Monday, September 30, 2019

The Ukrainian Famine Genocide

Death by Starvation â€Å"The famine began†¦The dead were all around; on the roads, near the river, by the fences†¦Altogether 792 souls have died in our village during the famine, in the war years – 135 souls† (Kuryliw, p. 2). This is how Antonina Meleshchenko remembers the Holodomor, or the Ukrainian genocide famine. This famine took place between 1932 and 1933 in a country in Europe called Ukraine. Although many survivors wish not to remember, this event needs to be recognized.The Ukrainian genocide famine killed hundreds of thousands of people; this tragic incident occurred because Stalin wanted to convert the world to communism. After 250 years of living under Russian Tsarist rule, the Ukrainians became part of the Soviet Union in 1922. Farmers thrived, economic freedom was permitted, and private enterprise was allowed. Among these, writers, artists, and scholars grew. Stalin, in 1924, took over Russia after the previous leader, Vladimir Lenin, died. Later , in 1928, Stalin launched a plan to force farmers into giving up their private land, livestock, and farms.Joseph Stalin felt he could not trust the Ukraine peasantry; he believed that the upper class farmers, or kulaks, were holding crops. Stalin took all the grain from the peasants. He had his men search for any hidden grain and Stalin analyzed fecal matter to see if the Ukrainians had stolen ‘government property’ and eaten the grain themselves. It was because of Stalin that many starved and resorted to eating anything. They drank water to fill their empty bellies. Small children perished first, then the elderly, followed by the men, and soon after, the women.Up to twenty-five percent of the population died because Stalin took all of the food. When Stalin seized all of the rations, starvation became widespread. Blockades prevented the hungry to leave and search for food. Viachislav Molotov was in control of transporting grain to other countries. He punished the Ukrain ian farmers by taking away anything that could be eaten. Help from other countries was not an option. Stalin was very careful in keeping this famine a secret and denied the world and international aid from entering the country.Secret police and troops were used to control rebellious farmers and keep all the Ukrainians inside Ukraine. Lazer Kaganovich controlled a particular section of the secret police. He handled mass executions and became the organizer in charge of mass murder. The troops were also in charge of the camp in Siberia were over 850,000 Ukrainians are deported. Stalin ordered the kulacks, or wealthy farmers, into three groups: those to be executed, those to be imprisoned, and those to be shipped off to Siberia and Russian Asia. Stalin caused starvation and death in Ukraine when he detained all of the food.Stalin’s plan to take all the food was based off of the ideas of the former Russian leader, Vladimir Lenin. Lenin knew that peasants believed that what they gr ew was theirs and that the peasants could do whatever they wanted with their crops. He knew that this would result to poor rationing. Non-equal rationing went against Lenin’s policy of communism. Since the farmers controlled the crops, Stalin knew he would have to ‘break the body and spirit of the Ukrainian farmer and nation, thus, subjugate the Ukrainian people completely to Soviet rule’ (Kuryliw, p. 1).Stalin recognized that without the farmers, Ukraine would not be strong enough to stand by itself. He wanted to overpower the Ukrainian people to Soviet rule and convert Ukraine to communism. He desired to control Ukraine because the country was the last to resist Russian control. He needed a capital to build more factories and increase agricultural exports. Stalin believed the fastest way to increase exports was to obtain Ukraine and use their farms to attain and trade crops. After Stalin achieved power in Ukraine, he was able to reach his goal and break the far mers.From 1932 to 1933, Ukraine suffered through a famine that killed between seven to ten million people. Various were shot and killed by firing squads while others were shipped to concentration camps. Twenty-five percent of the population was starved. This event was caused by Joseph Stalin in his effort to convert Ukraine to communism. He wanted to use Ukraine’s agricultural exports to his advantage and break the spirit of the farmers to control the whole country. The Ukrainian genocide famine was known as the ‘Holodomor,’ which means death by starvation.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Technology Continues To Evolve Every Day Environmental Sciences Essay

