Monday, September 30, 2019
Alcatraz essay
Imagine you are told exactly when you can eat or shower and when you have to go to bed and when you must wake up. Well many of the prisoners on Alcatraz Island were treated in such a way. If you were a prisoner on Alcatraz Island, every aspect of your life would be controlled by a higher authority. If you like to have a midnight snack every now and then, that luxury would be taken away. If you like to sit around and watch TV for hours, you can forget about that too. Alcatraz has a long history of transformation as to how it came to be known as the inescapable prison island.This reputation did not stop a handful of men to try and do the impossible and escape the island. Alcatraz, also known as ââ¬Å"The Rockâ⬠, is a well-known yet mysterious place containing many forgotten memories and lost ghosts. Though no one really knows everything that went on within the concealed walls of the old prison, it still manages to trap the interests of millions of people who visit the national pa rk each day on the small island in the San Francisco Bay. Not only has it trapped the interests of those millions of visitors, but it has also trapped mine as well.Discovered in 1775 by a Spanish explorer named Juan Miguel de Ayala, La Isla de los Alcatraces was nothing more than a small island inhabited by a group of pelicans from which the island acquired its name (Alcatraces means pelicans in Spanish). In 1847, the United States Government began view Alcatraz as more than just an island, but also an excellent location for a military fort; by 1853, a State of the Art military fortress was protecting the Western half of the United States against any foreign invasion.With the eruption of the Civil War, Alcatraz began accepting its first military prisoners in 1861. However, it wasn't until the Spanish-American War in 1898 that the United States realized that the isolation of the island made it an excellent candidate for a prison. The prison population jumped from twenty-six to 450 du ring the war. That number sprang once more after the famous 1906 earthquake when prisoners were transferred from many San Francisco city jails to Alcatraz.With the island becoming more a prison and less a military fort, it was decided that a cell house would be necessary. After the construction of the cell house in 1912, ââ¬Å"The Rockâ⬠was born. In the 1920's many inmates were allowed to own small gardens of their own. Baseball fields were created and small teams were formed. It wasn't until the 1930's that Alcatraz went through dramatic changes constituting stricter rules than ever before thus ending the days of gardening and baseball games.In 1963, however, due to the high cost of running an island prison, Alcatraz was officially closed, never to be reopened as a prison. In 1969, a group of Native Americans claimed the island as their own but later ran into trouble with high costs just as the United States had. In 1971, their problems ended when they saw the island go up i n flames, badly damaging the lighthouse and many homes that used to house the cell guards and their families. The remaining Indians left after this fire and once again, Alcatraz was abandoned. The U.S. government decided it would be best to make Alcatraz part of the newly opened Golden Gate Park. Today, the money it attracts from its visitors each year provides the operational costs for the island. Throughout all the changes Alcatraz has went, it has retained one thing up to this very day; its deteriorating walls never cease to capture the amazement and interest of onlookers like you and I. That small, haunted, and mysterious island on the coast of San Francisco that treasures so many memories will always be known as ââ¬Å"The Rock. ââ¬Å"
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Public vs. Private Policing
Public versus Private Policing CJA 500 April 19, 2010 Chris Bragg Public versus Private Policing In recent years, both the numbers of police officers in the United States has been declining. However, the rates for many white-collar crimes, such as computer crimes, employee theft, and fraud, are increasing. Public policing has been known to have a monopoly on policing until the increased trend in private policing in the United States. Public and private policing have many similarities as well as differences and the distinction between public and private police are often blurred. Public Policing Public policing has always been known as the frontline in protecting the society and one of their major assets is the publicââ¬â¢s accountability. Recent studies have shown that to some people, a uniformed police can transmit a feeling of respect and security, and through that, he may even be preventing crime just by their presence. The role of public policing is governing both the future and the past: preventing crime and rendering justice with respect to past crimes. Its favored strategy is deterrence on punishment because punishment promises both to prevent crime and to exact a cost for misdeeds already done. Public policing must provide a full range of police services to the public. Public police are particularly experienced, trained, and skilled in the exercise of persuasive authority to command compliance with their safety orders and needs. They are also trained and effective in the use of tactics such as undercover policing, arrest, use of weaponry to protect themselves and the public as-needed, and investigation related to preparing cases for referral to the prosecutor. On the other hand, public police must be taught ââ¬Ëhow toââ¬â¢ do community policing, a type of policing that requires an entirely different approach and language. It requires a different manner of speaking and a different choice of words from traditional policing. It requires a different mindset and attitude toward the public, and a different kind of leadership from the top down. Community policing requires officers to stay put in one neighborhood and build long-term relationships with shoppers, residents, businesses, and employees. It requires officers to be much more proactive and friendly than normal, receptive to suggestions, and willing to use a participatory process to set at least some policing goals and priorities. It requires language not command-oriented and language that does not tend to escalate emotions or raise hackles of those being questioned and not in trouble, or those causing disturbances. It rarely requires arrest as the first resort. It usually requires conversation, negotiation, and mediation that move both parties toward the center, and toward a mutually satisfactory reduction of tempers and threats. Public policing is known to society as the police who protect our communities and arrest those individuals who commit crime. Public policing has the role to maintain law and order, preserve peace, and prevent crime. Public police are employed by governments and paid for by tax dollars and grants. Private Policing Private policing, while emerging as a new industry, is not a new phenomenon and predates the existence of public policing as witnessed today. Private police look and behave as if public police and describing their function often involves a comparison of the activities and responsibilities of the two. The increase of private policing has been in response to many changes in society such as the increase of ââ¬Å"mass private propertyâ⬠in the form of large shopping complexes, cinemas, large retail stores, and large compound style housing estates or gated communities. These require constant surveillance for the safety of shoppers and residents. In fact, adequate security has become one of those value-added extras that attract customers and residents. Technological advances, such as high-tech video surveillance cameras, computers, mobile phones, and satellites have increased the need an increase of security personnel for monitoring, investigating, and analyzing. Private policing has been described in many aspects such as policing activity of crime prevention; detection and apprehension carried out by private organizations or agents for commercial purpose. Private policing includes those people who work for a security company or are employed by an individual or firm to carry out security work, crowd control, or private investigations. Private policing is provided by a private individual or organization, rather than by a public body or the state like public policing is. Private policing targets private crime and is in the business of protecting private and corporate interests. Private policing can serve as many different roles in our community. The major components of private security are alarm systems, security guards, and investigative services. The increase of security systems installed in cars, homes and businesses have said to be the deep-rooted needs to feel secure and to feel that their lives and property that are personally valued are protected, and that offenders can be identified and also obtained. Security has been considered to be a commodity, to be bought, and sold in the marketplace. The value of such a commodity reflects not only material criteria but also an inner human dimension of personal fear and feelings. Many individuals who are in the public eye also hire private security as bodyguards to protect themselves, along with their valuables. Security guards are on the frontline of public interaction and contact in private security. Security guards are used in shopping malls, factories, airports and many other venues that need to be monitored. Crowd control has been part of the private policing roles at functions such as concerts, sporting events, school, and religious events. Private investigators are also among the private policing sector is one with the least amount of public contact. Private investigators are hired by individuals or businesses for a certain purpose and work mostly behind the scenes or undercover doing surveillance. Security guards, surveillance, monitors and investigators are among the few that make up private policing. Comparing Private and Public Policing Private police are seen to be concerned with the protection of personal and corporate interest whereas public police represent the interests of the public and seek to enforce the regulations of the judicial system. Private policing, in comparison to public policing, has been described as passive policing regarding active policing, or as proactive and preventative rather than reactive: in which public police generally react to the crime, private police through surveillance and presentation are seen to prevent crime. The ability of private security providers to select the tasks and duties that they perform is one of the major advantages that private policing has over public policing. Private security regulates entry, limits participation, and excludes on the basis of presumption signs of bad behavior. Some examples would be securing gated communities by checking for residency or employment; dress (T-shirts, bare feet) in businesses that require appropriate attire; and behavior (obscene language, loud radios, roller blades, skateboards). This is also referred to as ââ¬Å"profiling,â⬠which the public police have accused of many times. Unlike the public police, private police are not hampered by their regulatory actions by probable cause. Private policing usually operates behind the traditional and legal boundaries in which the public police cannot lawfully cross unless by invitation or probable cause. This leads to the private policing sector developing a ââ¬Å"broader enterprise than public policing, with a wider range of functions. â⬠Another major benefit with the private providers of security is their flexibility. They can, and will, perform most tasks they are paid to do. Their customers can demand a lot from them, because they are directly answerable to paying clients and their needs. The private entrepreneurs are also forced to ââ¬Ëdo right' by the market. If they fail, they will lose their money. Public police do not have the negotiation factor and are paid on salary, no matter how they perform