledge, skills, strategies and attitudes. It is a vital and integral part of classroom instruction, and serves several purposes and audiences.Assessment polices exert considerable influence over the education of English language learners because assessment influence the identification, classification, placement, and ongoing monitoring of students. Sometimes the assessment results can help the students to improve their abilities and the quality of instruction. Assessment practices were not designed with the diversity o f current population of English language learners in their mind. As a result, assessment practices have also sometimes prevented students who are learning English from gaining access to a high quality education. Many learners complain that the English language tests are too much, in fact their abilities and skills have not been adequately assessed because traditional testing practices do not capture all that they know and can do. This essay will argue that the culture, policy and social condition, the educational background and technology impact on assessment of language in Australia. In planning assessments to be taken by the general student population, including English language learners, the general principles of good assessment practices apply. This article describes different steps within the planning process, highlighting issues most relevant to the assessment of English language learners. First of all, the policy and social considerations influence on language assessment. McNamara (1998) mentions that the use of tests as an arm of policy reform in education and vocational training has grown, and it has been incorporated as an aspect of immigration policy. These developments have invited the kind of analysis made relevant by the new frameworks for thinking about tests outlined above. The policy influence on the school and university educational systems and even the workforce. National governments often require language tests or other formal assessment procedures to be used. Test fairness is a particularly important quality when tests are related to migration, residency or citizenship. Moreover, as labor mobility has risen and immigrant and refugee flows become a more entrenched part of the present global situation, the assessment of language skills has assumed importance in the context of immigration policy, especially in Australia. Besides that the concern of governme nts for greater industrial efficiency, and the needs of vocational education and training of workforces in rapidly changing environments of production, have motivated a range of policy initiatives which have had implications for assessment. In the past 15 years, language assessment has become increasingly uses as an instrument of policy in the areas of school education, vocational training, and immigration. Khattri and Sweet (1996) demonstrate that the policy context supporting the introduction of performance assessment in school and vocational training contexts at national, state, and district levels, quoted from McNamara article. Therefore, policy makers should be aware that there are some other kinds of assessment which may also be appropriate. Tests and other methods of assessment have their own particular benefits which relating to characteristics such as impact on the candidate, the interpretability of results, standardization and reliability of the results which means that it is easy to compare candidates across the same or different administrations, and cost and practicability. It is very significant that the requirements of the situation are considered carefully to identify the most appropriate kind of assessment. It should also be noted that a combination of assessment methods is possible. Brindley argues that the function of such frameworks in providing greater accountability for systems in their delivery of language training potentially involves a conflict with the educational needs of learners and the goals of teachers. For example, as notes in the ETS standards for quality and fairness, validity is one of the most important attributes of an assessment. Validity is commonly referred to as the extent to which a test measurement what it claims to measure. For English language learners, as well as for all populations, it is critical to consider the degree to which interpretations of their test results are valid reflections of the skill or proficiency that an assessment is intended measure (Educational Testing Service, 2009). Language assessment is a measure of language ability for the ELLs. According to study guide, the Rasch model attempt to generalize from test data to estimate candidate ability and item characteristics (difficulty, discrimination and fit to the model). Estimates of candidate ability take task or item difficulty into account and are based on the assumption that the propability of a correct response is a function of the difference between the persons ability and difficulty of the task. For instance, ESL tests are being increasingly used by the Australia government to manage immigration. One test, assess, raises ethical issues in the way it is used to limit numbers and types of immigrants. There are many immigrants from the other countries want to move to Australia, the government should take effective measures to control this situation; the other, step, was used to hasten the determination of residential statu s for substantial numbers of asylum seekers (McNamara, 1998). The Australian tradition of using language tests in immigration policy contexts, dating back to the notorious dictation test which was used to implement a blatantly discriminatory immigration policy until the 1960s, is analyzed by Davies (1996). Cumming (1994) has stressed the responsibility of language assessment practice to promote the welfare of immigration. As a result, where language assessment is being considered, policy makers are urged to first consider issues at a deeper level. 690 Second of all, different language and educational background influences the assessment of English language learners. This point of view describes factors to consider when developing assessments and make useful decisions relate to testing accommodations for English language learners. The factors provide useful context for the guidelines presented in the later parts of the document. As for language factors, many English language learners in Australia are from a wide range of linguistic backgrounds. This is particularly important to keep in mind when considering the use of native language testing accommodations, since it may not be possible to provide assessments in all native languages represented in a large school district to a state. For example, in Deakin University English Language Institute (DUELI), which is a language training school related to Deakin University, many overseas students are from different country, they can communicate with each other in English, through a period o f language learning, at the end of the step there is a language assessment provided. That is to detct the progress of students in language learning. Furthermore, different levels of proficiency in English for English language learners will influence their assessment of language. They may have varying levels of oral and written English proficiency. It also conclude the native speakers, some may not have had any formal schooling in their native language. The language learners should not be assumed that they can converse easily in language learning will have the literacy skills necessary to understand the written directions for a standardized test. Some English language learners may be proficient in the English used for interpersonal communications but not in the academic English needed to fully access content-area assessments (Educational Testing Service, 2009). According to some research that shows the level of language proficiency has an influence on processing speed. Comparing with native speakers, English language learners probably take longer on tasks presented in English. This is important to keep in mind when designing and scoring the assessment, as well as when making decisions about testing accommodations. In addition, as for educational background factors, English language learners vary widely in the level of formal schooling they have had in their native language (Educational Testing Service, 2009). The degree of native language formal schooling affects not only native language, but also for the assessment of English language learners. The other the proficiency of the language learners in literacy in the native language is involving the skills and knowledge. For instance, some students are refugee people, they want to go to the school which the educational system with little or no formal schooling in any language. These students must learn English and content-area knowledge