Technology continues to germinate every twenty-four hours. Cell phones, computing machines, game consoles, pressmans, and any other electronic device become outdated when the better, faster, shinier new version is released. It is non that the older merchandise is yet disused, but that people prefer holding the newest and what they believe is the best. The job with acquiring the better, faster, shinier version is acquiring rid of the old 1. Some options include selling the old one, giving the old one off to a friend or household member, donating it to a school or charity, and for our more technologically savvy friends, trashing it for parts. The of import thing to retrieve when replacing electronic devices is that they can non merely be thrown off with the mundane refuse. When electronic devices are non decently disposed of they end up in our landfills or developing states, where the toxic chemicals and metals are released into the environment and toxicant the air, the H2O, and the pe ople. Lead can do harm to the cardinal nervous system, kidneys, and even the blood watercourse, and has drastic effects on developing foetuss and nursing babes. It is found in Television and computing machine proctors. It is besides found on printed circuit boards and the solder points that keep constituents in affiliated and in topographic point, fundamentally in every electronic device. Mercury is besides found in printed circuit boards, along with all fluorescent visible radiations including the backlights in laptops, telecastings, and proctors. The liquid metal gets into H2O and acquire into life beings and cause encephalon harm or organ failure. It particularly amendss babes ‘ still turning encephalons and nervous systems. Cadmium has been linked to several types of malignant neoplastic disease and is found in electronic constituents like incorporate circuits, resistances and semiconducting materials. ( E-Waste Problem ) The universe is filled with an copiousness of engineering ; finally those electronic devices reach the terminal of their life rhythm and demand to be recycled. We produce and consume more engineering without sing where the old ends up, or what the effects might be. In 2009, the EPA estimations, the United States discarded 2.37 million dozenss of electronic waste of which merely 25 % was collected for recycling, the remainder went into our landfills. Some of the e-waste sent for recycling is sent off to developing states where hapless patterns and deficiency of ordinances end up with the same consequence ; lead and other toxins in the environment. Alfresco combustion and acerb baths are used to retrieve valuable stuffs from electronic devices. Those types of patterns expose workers to harmful chemicals and exhausts, and besides leak into the environment. ( Cleaning Up Electronic Waste ) Electronic waste is a worldwide job and yet merely half of the States in the U.S. have implemented Torahs to promote and increase recycling. 23 of the States have Producer Responsibility Laws, Utah has Producer Education Laws, and California has Consumer Fee Laws. In a study by the Electronicss Take Back Coalition, Oregon, Washington, and Minnesota have been the most successful averaging 6.2 lbs per individual in the province of e-waste collected for recycling in 2010. Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Oklahoma fared the worst with an norm of 0.565 lbs per individual of e-waste collected for recycling. Oklahoma entirely had a mere 0.22 lbs per individual. â€Å" All of the provinces with good consequences have Torahs that either make the eaˆ?waste aggregation substructure really convenient, or they really set up specific ends that makers must run into. † Washington and Oregon have convenient aggregation Torahs that require that every metropolis and county with a population of over 10,000 people have an e-waste aggregation site. Minnesota sets aggregation ends for makers that depend on their gross revenues of the old twelvemonth. Washington and Oregon charge industries to cover the cost of roll uping and recycling e-waste, while other provinces use revenue enhancement remunerator money. ( Ten Lessons Learned From State E-waste Laws ) The United States Environmental Protection Agency has opened channels with Africa, Asia and Latin America for treatments and sharing of the best patterns for e-waste. There are a smattering of many-sided organisations looking to inform and put up safe patterns. Interpol and the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement ( INECE ) focal point on patroling the universe on illegal trade of e-waste. While organisations like the Basel Convention and the Basel Secretariat and Solving the E-waste Problem ( StEP ) work find solutions and set guidelines. ( Cleaning Up Electronic Wastel ) One thing we should make is get down a federal jurisprudence so that all provinces are held responsible to censor the disposal of electronics incorporating harmful wastes in landfills and advance the usage of recycling e-waste. It will assist open the populace ‘s oculus to how bad e-waste is for our environment and how serious and helpful it is to recycle it. There are already some province Torahs that ban people from throwing off some electronics but there is nil major in consequence. There are 25 provinces that e-waste recycling Torahs and of those lone 18 provinces have prohibitions on throwing off electronics such as desktops, laptops, CRTs- TVs, proctors, Flat screens, pressmans and facsimile machines are among the major constituents on the ban list. The inquiry is who is implementing the Torahs among the provinces that have the prohibitions. At the rubbish pace they are required to screen the rubbish and do certain they are non disposing of any e-waste in their landfills, so you might see a little rise in rubbish measures for added employees and new screening systems. But the existent job lies with the people who dispose of e-waste in their house rubbish can for the trash truck to come choice up. Now we know it would be near to impossible to hold person look into vicinity rubbish tins so we have to trust on people to make the right thing. By cognizing that is starts with the people we need to inform them profoundly with the information on how deathly e-waste can be. Second we have to do it easy and hassle free to recycle these points so people are n't put off by long lines or far distances to drive to recycle and more likely to make the right thing. I think that the rubbish companies should do an inducement program for people to recycle such as a program where one time you have recycled 100 lbs of e-waste you receive 10 $ off your following measure, this might animate people to salvage every small spot of e-waste to recycle. Besides we need to do a federal jurisprudence about where the recycle workss recycle their e-waste, because most topographic points have a 3rd party that they outsource the concluding measure of dismantle or burn to complete the occupation. This has been a job with recycling in 3rd universe states where they do non decently dispose of the waste sometime instead merely fire it seting the harmful chemicals straight into the air. Other topographic points allow kids to work in unsafe conditions and without protection while leveling old electronics to recycle the e-waste and plastics. â€Å" Are at that place green constabularies? Not truly, † Kyle says, adding provinces are n't implementing the prohibitions by look intoing a family ‘s refuse. Rather, she says the end is to educate the populace. â€Å" This material decidedly does non belong in the rubbish. † ( Koch, Wendy ) . Congress has developed a new measure they are seeking to go through that will censor the exports of e-waste to other states and do the U.S recycle its ain waste. We already have a jurisprudence that merely allows companies to direct their old electronics to where they were made to be refurbished and the export jurisprudence will be following. Some people say it is a bad thought to censor the exports of e-waste that these 3rd universe states need the occupations but I think more significantly we do it ourselves to do certain it is being done decently and it will besides make new occupations for the aching economic system. Under the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act, e-waste prohibited from export would include equipment incorporating cathode beam tubings, quicksilver lamps and switches, and batteries made from lead, Cd or quicksilver. The measure would let the non-toxic metal, glass and plastic constituents from electronics to be shipped to developing states for recycling ( Petru ) . Along with these new prohibitions comes more offense from backyard recycling and smuggling e-waste to other states. While China officially banned imports of end-of-life electronics in 2002, smuggling has replaced official trade and electronics reportedly continues to flux into the state much as before the prohibition. Significant sums of end-of-electronics are still exported from Europe, partially through internal trade within Europe to countries with slack enforcement ( Williams ) . The existent job lies with our society today going more and more electronic based and no sight in hereafter of our e-waste ingestion traveling down. A But research shows that by around 2016, the developing universe will bring forth more waste computing machines than the developed universe. Global volumes of computing machine e-waste are expected to treble between 2010 and 2025 and by around 2025, the developing universe will bring forth duplicate the developed universe ‘s waste computing machines. Not surprisingly, developing Asia, due to its high population and rapid growing, is a major subscriber to this future waste watercourse ( Williams, Eric ) . This is the major job our hereafter will be utilizing even more electronics so our society today and we will necessitate to hold a solution for e-waste or we will be an highly contaminated universe. Cited Work â€Å" Cleaning Up Electronic Waste | International Programs | US EPA. † US Environmental Protection Agency. N.p. , n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.epa.gov/international/toxics/ewaste/index.html & gt ; . â€Å" E-Waste Problem. † Entire Reclaim. N.p. , n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.totalreclaim.com/e-waste_problem.html & gt ; . â€Å" Ten Lessons Learned From State E-waste Laws. † Electronicss Take Back Coalition. N.p. , n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. & lt ; www.electronicstakeback.com/wp-content/uploads/Lessons-Learned-from-State-E-waste-laws.pdf & gt ; . Koch, Wendy. â€Å" More provinces ban disposal of electronics in landfills – USATODAY.com. â€Å" A USA Today: Latest World and US News – USATODAY.com. USA TODAY, 18 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2011-12-18/electronics-recycling/52055158/1 & gt ; . Petru, Alexis. â€Å" Will Congress Ban Toxic E-Waste Trade? – Earth911.com. â€Å" Earth911.com – Find Where and How to Recycle. N.p. , 16 July 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //earth911.com/news/2011/07/06/will-congress-ban-toxic-e-waste-trade/ & gt ; . Williams, Eric. â€Å" 3 Reasons Why a Prohibition on E-waste Exports is Incorrect: Discovery News. â€Å" A Discovery News: Earth, Space, Tech, Animals, History, Adventure, Human, Autos. N.p. , 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //news.discovery.com/tech/three-reasons-ban-on-ewaste-is-wrong.html & gt ; .

Saturday, September 28, 2019

School Nursing and Asthma Program by S2M Assignment

School Nursing and Asthma Program by S2M - Assignment Example S2M indicates that dissemination of information in the meeting will be done with discussion and showing of PowerPoint slides (Melynck & Fineout-Overholt, 2011). S2M also has carefully planned further dissemination to nursing conferences, city meetings, and through a newspaper article in the city. S2M also points out that disseminating the plan requires engaging the attendees by using the Kotter and Cohen Model for change, by reaching out to people’s emotions, rather than through a list of boring facts. The importance of the subject is in the fact that asthma is a leading cause of morbidity, and this should make people stand up and take notice. Most likely, finding stories that pull at heartstrings, regarding students with asthma, who have passed away because of lack of care by those around the children, will get people’s attention. It will, indeed, require commitment on the part of all adults concerned, both at school and from the parents (CPS, 2011). Therefore, S2M is correct that this is a very important issue to be addressed in the schools, and also requires planning, not only for health and medical instruction of school sta ff but of laying in of suitable medical products. Conducting an initial pilot plan will be a good idea, using several schools with a nurse and fully stocked medical center, to take care of issues as they arise. The nurse and the principal can also help with recording the events, what problems they encountered, and make suggestions for adjustments at the end of the pilot program run. Charts and spreadsheets will help in information gathering, plus a database of the medical inventory, in place before the pilot program starts, will give a pretty good idea of how much it costs to outfit the medical center, and what final costs are in implementation (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2011).S2M might consider that school nurses should be required to show evidence at the beginning of every school year, that they have obtained ongoing education, particularly in the issues of child asthma in school. While one can assume that nurses will continue with their education, the lives of school children are in their hands and, therefore, appropriate eviden ce will not only protect the children if they need help but also protects the school system as well (NASN, 2014). S2M has made an excellent case for the asthma project and developed a very good dissemination plan for its delivery. Â  