or how efficient they are in performing their duties. Many have said that private policing is for the rich and public policing is for the poor. This could be effectively argued based on the fact that private policing is not designed to consider the general good for society, like public policing. Private policing is primarily protecting the interests of their paying clients and focuses more on ââ¬Å"loss prevention,â⬠rather than ââ¬Å"crime prevention. â⬠Private policing has been scrutinized and concern have expressed that private security can be overly intrusive, less than scrupulous in its adherence to self-imposed guidelines, and on occasion, the law, and threatening to civil liberties. This could be a direct effect of poor standards, low pay, poor training, lack of good background checks, and also strong competition among private security companies. Many criminologists have examined these factors affecting private policing and believe that the key to the problem lies in the issue of the accountability and regulation of the private security sector. Legitimacy is a problem among private policing because there are few, if any, statutes or laws that give the private security industry governmentally granted rights or powers. Although public policing does have higher standards, they are not regulated and accreditation is voluntary. Many police officers, both working and retired, take jobs in the private security sector for extra income. Obviously, poor training and lack of experience cannot pertain to these individuals; however it has been argued that by hiring these experienced individuals at a higher pay, decreases the pay and funds for training to those without experience. Conclusion Public and private policing are major components in the criminal justice field. It would be impossible for our communities to feel secure without the combination of both forces. The focus has been on public and private policing to interact effectively and cooperate with each other. Understanding the importance of one another's responsibilities and roles could lead to a great partnership. Throughout recent years, some law enforcement agencies have come to realize how to benefit from private policing. References T. Jones. (1998). Private Security and Public Policing. Retrieved April 19, 2010 from www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o=30434190 Shearing and Stenning. (1983). The Interweaving of Public and Private Police. Retrieved on April 19, 2010 from web. mit. edu/gtmarx/www/private. html (May 12, 2009). Private security and public policing. Retrieved on April 19, 2010 from www. statcan. gc. ca â⬠º â⬠¦ â⬠º 85-002-X_ â⬠º _Juristat
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Although continued industrial development is important and Essay
Although continued industrial development is important and inevitable,companies must take care of the environment in the process - Essay Example Environment protection is the method of preserving the natural environment regarding the interests of the stakeholders, including customers, employees, government and the other influencing bodies with utmost priority. It has often been argued in this regard that the pressure of over-population (allegedly encouraged by business sector growth within a given region) and continuous industrial development acts as the main determinants of environmental degradation (Tamazian and Rao 4-6). Subsequently, such external pressures in terms of the social responsibilities of the corporate bodies have recently been motivating them to go greener by lessening their rate of environmental degradation and at the same time, ensuring continuous growth to meet the customer demand to achieve economic development. Hence, a two way prolonged approach has to be followed in parallel by companies in the modern era. By following steps like switching from non-renewable sources of energy to renewable sources, targe ting cleaner and hygienic production procedures, reusing wastes and implementing strategies that focus on environment friendly product designing, an organization can easily maintain the sustainable growth (Koh, Ghazoul, Butler, Laurance, Sodhi, Mateo-Vega and Bradshaw 67-71). THESIS STATEMENT As can be observed from the above discussion, companies are certainly witnessing pressure to consider environmental sustainability with almost equal and even at times with more importance than their profitability concerns, in the advent of continuous industrial development. This thesis will correspondingly, aim at assessing the need for taking environmental care measures by companies and the associated challenges, by synthesizing on the argument that ââ¬Å"Although continued industrial development is important and inevitable, companies must take care of the environment in the processâ⬠. NEED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CARE FOR COMPANIES IN CONTINUED INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT The series of debates emp hasizing industrial development implications on the natural environment in the forms of deforestation, climate change as well as air and water pollution has apparently contributed to the need for environmental care within the modern organizations (Esty & Winston 7-12). From a generalized point of view, it has been argued in the recent era that as a consequence of industrial development at a rapid and a continuous rate, need for resources among companies have also increased manifolds. In order to suffice this growing need for resources, especially energy resources and natural ingredients, companies have been sourcing large amounts of these assets from the environment. Such extractions have further resulted in various environmental challenges, majorly attributed in the form of climate change, unsustainable minimization of natural resources and imbalances in the biological cycle on earth (Esty & Winston 35-40). For instance, Geist and Lambin argues that the major proximate causes of en vironmental degradation through deforestation as a consequence of industrial development are unplanned agricultural expansion, irresponsible wood extraction and infrastructural expansion through building roadways and city areas in support of urbanization as observable in Africa, Asia and Latin America (5-15). Subsequently, these risk factors have been inhibiting the stability of the
Friday, September 27, 2019
War, Terrorism and Civil Liberties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
War, Terrorism and Civil Liberties - Essay Example However, the force the terrorism exerts is not equal to the force of a social defense. The question is that whether in the case of terrorism end justifies the deeds. Obviously the force terror groups exert to kill innocent people is not justifiable as it does not have a political objective. Even if they are of the response to certain social injustice, killing innocent people is an immoral act. What approach we take toward terrorists also depends on ethical concerns. According to the Kantian view, irrespective of the consequences certain acts are immoral always. If then, killing innocent people deliberately as the contemporary terror groups do, is obviously fatal. In this aspect the act becomes unethical and cruel from the view of both ethical principles. In addition, the subsequent issues associated with terrorism also create numerous ethical concerns. For instance, war against terror also kills thousands of people every year. Iraq and Afghan could be some examples. The writers view seems to be right; if we rely on Kantian view of approach toward terrorists, it will raise constraints to our effective ness. While considering the term animal equality, one should be aware of the pivotal role that all living organisms play for maintaining bio diversity on earth. The proponents of animal equality do not envisage providing equal treatment to all animals; instead, they remind us of the moral obligation to protect them from all external threats and harms. The manmade constraints such as pollution, poisoning, destruction of natural habitat cause obvious violation of animal rights. To illustrate, we are to develop a life centered attitude toward animal conservation. According to this view, all living beings are of equal importance. Although human beings possess intellectual and moral supremacy it does not mean that animals are less important than
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Analysis of Articles about Political Geography Issues Essay
Analysis of Articles about Political Geography Issues - Essay Example Vaclav Klaus was an economist, so he felt that the very best thing that could be done for the new country was economic reforms that would ease the transition from a Communist economy that was centrally planned to a free market economy. He felt that getting this transition underway quickly and with as little pain as possible would be the best way to create a stable, democratic nation. Vaclav Havel believed that creating a civil society was the most important task. He believed that just opening p the economy as a free market would not be a wise thing to do because he argued that free markets require people to act in a moral manner or corruption will drag the economy down. Vaclav Havel believed that democratic institutions should first be developed through decentralization of political power. He said that the best place to learn about democracy was at the local level. This went against Klaus because giving power to local governments could disrupt his economic reforms. The article goes o n to expand on Havelââ¬â¢s ideas about civil society and how they will eventually result in a global culture that embraces differences without conflict. Many of his ideas have helped make the Czech Republic a successful post-Communist state. Anderson, Jon Lee. "The Implosion." New Yorker 88.2 (2012): 58-67. Military & Government Collection. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. This article is about the reign of Bashar al-Assad and his ruling party that is made up of supporters in the minority Christian and Alawite Muslims. The current situation in Syria can be traced to events that have occurred over the past 50 years in Syria. The current destruction evidenced in Homs is nothing new for the political dictatorship headed by the al-Assad family for generations. Bashar al-Assad was not the son that was to take over the rule of Syria from his father, Hafez. This was to have been done by an older brother that was killed in a car accident. The younger Assad was studious and quiet. He studied abroad and attended medical school, training as an ophthalmologist.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Name etymology theme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Name etymology theme - Essay Example Neither of these names is rare or unusual for my country, yet there are some interesting points to concentrate upon while researching their etymology. First of all, I would like to mention that my first name, Mai, actually exists in several different cultures and languages. For instance, Mai is as popular Japanese name meaning "brightness" (www.babynames.com). In some languages of the Native Americans, Mai meant "coyote" (www.babynameworld.com). Mai can be regarded as a pet name from Margaret (from Latin "pearl") or Mary (from Hebrew "bitter" or Latin "the star of the ocean"). The name Mai exits in the Swedish and Chinese languages as well. In Vietnam, the names given to the girls normally have literal meanings associated with beauty or art - very often the etymology of the names is connected with the names of flowers, plants or birds. So, my name Mai in Vietnamese means "cherry blossom". (Female Vietnamese names) In Vietnamese, Mai is a very popular name for girls, and as far as my family's history is concerned, the reason why I was given this name was that my Dad obviously wanted me to be very much like my Mum whose middle name is Mai as well, and therefore he insisted that I should be named this way. Thi is, according to the research, the most popular female middle name, and it means "ancestry", "clan".