simultaneously, while also being socialized into a school context that may be extremely unfamiliar. The other English language learners may come to the formal schooling and may have received instruction in the content area in their native language. Accord to Educational Testing Service (2009) describes the primary challenge for these students is simply to change their existing content knowledge into English. In addition, these factors come into play when making decisions about appropriate accommodations. Moreover, there are vary degrees of exposure to standardized testing, it should not be assumed that the English language learners have had the same exposure to the standardized testing that is prevalent in Australia. The learners in some countries may have had no exposure to multiple-choice questions, while those from other countries may never have seen a constructed-response question. Even English language learners from educationally advantaged backgrounds and with high levels of English language proficiency may not be accustomed to standardized, large-scale assessments and may be at a disadvantage in these testing situations. Thirdly, cultural factors can be potential sources of construct-irrelevant variance that add to the complex of appropriately assessing English language learners. Culture is an important facet of the learners social environment as cultural beliefs guide and direct behaviour. Each culture has different value systems and these guides the individual. English language learners are from a wide range of cultural background, and cultural difference may place the English language learners at a disadvantage in a standardized testing situation. Lack of familiarity with mainstream Australia culture, they may potentially have an impact on test scores for English language learners. The learners who are unfamiliar with Australia culture may be at disadvantage relative to their peers because they may hold different assumptions about the testing situation or the educational environment in general, have different background knowledge and experience, or unfamiliar with Australia culture may be at a pos sess different sets of cultural values and beliefs, and therefore respond to questions differently (Accord to Educational Testing Service, 2009). In fact, assessment the true value of language assessment is to check the language learners learning level, and based on the assessment results to help students progress. Culture differences are inevitable factors and impact on language assessment obviously. In addition, assessment can be used for a variety of purpose such as diagnosis of learners strengths and weaknesses, grading of learners performance, placement of learners in an appropriate class or teaching programme, and evaluation of learners for further studies. August, D., Pease-Alvarez, L. (1996) maintains that assessment presented builds on the school-wide and classroom cultures, policies, and practices that characterize effective schools for English language learners. Elements of these include a core curriculum aligned with rigorous content standards, student assessment that i s culturally responsive, teacher knowledge of strategies that support students cultural backgrounds, and a challenging and responsive learning environment. Every element of the model is first presented in a research-based discussion and then followed by attributes of effective practices based on examples from school sites. All cultures promote specific norms of behavior that can influence the assessment and intervention process with members of ethnically diverse groups, cultural issues related to the assessment process and culturally sensitive recommendations. Last but not least, technological aspects impact on assessment of language in schools. Each technology is likely to play a different role in students learning. Rather than trying to describe the impact of all technologies as if they were the same, researchers need to think about what kind of technologies are being used in the classroom and for what purposes, applied linguists might consider technology in language assessment by discussing ways in which streamlines the testing process. Two general distinctions can be made. Students can learn from computers-where technology used essentially as tutors and serves to increase students basic skills and knowledge; and can learn with computers-where technology is used a tool that can be applied to a variety of goals in the learning process and can serve as a resource to help develop higher order thinking, creativity and research skills (Reeves, 1998; Ringstaff Kelley, 2002). In fact, much progress can be identified with respect to this worth while goal, as many language tests today are delivered on microcomputers and over the internet. An equally important strand of language assessment concerns its effects on language learning, language teaching, and knowledge within the field of applied linguistics. The story of technology in language assessment needs to encompass both the efficiency of technical accomplishments, which is evident in part through the success of testing programs in constructing technology-based tests, as well as the effects of these test. Technology can encompass a board range of devices used in the testing process, from recording equipment, statistical programs, and data bases, to programs capable of language recognition (Burstein, Frase, Ginther, and Grant, 1996). Many different types of technology can be used to support and improve learning, involving the language assessment. Everything from video content and digital moviemaking to laptop computing and handheld technologies have been used in classroom s, and new uses of technology such as podcasting are constantly emerging(Marshall, 2002). For example, writing assessment is a suitable point which can support this belief that the students can become better writers when they use the computer for writing. By creating more frequent opportunities for students to learn, Students writing in digital form makes it possible to analyze writing quality in more detail, grade the writing by automated means, and provide immediate feedback to both the student and the teacher about how well the student performed (Miller, 2009), quoted from Bejar (2010). A digital writing environment also can provide students with tools or scaffolds (Deane, Quinlan, Kostin, in press) that can facilitate writing. The feasibility of detailed writing analysis also makes it possible to study the development of writing skills and to chart their development on a meaningful scale (Attali Powers, 2008). Many years ago, access to technology was limited and writing school was one of the nations highest education priorities. Public schools have also made consistent progress in expanding Internet access in instructional rooms. Technology is introduced into our nations school systems. Along with expanded access has come a growing pervasiveness of technology in society. For the new generation of young people, technology, particularly the Internet, has assumed a substan tial stake in their social and educational lives. To sum up, English as a world language, in the past few decades a significant change about the language, researchers have found that these changes not only from English language itself, but also from other factors. This chapter has attempted to outline the issues that need to be considered and, by implication, the issues for which policy makers should take responsibility. The questions of what type of assessment is necessary for the intended purpose, and what it can be expected to measure should be considered first. For the successful use of a language test for migration and citizenship purposes, those who define the policy must work with the test providers on several aspects after the decision to use a test has been made. During these changes will impact on language -related changes in language teaching and assessment. Assessment is the practice of collecting evidence of student learning. In the past, the English test or assessment still to the native English speakers of the languag e for criteria, which language closed to the native English speakers is a good standard of evaluation results, and vice versa is not up to the standard learning objectives. Language testing and evaluation is changed now, set the highest standards and evaluate the assessment of the highest standards from the distance and differences, and then view the object of study and progress through the content analysis. Language assessment also based on the different factors is change, and position of the language assessment is more important in the world, therefore, linguists, educators, and testing evaluators should pay more attention on the advantages and limitations of the language assessment, and to grasp these changes then take effective measures.