Friday, September 27, 2019

How does online shoppers' behaviour differ from traditional shoppers Essay - 1

How does online shoppers' behaviour differ from traditional shoppers - Essay Example of terms 30 Investigative report Abstract Shopping is a part of everyday’s life. Some fulfils their necessities from shopping while some get something more from shopping. It is viewed as releasing the stress and a way for completing some desire in mind or a way for adding flavour to the mechanical way of life. There are two types of shopping in general, traditional shopping and online shopping. Both of them have merits and demerits respectively. Now-a-days, large number of people goes for shopping by means of internet. This has been possible due to the prevalence of computer. The trend of online shopping came with the booming of internet. Thousands of items are reflected on the screen by clicking in one word. This does not require roaming across a long road through the hustling crowds for getting a pair of items. What is required is to have a click on the keyboard and the goods will be delivered on the spot. The advent of internet has an impact in our everyday lives in all way s like the manner we communicate to the way we shop. The increase in sophisticated technology in the 21st century has made everything virtually possible like purchase of an outfit of Armani who has been wearing pyjamas which was once seemed as an outlandish idea. The starts of retailing on web from sometime in the middle to late 1990s have given rise to the debate of online vs. traditional shopping. This debate is still ongoing. Though shoppers have thronged the shopping centres, as it is done in internet but still the question remains as to whether everything will be conquered by online shopping or the survival of traditional shopping will remain in the increasing trend of e-shopping. Introduction The rising debate of online shopping vs. traditional shopping can be viewed from the angle of considering the pros and cons of traditional and online shopping. The main advantage of online shopping is that it eliminates the need to make a drive to somewhere for purchasing something. So, t here arises no frustration to deal with parking problems and traffic. Besides, in case of traditional shopping, half of the petrol is consumed while going for shopping. With rise in prices of petrol, the cost of shopping also increases. This money is however saved in case of online shopping. The money needed to be paid in case of online shopping is enough to purchase few gifts or items. The precious time is saved by way of online shopping. In the busy lives lead by us these days, anything that can contribute towards saving in time can prove as a boon. While shopping online, it takes only a minute to log on to internet and to access the website of store as per choice (Khosrowpour, 2006, pp.30-31). Further, it can take only ten to fifteen minutes for selecting the items to be purchased, again further five minutes for filling information about payment and to get a print of receipt. All total, it will take only thirty minutes to complete the shopping. This facility of saving in time can provide quality time to be spent with the kids and an extra time to watch movies. Literature review Difference between online and traditional shopping Again, online shopping provides a sense of ease and comfort against traditional shopping which requires running in high streets and hunting for the things required. The difference between traditional and o

Thursday, September 26, 2019

International trade between Kuwait and the World Essay

International trade between Kuwait and the World - Essay Example Petroleum production accounts for almost 95% of export revenues and provides 80% of government’s income (Moore 179). The rising oil prices around the world have significantly influenced Kuwait’s economic growth. Its government has been keen on reducing the overreliance of oil through the transformation into a regional trading and enhancing Kuwait as a tourism hub (Dianne, Peter, and Nasser 1-15) Kuwait is very active on food imports, vehicles and also construction materials and services. Despite Kuwait’s relatively small population, itis firmly placing itself among the world’s most popular and attractive markets for many leading international franchises. The major motivating factor to these franchises lies on the young, strong shopping and consumer culture and the affluent population that has a great affinity for international brands. It is a suitable destination for retailers around the world seeking to extend their footprint. Kuwait’s law restricts foreign firms from opening branches solely in the country, but retailers can enter in the market through joint ventures and partnership with the locally incorporated companies (Moore 128). Before venturing into any market, it is always advisable to explore several factors such as the culture of the people, economic overview, geographical factors, religion, living standards, and the people’s responsiveness to international businesses. Habitants of the Gulf region are not anyhow strangers to conflicts and contradictions. Many are the idiosyncrasies that have shaped the region in both the ancient and the modern times. In the country, there have been contacts with the western countries and most their corporations and these have resulted to a commendable improvement to the region (Dianne 6). It has been through encouragement for better education, increased communication, greater mobility and an improved healthcare. Though cultural conflicts are now minimal, in the past

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The Age of Global Communications Technology and a Cause for Worry for Essay

The Age of Global Communications Technology and a Cause for Worry for the Subsequent Spread of Westernization - Essay Example It is a factor that assists in determining the speed with which human beings are able to grow and develop on a personal as well as societal basis. The internet is one such form of global communication technology in the world today. Over the last few decades it has spread all over the world massively, wiring almost every corner of the world and helping in spreading information and resources to every nook and cranny. This paper is a reflection of how this same global communication technology, in the form of the internet, has helped to spread westernization all over the world within the span of a very short period, how this spreading of the western culture has been affecting various parts of people’s lives, namely, culture, politics, business, science and technology; and whether or not this very spread of westernization, affecting all these portions of a person’s life, is a cause for worry for the rest of the world or not. The world has become almost like a small village, with almost each and every person connected to the other. All kinds of information can be found online with the help of the internet. In the last few decades, the internet has also become a very common and affordable phenomenon taking over every person’s household; most people look for the feature of having internet on their cell phones, smart phones, personal computers, laptops, and any other aspect of their life that may have the option of being connected to the World Wide Web consortium. Information from various kinds of libraries, government agencies, NGOs, offices etc, from all around the world can be available easily on a person’s private laptop with the click of the mouse; such resources help in researching, writing as well as gaining more and more knowledge on vast topics. Sitting in one’s bedroom, a person can conduct meetings worldwide through video conferencing, play multi player games with people from around the world, social network with friends and family and do so much more. (Huntington, Samuel) The internet is thus that part of the global communication technology which does not restrict a person from knowing more about anything. The internet is also mostly free to anyone wanting to make use of it, and thus its appeal grows even more. However, the question remains, has the widespread use of this part of technology led to the spreading of western culture, and if it has, then is this westernization a cause for worry for the rest of humanity? Westernization is the adoption of western thoughts, ideas and beliefs, in terms of science, technology, industry, politics and culture. It also includes aspects like religion, philosophy and anything else that includes the adoption and usage of foreign thoughts coming from the West. It is thus the process of inculcating values and ideologies from the west into an indigenous thought process. Westernization basically comes from the acceptance and implementation of ideals from Europe and Amer ica. Since these regions have been known to dominate the world for a good period of time since the modern world took its course, they have been said to have left behind their values and way of living life in the countries and colonies they had captured back then. Most countries around the world have been under the rule of Europe for a very long time in the past. Others have been a part of American cultures and ideals before they broke free and started forming their own governments and democracies. However, despite breaking away from these parent overriding rules, they still retain a vast amount of culture from them. For example, India was ruled

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Adherence Reaction Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Adherence Reaction Paper - Essay Example On Mondays and Fridays, I also include my vitamin B-6 tablet, which I am required to take twice per week. This concludes my morning routine, but not the medication regimen for the day. At night, I take another calcium carbonate and a capsule and a half of Zoloft, which, as it warns, does make me drowsy and helps me get to sleep at night. There are several things that help me adhere to this regimen. I have a pill caddy that I refill every week and carry with me everywhere I go. The rattle of it reminds me to check if I have taken my medication yet while the proper dosage of each pill for each day is already there for me. This is especially helpful for the odd B-6 pill that I am only supposed to take twice per week and is thus easy to forget. During the week, when I have a more regular schedule thanks to my volunteer job at the library, it is relatively easy to keep myself on this regimen. I have to get up at a specific time in the morning anyway in order to get ready for my ‘job’ and the evenings remain relatively quiet so that I can get enough sleep for tomorrow’s work. On the weekends, though, it becomes more difficult because I want to sleep in later, but still get hungry at the same time and I want to stay up later, but the Zoloft continues to make me sleepy. I am motivated to continue taking the medicine, though, out of fear of having a heart attack or simply not be capable of eating comfortably if that horrible heartburn feeling returns. At the same time, there are many things that make me wish I could just scrap the regimen altogether. When I am not volunteering, it is nice to lose all track of scheduling constraints. I like to sleep in late and take my time on various things. On these days, I am usually ravenously hungry when I wake up but have to put this on hold if I want my medications to be effective. This is