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Improving Organisational Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2
Improving Organisational Performance - Essay Example Objective Setting 7 Reviewing What and How 8 Overall Performance Rating and Rewarding basis on the appraisal 8 Challenges and Negative effects of Performance Management System 9 Balanced Proposals 10 Implications for Line Managers 11 Conclusion 12 References 14 Appendix 16 Introduction Performance management is a systematic progress that improves the performance of an organization by the improvement of individualsââ¬â¢ skills and effectiveness (Deb, 2009, p.36). Moreover, it increases the efficiency of team and helps to achieve the business and organizational objectives. Performance is explained apparently, which is the achievement of qualified objectives. The proper implementation and practices helps the employee of the organization to achieve the personal as well as organizational goal. The other important aspect of performance management of organizations is it helps to maintain the goal significantly (Caldwell, 2002, p.19). Performance management is one of the important elements of organization control system and Human Resource Management (Pravin, 2007, P.583). Performance management helps to provoke organizational and employee development by its methods. It also covers the strategic development by several modifications through its methods. Moreover, it facilitates indirect control of employees be setting up a clear target (Bhatia, 2003, p. 39). In order to achieve the objective of the study, Tesco and Sainsbury the two leading retail organizations of UK has been selected. They study will critically evaluate the Performance management in Tesco and Sainsbury. Moreover, the study will explore the challenges that have been encountered by the use of performance management in these two leading retail chains in UK. The study will develop a balanced proposal in order to overcome the challenges. The implications for line managers are also have examined by this study. Finally the study ends with a conclusion. Ev aluation of High Performance Work and Performance Management System in Tesco Tesco organization structure is kind of a bureaucratic structure as authority and power flows from the top level to bottom level in the organization. This equilibrium has the similarity in the performance management system and reward structure. In Tesco, the top management employees earn more reward comparing to the employees who exists in low level of the organization. However, the overall reward and performance management system and the Performance Steering Wheel is the key reason of the organization success story of Tesco (Jolly, 2009, p. 397). Customer, Community, Employees, Operations and Finance are the major elements of the Tescoââ¬â¢s performance steering wheel (Figure 1). From this steering wheel the employeeââ¬â¢s aspect has been discussed in this study in order to evaluate the performance management framework of Tesco (Barrow, 2011, p. 93). Performance Management Framework Sir Terry Leahy i s the chief executive of Tesco, who is supremely responsible for the growth of organization. He had developed a clear map, direction and a compass in order to attain a strategic growth. The management team of Tesco has decided to develop and structure a performance management framework in order to develop a strategic goal of the organization. The performance management framework has created several key performance indicators in Tesco. The major purpose of this approach is to steer Tesco towards success. Performance steering wheel was developed by Tesco in the year 2009 in order to fulfil the organization as well as individual objectives (Taylor and Nichols, 2010, p.11). It has created the groth opportunities for the employees. The adoption of this framework has made the jobs interesting for the
Monday, September 23, 2019
A Joint Venture Agreement and Central Park Medical Group Essay
A Joint Venture Agreement and Central Park Medical Group - Essay Example This is essentially what I am being asked to do; I am being asked to pay "monthly bonuses" to the Central Park Medical Group in order to form a business arrangement in which patients of the Central Park Medical Group are sent to my establishment, Sundown Community Hospital. In addition, it seems that the board, as well as myself, are fully aware of the fact that 60% of the Central Park Medical Group patients are covered by government health coverage. This is obviously why the board is eager to seal this deal with the medical group. The fact that this is a joint venture agreement makes some of the facts a bit subject to interpretation as the Board of Medical Directors has implemented certain rules depending on the state. Anti-kickback statutes specifically state that income that may surface from joint venture activities must be compensation for services rendered. The "bonuses" given to physicians in the joint venture agreement between my organization and the medical group in question is very clearly not for any purpose but a referral incentive. The Medicare and Medicaid Protection Act of 1987 clearly states that the type of actions described by the board to me as the administrator would qualify as a federal offense punishable with fines of up to $25,000 as well as other possible sentencing. I absolutely would make this clear to the board, that the terms under which they would like to issue the joint venture agreement are not only unethical but also illegal and could result in criminal prosecutions of not only board members but the members of the Central Park Medical group and myself. My suggestions would follow a more legal and ethical approach. I would suggest to the board that first of all, each and every board member refresh their reading on anti-kickback statutes and laws. I would remind the board that although certain allowances are made in these statutes, the terms which they have decided on regarding the medical group in question are specifically why the statutes are in place, to begin with. I would resubmit to the board a legal revision of the arrangement. It would include the merger between the Central Park Medical Group and the Sundown Community Hospital as one that promoted a helpful liaison to the patients, regardless of their insurance type. This would under no circumstances include any type of monetary gain from Sundown to the medical group, in the form of bonuses or perks. By definition of a joint venture agreement, the compensation received by the medical group would be limited to shared profit as well as losses. This is simply the only legal and ethical way to enter into such an agreement under these circumstances. I would also stress to everyone involved that since we are dealing with a medical group that has made us aware of their 60% Medicare patients, that we as the Sundown Community Health Center should be that much more concerned for the how the legality of this union appears. There should be careful measures taken to ensure that no one is receiving any type of kickback of any sort. I would also emphasize that since we are indeed a community center, we should be focused on the needs and best interest of the community and not our personal gains from the members of that community. In addition, I would remind everyone involved of the case of Feldstein M.D. vs Nash Community Health Services Inc.Ã
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Financial Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Financial Analysis - Essay Example Over the past five years the Home Retail Group company has had ups and downs trend in terms of its profits but the gap between the profits is very small, for example the difference in profits between 2012 and 2011 is less than 1% this is an indication that the company maintains its standards of high performance over the period. For example the percentage gross profit for 2010 and 2011 is 45.45%, this was seen in both years, an indication of financial health for the company although not at a very good standards, but it shows that the HRG Company is capable of paying for the operational expenses without financial constraints. There is an increase in percentage of profit margin from 0.11%to 0.055% in the year 2011 and 2012 respectively this an indication that sales are increasingly contributing to the bottom line of the company. This measures how effectively a companys assets are being used to generate profits. It is majorly considered when evaluating the success of a business. A higher number reflects a well managed company with a healthy return on assets. The percent rate of return on assets for Home Retail Group is 0.022% in 2012 although there is a slight increase, there is still a need for improvement in this area to ensure the company can remain competitive and continue to operate successfully. This shows the rate of return on equity capital employed and also measures the ability of a companys management to realize an adequate return on the capital invested by the owners in a company. A higher number is preferred for this ratio. The percent rate of return on equity for Home Retail Group is 0.055% in 2012 and 0.0275% in 2010 there is a slight increase an indication that the management may not be effectively managing the profits earned based on the owners investment in the company. The management should utilize budgets to track expenses on a regular basis, and identify those that are out of line. Assign
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Investment in Gold and its effect on the society Essay Example for Free
Investment in Gold and its effect on the society Essay Gold is the most popular form of investment of all the precious metals. Many investors in the contemporary society prefer to buy gold as protection against crisis that may emanate from changes in the political, economic, social or financial systems in the society. Political economy has great impact on the economic development of a country because of the interaction between the economy and the society . For instance, a crisis may be caused by political instability triggered by social unrest or war, decline in market investment, inflation, currency failure and burgeoning of a national debt. The popularity of gold in investment has resulted to the establishment of a gold standard. The term ââ¬Å"gold standardâ⬠refers to a monetary system whereby the standard economic unit of an account is defined by a certain fixed weight of gold. Investment in gold can have negative and positive impact on the society. This paper will discuss the issue of investment in gold and how it affects the society. Issues that will be addressed include how and why gold serves as money in the monetary system. In addition, how tightly the gold is tied to the movement of money as well as the ancient history and legends on gold will be covered. Discussion Importance of gold in the World Monetary system The human lust for gold has been witnessed since the existence of ancient races and civilizations. Throughout history, gold has always been used as a relative standard for currency and a form of payment. Ancient civilizations used gold coins as money because of their high value and lack of paper money. However, even after the introduction of paper money, the significance of gold in the monetary system remained. In the late nineteenth century, gold standards were introduced in various European nations. However, the gold standards were affected by a financial crisis that was witnessed during the First World War. During the war, the US and Great Britain were some of the countries that suspended the strict Gold Standard but Great Britain returned to the gold bullion standard in 1925. The significance of gold in the monetary system increased after the World War II when gold was pegged to the US dollar by the Bretton Woods system. Back then, the US dollar value to the gold was pegged at the rate of $35 per troy ounce. The system was eliminated after 1971 when the US made unilateral suspension of direct convertibility of the US dollar to gold. Trading in gold has maintained its importance in replacing money. In the US, the important role of gold was evident in 1975 when trading in gold for delivery was done in New York Commodity Exchange and Chicago International Monetary Market in 1975 . In 1980, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sold about one third of its gold holdings and in 1986, the American Eagle Gold Bullion coin was introduced by the US Mint. Over the years, gold has maintained its high value and significance in the world monetary system in the contemporary society. Currently, gold continues to be traded across the globe on the basis of intra-day sport price which is derived from gold trading that occurs through the counter in gold-trading markets. The high demand and supply of gold drives the price of gold just like in other many investments. However, disposal and hoarding of gold affects its price in the market because there is more gold that exists to be supplied in the market for the right price. For centuries, gold has been the foundation of monetary systems hence as an investment is considered to be very critical in the global monetary system. This is because it does not generate income hence its intrinsic value is measured based on the Central Bank International Monetary Reserves. Many governments acknowledge the significance of gold in stabilizing the economy . For example, the end of British Gold standard in 1914 paved way for the World War I inflationary financing. The end of the monetary inflation in 1921 on the other hand resulted to stability in the United Kingdom and the United States. This stability resulted to positive effects on rising Bonds and Equity market prices and interest rates. Due to the need to maintain the role of gold in the economy, the Bretton Woods in 1944 ratified the US Gold Exchange Standard of 1935 . Central banks in various influence the gold price and countries can limit gold sales. For example, 1999, limitation of gold sales by the members of the Washington on Gold (WAG) who included Japan, Europe, US, Australia, the IMF and International Settlements was done. The countries limited gold sale to less than 400 tones per annum. Due to the high value of gold and its importance in the monetary system, ancient history and legends have confirmed how