Monday, August 19, 2019

College Admissions Essay: My Father Died a Drunk :: College Admissions Essays

My Father Died a Drunk    At 4, I came to the breakfast table and saw that my father had a horribly swollen eye and adhesive tape forming a shell on his nose. I didn't know that he got those injuries in a barroom fight; I only know that I was deeply frightened and sorry that my father was hurt. This was the first of many bad memories.    At 6, I awakened to the sound of a violent argument between my father and mother. I didn't know the reason for the quarrel; I just wanted the shouting, cursing and threats to stop. I could even hear them when buried under the pillows and blankets on my bed. My father had lost his job because of his drinking.    At 10, I never knew whether my father would be sober, reasonable, even pleasant - or drunk, argumentative and abusive. On one February day with four inches of snow on the ground and a freezing rain falling, I was walking home from my cousin's house in the early evening and saw my father lying on the soggy, snow-covered sidewalk. I didn't know what my father would do if I roused him, and I was afraid to find out. Perhaps, subconsciously, I hoped my father wouldn't waken at all. I continued on, did nothing, said nothing. This I will remember with guilt for the rest of my life.    At 13, I came to hate Thursday because it was payday and I had to walk up to the shop where my father worked as a janitor, get the paycheck and take it to my mother so that it would not be spent on drink. I sensed this was demeaning to my father and I felt embarrassed.    At 15, I was at the YMCA one Saturday when my father stopped by. He was drunk. He tried to play a game of pool with me and ripped the table covering with his cue stick. Many of my friends were watching. I didn't return to the Y for a month.    At 16, the high school crowd I ran with had a party each month at a different house. How could I have that party when I never knew what condition my father would be in? Fortunately, my mother solved the problem by inviting my father out to dinner and a movie, leaving my older sister as a chaperone.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Laura Searing :: essays research papers

Laura Searing was one of only a few women of the 19th century who was a respected journalist. She was on the staff of several publications and acted as a war correspondent during the American Civil War. She conducted interviews with soldiers and Union Army Commander Ulysses S. Grant on battlefields along with interviewing President Abraham Lincoln for a story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Laura’s poetry was published extensively and praised by literary greats like John Greenleaf Whittier and William Cullen Bryant. She was the first woman during her lifetime to have a town named after her. All of this is great but it becomes amazing when you consider that from the age of 11 Laura Searing was deaf.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  She was born on February 9, 1840 in Somerset County, Maryland. Her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1851 and that is when she contracted cerebrospinal meningitis. This left Laura deaf and with a speech impediment that left her only able to speak in sepulchral tones. Throughout her life, Laura depended on written communication until she was 15 and attended the Missouri School for the Deaf. This is where she learned sign language.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While attending the institution Laura composed essays and poetry on subjects such as religion, politics, nature and her own deafness. For her class graduation Laura wrote a farewell poem and gave a speech at commencement which was both published in the American Annals of the Deaf. Her first professional work was done for a church in St. Louis. Her work impressed the editors at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch so much that they hired her. When the Civil War began the newspaper sent her to Washington D.C as its war correspondent. To avoid offending other readers who thought that journalism was â€Å"man’s work,† all of her writing was published under the name Howard Glyndon. But it was not very effective. It was largely known that Howard Glyndon was a woman and it was accepted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Laura’s first two books were published during the wartime period. â€Å"Notable Men in the House† was a series of informal mini-biographies that were each based on a different congressman. â€Å"Idyles of Battle and Poems of the Republic† was a group of war poems. Laura went to Europe in 1865 where she continued to write stories for the St. Louis Republican and the New York Times and the New York Sun. She returned to the U.