Monday, September 23, 2019

Contemporary corporate governance issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Contemporary corporate governance issues - Essay Example Corporate governance has emerged as new buzzword in the modern world as far as the world of business is concerned. Generally, corporate governance is concerned with activities aimed at directing and controlling the activities of an organization, and this is done through establishment of structures, rules, and procedures that are critical in decision-making process (Baker and Anderson, 2010). The rise and development of corporate governance has brought into perspective the role, position, and importance of different stakeholders of a company. In most cases, the function, capability, and continuity of a company are attached to the behavior and relationships of different stakeholders (Baker and Anderson, 2010). The company has different stakeholders who, in one way or the other, contribute to the success and performance of the company. Major stakeholders of a company include board of governors, chief executive officer, management team, employees, customers, suppliers, society, and share holders (Davies, 2006). However, in recent times, there has been emerging debate with regard to the role and level of importance of different stakeholders of a company. There are those who view shareholders given their role as proprietors of capital to be the most important stakeholders and whose needs the company has to serve (McTaggart and Kontes 1993). On the other hand, there are those who think that, although shareholders have played a key role in providing capital and other critical investments, their possession without responsibility translates to nothing, and as a result, they have to give equal importance to other stakeholders such as employees and customers (Mallin, 2007). Still, there is another group that believes that a balance can be created so that there is no particular favor of one stakeholder, and that all stakeholders have to be considered equal and their needs satisfied equally without sabotaging the needs of others (Brink, 2011). Therefore, it may take time befo re perfect and meaningful consensus is reached. However, this is likely not to bring to stop the continued debate on the role and level of importance of different stakeholders. More debates, suggestions, criticisms, and all kinds of discussions are likely to come up in an attempt to divulge more information and understanding on these new emerging issues in corporate governance. Motivated by these aspects, the aim of this paper is to concisely make an argument with regard to the extent a company exists for the benefit of its shareholders. In doing so, attempt is made to discuss agency theory and the potential problems likely to emerge when such theories are put into practice. Shareholders Shareholders in any organization are viewed to be the suppliers of capital, and in return, they are likely to demand for corporate efficiency, honesty, productivity, and profitability (Freeman, Harrison, Wicks, Parmar, and De Colle, 2010). In this way, shareholders are perceived to possess and execu te certain powers that directly show the ability to control the functions. In doing so, the shareholders are motivated by their investments in the company, which they want or demand to bring positive returns and profits (Bain and Barker, 2010). For a long time, theories such as agency theory have tried to evaluate the role and position of shareholders and subsequently, justified why there is need to maintain and enhance shareholders value as a paramount thing in the organization and throughout its lifetime (Mallin, 2007). Shareholders, as the prime investors in the organization, are perceived to be the owners of the company and their interests are likely to supersede all other interests. Once they have invested in the company, shareholders are likely to manifest different motives, behaviors, and even ambitions. All these

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Assignment - Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Assignment - Interview - Essay Example He gained working experience in server administration, and simultaneously specialized in network storage technologies by taking a certified course. His combination of skill, knowledge and experience saw him rise very fast up the corporate ladder. He now leads the ICT department of Travelways Inc. and takes a special interest in ensuring that there is no disruption to the ICT support his team provides to the organization. 1. Travelways Inc. is a travel and holiday organizer. Every aspect of its functioning right from the initial stage when a prospective client makes an enquiry is dependent on ICT. Clients access our servers for all information they require at all stages of their travel and holiday. We use the Internet to make contact with airlines, railways, shipping corporations, hotels and tour operators all over the world to book passages and make reservations. The very business of Travelways Inc. can be termed a ICT business. Its ICT department is the most crucial department. 3. Yes, some disasters are unavoidable in spite of all precautions. Of course, we have a disaster recovery plan integrated with out business continuity. I would like to distinguish between the two. The Disaster Recovery Plan or the DRP is usually specifically concerned with the restarting of a crucial set of ICT systems and infrastructure components. The process of Business Continuity Planning or BCP, on the other hand, is concerned with the enterprise as a whole, and deals with business functions rather than application systems. What however needs to be understood is that Disaster Recovery is a core component of any Business Continuity effort with many overlapping areas. They address the same basic problem. 4. Yes, many companies first build a working DRP before taking the next logical and inevitable step and developing an overall BCP. If the relation between the two processes is understood well enough, then knowledge gained in one

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Multiculturalism in Early Childhood Education Essay Example for Free