important gold has been for centuries. For example, ancient stories have pointed out that the Europeans believed that there was a place of immense wealth that was referred to as El Dorado due to the presence of gold in the place. As a result, many people made efforts to search for the place to get the gold. However, it has never been confirmed whether this place exists or not. In addition, during the Egyptian civilization period, the people used to bury great amounts of gold together with dead pharaohs in belief that they would use the gold in the afterlife. Just like the ancient civilizations, many countries are now interested in increasing their gold reserves as protection in case of a financial crisis. As a result, the countries make efforts to improve the returns of the official gold reserves. The modern world monetary system is founded on gold that has been held by the Central Banks and in the Treasury. Gold is considered to be equal to money due to its importance in the Gold Standard . The three gold standards that are used in the monetary system include the gold specific standard, the gold exchanged standard and the gold bullion standard . A Gold Standard ensures that the public can prevent governments from pursuing destabilizing monetary policies through escape Asset and Debt deflation or Fiscal profligacy. The holdings of gold at the market price by the World Central Bank constitute part of the World International Monetary Reserves(IMRs) upon which the World monetary system is based. Measurement of changes in IMR defines whether there is expansion or contraction of the World Central Bank Monetary Base. In 1944 at the time of the Bretton Woods agreement, gold accounted for about 90 per cent of the consolidated World Central Bank Monetary Reserve and because the United States owned about 90 per cent of the Central Bank gold, the dollar managed to become the International monetary system key currency. Gold has real money value because its value is not affected by changes in the economy or control by the government economic policies. Ancient civilizations recognized the importance of gold hence they had many prisoners of war work in gold mines in search for the gold. In 4000 BC, Eastern Europe began using gold to make fashion and decorative objects and by 1200 BC, Egyptians were beating gold to extend its use in the society. They even combined it with the other metals to create alloys and also use it for the lox-wax technique. In 550 Scathe Greeks mined gold in the Middle East and the Mediterranean and used it foe art and in the monetary system. In 344 BC, Alexander the Great is believed to have crossed the Hellespont carrying vast quantities of gold he had acquired from the Persian Empire. According to the Greek mythology, in 1550 BC, the King of Mycenae who led the Greek expedition to Troy had worn a gold funerary mask. The Romans also mined and used gold which they sometimes sought in the water streams . By 50 BC, the Romans were able to issue a gold coin known as Aureas. The value of gold in the society remained over the years and in 1299AD, Marco Polo wrote about gold that he had seen in his travels to the Far East. In 1903AD, the Gold Standard Act in the US was officially established and enabled the US to maintain a fixed exchange rate as compared to other nations. This ancient history of gold confirms how important gold has been to the society for many centuries as a monetary value and for other applications. Investment in gold Investment in gold is very vital in economic growth and stabilization of the economy . Research studies that have been carried out in the economic confirm that the economy and the wider society interact . Gold is considered to have great value as compared to other precious metals that are mined and used in the society. The significance of gold in relation to the world monetary system makes investment in gold an excellent long-term means of saving and protecting wealth from negative economic forces. Initially, gold coins were used as money when paper money had not been introduced in the economy. However, the introduction of paper money made the carrying of bank notes that were more divisible and lighter than the heavy gold coins more convenient. This case was witnessed in the US during the 1930s Great Depression when President Roosevelt advocated against the use of gold. Gold is also very important when there are negative or low real interest rates. This is because the demand for gold is increased when real estate equity and return on bonds are not adequate to compensate for risk and inflation. For instance, during the 1970s when economic changes resulted from stagflation that led to an economic bubble. In cases where national crisis is experienced as a result of looting, invasion, war or crisis, many investors are concerned about the seizing of the assets and the reduction in currency worth. In efforts to maintain the currency worth, the investors therefore consider gold to be a solid asset and a good form of investment. Investors have taken advantage of the relation between gold and money by investing in various ways. Many investors in gold as well as the economists agree that gold has become the worldââ¬â¢s ultimate dollar hedge investment. Investors can invest in gold is various ways . For example, investment in gold can be done through direct ownership, Gold Exchange-Traded Funds(ETFs),gold mutual funds, junior gold stocks and gold options. In direct ownership form of investment, the gold bullion is very important hence the investors who choose to invest in gold through direct ownership enjoy permanent high value of gold. The Gold-Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) refer to the mutual fund that trade on stock like ordinary stock. In the United States, the two gold ETFs that trade hold onto the gold bullion. On the other hand, the gold mutual funds allow investors to invest where the funds hold portfolios of gold stocks of companies that mine gold while the junior gold stocks are preferred by the investors whose risk of tolerance is broader. The investors hence accept the possibility of gold-based losses. The gold options form of investment is used by the experienced and the sophisticated investors due to the element of speculation in gold prices. Investment in gold can also be done through the purchase of bullion gold bars. In many countries, the billion gold bars are usually sold over the counter in the countriesââ¬â¢ major banks. In addition, the gold bullion dealers provide investors with an opportunity to purchase the bars which differ in sizes. As difficulties in storing, verifying and storing pure gold increase, investors now find it easy to invest in gold though a gold account. Because gold bars are easier to store, they are often sold as kilo bars. Investment in gold is also done by buying gold coins and this enables one to hold the monetary value through gold. Examples of banks that sell and buy gold counts over the counter include the Liechtenstein and Swiss banks. The American Eagle billion coin is the most popular gold coin that has been used for hundreds of years. These coins have a stated amount of pure gold made from the denominations that are provided by the treasury. The Gold exchanged traded funds are sold or bought as shares on the major stock exchanges in Sydney, New York and London. For those who investors in gold through the gold billion, a certificate of ownership is held. These certificates enable various investors to sell or buy security without the inconvenience that may be associated with actual physical gold transfer. Gold certificates were first issued to customers in England and Netherlands in the seventeen century in order to allow the investors/ customers to keep the gold bullion safe through the certificates.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Energy Meter Reading Using Bluetooth Technology
Energy Meter Reading Using Bluetooth Technology This project is designed with microcontroller, Bluetooth transmitter Receiver, and data cable with PC. Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs).Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers, digital cameras, and video game consoles over a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency. In microcontroller we can program the cost per unit. So it receives the pulse from signal conditioning unit and increments the count value. Corresponding unit and cost are displayed on the LCD display. In this project the energy meter will send the meter reading to the Bluetooth device via the microcontroller. The Bluetooth thus transmits the data and sends it to the receiving side which will be indicated on the computer screen. The reading can be sent back after sufficient calculation to the energy meter display via Bluetooth devices. Introduction: A huge manpower is arranged by electric power company to collect the electricity meter reading. It is a costly job and easily getting wrong readings. In some cases, the staff of electric power company is not able to enter the private house and hence needed to estimate the power usage. An innovative solution is created to simplify the job by using Bluetooth technology. Meter reading can be taken easily and efficiently by using a Bluetooth device connected to the electric power meters with Bluetooth module installed. By using this solution, it eliminates the human error and does not need to estimate the electricity usage anymore. As a result, electric power company can reduce the operation time dramatically. This project basically aims to provide a new wireless design for Energy Meter Reading using Bluetooth Technology. Traditional system: During a research at the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, a questionnaire was conducted about the traditional methods of Assessment of Meter Reading followed in Tamil Nadu and was found that few years ago there were readings taken manually and costs generated by manual calculation which has now been replaced by the project called BEST (Billing for Essential Services in TNEB) scheme which has two phases of implementation. With this project TNEB plans to computerize all their collection centers spread across Tamil Nadu. A handheld device is used by the assessor to generate the bill of the consumer based on the observed reading. The remote rural office of TNEB is being connected to a circle office and the circle office is being connected to the Regional office. Gemini Communication Ltd (GCL), a Chennai based leader in Communication Networking solutions did the first phase for about 456 Collection centers spread across 9 regions and deployed the servers and storage products for this network and hence the data that is being typed in at the remote rural office will automatically be saved in the server of the Regional office. In the second phase TNEB would implement the system in 8 regions catering to 1725 collection centers. This is the second phase of the project and will be used by 8 Chief Engineers and expected to benefit over 1.5 crore consumers. Proposed system: However in the existing system there is no solution provided for the misread meters and manual errors by the assessors. Also it does not provide a solution to reduce the manpower required as assessors. The proposed method is that of a wireless meter reading system. A mobile van or motorbike can be used by the staff to visit a street and it is required to enter only the building code to access all the meter readings of the building. The proposed design involves a microcontroller block that read up to 16 energy meters per building. Then the bill of the individual meter will be generated and displayed on the LCD screen of the microcontroller at the consumer end. This system will provide the readings of each and every meter in a building even if the staff is unable to enter the building. There are further uses of this system which are mentioned in the advantages section. Originality/value: This system has many significant excellences, such as wireless networking, low-workload, great quantity of data transmission, time- saving, security. It is an integrated system with complete hardware, software, and database implementation. Block diagram: Devices used and working: 1. Electricity meter The first block is an electric meter that is to be read. An Electric meter or energy meter is a device that measures the amount of electrical energy supplied to a residence or business. These are customers of an electric company. The most common type is more properly known as a (kilo) watt-hour meter or a joule meter. Utilities record the values measured by these meters to generate an invoice for the electricity. They may also record other variables including the time when the electricity was used. Fig.1: Energy Meter Typical Energy meter data 5-10 v 240 v 50 Hz 1200 revs/kwh 2. IR Transmitter and receiver For the microcontroller to understand the meter reading, we need an IR setup which consists of an IR transmitter and receiver. The transmitter transmits an IR ray via a hole made in the meter disc, and the receiver receives it whenever the hole comes right in straight line with the IR ray. This happens on completion of each revolution of the disc. So this ensures that the microcontroller has track of each revolution and the counter works accordingly. A typical Infrared diode emits a beam of light that reaches the device. A 940 nm wavelength LED is typical. This infrared light is invisible to the human eye but carries signals that are detected by the appliance, as well as by the sensor of a digital camera. The presence of a carrier signal can be used to trigger a function. After the demodulation of the received signal, the appropriate frequency filters are applied to separate the respective signals. Nowadays digital procedures are more commonly used. Fig.2: IR transmitter and receiver 3. Digital comparator The comparator shown in the block diagram is used to sense a high pulse each time the IR receiver receives an IR light. And the comparator compares the coming signal to previous signal. If they are different the output is given as high and if they are same the output is zero. This ensures that when the meter stops on one reading the microcontroller stops counting. A digital comparator is a hardware electronic device that compares two numbers in binary form and generates a one or a zero at its output depending on whether they are the same or not. A comparator can be simulated by subtracting the two values (A B) in question and checking if the result is zero. This works because if A = B then A B = 0. Comparator Operation Input Vs. Output Results Current WILL flow through the open collector when the voltage at the PLUS input is lower than the voltage at the MINUS input of the opamp. Current WILL NOT flow through the open collector when the voltage at the PLUS input is higher than the voltage at the MINUS input of the opamp. 