Presonal Writing: My First Impression Of My Teacher Miss Vicki :: essays research papers

Presonal Writing: My First Impression of My Teacher Miss Vicki   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My first impression of Miss Vicki was a highly authorative figure towering over me. Her voice boomed and the earth shook whenever she marched. She seemed like such an unapproachable and distant person. That was in the first year of High School. She was my Literature teacher then.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During my first year in school, she struck terror in my heart. And everyone else's of course. The mere mention of her name made the most unruly classes silent. The birds stopped screeching. Even the earth felt still. The omniscent presence of rumours stating that she didn't like Junior High students was not much of a help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nevertheless, the 2 years of Junior High passed by rather quickly. Soon, I was promoted to Senior High class. I had worked hard and gotten the subject combination that I wished for. Together with a bunch of old friends, I soon settled down in class comfortably.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As fate would have it, she was fortunate enough to be my form teacher that year. I almost choked in alarm when I heard the news. This time round, however, I resolved not to cower in terror whenever she was near. I decided to face the fact that we were going to meet each other for the next 365 days. Instead of trying too hard to lick her boots, I tried my best to be my natural self in front of her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Still, I could not shake off the ice-cold image that she possessed in my heart. True, her corney jokes sometimes sent me into frolicking laughter, yet at other times these jokes simply fell flat the moment she uttered them. My lovely class, however was always ready to laugh at the right time and place of her amusing stories. Afterall, we would not want to run the risk of her temper erupting in front of us like Mount Saint Helens spewing molten rock and

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Midwest Office Products Management Essay

Case Overview: MidWest Office Product was a regional distributor of office supplies to institutions and commercial businesses. The company offered a comprehensive product line like simple writing implements and fasteners to specialty paper for modern high-speed copiers and printers. Warehouse personnel in the company’s distribution center unloaded truckload shipments from manufactures, and moved the cartons into designated storage location until customers request the items. Typically, the company shipped products to its customers using commercial truckers; however the MOP had introduced the new way of shipment which called a desktop delivery option in which the personnel delivered the products directly to the destinations at the customer’s site. The company believed that the new way of shipments would improve the margins and create more loyal customers in its competitive market. Moreover, the MOP introduced the electronic data interchange, which allowed customers’ orders to arrive automatically into the system so that clerks wouldn’t have to enter the data manually. John Malone, general manager of Midwest Office Products, was concerned about the financial results of his business for a calendar year 2013. Malone was concerned that even after introducing the innovations, the company couldn’t earn a profit. The company’s management team decided to check out: What actions he should take to regain the profit? What profits Midwest Office Products had really earned on each of the orders stated? Case Solutions: According to calculations made on the Excel sheet, we think that in order for MOP regain the profits the company should look on the following recommendations: 1) To encourage customers to use more efficient and cheaper types of channels, like in this case the EDI. As you could see on the excel sheet 1 the electronic entry costs $3.50 which is the cheapest way of entering the information about the orders. 2) Improve the efficiency of the warehouse operations and order-entry process ( manual and electronic). We could recommend to decrease the amount of order-entry operators. The following action will help the company to decrease the costs on personnel. 3) To improve the Desktop Delivery option meaning to introduce the specific charges for the following options depending on the amount of drop points, distance, time consumed for travelling If the cost for Desktop Delivery is $75 per hour, the company should introduce the specific charges for a such delivery because it costs almost 5 times higher as the commercial freight. 4) It’s highly recommended to minimize the amount of small orders, may be it would be efficient to establish the minimum order size or put the minimum price for an order

Friday, August 16, 2019

My Police Dream Essay

My name is Brianna Knight. There are many reasons to why it’s my dream to become a police officer, but I’m going to highlight my top three reasons of why I would like to be a cop. â€Å"To Serve and Protect†, a phrase known by everyone, but only a few know the meaning and are willing to live by it. As a police officer it is their duty to serve and be loyal to their county, along with their officers and to do anything in their power to protect. I know what it takes to see and understand the dangers of life. To prevent harm and ensure the safety of others, I believe, is a very valuable trait to find in one applying to be an officer of the law. This is something I pride myself in. Some people my age seem to want to stay away from the word â€Å"responsibilities†. The way I look at it, is the more responsibilities the greater the accomplishments. Every decision one makes in life comes with some sort of responsibility. It is up to that person to decide how they react to it and what actions they decide to take. Being a police officer comes with great responsibilities, something I’ve thought long and hard about. I wouldn’t take on something I know I couldn’t handle. Like I’ve said, this is my dream. Being a police officer is not an easy job. I’m not looking for easy. Pushing yourself towards your goals and never giving up no matter what kind of obstacles may come your way gives one a sense of respect in oneself. I respect others, but respect is not just given overnight. It takes hard work and motivation, one must earn respect. Having respect from others is an important thing to have in this specific position. I’m a very determined individual, and when I set my mind to something I will go to great measures to reach and accomplish my goals. Seeing anyone have the same drive and motivation is something that earns my respect, for it has given me respect in myself. I have a great amount of respect for our police men and women. I would love to be a part of that. As a little girl there has been a tug towards becoming a police officer, who didn’t want to become a cop as a child? Now that I am grown that tug is still there. I want to give my son the best life I can possibly give, and to show him that he can be whatever his heart desires. I want to be someone he looks up to and hopefully one day he will follow in my footsteps. If not as a cop then to work as hard as I did in whatever that â€Å"tug† is for him and to conquer his dreams. This is why it is time for me to stop dreaming and start doing. I feel like I have what it takes physically and mentally to be a valuable asset to the police force. If and when I’m given the chance to show how serious this is to me, one will see how qualified I am to be able to call myself a police officer, someone that serves and protects his community. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