Multiculturalism in Early Childhood Education Essay In recent times, early childhood education is becoming more diverse. Early childhood providers are required to attempt many challenging tasks. One of the most difficult of these is providing our children with diverse, multicultural experiences. (Ogletree Larke, 2010) Since the beginning of times, young children have been raised by their families, extended families, clans and communities. Even today, most childcare homes and many early childhood programs tend to be fairly consistent and quite similar to the childs home background. Parents tend to choose childcare and early childhood programs based on whether the programs match their own views of education and discipline. (Tarman Tarman, 2011) Programs nowadays are expected to provide the children with experiences outside of their groups, offering opportunities to teach them to be tolerant, respectful and accepting of differences. (Derman-Sparks, 1989) Bennet (1995) described multicultural education as an approach to teaching and learning that is based upon democratic beliefs and seeks to foster cultural pluralism within culturally diverse societies and an interdependent world. In Singapore, where we have a culturally diverse population, it is essential to be sensitive towards each others cultural practices, beliefs and views. Thus, the reason to include multicultural education into the early childhood education system deems as important. The logical reason being that brain research has proved that the prime time for emotional and social development in children is from birth to twelve years of age. (Abdullah, 2009) Issues in Including Multicultural Education in Early Childhood Education There are several issues that do not allow multicultural education to permeate the early childhood programs in Singapore. Curriculum The curriculum of a center shows the process in which learning outcomes will be achieved. Therefore, including the goals and objectives of multicultural education into the center’s curriculum is essential. It has to be infused throughout the curriculum. Good early childhood pedagogy reflects and empowers the diverse cultural backgrounds of the children and families with whom they work. (Robinson Jones, 2006) Including children’s identity into the daily programming and planning of the early childhood curriculum is considered necessary for developing their self-esteem as well as cultivating their appreciation for diversity that exists more widely in our society. (Abdullah, 2009) In Singapore, multicultural education is not a mainstream issue. With Singaporeans being more aware of issues and events through globalization and internet, it is truly essential that multicultural education is included in schools. Quah (as cited in Berthelsen Karuppiah, 2011) has discussed the expanded ethnic and religious awareness strain among Singapore in recent years. Recent cases such as the wearing of the Muslim head-dress in government schools drummed up a buzz around the diverse ethnic groups in Singapore and resuscitated ethnic strains. These cases show that government policies need to be re-evaluated painstakingly so as to safeguard cultural harmony and maintain respect for cultural diversity. Thus, gaining support from the Government to deal with this issue indepth is significant. Language Development Usually the educational system in most countries applies the national language as the medium of instruction. However, multiculturalism and the distinguishment of the important role of language in studying makes it compulsory for differing qualities of dialect, abilities and correspondence styles to be recognized, esteemed and utilized within all early childhood services. The procurement for children to study the majority language whilst maintaining their first language ought to be underpinned and energized. This obviously is to propose bilingualism or in any event underpin for the home dialect as a strategy even at the unanticipated youth level. (Abdullah, 2009) Research has demonstrated that there can just be favourable circumstances to the child other than ensuring and regarding home dialect. (Hakuta, 1986) This primary issue and challenge for the procurement of bilingual training is one of human assets. Relatively few countries will have the personnel who themselves are bilingual or multilingual. Consequently, children with languages other than the national language to look, maintain and to develop and broaden their language and concept development within early childhood services. (Vuckovic, 2008) All children have the chance to listen to, utilise and study the majority language in a steady environment where assets, materials and individuals are utilized to scaffold their learning in a majority language. Early Childhood Education Staff. Staff working in childcare centers and early childhood education programs has the ability to create an impact on the children’s developing attitudes towards cultural diversity more than any other person in the child’s life. This is an undeniable fact. It is crucial that staff go through appropriate training or staff advancement programs, which include the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes for such an avocation. Teacher must take the steps necessary to better themselves as teachers in multicultural education settings. With the changing face of today’s classrooms, there is a growing need to address multiculturalism an diversity awareness. (Riskowski Olbricht, 2010) Training courses for early childhood educators might as well have components in both content and conveyance that address diversity of cultures. (Verma, 2003) Pre-service preparation in the form of actual scenarios where teachers are set in multicultural or classrooms made up of cultures different from their own are particularly adequate in getting them to re-look at their existing convictions and biases. (Jacobson, 2003) This type of learning emphatically influences teachers’ manners towards teaching in diverse settings. Pre-service learning has the potential of enabling teacher candidates to stand up to challenging issues of social inequities and to start the deconstruction of lifelong attitudes and the development of socially just educators. (Baldwin, Buchanan Rudisill, 2007) Issues Affecting Child as a Learner Children need an education, which allows them to take their place in this multicultural society. A child as young as two and three years are familiar with human distinctions and this mindfulness is connected with the improvement of specific disposition. An essential socialization as well as preferences and habit pattern in the early years of life leaves a preserving impact on the individual. .(Jacobson, 2003) These findings feature the importance of bringing social values and attitudes to children’s attention during this critical developmental period. Using this evidence, it becomes clear that early childhood community needs to address the needs of multicultural children and their unique families. These children include biological, multiracial and multi-ethnic children in blended homes, foster homes, adoptive homes and a variety of biological homes. In the early years, the child’s family assumes the leading role in socialising the child to the conduct, beliefs, convictions and plans held inside their culture. (Garbarino, 1992) With the rise in the amount of working parents and children partaking in group programs from an early age, preschools have likewise turned into compelling socialisation force. (Berthelsen Karuppiah, 2011). Young children who live in a multicultural community experience social differences firsthand; it is part of their world. Then again, other children who live in a monocultural group frequently have challenges comprehending and tolerating an environment that is not the same as theirs. Knowing increasingly about the noteworthiness of children’s voyages between home and school and the impacts of these adventures, teachers can help these children unite the universes of home and school and all different worlds that they might experience in theirdaily lives. (Vuckovic, 2008) Pressures from mass media likewise push an impact on children to fit in with a uniform set of necessitites, dialect, method of articulation inshort, a whole way of life. They are exposed to a ‘counter culture’, which declines and demoralizes articulation from expressing their culture of origin. Regularly, this brings about immense pressures for the children, with parents demanding adherence to the old customs, with traditions practised in the home and frequently in activities outside the home. The consequence is that by and large, parents get estranged from their children who are attempting to comprehend and adapt to their transitory sub-culture, yet endeavouring to make a successful modification into another society, which secretively and frequently unintentionally denies them this right. ( Lin Bates, 2010) Misconceptions in Teachers The most common issue is misconceptions in multiculturalism. Educators are unsure of their own ability to define what their role is in teaching culture. Teachers need the knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to know what to teach and how to teach. (Berthelsen, Karuppiah, 2011) Teachers need to teach in a way that will meet the needs of all of their students. It may not be easy and may require more attention, time and effort. An issue teachers face is that pre-service teachers are leaving their courses unassuming to educate in today’s diverse classrooms. The dominant parts of them are leaving courses after just having one or two essential modules on educating in a multicultural setting. They are not ready for interacting with different cultures than the shielded ones that a large portion of them live in. (Lin Bates, 2010) They are not ready for the distinctive needs controlled by today’s multicultural student population. They end up being not as qualified in this area as they should be. One reason for this could be that teachers express that students oppose multicultural education. (Atwater, Freeman, Bulter Morris, 2010) Why is this the case? Everyone holds his or her beliefs about things. The zone of multicultural instruction is no distinctive. One of the first things that a teacher must do is to analyse herself. She ought to perceive how the conclusions, convictions and viewpoints that she holds influence the curriculum that she is planning to teach. Whether purposeful or not, a teacher’s comtemplations, recognitions, inclinations and sentiments can likely be depicted to her students. (Nichols Dong, 2011) A â€Å"tourist approch† towards multiculturalism where cultures are only taught through celebrations, food and traditional clothing is a very common sighting in Singapore. (Berthelsen Karrupiah, 2011) It is both disparaging and trivializing and does not give a genuine comprehension of different societies. (Derman-Sparks, 1989) Teacher need to comprehend their own particular convictions about cultures and differing qualities so as to execute multicultural education programs viably with young children. Teachers should take the steps important to better themselves as instructors in multicultural settings. This is no feat that can be accomplished overnight. Multicultural Education in Singapore Singapore is a multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-religious society. Our population comprises mainly Chinese, Malays, Indians and others. Multicultural education is not a mainstream issue in Singapore. While the government has been capable to keep up peace and congruity through its political, social and financial strategies and unique days, it does not manage the issue in profundity. As Singaporeans are presently for the most part more mindful of issues and occasions around the world through globalization and the web, it has become progressively critical for Singapore to think about multicultural education in schools. In the meantime as empowering differences through conservation of the social personality of the racial and ethnic aggregations in the nation, the government has likewise attempted to work towards building social union around diverse assemblies, which offered ascent to the trademark unity in diversity. (Berthelsen Karuppiah, 2011) For multicultural education to be viable, it must be taught in the early years of education and strengthened in the later stages. Since childrens attitudes to their and other social assemblies start to structure in the early years, early childhood educators can impact the improvement of uplifting demeanor towards others, as well as consolidating an educational program concentrate on tolerance wand cross-cultural understandings of others. Early childhood educators, however, cannot adopt a tourist approach to multiculturalism which generalizes other societies and transforms the multicultural educational module into a tourist curriculum. Tourist curriculum which educates about cultures through festivals and antiquities of society, for example, food and traditional clothing, is both disparaging and trivializing and does not give a genuine comprehension of other cultures. Teachers need to understand their own beliefs about culture and diversity in order to implement multicultural education programs effectively with young children. (Berthelsen Karuupiah, 2011) A survey was done by Berthelsen Karuppiah(2011) to find out their understandings of multicultural