4. 8051 Microcontroller The microcontroller is used to count the pulses coming from the comparator output and to interface it to the Bluetooth device for Transmission and reception. It also interfaces to the LCD display so that the incoming Bill details can be displayed. The microcontroller consists of following sections: 4 Kb program memory. 128Kb RAM (including SFR(special function registers) as well) satisfies basic needs. 4 ports having in total of 32 input/output lines exist. Fig.3: 8051 Pinout and Basic Architecture The diagram above shows the 8051 pinout. The chip is a 40-pin package. Port 0 pins 32 to 39 make up the 8-bit I/O port 0. However, if external memory is used, these lines are used as a multiplexed address and data bus. Port 1 pins 1 to 8 make up the 8-bit I/O port 1. Port 2 pins 21 to 28 make up the 8-bit I/O port 2. However, if external memory is used, these lines make up the high-byte of the external address (A8 to A15). Port 3 pins 10 to 17 make up the 8-bit I/O port 3. However, each of these eight pins also has an alternate function, as detailed in the table below: External data memory read strobe RST the reset input is on pin 9. This pin is used for resetting the 8051 (i.e.; loading the PC with the correct startup value). EA-bar the external access, on pin 31, is used for enabling or disabling the on-chip ROM. When tied high (5V), the 8051 executes instructions in internal ROM when executing in the lower 4K (8K for the 8052) of memory. If tied low the 8051 will always execute instructions in external memory. The 8031 and 8032 should always have pin 31 tied low as there is no internal code memory. ALE the address latch enable is on pin 30. The ALE is used for latching the low byte of the address into an external register. PSEN-bar the program store enable is an output signal on pin 29. This signal is used for fetching instructions from external code memory. The microcontroller memory is divided into Program Memory and Data Memory. Program Memory (ROM) is used for permanent saving program being executed, while Data Memory (RAM) is used for temporarily storing and keeping intermediate results and variables. All 8051 microcontrollers have 16-bit addressing bus and can address 64 kb memory. 5. Bluetooth The Bluetooth device is used create the contact between the Consumerà ¢Ã ¢Ã¢â¬Å¡Ã ¬Ã ¢Ã¢â¬Å¾Ã ¢s meter and the Assessorà ¢Ã ¢Ã¢â¬Å¡Ã ¬Ã ¢Ã¢â¬Å¾Ã ¢s laptop or any Bluetooth enabled device which has the Billing Software in it. Bluetooth is the term used to describe the protocol of a short range (10 meter) frequency-hopping radio link between devices. Bluetooth is acceptable for situations when two or more devices are in proximity to each other and dont require high bandwidth. Bluetooth networking transmits data via low-power radio waves at frequency of 2.45 gigahertz (actually between 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz, to be exact). This frequency band has been set aside by international agreement for the use of industrial, scientific and medical devices (ISM). A personal computer must have a Bluetooth adapter in order to be able to communicate with other Bluetooth devices (such as mobile phones, mice and keyboards). 6. Visual Basic The software used to enter the received readings and generate the billing cost details is Visual Basic as the front-end software and SQL as the back-end software where the database of each consumer gets stored. Visual Basic is a Graphics User Interface (GUI). The main object in Visual Basic is called a form. Controls are things like text boxes, check boxes and command buttons. Controls are chosen from the Visual Basic à ¢Ã ¢Ã¢â¬Å¡Ã ¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬Å"tool boxà ¢Ã ¢Ã¢â¬Å¡Ã ¬Ã . Once forms/controls are created, you can change the properties (appearance, structure etc.) related to those objects in that particular objects properties window. From this window, you choose the property you want to change from the list and change its corresponding setting. Once all your objects are created, you can combine them to form a single executable program that can be run outside of the Visual Basic environment, in Microsoft Windows as shown: Advantages: Issues with Stand-alone meter reading Highly Person dependant. Human errors cannot be avoided. Accessibility of meters in rural/ Agricultural zones. Energy Audits performed based on bill collection which is highly inaccurate. Billing done mainly on estimated/ monthly average basis Inability to monitor and control discrete loads Billing cycle requires excessive time. Electric company benefits Smart automated processes instead of manual work Accurate information from the network load to optimise maintenance and investments Customized rates and billing dates. Streamlined high bill investigations. Better network performance and cost efficiency. Demand and distribution management. More intelligence to business planning. Better company credibility. Customer benefits Precise consumption information Clear and accurate billing Better and faster customer service Disadvantages: Applying the system in large area with multiple subscribers is not a straightforward task; the system may need some modifications. Bluetooth device costs are affordable only by Apartment residents or residents of colonies but not independents. Future developments: In our project we have used the old fashion mechanically operating meters but they are easy to tamper with. In future digital meters can be used for this project once they become cheaper. The other proposed advancement that can be made is the use of other wireless communication devices. Bluetooth model was used by us essentially for lab testing purposes. The more favourable options could be Modems and Zigbee devices that provide both range and better security. They were not chosen for this project due to budget restrictions.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
SMS Advertising :: Business, Marketing
In past few years, SMS has a remarkable increasing involvement in marketing practice, it has been used with other traditional media, such as print advertising, television commercial or other broadcasting, to strengthen the efficiency of the campaign (Zhang and Mao, 2008). It was claimed that SMS itself enables to enlarge the campaignââ¬â¢s reach and effectiveness because of ability of interactive to create viral effect. Wohlfahrt (2002) explained that when receivers receive message, they then forward to further other people in their contact list, and it has been proven by Kroeber-Riel and Weinberg (2003) that those messages delivered by familiar senders were seen in more trustworthy than those sent from advertisers directly. In marketerââ¬â¢s perspective, messaging help increasing the rate of interaction from the receivers, because advertising with financial offers or promotion, will be sent to the consumers when they are actually shopping (Zoller et al, 2001). Plus, SMS itself allow the sender and receive interact immediately, so that mobile advertising will yield a direct and rapid response from the consumers (Boonmark, 2006). Moreover, mobile phones are ubiquity and convenience because they are very personal, and always kept within 1 meter of userââ¬â¢s body during the day time (Sirivastava 2004 and Haghirian et al., 2008). Therefore, SMS advertising allow marketer to reach consumers virtually any time and anywhere via their mobile devices (Boonmark, 2006). It helps marketer become closer to the consumer as mobile phone is communication which is a part of consumerââ¬â¢s daily lives (Forrester report, 2001). So that, information sent to mobile devices also tends to capture high attention from receivers because information is read completely and immediately after receipt. (Barwise and Strong 2002). SMS is also low cost medium compared to other type of direct marketing (e.g. telephone marketing, email marketing, direct mail) (Dickinder et al., 2004). SMS can capture tens of thousands consumer with a low budget compared (Leppanieni and Karjaluoto, 2005) There is variety of way which SMS has been used as a medium. Because SMS provide diversity of response capabilities such as message based responses, call based response, and mobile web landing page response (See Appendix D, MMA, 2009b), SMS is exercised to request for phoneââ¬â¢s users engagement (Dickinder et al., 2004). To illustrate, SMS will be sent with the hyperlink allowing phone users to click to make a call (or click) to buy, to download, to vote, to contest or to win a prize. Boonmarkââ¬â¢s studies (2006) found that messages were sent out with different kind of appeal, such as rewards, loves, and emotional appeal.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Free College Admissions Essays: MIT :: College Admissions Essays
MIT Admissions Essay à I may seem to be someone with many unconnected facets and talents once you have read all the other essays on this application. This essay is intended to slap together a few of the pieces of myself that I have displayed here. à The human race is immortal ( that was a doozy wasn't it ). There is nothing that forces us to decay into old age and die, this is merely our body destroying itself once our purpose ( reproduction ) is complete. Evolution not only did not bother to select against genes that kill off people past 40, but to some degree selected for such genes: the faster we go through generations, the faster we evolve. If the genes that cause the changes we associate with old age were suppressed in some chemical way, we would be capable of eternal life. Another way to immortality would involve the building of a biomechanical body of some sort, something right out of a Terminator movie, that would support the brain with only the chemicals necessary to survival ( if we could determine which those are ) and thus avoid the effect of aging genes. All of this genetic, biochemical and hydraulic research would be based on knowledge gained in college. One other thing: we've all heard of cults that claim they hav e discovered immortality in some way, which supposedly have members who've lived 200 years. If there's even a shred of truth in any of that, my guess is that these 200-year veterans have managed to order their minds in some way ( through some arcane style of thinking perhaps ) that erased the biological clock. à All in all, immortality is only one small thing that humans might be capable of. The strange abilities seen in autistic people, like incredible number crunching speed, really are not unique to autistic people. These abilities are buried deep in everyone's subconscious, and it is just a matter of our minds letting us use them or not. In fact, I think that along with those mathematical abilities are buried many more abilities. I feel sure that among them is perfect coordination, and there might be some really strange psychic or time-related abilities as well. The subconscious is driven by its creator, evolution. It is only concerned with reproduction. Evolution has erected a barrier between ourselves and our potential, and lets ability seep through to those who have desirable traits and are intended to reproduce.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Exploring The Four Ancient Civilizations- Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece an
Before the beginning of history, people from across the land gradually developed numerous cultures, each unique in some ways while the same time having features in common. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Israel are all important to the history of the world because of religious, social, political and economic development. In the first civilization, both Mesopotamia and Egypt relied on a hunter-gatherer economic system, during that time, every country in the world strived on it. Mesopotamia had rich soil for agriculture, but experiences floods. For the Mesopotamians, these floods would destroy major cities, but for the Egyptians it would keep the soil rich all year long without the damage that the Mesopotamians had experienced. With the rich soil foods were plentiful around the farm lands, which gave both countries the chance to establish largely dense areas, like what we now know as a city-state. The Nile River also served as a defense for the Egyptians they enjoyed centuries of tranquility and peace in which they used to develop peaceful development of their civilization. For the Mesopotamians, this wasnââ¬â¢t the case. Mesopotamian society consisted of classes and social differences. The nobles, free clients of the nobility, commoners and slaves and Slave women all made up the different classes. The men dominated the women in Mesopotamia. The nobles consisted of the king, his family, the chief priests, and high palace officials. The king was a war leader elected by the citizens. He established an army and led it into battle. Kingship was hereditary. Commoners were free citizens. In ancient Egypt, both women and men could act on their own and were responsible for their own actions. In contrast, Mesopotami... ...males much higher. Also, the four ancient civilizations had to overcome the burden of uniting their people under one king. The need of kings to glorify themselves on statues is a testament of their ruling power, Egypt created many statues that displayed their gods, kings and queens. It was the Egyptians that influenced the Greek to create sculptures of their own ruling powers. Other then sculptures, the Egyptians influenced the Greeks to write on surfaces of buildings, it first started with Hieroglyphs then the ancient Greeks improved on writing, they wrote on large sheets of papyrus which lessened time and made recording events easier. With so much in common the real differences lie beneath the surfaces of religion, power, equal rights and education. All four of the ancient civilizations principles can still be found in many modern countries.