”The happiest days of your life” by Penelope Lively Essay

This is an analysis of the short story â€Å"The happiest days of your life†. The short story is written by Penelope Lively, who was sent away from her home to a boarding school in the rainy England. The short story is with an omniscient narrator, and takes place in the southern England – or more preciously in a area called Sussex. The story stretches over a day while a boy named Charles and his parents is going to visit an boarding school. The Sussex area is a part of the upper class, which indicates that the environment is rich. The boarding school (St. Edwards’s Preparatory School) is very big and luxurious. That can also be seen in the fact that the school is a big mansion with a swimming pool. It’s very formal inside the school, and the parents meets the maid who is all done up – which the mom approaches a lot (page 56, line 15). The school is very expensive, which tells that it’s not middle class area. In the end of the story the parents mentions that the school is a bit pricey, which indicates that they aren’t entirely upper class, but more upper middle class. Something that underlines, that they are upper middle class is that they uses a very formal language. There is no slang, and they are very correct in what they say and with their grammar. In page 56 they are talking about cricket, which is very upper class. They uses direct speech, but most of time the short story are in is past tense. Charles is the main character in the short story, and from the text I would say that he is an only child, since the parents want to send him to a expensive boarding school. Charles parents are both very self-centured. They think they care about Charles, and his feelings but without noticing they don’t see that Charles is not very happy or positive about the boarding school. Charles parents are very positive about the boarding school. The parents have a conversation, where Charles father says â€Å"Wilcox says quite a few City people send their boys here. One or two of the merchant bankers, those kind of people. It’s the sort of contact that would do no harm at all†. Those lines dedicates that Charles’s father is a businessman. The â€Å"City† is probably London, and thinks a lot about his career and to earn money. I think one of the main reasons the father sends his son away to that particular boarding school is to get contacts, because he know that the kids at that school has great families (page 56, line  25-30). He actually mentions that he could play cricket with them, which I already mentioned, is very upper class. The mother is kind of the same way. Also very self-centered, but she don’t have the same reason as Charles father. She is concerned about her son, but not as much as she is concerned about her own image and others opinion about her and their family. When the mother first entered the school she thought about her friend Sally, who bought an entirely new cream-linen-coat just for coming there, so now she has to be fine and live up to the standard. The mother corrects the headmasters wife, when she says â€Å"You live in Finchley, is that right?†. The mentions fast, that they don’t live in Finchley, but in Hampstead instead. Hampstead is for the upper class and rich and important people, when more normal families lives in Finchley. She don’t want the headmasters wife, to get an wrong impression about them. We don’t know much about the headmaster and the headmasters wife, but we know that they are fine people. The kids at the school probably likes the headmasters wife, because when she entered a room they became quiet and when she leaves they hold the door for her. Charles might be about 6-8 years because he is about to start at a preparatory school. Charles doesn’t like the situation and he is very uncomfortable. This can be seen in the beginning of the short story, when Charles sits in the back of the car with an unopened box of chocolate and a folded comic book. That isn’t a normal behavior for at child in that age, because usually they like sweets and comic books. Charles is very quiet, so he doesn’t say much at the boarding school. In the end when he sits in the car he hears the echo of the boy who said they shall mash him next term. The boys seems to appear nice, so maybe it was a joke but Charles really takes it to him and becomes afraid. That really indicates that he is insecure, because he even don’t want to tell his parents about that episode in the short story. The main conflict in the short story is that conflict between Charles and his insecure personality. He can’t say his opinion about the boarding school to his parents. Maybe he can feel that his parents are more interested in business contacts and their own reputation instead of him being happy, and that creates a misunderstood parent-child relationship who can serious consequences later in Charles life. The short story is called â€Å"The happiest days of your life† and that is something you usually says  about the time on a boarding school, but maybe in this case it could mean that those days are over. The time in the story changes, and all before the headmaster’s wife is taking Charles away is in past tense, but after that it goes to present but in this case it could mean that those days are over. The happiest days were until the time at the boarding school and now it is over. The time until the headmaster’s wife takes Charles away is in the past tense and that is what was and is no more. The boarding school is now and in present. The beginning of the boarding is the ending of his happiest days of his lives. Penelope Lively maybe had it at the same day, when she was forced to a boarding school and her life is an inspiration to this short story.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