education and their perceptions of its importance in early childhood education. This was conducted in Singapore among a variety of teachers workingin private and public kindergartens and childcare centers. The participants came from different ethnic groups in Singapore. Perceptions about multiculturalism and children’s learning In this case study, they found that most teachers had restricted comprehension of multiculturalism. They saw multiculturalism as just regarding race and in the connection of Singapore. About 60% of the participants expressed that multicultural education implied having information of one;s culture and additionally other cultures. They believed that this learning is sufficient and would immediately carry individuals out of diverse societies together. Another 40% showed that children learn prejudices, dispositions, convictions and qualities from the adults around them, parents and teachers. They communicated convictions that schools assume a paramount part in educating children about diverse cultures. Beliefs about teaching for multiculturalism The same group of teachers were asked their beliefs about teaching for multiculturalism. Twenty of them thought directing a multicultural program implied examining distinctive cultures regarding their food, clothing, celebrations, traditions and so forth. This brings it back to the â€Å"tourist approach† that Derman-Sparks(1989) implied when educating about multiculturalism. They did not go past a tourist point of view in advancing an ‘anti-bias’ approach to educating and researching the distinctive cultures. Thirteen others said preschool centers should treat kids of diverse cultures similarly and decently. Sixteen teachers thought individuals might as well put stock in multicultural education and be supportive of it. The greater part of teachers who had constructive encounters in multicultural situations or with multicultural individuals were likewise more agreeable than others without such encounters in examining multicultural issues. A few teachers had reservations about talking over â€Å"delicate† issues, for example race or religion. Professional learning needs about multiculturalism Based on the survey done by Berthelsen Karuppiah(2011), the teachers comprehended that they needed to understand more about multicultural education. They agreed that teachers needed knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to know what to teach and how to teach. However, the teachers did not explicitly discuss the vitality of individual reflection to comprehend their own particular prejudices, demeanor, convictions and qualities, and how these could influence their educating and learning. There were no critical or elaborated ideas on the challenges and opportunities to implement multicultural education programs. Recommendations James A. Banks, a specialist in multicultural education, has developed the five dimensions of multicultural education. He realised that in his work, numerous teachers considered multicultural education as simply content integration, meaning utilizing samples, information and data from diverse cultures. (Ogltree larke, 2010) The five dimensions are content integration, knowledge constructions, equity pedagogy, prejudice reduction and empowering school culture and social structure. He desired for teachers to have the skills and knowledge and racial attitudes needed to work with people from diverse groups and to use a wide variety of strategies that cater to a wider range of students. (Banks, 2002) Content Integration Teachers should use several different approaches to integrate content about racial, ethnic and cultural groups into the curriculum. One of the most popular is the Contributions Approach. When this approach is used, teachers insert isolated facts about ethnic and cultural group heroes and heroines into the curriculum without changing the structure of their lesson plans and units. Knowledge Construction It helps students to understand how knowledge is constructed and how it reflects the experiences, values, and perspectives of its creators. In this approach, the structure, assumptions, and perspectives of the curriculum are changed so that the concepts, events, and issues taught are viewed from the perspectives and experiences of a range of racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. The center of the curriculum no longer focuses on mainstream and dominant groups, but on an event, issue, or concept that is viewed from many different perspectives and points of view. This is done while at the same time helping students to understand the nations common heritage and traditions. Teachers should help students to understand that while they live in a diverse nation, all citizens of a nation-state share many cultural traditions, values, and political ideals that cement the nation. Multicultural education seeks to actualize the idea of e pluribus unum, i. e. to create a society that recognizes and respects the cultures of its diverse peoples united within a framework of democratic values that are shared by all. (Banks, 2002) Prejudice Reduction According to Banks, this dimension is important in creating a more positive racial and ethnic attitudes. Basically, this dimension is the aspect of education where the teacher helps to lessen the amount of prejudice within students. Equity Pedagogy Teachers change their methods to enable kids from diverse racial groups and both genders to achieve. Empowering School Culture and Social Structure James Banks talks about looking not just at individual classrooms, but at the total school culture to see how to make it more equitable and using the other four dimensions to create a safe and healthy educational environment for all. James Banks’ five dimensions support that a child’s racial attitudes can change but education must start early and that early childhood programs are the perfect place to start multicultural education. (Vuckovic, 2008) Teachers As such, how can we make this a better transition for both teachers and the children? Sheets(as cited in Nichols Dong, 2011) said, â€Å"all teachers can begin and most evolve into culturally competent educators; however, it is important to become conscious that the ardous journey from novice to expert requires hard work, relentless commitment, and a high investment of time and energy†. Two evident approaches for joining multicultural education with teacher education programs are infusion versus segregation, and culture-specific versus culture-general. (Melnick Zeichner, 1997) Ladson-Billings (as cited in Berthelsen Karuppiah,2011), proposed a basic structure for breaking down teacher preparation programs. She argued that, paying little mind to prospective teachers; race, ethnicity or backgrounds; the educational module should include a target on comprehending the way of pre-service teacher relationships and the cultural bases of the educational program, educating and society. The education of teachers should boost self-reflection on values and beliefs about cultural difference and advocate the studying approaches, which allow for teacher inclusion that is dymanic, significant and ethno-linguistically appropriate. The plans of Melnick and Zeichner (1997) and Ladson-Billings (as cited in Berthelsen Karuppiah, 2011) could be connected to teacher education programs for early childhood education in Singapore. Such programs might investigate how preschool educators characterize and conceptualize multicultural education; fuse investigations of the history of race relationships; and use careful investigations and field encounters to provide teachers with chances to gain greater knowledge, skills and understandings of their own culture as well as of other cultural and language groups in their society. In particular, they should learn how to advance suitable programs for young children that consolidate encounters to permit children to comprehend cultural differences and encourage relationships between children of distinctive cultural backgrounds. Environment There is a need for physical environment where children are well versed to reflect the cultures represented by the children working within it. For example, pictures, books, art, music, activities, cooking and recognition of certain significant days important to each culture can reflect this orientation. (Jacobson, 2003) There is a need to advocate in children, knowledge of the similarities and contrasts in cultures, underscoring the likeness while encouraging an inspirational demeanor towards and delight in the differences. This could be attained through celebrating various holidays, enjoying reading material, folklore, music, art, games and introducing foods of various cultures. There is a need for a social or racial match between some educating staff and children in schools to be accomplished. This shows how the administration and teachers work together to decrease racial stereotypes and prejudices in the school and increase democratic attitudes, values and behaviours. The support from management is definitely essential. (Banks, 2002) Conclusion Multiculturalism is worthwhile undertaking in early childhood education based on our country’s population. It prepares children for the challenges of the globalized world. To attain the above, early childhood settings need to plan an environment, which puts forth diversity positively through resources, and materials that do not sustain stereotypes. It is also essential that a multicultural education, from pre-school onwards permeates the whole curriculum. It is inadequate to commit a component regularly reputed to be ‘ethnic studies’ to a corner of the syllabus or to a half hour period for every week. Most desirable is that interpersonal relations ought to be passed on by long-term and rational modeling and that knowledge gained ought to be by first-hand experience. Important implications need to be addressed before infusing it into the early childhood curriculum and equal collaboration between children, teachers, parents, administrators, employers and the wider community is essential. (Vuckovic, 2008) 2800 words References Abdullah, A. C. (2009) Multicultural education in early childhood: Issues and challenges. Journal of International Coopeation in Education, 12(1) Atwater, M. , Freeman, T. , Butler, M. , Morris, J. (2010). A case study of science teacher candidates’ understandings and actions related to the culturally responsive teaching of â€Å"other† students. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education. 5. 287-318. Baldwin. S. C. , Buchanan, A. M. , Rudisill, M. e. (2007). What teacher candidates learned about diversity, social justice, and themselves from service-learning experiences. Journal of Teacher Education, 58(4), 315-327. Bennett, C. (2003). Comprehensive multicultural education: Theory and practice. (5th ed. ). Boston, MA: Allyn Bacon. Berthelsen, D. , Karuppiah, N. (2011). Multiculturaleducation: The understandings of preschool teachers in Singapore. Australian Journal of Early Childhood Education. 36(4). Derman-Sparks, L. (1989). Anti-bias curriculum: Tools for empowering young children. Washington, D. C: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Garbarino, J. (1992). Children and families in the social environment (2nd ed. ). New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Hakuta, K. (1986). Mirror of language: The debate on bilingualism. New York: Basic Books. Jacobson, T. (2003). Confronting our discomfort: Clearing the way for anti-bias in early childhood. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Lin, M. , Bates, A. B. (2010). Home visits: How do they affect teachers’ beliefs about teaching and diversity? Early Childhood Education Journal, 38, 179-185. Melnick, S. , Zeichner, K. (1997). Teacher education for cultural diversity. Enhancing the capacity of teacher education for institutions to address diversity issues. In J. King, E. Hollins, W. Hayman (Eds. ), Meeting the challenge of diversity in teacher preparation (pp. 23-39). New York: Teachers College Press. Nichols, M. E. , Dong, E. (2011). Meeting the needs for today’s multicultural classroom: A review of literature. The Journal of Multiculturalism in Education, 7(1). Ogletree, Q. , Larke, P. J. (2010). Implementing multicultural practices in early childhood Education. National Forum of Multicultural Issues Journal, 7(1). Quah, J. S. T. (2000). Government policies and nation-building searching for Singapore’s national values. Singapore: South East Printing. Riskowski, J. Olbricht, G. (2010). Student views of diversity: A multicultural mathematics activity. Viewing transformation during the middle school years. Multicultural Education. 2-12. Sheets, R. (2009). What is diversity pedagogy?. Multicultural Education. 11-17. Tarman, I. , Tarman, B. (2011). Developing effective multicultural practices: A case study of exploring a teacher’s understanding and practices. The Journal of International Social Research, 4(17). Verma, G. K. (2003). Ethnic diversity and multicultural education: Cross-cutting issues and concepts. Proceedings of The International Conference on Globalization and Multicultural Perspectives in Education, Penang, Malaysia, 3-4 Dec. 2003. Vuckovic, A. (2008). Making the multicultural learning environment flourish: The importance of the child-teacher relationship in educating young children about diversity. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 33(1).