Local Literature Essay
The 1990s have been an era of growth in computer usage for campuses across the United States. A national survey of information technology use in higher education indicated an increasing integration of computing related activities into college courses (Campus Computing Project, 2000). This survey reported that three-fifths of undergraduate courses utilized electronic mail and two-fifths made use of World Wide Web (WWW) resources. Parallel to this trend is the growing number of colleges and universities instituting requirements for student computer ownership (ââ¬Å"Growing number of colleges requireâ⬠¦,â⬠2000). This article reported that many of the schools implementing the requirement did so to guarantee that all students had access to the same computing resources. Research by Brown (1999) indicated that at schools without a computer ownership requirement, only half the students are likely to own one. Comparing Computer Usage by Students in Education Programs to Technology Education Majors Aaron C. Clark and Eric N. Wiebe http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v13n1/clark.html Previous Editors: Mark Sanders 1989-1997; James LaPorte: 1997-2010 FOREIGN STUDIES January, February, March 2011 A STUDY ON COMPUTER USAGE AND ATTITUDES TOWARD COMPUTERS OF PROSPECTIVE PRESCHOOL TEACHER Sheikh Tariq MAHMOOD Makhdoom Ali Syed Ziarab Mahmoodi http://ijonte.org/FileUpload/ks63207/File/tumu.pdf The purpose of this study is to determine the status of computer usage and the attitudes toward computers of prospective preschool teacher and to investigate of several variables on their attitudes. For this purpose, ââ¬Å"Computer Usage Information Formâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Computer Attitude Scaleâ⬠was applied to 126 prospective preschool teachers. This study is conducted with survey methods. The data is analyzed through standard deviation, mean value as wellà as t-test and one way ANOVA for group comparison, besides to find which group causes the difference in the group comparison, a PostHoc Tukey HSD test is employed. At the end of the study it is determined that the prospective preschool teacher use computers more at home and internet cafes and their levels of using computer programme are intermediate or upper. It is also determined that there is a significant difference according to the variables of taking computer course, computer ownership, level of using computer program, frequency of computer usage, computer experience and class of the scores of attitudes toward computers. On the other hand, there is no significant difference according to the variables of gender. It is recommended that future studies should focus on investigating academiciansââ¬â¢s level of usage of computer program and attitudes toward computer technologies.
Monday, September 16, 2019
Divorce, the Cause and Effect
The divorce rate in America is at an all time high with approximately 41% of the first time marriages and 60% of second marriages ending in a divorce, which I am a statistic of both. Two major causes that lead to a rise of divorce rates is lack of communication and financial problems; the overall effect of a divorce is a personââ¬â¢s general happiness. One of the primary reasons why people cannot stay married is a lack of communication. Communication is a vital element in a marriage couples need to discuss their problems with one another. If a couple does not discuss how they feel, their spouse will never understand what they are feeling. Open communication will allow each other to know the situation he/she does not like, so that maybe they will be more considerate of the others feelings, and will adjust to accommodate the other spouse. We should also listen to what our spouse is trying to tell us; sometimes we hear, but we do not listen. For example, if we find ourselves arguing over the same topic over and over again, that means one of us was not listening. Communication is a vital key to a successful marriage and without communication; the marriage is doom to fail. I can personally attest to this. I have been married three times, the first was a cause other than communication, but the second was defiantly due to the lack of communication and one not being able to accept what the other one was saying. The second cause of divorce is financial problems. Sometimes when there is financial hardships due to the loss of a job, economy, or illness, a spouse will lose control oppose to keeping their composure and supporting a loved one. Just because you spouse got laid off from work does not mean that everything is going to crumble. This is the time a spouse should be supportive of the other spouse in a new job search. If the financial problems are due to over spending and living beyond oneââ¬â¢s means, then the two spouses shall sit down and discuss their spending habits and ways to correct the problem. Effects of a divorce can be general happiness. Some people after a divorce can be severely depressed because they feel they have lost everything. People realize the places and things they used to do were as a couple. A person feels isolated and alone at a married friends house, a person especially females no longer feel the financial stability, and security. Some people need a companion all the time; so the loneliness leads to depression and they cannot cope without having someone with them, leading to medication or alcohol to try to overcome the depression. In conclusion, I believe that if a couple communicates with each other and will support one another financially through difficult times they will have a successful marriage. If a person has a successful marriage, then they should be a happier person. The divorce rate would be lower if people would sit down and take the time to realize what they want and what their spouse wants. Before a couple gets married they need to learn to communicate and be financially supportive of each other, then that is when a couple knows that they are ready for marriage.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Eleanor Rigby Literary Analysis Essay
In the song ââ¬Å"Eleanor Rigbyâ⬠by The Beatles, there is a lonely, sad woman who dies and is readily forgotten as she has nobody to care about her. How many people do we see out on the street that will just become ââ¬Å"another dead body?â⬠Eleanor Rigby really puts this into perspective that there are lonely people in this world living their lives serving others without being acknowledged. Eleanor is waiting for someone, but she is scarred in her heart by her lonely life. Sadly enough, she is an afterthought even in her death, as Father McKenzie writes her sermon in his socks, late at night. The theme of the song is that keeping the up the illusion isnââ¬â¢t always worth it. The literary devices demonstrating this theme are allegory, repetition, and imagery. An allegory is symbolic narrative details that can sometimes imply another meaning. There are many examples of this in the song. In the line, ââ¬Å"Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been. Lives in a dream,â⬠The Beatles display a good example of allegory. The church in the song is very symbolic for life and death for many reasons. There is a mention of a wedding in this line and in some cultures a wedding is known as the celebration of life, however in the end Eleanor Rigby dies, thus being the opposite of life, instead she represents death. This allegory relates to the theme because it shows that Eleanor Rigby lives her life working in a church, attending weddings and working to bring life and happiness to others. She is living what everybody else considers the dream, but in reality she is a sad, lonely person. She keeps up the illusion of being happy and everyone believes her, however in the end she dies unremembered. Another representation of the theme is repetition. In the lines, ââ¬Å"All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong? Ah, look at all the lonely people. Ah, look at all the lonely peopleâ⬠The Beatles use the repetition of ââ¬Å"lonelyâ⬠to drive in the main message of the song. Saying that Eleanor Rigby is living the dream can be deceiving to listeners but by the repetition of ââ¬Å"lonelyâ⬠they make it clear that underneath the faà §ade of grandeur, there is a bleak undertone. This is a fantastic example of use of repetition to convey the theme because The Beatles make the whole song an illusion except for the chorus in which ââ¬Å"lonelyâ⬠is continuously repeated and in the end Eleanor Rigby dies, proving without a doubt that the illusion wasnââ¬â¢t worth it. One of the most prominent literary devices in the poem is imagery. The Imageryà is used to show exactly how much of an illusion Eleanor is living. In the line, ââ¬Å"Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the doorâ⬠It is very easy to imagine somebody literally keeping a head or face in some type of liquid in a jar to be put on when necessary. This line is actually not meant to be taken quite so literally. This face in the jar is probably the face that she puts on to look beautiful, the jar being the makeup jar from which the face comes. She disguises her sadness and her longing with the face by her window. She doesnââ¬â¢t literally put on a mask or someone elseââ¬â¢s face, but she puts on a face to fit society. This example of imagery fits the theme because Eleanor Rigby wears face so that no one can see the loneliness and emptiness that she feels. It is a false impression that she is giving to everyone that she sees, it is nothing but an illusion. As Eleanor Rigby dies at the end of the song, it is clear that the illusion of happiness wasnââ¬â¢t worth keeping since nobody even remembered her. The very apparent theme in the song is loneliness. Eleanor Rigby was very lonely although she never let on and thinking she was well off and happy, nobody else ever thought to pity her or pay her attention. In the song, Father McKenzie wipes the dirt from burying Eleanor off of his hands. Wiping the dirt from your hands is a phrase often used to illustrate that you are going to get rid of something and forget about it. It is clear that the minister just wants to forget about Eleanor and take care of his own problems, thinking she lived a good life, he is impartial. Through the use of allegory, repetition, and imagery The Beatles paint a mesmerizing tale of the false life a woman lives to keep up the illusion of happiness, all for naught.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Interpretations of American History Essay
The world is full of rich culture, diversity and experiences unique to each individual. When determining the validity of historic accounts we must factor in that particular historianââ¬â¢s point of view, which should be characterized by ethnicity, idealogy, theoretical or methodological preference. With these factors views of the past often vary from person to person. In this essay I will be discussing the four different stages that shaped the writing of American history over the last 400 years. According to Couvares, the writing of American history has passed through four stages: the providential, the rationalist, the nationalist, and the professional. The providential stage took place during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The puritans were among those who lived during the providential stage. They were strong practitioners of religion, and believed that their ancestry was that of a divine nature. They also believed that their misfortune was God reprimanding them, and t hat their successes were his rewards. During the European enlightenment of the eighteenth century, educated men of the aristocracy began to shun the traditional Puritan mindset. Instead they chose to reform society and advance knowledge through scientific discovery and natural laws of the physical universe instead of the spiritual universe. Among these educated men was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson had a rationalist mindset. He believed that men could control their own destiny, and natural law shaped society, as opposed to the spiritual view of the puritans. This view did not bode well with evangelical Protestants. In 1790 the federal party led by Washington and Adams openly opposed his views, stating that Jefferson was an ââ¬Å"infidel, an apologist for slavery, and a lover of French revolutionary excess.â⬠(Couvares 76-3) and in fact history had already become politicized. In the nineteenth century historians began to develop a new nationalist mindset. They believed Anglo-Saxonââ¬â¢s to be the superior race, and every other race as inferior. George Bancroft was the most distinguished historian during the nineteenth century. Bancroft believed that Anglo-Saxons were racially destined to lead and spread freedom across the globe. With the establishment of John Hopkins University, college education became more common among middle-class Americans, however only wealthy white men still only had access to that kind of education. This new wave of historians insisted that knowledge of history and physics were of equal importance. The final stage of American history and progression according to Couvares, was the professional stage. Professional scholars rose to prominence from 1910-1945. These historians believed that modernity, industrialization, urbanization, and class conflict had fundamentally changed society. Charles Beard argued that ââ¬Å"the constitution was not the product of wise men intent on balancing liberty and order, but a clique of wealthy merchants and landowners who wanted a central government strong enough to defend their privileges against the unruly masses.â⬠(Couvares 77-2). Beard also thought that many of the major conflicts in society were between economic interest groups. Many critics found flaws in his idealogy, but at the same time it inspired them to find answers to questions that plagued the people. Over the past 400 years, these historians all had different stances on how they thought to improve society. With the mix of cultural backgrounds, and ethnicities no two viewpoints will ever be exactly the same. Couvares summed it up perfectly by stating that historians constantly criticize, correct, and supplement each otherââ¬â¢s views, but only by arguing their different viewpoints would they be able to get closer to the truth. The quote still applies in todayââ¬â¢s society. Works Cited Couvares, Francis G. ââ¬Å"Interpretations of American Historyâ⬠(76-3) Couvares, Francis G. ââ¬Å"Interpretations of American Historyâ⬠(77-2)