English Aussie Slang Short Stroy

Well it’s another day again in Broady*, and my relo and I went down to the bottle-o to pick up some grog for the big* game of* *aierial* *pingpong* *this arvo* between the mighty pies and the dons*. When we got down there we realised that we spent *all *our *moula* at the servo. â€Å"ey* cobber *ya* old bastard*,* we better mull u*p, we got no cash† *â€Å"true* blue *ya* dag, *haha* no cash no problem† *â€Å"better* grab the metho as well *fella*† *â€Å"no* time knackers, *weve* got get home before everyone else *karks* it down there† â€Å"what* other dills are coming over for the pies v dons game *ya* donger*† â€Å"just* the *fellas* from the waterhole*† â€Å"bullshit*, fair dinkum, better have the ambos on speed dial† *â€Å"S*orry Jimmy† *â€Å"Dont* worry about it* *Bazza*,* *im* busy like a one legged bloke in an arse kicking contest, will call past* the shops to pinch a few snags†* We quickly called pa st Woolies* to pick up some snags and *sangers*, was an easy five finger discount but we had to piss bolt home *to set up. * I was surprised the dickheads at *Woolies* couldn’t see us knick anything, I mean two *yobbo’s* like ourselves, you should never leave us unattended*. Anyway *Bazza* and I chewed the fat while I drove back to our crib. As we got back to our shack, Bruce was waiting at the door in his *jarmies*. Nice guy* a real *whacka* *thoe* but behind him was a 24 pack of *buddys*, what a hero! Soon after all the boys were down and ready for the b*ig game. *Bazza* fired up the BBQ and the snags were roasting. *â€Å"Hey bruce* could you finish the BBQ off mate† â€Å"Cock and bull, Ya* old bastard* I don’t know how to use one† *â€Å"Give it a burl ya* dill† *While they were sorting out the barby I turned on the idiot box to the game. By now there were alot* of dead marines* and durry butts everywhere, no sign of liquid laugh in sight. I screamed out *â€Å"ay* alfs games on† *All the dongers c*arted there asses in the lounge like billy kids *wanting a *sucker. *Every bogan* in my lounge room was tripping out, *i* was surprised any one could see the scores. â€Å"Carn the pies† *I yelled. W*e got off to a beaut of a star*t, with Diddy (Alan *Didak*) to a bonzer start as well as *clokey* (Travis *Cloke*) thumping 3 goals through in the first quarter*. You never know with the Dons, they always come back with their sandgroper Lovett Murray the *boonga*, his too fast for every other digger out there. Nothing that â€Å"Neon Leon† (Leon Davis) can*’*t handle, will be right! The second quarters just started and some fucken* *cruddy’s* just pushed the door bell. I got up and saw trouble at the door, it was an electricity *employer. Straight away I thought bummer, *i* knew what this was about. â€Å"Ay you the owner of this establishment† *â€Å"Yeah ya* bastard† *â€Å"Good, Im* here to cut off your power† â€Å"Get fucked† Bazza herd what was going up and go up immediately and said *â€Å"whats* this about? This guy giving you curry† *â€Å"Yeah fuken* yobbo’s cutting of the power† *â€Å"what* about the pies match† Then the electricity worker said *â€Å"tough* titties *ya* bogans† *The electricity dill choked the electricicity* and we were unable to watch the game. â€Å"Cunning as a shit house rat† I screamed out as he left in is donga mobile *We where now all at rockwood* end now we were going to miss the game for sure now. *Until i* thought of running a cable to the neighbours across the road. *â€Å"you* sneaky *boonga* they all said† *â€Å"shud* up *ya* bastards this is an important game, id brawl with a bull to watch this match† *So I ran the extension cord from my house to the neighbours without them knowing. Slid through the back gate of there* crib and plugged it into their garage. The Idiot boxed turned on and the yobs screamed like yanks from across the road, I ran home like a lost *joey* but had missed all the second and third quarter. I had spat the dummy*, *i* was* spewing*. The pies were wining and killing it. Soon after the siren went and we were stoked, running around lick head less chicken. *COLLINGWOOD had* a ripper of a game* *thrashing the Bombers by 6*5 points at the G. *The pies *creamed* the dons 18. 12 (120) to 8. 7 (55 In front of a crowd of 90,*000. Th*e Pies seized control with a stunning first quarter* as far as *i* was concerned*. * Everyone went home and started recovering from the big day. I was about to catch some Z’s on the couch as I herd* some sirens *i* got up to go outside and see what was going on as *i* got to the door the pigs were there, with hand cuffs. They had looked back at the *Woolies* tapes and court us stilling. Luckily *Bazza* had got away, but that *wasnt* all. Bacon was frying*. T*hey looked around the house and found the cord*. They took me too the cop shop and sent me to jail for a few weeks. Nothing to serious thank fuck.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Describe the company's organizational architecture - Bayer company Essay