Friday, September 20, 2019

Blind Spot Enlargement

Blind Spot Enlargement Blind Spot Enlargement in Non-Athletes Abstract Everyone has a blind spot in the visual field caused by an absence of nerves on the retinal wall where the nerve ganglia enter. Our brains correct this blind spot by filling-in the missing information so that we do not notice the blind spot in normal, daily activity. There have been a few studies conducted to determine how the brain compensates for the phenomenon. Recent studies indicate that in certain people seeking chiropractic treatment, unequal blind spots result from muscoloskeletal misalignments. This research has been controversial; however, it brings up several interesting questions. There are conditions that can damage the retina, causing blind spots in the visual field. It is generally assumed that athletes maintain a better level of general health, via exercise and a healthier diet, than those who do not engage in athletic pursuits. This study used blind spot mapping techniques of the chiropractic industry to map the blind spots of 10 athletes and 10 non-athletes. The blind spots of athletes and non-athletes showed a statistically significant difference. Introduction Every eye has a blind spot .The blind spot is the hole in the retinal wall where the nerve ganglia pass though. This area of the retina contains no photoreceptors and therefore creates a black spot in every persons vision. The gap created by the blind spot is approximately 6 degrees of the total visual field, which is a large area, relatively speaking. We do not see this area in our normal functioning because our brain has a mechanism for filling in the missing information. The information that would normally be received by the blind spot is projected onto the other eye and the brain essentially averages the image (Lou and Chen, 2003). The blind spot in physical structure and given the normal variances in human physiology, it would be expected that there would be little variation in the blind spot from person to person. However, there are certain conditions that could cause damage to the retinal wall, thus causing nerve damage to he photoreceptors, thus causing a blind spot. This damage may cause an additional blind spot in the visual field; of if damage occurs to the retina surrounding the natural blind spot, the natural blind spot could essentially be enlarged. (Windsor and Windsor, 2003; Hall, 2003; and Seddon and Kuijk, 1998). There are several factors that can effect eye health, such as nutrition and general health. It is generally assumed that athletes have an overall healthier lifestyle that n the general public. They are assumed to engage in habits that promote good health such as eating more nutritiously, exercising and maintaining a generally higher level of health than the general public. It is therefore the premise of this study that athletes would be expected to have fewer eye-related health problems and that these problems would result in fewer visual blind spots or smaller naturally occurring blind spots than in non-athletes. This study will use methods for mapping blind spots in the chiropractic field to measure the blind spots of a group of athletes and a group of nonathletes. This research will support the hypothesis that the group of nonathletes will be found to have larger blind spots due to decreased general health. Literature Review The existence of a blind spot in each eye is a naturally occurring anatomical trait and therefore has received very little academic attention in itself. There has been limited attention to the study of how our brain compensates for this phenomenon, however, once explained, it received very little attention. The blind spot can be located if a person trains their attention to it. There is a simple visual test; contained in APPENDIX I that can help a person see the blind spot in their right eye. There have been a group of chiropractors that claim that in persons with certain musculoskeletal misalignments, the blind spot in each eye is unequal. They also claim that adjusting the spine can alleviate this condition. This research will not attempt to confirm or deny these claims, but will rely on techniques derived from the practice of blind spot mapping or develop a method for testing the blind spots of a group of athletes and a group of nonathletes. No similar studies could be found, save for one study conducted by an ophthalmologist, using opthamological equipment to assess general retinal scarring in certain persons diagnosed with opthamological disease (Cai and Cavanagh, 2002). Chiropractors have developed a technique, primarily to be used as a diagnostic technique to detect what they claim is an unequal blind spot in the eyes. The claim that an enlarged blind spot can diagnose a malfunction in the brain. These studies have come under heavy criticism as there are several illogical arguments posed by them (Hall, 2003). Hall finds several areas of contention in the design of these experiments. In addition, several chiropractors claim to cure clumsiness by increasing the peripheral vision of patients. These claims are completely unfounded, as the blind spot is located in the primary visual field, not the peripheral vision. These doctors are causing confusion with the blind spot when driving that is caused by mirrors, not the eyes (Hall, 2003). These studies have very little academic credibility, however, do provide a useful tool for mapping the blind spot of the groups being studied in this research. It has been a long held concept that eating certain vegetables can improve eyesight. Recently, physicians have been prescribing leafy green vegetables to prevent a condition called macular degeneration. Other food have also been recently cited as having health benefits for the eyes such as egg yolks, orange juice, and corn (Seddon, and Kuijk, 1998). Macular degeneration causes blindness by the development of macular hole, which consists of patches of dead nerves on the retinal well, thus creating blind spots. It is generally held that athletes tend to follow a more nutritious diet than the non-athletic population. The typical athletic diet is high in carbohydrates, proteins and a balance of the necessary vegetables to maintain overall health. This improved diet has been shown to have a number of health benefits. Athletes are expected to have an improved diet and improved general health as compared to the average population. Therefore, it could be expected that there would be fewer eye problems than in the general population. One effect of this improved eye health would be the occurrence of smaller natural blind spots, due to less scarring from disease, and the occurrence of fewer extra blind spots on the retinal wall. This will be the focus of this research, to detect an improvement in eye health by measuring the size and occurrence of blind spots in a population of athletes and a population of non-athletes. Methodology The measurement instrument used in this experiment was a modified version of the blind spot mapping technique used in chiropractic practice. Extra controls from above those described in the literature were instituted to insure greater precision of measurement. The blind spot mapping technique was described in Hall, 2003. It may be noted that opthamologists have a more precise technique for blind spot mapping, but that technique requires a completed degree in opthamology and requires very expensive equipment. This technology was not available for purposes of this study. The technique used was simplistic in design, yet accurate enough to obtain meaningful results. Test subjects for this study were recruited from senior members of the varsity football team and persons in the general campus population. Senior members of the varsity football team were used due to the assumption that they would be the most likely to adhere to the rules of good nutrition, exercise and general health that were required for dependent variable of this study. The control group consisted of ten general population students, who were screened by asking them if they were involved in regular exercise activity. Test subjects for the control groups were chosen who did not participate in exercise programs. An apparatus of measurement was devised. The blind spot can be visualized in the following manner. The set of spots in Appendix I can be used to find the blind spot for the right and left eye. The test was set up as in APPENDIX II with the subject sitting at a table. A box was used to rest the chin, so as to maintain a steady height. The subject was instructed to place his chin on the box and look at the screen. They were instructed to keep their head a still as possible once the test has begun. One set of dots was cut out and mounted in a piece of poster board. An identical set of dots was made for each eye. This was mounted to a board that could be moved closer and farther from the subject until the proper distance for that blind spot could be located for each subject. This was necessary, as everyones blind spot would be in a different place. The subject was told to sit on the chair and place their chin on the box and to stay as still as possible. They were told to cover the right eye and fixate on the cross, appropriate for that eye. They were not to move their head, just fixate using their eyes. An assistant would slowly move the screen farther away or closer to the subject until the subject indicated that the large dot had disappeared and the ground appeared solid white. This is where the blind spot is located. As assistant moved a sharpened pencil horizontally in front of the paper until the tip of the pen disappeared from the subject (was in the blind spot). The assistant then moved the pen horizontally across until the tip reappeared. The subject would indicate that the tip had reappeared and the assistant would mark a dot at the point of reappearance. This process was repeated in a pattern of compass points, starting from the blind spot each time. This process was repeated for the other eye using the appropriate image. This created a picture of the blind spot and the area of the blind spot could be calculated in centimeters. An example of the test results can be found in APPENDIX III. Results When the tests were completed, the average radius of the blind spots was estimated using a compass. The radius of the circle was taken as an average of the points from the center. The following raw results were found for the two groups. Results expressed in r-values of the circles. The difference between the means is 0.15. A p value of a one-tailed z-test was set at 0.5 (95% confidence) with a critical value of 1.65. The z value for these two groups was 1. This would indicate a statistically significant test result and did indicate that the blind spot radius of athletes if significantly smaller than that of non-athletes. Discussion The results for this research indicate a significant difference in the radius of the blind spot between athletes and nonathletes. This would tend to support the hypothesis that athletes have smaller blind spots than non-athletes do. It can then be theorized that these differences are due to better eye health. However, before we draw this conclusion it must be noted that the sample size in this research was extremely small for this type of study. Different results may be obtained from a larger sample size. In addition, subjects were not screened for diet, exercise, and general health. Caution must be taken in drawing broad conclusions from this research due to these factors. However, the results will be helpful in further research design. Further research should be done on the subject. A screening survey of the subjects would be helpful in isolating the dependent and independent variables. This survey would include questions on diet exercise and general health. There are several factors that may explain the results obtained. Cai and Cavanagh (2002) found that a condition called acute idiopathic blind spot enlargement syndrome (AIBSE) would cause a similar result in these patients. A swelling in the optic disc from infection can also cause an enlarged blind spot (Fletcher, 1988). A fungus called Histoplasma capsulatum causes scarring to the retina and can cause an enlarged blind spot. However, this is an unlikely cause as one must be exposed to large amounts of bird droppings to contract it (Windsor and Windsor, 2003). In order for future tests to be more conclusive, these conditions must be ruled out as a cause. In conclusion, the results of this research support the hypothesis that athletes have a smaller blind spot than non-athletes do. Although this may lead us to the conclusion that this is due to better diet and general health. This conclusion must be taken with caution. Due to the small sample size and failure to eliminate certain confounding variables, this conclusion must be made in a guarded fashion. This research will prove useful in the conduct of future research design. It was helpful in designing a simple and effective instrument of the measurement of this phenomenon. Future research should expand on these results and attempt to account for variables that were beyond the scope of this project. Works Cited Ballantyne, R. About that Squinty Eye. [Online] http://www.ballantyne.com/rjb_resume/Squinty.html accessed March 2003. Cai, R. H., Cavanagh, P. (2002). Motion interpolation of a unique feature into stimulus gaps and blind spots Journal of Vision, 2(7), 30a, http://journalofvision.org/2/7/30/ accessed March, 2003. Fletcher WA, Imes RK, Goodman D, Hoyt WF. Acute idiopathic blind spot enlargement: a big blind spot syndrome without optic disc edema. Arch Ophthalmol. 1988;106:44-49. Hall, H. Blind Spot Mapping. Chirobase.org. March 2, 2003. [Online] http://www.chirobase.org/06DD/blindspot.html March 2003. Lou, L. and Chen, J. Attention and Blind Spot Phenomenology. January, 2003. Psyche 9 (02). [Online] http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v9/psyche-9-02-lou.html accessed March, 2003. Sedon, J. and Kuijk, F. Eye-Savvy Eating. Science News. August, 1998. [Online] http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc98/8_15_98/food.htm accessed March, 2003. Windsor, R. and Windsor, L. Common Visual Problems of Ocular Histoplasmosis Syndrome. Vision World Wide. 2002. [Online] http://www.visionww.org/drswindsor- hystoplasmosis.htm March, 2003.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Automobile Dependency and the Working Poor Essay -- Poverty