Friday, September 13, 2019
Research paper on the author Dylan Thomas Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
On the author Dylan Thomas - Research Paper Example J.M. Kertzer has already noted that Thomasââ¬â¢ critics have made two conflicting claims: ââ¬Å"some insist that he is "the least intellectual poet of the century" because his poetry does not appeal to or depend on reason; others hold that his work displays "rigorous intellectual organization" which provokes a subtle play of thoughtâ⬠(295). While the first assertion implied that the wild poet has created his poems spontaneously without resorting to logic; the second claim employed that Thomas had a rigorous intellectual control over his creations, although he was inspired by ââ¬Å"the cult of irrationalityâ⬠. Dylan Thomas, paradoxically, acknowledged both views and tried to reconcile them. On the one he asserted that his poemsââ¬â¢ ââ¬Å"form was consistently emotionalâ⬠and ââ¬Å"illogical naturallyâ⬠(cited by Kertzer 295). On the other hand, he defined himself as a "painstaking, conscientious, involved and devious craftsman in wordsâ⬠(295). He advocated ââ¬Å"passionate ideasâ⬠in order to reconcile both views. For him those ââ¬Å"ââ¬Ëpassionate ideasââ¬â¢ come to life ââ¬Ëout of the red heart through the brainââ¬â¢ (EPW, p. 165). Both thought and feeling must be engaged in ââ¬Ëthe antagonistic interplay of emotions and ideas ... brain chords and nerve chordsââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬ (295). Thus, he focused on mind-body relationship while he tried to synthesize rational thoughts with emotions as they are engaged in a battle. Furthermore, for him, a poem must be both intellectual and emotional ââ¬Å"adventureâ⬠for the reader. Dylan Thomasââ¬â¢ notion of ââ¬Å"adventureâ⬠must be examined more closely in order to have a better understanding of his poetics. According to Thomas, adventure is movement and ââ¬Å"all poetical impulses are towards the creation of adventureâ⬠(296). For him, a poem does not reflect life; but itself must be part of life, as he described a poem in terms of action, and
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Annotated Bibliography-Terence-W8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Annotated Bibliography-Terence-W8 - Essay Example The elderly perceptions should change as it was the key to the resistance. Peek, S. T., Wouters, E. J., van Hoof, J., Luijkx, K. G., Boeije, H. R., & Vrijhoef, H. J. (2014). Factors influencing acceptance of the technology for aging in place: a systematic review. International journal of medical informatics, 83(4), 235-248. The article is the publication by the pub med. The study tries to examine factors that affect technology acceptance among the older persons in the society. In this regard, it establishes that factors of post implementation of the technology were detrimental to technology adoption. Information concerning the study was available, and the authors propose for further studies to investigate if the factors are interrelated. The literature was not provided, but methods of research were limited to mixed surveys of other studies done by different individuals. The methods of analysis were unique since no study had used them. It is necessary for the factors of implementation of technology to be favorable to the older persons since they acted as inhibitors to technology acceptance. Pub Med published the article. The study observes that social networking sites can improve the quality of life of the senior members as they enhance their communication ability. They can communicate easily with their family members and the young generation that increases their intergenerational communication. Not much information was available regarding the study, and the authors were silent on future research. The literature review was less in depth but offered a good insight for the reader to integrate the study. The methods of analysis were by systematic reviews of the various articles that were common to other studies. It is significant for the seniors to embrace the social networking as it helps bring them closer to the young generation. This is an extensive
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Tha Face Deal Book Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Tha Face Deal Book - Research Paper Example Most of the financing Facebook Inc. was obtained as ventures. The ventures were given with an exchange of obtaining the rights of ownership of the company. Accel Partners invested $12.7 million at a valuation of about $100 million. They also invested in another transaction worth $27.5 million with the Greylock Partners. This investment earned them a valuation of $525 million. The Accel Partners and the Greylock Partners invested in this young company due to its promising market service. The company had grown so that it could serve millions of students around the campuses. The investment opportunity was to allow for its growth in the market. The Microsoft Corporation and the Digital Sky Technology raised their contribution in the form of equities.This financing was aimed at the elevation of the Facebook Inc., which was a young promising company. (Ferrera, 2012). The cumulative investment has seen the listing of Facebook as the most used social network over the years. This led to the e ventual filing for an IPO on February 2012 and started selling stock in May 2012. This tremendous growth can be credited to the investment that has overseen the financial credibility of the company. The investors had an aim of obtaining a valuation in the company through the acquisition of ownership rights of the company. The Microsoft Corporation invested to the company in order to obtain the 1.6% stock and to be allowed to advertise on the site. The Accel Partners requested a post of being a board member of the company thereof being central in running the company (Baloun, 2007). Therefore, the financing of the Facebook Company was a beneficial venture for both the company and the investors. Uses of the finances The Facebook Inc. started as a small company with very few employees. At that time, they only had 10 Employees.The Company had an aim of recruiting new employees to aid in the servicing of its clients. The event that was carried out and it drew about 700 people. The company was also experiencing losses that were spurring the possibility of being sold to Yahoo or other larger media groups. To fight this pressure, there was a need to allow investors to venture into the company financially. This acted as a source of capital for investing in the expansion plans beyond the old environment. The company added high school networks, international school networks and photos to the social networking pages (Sutherland, 2012). In order to obtain a valuation in the economy, the Microsoft Corporation invested $240 million for the 1.6% stake in the company. This enabled Facebook to spread and improve on their applications on the website. The company could get recognition in the corporate market with a high financial basis. Another project was the acquisition of the international headquarters in Dublin (Carver, 2012). The acquisition of other companies such as Connecticut was also another project that required a great deal of funding. This was after the settlement of the suit against Facebook. The funding from Microsoft, Accel, Greylock, and Digital Sky Technologies was instrumental towards the growth of this company to the point of obtaining an IPO. Current valuation The company has provided varied valuation standards in the current period. The increase in the target price of the stock before valuation is a major boost for this company. The company considers their revenue growth, the operating
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
There Is an Ultimate Control of the Entire Universe Research Paper
There Is an Ultimate Control of the Entire Universe - Research Paper Example There Is an Ultimate Control of the Entire Universe Some of the explanation they have provided to counter the creation theory are quite amusing, since at some point they fail to provide a very comprehensive answer. This makes them still go back to the creation theory as the base for the existence of the world. Among some of the critics of creation theories are the scientific studies and some religious beliefs. Thesis Statement With the immense discrepancies and failures in the critical explanations offered, we are taken back to one origin of creation being the Supreme God. It is then that we accept the fact that the world and all that happens in it is controlled by a supreme being. This supreme creator, in my opinion, is God. Buddha Teachings The teachings of Buddha are quite fascinating. Buddha as we can say is the founder of the Buddhist religion. In the book, What Buddha taught by Ra?hula (1974) we are introduced into beliefs and convictions of Buddha about what happens to the world. In this text Buddha teaches about the attaining of enlightenment and perfectness. Through his life Buddha was able to find the path of liberation. Liberation in this case is the attainment of enlightenment through knowing the truth. Buddha teaches that human beings are the supreme beings of all the creatures, and as such they are the masters for themselves. They should not, therefore, be enslaved to any other supreme being. He goes further to point out that human beings have an ultimate control over their destiny, and there is no other being that is responsible for the destiny of a person. Buddha displays that he himself achieved the highest level of enlightenment and liberation. This made him to be seen as even superhuman and a perfect being. He attributes his achievements to his own will and intelligence. According to this teaching then, one can attain anything and can decide anything in life and get it. All that happens in the world is, therefore, through the mind and intelligence. The more one gets to be enlightened, the more they become intelligent, and the easier they find it to manipulate the world around them. So, it is not that there is some being somewhere that controls oneââ¬â¢s life and destiny. It is your mind that can do all this and not any other thing. What the humans need to do is to go through the meditations taught in Buddhism, and through this meditation enlightenment will come in (Charles, 2012). The meditation as described by Buddha is the deep and continuous soul search that leads to the realization of the truth about the world. Through the process of meditation one gets insight because they look at things objectively and extract that thing from the environment. In doing this the thing is investigated carefully only by the mind of a person and not with the help of any other person or any other supernatural being. This is the point where Buddha takes the basis, that it is only human intelligence that is able to find truths about what is happening in the universe. This view is what b rings serious critics of the Buddha teachings. There is a being that is responsible for what happens in the universe, and that human beings have little control and influence of the happenings. The Critics of Buddha Teaching Though Buddha himself claims to have attained enlightenment through the medit
Monday, September 9, 2019
Simventure business report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1
Simventure business report - Essay Example In the process of using the process of using this application the user will have the chance of viewing business from a wider perspective and in the process acquire strategic mindset which is a prerequisite to modern day business. Under SimVenture simulation, people who think innovatively and laterally beyond their area of specialization are greatly valued. Life long learners who are adaptive are able to fast thinking through the learning process. Increasingly, organizations seek critical thinkers with insight and the ability to reflect. In todayââ¬â¢s business team players with the ability to discern social cues and respond accordingly to those cues are in great demand, this simulation helps in inculcating this skills. This learning experience encourages proper financial management and efficient time utilization; this eventually leads to robust financial gains. There should be an organized effort to gather information about customers and the prevailing markets. Marketing activities within the simulation have different levels of effectiveness, depending upon which target segment is selected. Information on how effective the activity will be in reaching the different segments is available in some cases, such as Advertising, giving percentages to guide the user in selecting an appropriate method to reach their chosen market segment. Generally a broad approach will help to reach a greater percentage of the chosen market segment and will result in a high number of enquiries being generated. (Thatcher 1990) This is a crucial business activity for any business entrepreneur. Analysis of the competitors is an ongoing process which will give a clear understanding of the weakness and the strengths of the competitor. Some of the benefits of conducting a competitive research include better targeting of customers, better understanding of the markets, proper forecasting of the potentials of the market and