Describe the company's organizational architecture - Bayer company - Essay Example Bayer Company is a worldwide enterprise, which has foundational competences and core influence in the fields of high tech materials, agriculture, and health care (Ali, 2009:62). Being an inventor firm, Bayer sets trends in areas that require intensive research (Tupper, 2011:55). It designs its products to benefit people as well as improve their quality of life. This paper will seek to Bayer Company organizational architecture. It will assess the current architecture and ratify it if appropriate or recommend for another if not suitable. Organizational architecture talks about the spatial surroundings on the mind, behavior, and health of the people in and around an organization. This is an area dominated by the perspective of inter-discipline as it draws it conclusions from architecture, organization, management in addition to knowledge obtained from spatial science, social medicine, and environmental psychology (Williams, 2011:63). Success of an organizational architecture depends on or is attributable to the quality of management practices while operating or the skills employed when designing the organization’s system. Characteristics of a successful system include its simplicity, acceptability, reliability, flexibility, and economy. The Bayer Group of companies aims at creating value through high earning power, growth, and innovation (Workshop on Trends in Enterprise Architecture Research, & Proper, 2010: 33). The architectural design of Bayer Company indicates that it is flexible as every three subgroups operate independently. The other three service companies also function independently led by the holding company in management. This shows that Bayer Company values the aspect of common goals, values, and strategies making it flexible (Ali, 2009:83). An effective organization design does not need to be complicated. On contrary, organization design finds simplicity a highly desirable quality. Pertinently, think

Sub-Saharan Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sub-Saharan Africa - Essay Example The Serengeti mammal population is considered the largest one in the world, which makes it a perennial visiting site for tourists from across the whole world (Partridge, 2006, May 20). From the purely aesthetic point of view, Serengeti is one of the most picturesque territories in the whole African continent. Topographically, Serengeti encompasses a stretch of wide plains and open woodlands in southern Kenya, northern Tanzania, with the Olduvai Gorge, famous site where the fossils of first prehistoric hominid species were found, cutting across its territory (Sinclair & Norton-Griffiths, 1979, p. vii). Serengeti’s nature is its main treasure, with the host of certain mammalian species being more prevalent there than elsewhere in the continent. The migrant herbivore mammals are the most likely encounters for any tourist or traveler wishing to cross the Serengeti. The ecosystem of Serengeti, covering more than 25,000 sq. km, possess the well-defined natural boundaries that restri ct these grazing animals’ migratory movements and effectively explain the abundance of their various species there. To the north, the Loita plains of Kenya, with their dry conditions, limit the possible northward movements of the mammal herds, while to the east and south the Gol Mountains present further complications for any would-be migrant grazers (Sinclair & Norton-Griffiths, 1979, p.31). The only part of geographical surroundings that allow relatively safe connection to the external environment is the south-east crater highlands, with the Ngorongoro Crater hosting a variety of resident mammal population due to its abundant grass vegetation (p.32). The animal world of the Serengeti region is extremely diverse. When passing through the area, I encountered large herds of Blue Wildebeests, zebras and Thomson’s gazelles, in addition to less prominent, but not less diverse, herds of various lesser wildebeests and gazelles. The wildebeests of all types are the special at traction for all the visitors of Serengeti area, as they are increasingly involved in gargantuan-scale migrations that may encompass up to one million animals in them. The Serengeti region is one of the most picturesque and interesting areas of East Africa. It represents the best example of the still flourishing fauna of this part of the continent and, as such, can be recommended for further visits by the curious travelers. Ngorongoro Crater Area The next sight to be visited in the course of my travels across the Sub-Saharan Africa was the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which presents an example of combination of the geologically complex landscape and the lively and diverse ecosystem. The history of the Ngorongoro area is rather interesting, as this region was one of the most ancient places of human settlement, as well as of the highly volatile relations between different local peoples and tribes. Nonetheless, the main attraction of the Ngorongoro region lies in its spectacular geolo gical features, as well as in its rich variety of fauna. From the geological standpoint, the Ngorongoro Crater attests to the volatile processes of mountain building that used to occur in this area millions years ago. Judging from the data produced by modern geologists, about 2 million years ago, the Ngorongoro Peak may

Monday, August 12, 2019

Customer Relationship Marketing Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Customer Relationship Marketing - Article Example Introduction: The legendary question in the history of the business management is how to satisfy the customers. It is very obvious to understand that customer is the king in any business as the customers are the vital factor in the business that generates the revenue for the company. The customer’s perception and attitude towards the services provided by the hospitality industry are the vital factors. The customer loyalty programs are very much vital for this industry mainly for the hotels, in most of the hotels the loyalty programs run as these hotels want their customer to be happy and the lingering effect of the loyalty programs will get back the customers in the hotel in the near future. Part A: The correlation between the CRM and hospitality management: It is very important to understand that customer relationship management and the hospitality industry are closely related to each other and they are the supplementary factors for each other for a successful business enviro nment. It very important to understanding that service products are not the tangible product it is strictly intangible product. People don’t get the feeling of the product while they are buying the product they get the actual feelings of the product while they pursue the service and that is the reason the presales customer relation management is very much important for the hospitality industry. All the major hotels in the world follow the strict regulations of the long term customer relationship management. The loyalty is a factor which enables the customer to buy a product in repeated manner. There are some factors are related in this context to support the power of loyalty and they are trustworthiness, dependability, allegiance, devotion and excellence. The loyalty programs are the reason for the Starbucks to pull the same old customer for repeated time. The hospitality industry is surviving on these loyalty programs as the cost of acquiring new customer is high so retentio n of a customer would lower down many recurring costs. The hotel industry works with three main functional entities and they are the owner of the hotel, the management team and the brand itself. The proper alignment of the interest towards the betterment of the service is the main motto of all of these three parties. Most of the time these parties don’t want to share the customer data related to their own department and that leads toward the malfunctioning of the whole system. Most of the big hotels use CRM software to maintain the customer database. Mainly for the hotels who are having multiple locations, they use centralized CRM which is been used from the head office. Monitoring the existing customer database in very much important for the further improvement of the system. CRM is the cross functional management philosophy that focuses on reconfiguration of the activities of the firms towards their customers. The CRM and marketing management are different in many aspects. The marketing activity can be a small time promotional activity but, the customer relation management is a long term process to satisfy the existing customer. CRM focuses on maximizing revenues where marketing focuses on brand building and other activities for the future sales. The betterment of the business relies on a strong interpersonal relationship with the customers. The proper CRM (Customer Relation Management)

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Recommendations for a client business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Recommendations for a client business - Essay Example On the other hand, Strait’s business rival M.Y. China had their hostess at the podium to warmly greet the incoming guests and seat them most of the times. The restaurant manager also helped her seat the guests especially when more than one guest came in at the same time. This resulted in fewer complaints from customers and more importantly shorter periods in seating the customers. The hostess at M.Y. China is always in a jovial mood and welcomes guests in a friendly and a professional manner. It is apparent that from the customer comments that even when customers did not get her at the podium she made up with the welcoming gestures. She always engaged eye contact with her the guests, smiled and used a friendly tone when talking to them (Yelp). Therefore, Straits should put efforts in improving its service standards if it is to maintain its clientele, especially with increased competition from its next-door competitor M.Y. China. For instance, many customers have expressed diss atisfaction with declining food quality, service level and the restaurant’s general experience. The customers also bemoan the inattentiveness and the unprofessional manner with which the hostess and other workers behave themselves. Such negative perceptions from the customers may eventually hurt the restaurant’s business if they are not addressed. Some customers have complained about the absence of a clear job structure that results in ambiguity in the roles that different persons perform. For example, some guests have to wait to be ushered into the restaurant when the hostess is helping the servicer to clear the tables. Some customers also observed that the restaurant seems not to have an outlined task plan to ensure smooth flow of operations. This is apparent when customers who have made a reservation come into the restaurant and the hostess looks clueless when they enquire about their table. Sometimes she ends up mumbling some apologies and seating the guests in a d ifferent table. Recommendations The observers made some recommendations after a thorough evaluation of the service standards of Straits restaurant and comparing it to that of its competitor M.Y. China. Since the main issue was found to be the absence of the hostess at the podium, the group of observers formulated some recommendations that outlined tasks that would ensure that a hostess was always manning the podium area in order to greet and usher in incoming guests. The recommendations are outlined as follows: i. Organizing the reservations This would involve the hostess staying at the podium and organize any reservations that are made on the phone. The hostess should answer incoming machine messages to confirm that that all reservations have been noted. In addition, the hostess should schedule the reservations for all guests in advance and formulate a plan on how to receive and seat the guests as and when they arrive. This should include a seating chart. It is important for the ho stess to ask the guests some specific questions when they call in to make the reservations in order to have some basic information beforehand. Such information will assist the hostess in creating customer profiles that include names and contacts such as telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. However, the hostess may encounter problems that may be difficult to solve. For instance, what does the

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Zara Clothing - Available Strategic Options and Methods of Essay

Zara Clothing - Available Strategic Options and Methods of Implementation - Essay Example The paper describes the key organizational strategy of the company which revolves around responding swiftly to customer demands. Zara identifies trends and delivers products to customers through its proficient value chain model as well as its autonomously planned structure. This model of business has been quite effortlessly maintained; causing the company’s executives to disregard any thoughts of change for the near future. Moreover, one of Zara’s biggest problems is in updating its approaches towards online sales. Upgrading the current system will contribute towards increasing the networking as well as functionality abilities of the fashion house. This will bring about additional improvements to Zara’s operational functions such as improved inventory replenishment and customer demand forecasting. Investing in new technology will provide Zara with the capacity to be a trend-setter in the fashion industry. A new and technologically improved system would permit rea l-time inventory management. This would contribute to the enhancement of the service level and increase the cross-selling functions between stores, thus giving better service to the targeted consumers. Zara’s other major challenge lies in containing its huge maintenance expenses. The main challenge that the firm may have to face in adapting to a technologically improved system would be in purchasing a readymade system or creating it. As the need for the new system is not immediate, creating an in-house system may be the financially responsible option. However, due to the lack of present workers who are skilled in this subject, purchasing the necessary software is the ideal