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Research Projects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Research Projects - Essay Example As the fall season came and went, however, the Affordable Care Act and the budget debacle in Congress fuelled interest afresh in the agenda-setting and editorial slant of Fox News and strengthened its place at the top of the cable news ratings (Bibel, 2013; Mirkinson, 2013). The operative question then remains: why is Fox News successful despite resisting an allegedly popular presidency and the liberal ethos of the bicoastal giants in media? Within the constraints of this very short paper, we discuss the theory of agenda-setting and how Fox News maintains its solitary stance but leads its segment of cable news. II. Literature Review We discuss here the theories behind framing, agenda-setting and priming as they impinge on political communication generally and, in particular, the ideology that stoutly characterizes coverage in the cable news channels Fox News and MSNBC. This means we are in the realm of cognitive communication and campaign effects, i.e. framing, agenda setting and pri ming. We also touch on the audience appeal of this ideology. Political and communications research has undergone at least three major paradigm shifts since the post-newspaper era early in the last century. The ââ¬Å"magic bulletâ⬠or hypodermic theory was much in vogue from the 1920s to the 1940s. Agenda-setting came into the limelight around 1972. Starting around 1989, the propaganda model offshoots of framing and agenda setting became even more specifically applicable to a polarized US media scene. The propaganda model revolves around the multiple facets of control by conglomerates that generally serve their own commercial interests. The news agenda is shaped by five filters that include: multiple ownership, advertising, liberal bias versus conservative ideology, anti-Communism, and catering to audience apprehensions. Early in the century, to return to the seminal background of media effects, the Frankfurt School of largely Jewish theorists proposed the ââ¬Å"Bulletâ⬠or ââ¬Å"Hypodermic Needle Theoryâ⬠as a reaction to their observations of how Hitler and Goebbels in Nazi Germany had apparently mesmerized the entire German people. In this model, the audience had no ideas of their own and passively absorbed whatever communications were launched at them. In essence, the theory was over-impressed by the power and pervasiveness of radio, cinema, television and advertising; mass media was regarded as having a direct, immediate and powerful effect on mass audiences. Since audiences supposedly did not know any better, they absorbed and agreed with any messages they heard. Empirical experience soon showed that audience and market segmentation were entirely possible because listeners and viewers did have thoughts of their own. During the 1940 Presidential election, the Two-Step Flow Theory was conceptualized to admit the possibility that interpersonal relationships were just as powerful or persuasive as anything carried by the mass media. As to the two other communication paradigms, Scheufele and Tewksbury (2007) maintain that priming is an offshoot of agenda setting. Theoretical work in the 1970s and 1980s suggested that one reason agenda-setting worked to make certain issues and personalities more prominent was that mass media had primed the audience to ââ¬Å"prioritize specific issues as benchmarks for evaluating the
Saturday, September 7, 2019
The Barnes Collection As A Cultural Jewel Of Extraordinary Nature Essay
The Barnes Collection As A Cultural Jewel Of Extraordinary Nature - Essay Example The Barnes Foundation was formed in Merion, PA as an educational facility by Barnes and John Dewey, an educational philosopher. However, unlike the majority of art collections, this was neither a public museum nor a private museum and was primarily used to teach adult and youth students. While the foundation allowed public visitors at least twice a week, these were treated as second-class citizens in comparison to students. Barnesââ¬â¢ vision for the entire collection was contained in his will, which stated that the art could not be loaned, reproduced, sold, or traveled and that the school was to continue (Kennicott 1). However, leaders in Philadelphia clamored for the collection to be made more accessible by moving it to the city, which was finally achieved by Pew Charitable Trusts, Annenberg Foundation, and Lenfest Foundation. The documentary identifies various ways in which Barnesââ¬â¢ will have been subverted, as well as the development of a highly public and new home for Barnesââ¬â¢ collection, which the film states Barnes sought to avoid and despised. In successfully challenging the will of Mr. Barnes and its original intent, Pew Charitable Trusts, Annenberg Foundation, and Lenfest Foundation used two basic arguments. First, they argued that the Barnes Foundation was financially struggling and that a move to a venue that was more accessible in Philadelphia would help in dramatically increasing attendance, bolstering the Foundationââ¬â¢s finances (Steinberg 1). Secondly, they also argued that the collection was an incredible artifact of culture that should be accessed by more people. In this case, they posited that demand exceeded availability in Merion for public hours, as well as the fact that demand was a valid concern for the public that the foundations found necessary to address (Steinberg 1). However, these arguments do not stand under close scrutiny as will be seen.
The Neo-Malthusian Population theory Essay Example for Free
The Neo-Malthusian Population theory Essay As stated the Neo-Malthusian population theory claims that poor nations are stuck in a cycle of poverty which they cant get out of unless some sort of preventative measures of population checks are engaged. The Malthusian model was developed two centuries ago by a man named Thomas Malthus. Malthuss model is based upon a relationship between both population growth as well as economic development. Empirical studies now-a-days show that the population theory model is quite flawed because of many factors that render even the two main variables in the theory (population growth and level of per-capita income) not fit to be used within the same conceptual frame work as there is no clear link between them. Egypt and Kuwait are perfect examples where the model would clearly fail to explain the unexpected link between population growth rate and comparative economic development respectively. As hitherto stated the Malthusian population theory is based on two factors; population growth and economic development. Primarily the theory at its core states that there is a tendency in countries unless there is a problem with the food supply that its population is going to double every 30 to 40 years. Based on this model of doubling growth rate; because of fixed factors such as land, food supplies and the population having less land to work on to because of the proposed growth rate, the individuals contribution to food production would go down. The theory further proposes that because the food supply could not match the growing population per capita incomes based at the time on an agrarian society, the end result accordingly would be a stable population which is barely leading a stable population that is living barely at subsistence level. Malthus felt that according to his theory that the only way to avoid being stuck in this loop of abject poverty was to engage in what he called moral restraint. Moral restraint is basically acknowledging the fact that our contribution to the population is leading the populous to a state of economic deprivation. In an indirect way as Todaro puts it Malthus was the father of the birth control movement, he furthermore stated that we are morally obligated to regulate birth rate because of the economic and social repercussions that accompany that growth. Modern day economists have namedà Malthuss theory perhaps justifiably as the Malthusian population trap; justifiably named in my opinion because of the difficulty is reducing birthrates let alone the actual size of the population and escaping abject poverty. The Malthusian population theory is based upon two important factors that formulate its ideology: population and per capita income (based on aggregate production). The theory in detail states that at a very low level of per capita income, the population change will be zero and a stable population will exist, this is seen in the case of absolute poverty where the birth rates are equivalent to the death rates. The equilibrium between birth rates and death rates is reached quite simply because higher incomes means less starvation and disease so the more the population expands the more people will die because of starvation or other causes because there is only so much food to cover their needs. The theory also states that if the population achieves its maximum rate at an even higher per capita income it is still assumed that the population will remain at the same size and unlikely that any real change will be noticed until higher per capita incomes are realized. The other part to the theory states that there is a link between growth rates of aggregate income (when there is no population growth) and the levels of per capita income. A directly proportionate conclusion might easily be reached that if aggregate income is rising then per capita income has to be increasing and if the total population is growing faster than the total income, per capita income must be falling. The ideology of the theory doesnt stop here because it is based on the positive assumption that saving increases with the incremental increase of income. Quite simply countries that have a higher per capita income are assumed to be able to generate a higher savings rate and rationally more money is available for investment. It is assumed though that beyond a certain point in per capita income is supposed to level off and in some cases decline as new investments are made and more people are forced to work with fixed amount of land and resources. This is called the point of diminishing returns in the Malthusian model, the aggregate income growth is analogous of the total production curve, at leastà thats how the basic theory of production goes. Quite simply when the population is growing faster than actual income, per capita will always fall, similarly when income grows faster than population it causes the equilibrium per capita income to rise. The pretence of the theory states that poor nations will never be able to rise above subsistence levels of per capita unless they apply a system of checks (birth control) upon the population. Without birth control nature has its own positive checks such as starvation, disease, wars that will do what humans fail to accomplish in birth control. The Malthusian trap as simple and as appealing as a theory concerning the relationship between population growth and economic development goes is based on simplistic assumption that Todaro and anyone with logic can curtail do not stand the test of empirical verifications. Malthus completely ignores the huge impact that technology has on hindering the growth-inhibiting factors of rapid population increase. Malthus had no way of knowing 200 years ago the effects that technology has on either raising the quality of land or the advancements that were to be made to tools to further enhance the production of the same amount of land. Rapid and continuing technological progress can be presented by a clear upward shift of income growth. Per capita has to grow over time hence giving a chance to all countries in escaping the Malthusian population trap. The second criticism of the trap is that he assumes that national rates of population increase are directly related to national per capita income. Clear research in LDCs show that there is no clear link between population growth rates and level of per capita income. With the institution of modern medicine and public health programs, death rates have fallen lower with no real relationship to per capita income levels. The real measure is not aggregate level of per capita but rather the real factor effecting population growth is how the income is distributed. If we were to take Egypt for example as you had suggested we would find that it had been trying to implement birth control programs as early asà 1966, even though Egypt is looked upon as a successful model in decreasing its population, per capita income more than anything has been going down, simply because a population cant be decreased over night. Another important point that falsifies the model when we look at Egypt we find a rather strong economic buffer for the poor since expensive goods like bread and many medicines are subsidized by the government making it more likely that the population will not be naturally thinned out by means of positive checks as the theory curtails. If we were to look at purchasing power per capita of Kuwait we would find it $ 15,000 as apposed to Egypts measly $ 3,700. Kuwait also has a growth rate of 3.33 % as apposed to Egypts 1.66 %. The mere stating of these numbers completely falsifies the Malthusian model by all means here is a country like Egypt with a low population growth rate and a very low per capita income whereas Kuwait has a much higher growth rate but also five time the per capita income that Egypt posses. The theory overlooked not only technological aspects but completely over looked rentee economies like Kuwait have populations that can never be effected by supply of food. The Malthusian model is well based in theory and looks quite good on paper however it hardly holds water when applied to either real life nations or when critically analyzed as I have attempted to during the writing of this paper. Quite notably countries like Egypt and Kuwait completely bring the theory to its feet without much effort. I believe that when Malthus wrote his theory 200 years ago this was by all means a complete revolution even in the ideology of thought when he tried to find out why some nations remained poor no matter what they did.
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