Automobile Dependency and the Working Poor David Shipler briefly mentions in The Working Poor that lack of access to a car is one of the factors that make finding and holding a job difficult. A person in need of a job may be unable to afford a car, since car ownership is so expensive, but they may need a car because of urban sprawl and inadequate public transit networks. But just how serious is the burden of car ownership, and how exactly does under funded public transit and urban sprawl contribute to the need to take on this burden? The costs of car ownership concern motorists greatly, so it isn't difficult to find information. AAA releases an annual brochure and report called "Your Driving Costs." Their 2004 brochure reports a composite national average cost of 56.1 cents per mile over 15,000 miles of driving annually. This amounts to an annual cost of $8,415. Americans spend more of their income on their cars than they do on anything else except for shelter. A reliable car that has been paid for in full may cost $4,000 annually, but the upfront cost of a car is still great, and few Americans can afford to buy a car outright. This picture is complicated by the fact that few low-income families are able to afford a new car, which reduces the cost of financing, but these families are also likely to have poor credit which has the opposite effect. The used cars that they buy are also likely to be less reliable than the average, which increases repair costs. Clearly, owning a car is a huge financial burden. Why take it on? The problem is an urban and suburban infrastructure designed to accommodate cars at the expense of non-automotive mc and a lack of well-designed, well-funded public transit services. In the yea... ...s Amherst. 26 Feb 2006 . Ewing, et al. Measuring Sprawl and its Impact. 2002. Smart Growth America. 10 April 2006. . Oppenheimer, Laura. "Portland, Ore., Ranks Among Least Sprawling Communities in Country." Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. 18 October 2002. ABI/INFORM Dateline. ProQuest. Univ Mass Amherst. 26 February 2006 . Shipler, David K. The Working Poor: Invisible in America. 2004. New York: Vintage-Random, 2005. Sinha, Kumares C. "Sustainability and Urban Public Transportation." Journal of Transportation Engineering 129.4 (Jul-Aug 2003): 331(11). Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Host. Univ Mass Amherst. 26 February 2006 . Your Driving Costs. 2006. AAA Exchange. 26 February 2006. . Automobile Dependency and the Working Poor Essay -- Poverty Automobile Dependency and the Working Poor David Shipler briefly mentions in The Working Poor that lack of access to a car is one of the factors that make finding and holding a job difficult. A person in need of a job may be unable to afford a car, since car ownership is so expensive, but they may need a car because of urban sprawl and inadequate public transit networks. But just how serious is the burden of car ownership, and how exactly does under funded public transit and urban sprawl contribute to the need to take on this burden? The costs of car ownership concern motorists greatly, so it isn't difficult to find information. AAA releases an annual brochure and report called "Your Driving Costs." Their 2004 brochure reports a composite national average cost of 56.1 cents per mile over 15,000 miles of driving annually. This amounts to an annual cost of $8,415. Americans spend more of their income on their cars than they do on anything else except for shelter. A reliable car that has been paid for in full may cost $4,000 annually, but the upfront cost of a car is still great, and few Americans can afford to buy a car outright. This picture is complicated by the fact that few low-income families are able to afford a new car, which reduces the cost of financing, but these families are also likely to have poor credit which has the opposite effect. The used cars that they buy are also likely to be less reliable than the average, which increases repair costs. Clearly, owning a car is a huge financial burden. Why take it on? The problem is an urban and suburban infrastructure designed to accommodate cars at the expense of non-automotive mc and a lack of well-designed, well-funded public transit services. In the yea... ...s Amherst. 26 Feb 2006 . Ewing, et al. Measuring Sprawl and its Impact. 2002. Smart Growth America. 10 April 2006. . Oppenheimer, Laura. "Portland, Ore., Ranks Among Least Sprawling Communities in Country." Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. 18 October 2002. ABI/INFORM Dateline. ProQuest. Univ Mass Amherst. 26 February 2006 . Shipler, David K. The Working Poor: Invisible in America. 2004. New York: Vintage-Random, 2005. Sinha, Kumares C. "Sustainability and Urban Public Transportation." Journal of Transportation Engineering 129.4 (Jul-Aug 2003): 331(11). Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Host. Univ Mass Amherst. 26 February 2006 . Your Driving Costs. 2006. AAA Exchange. 26 February 2006. .

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Parkinsons Disease and Tissue Transplants Essay -- Health Medicine Me

For nearly 100 years neural tissue has been transplanted in animals. Transplantation of neural tissue into humans, however, began only a few years ago (1). It has been found in animals, that fetal brain grafts in damaged adult host brains reduce some of the functional deficits caused by brain lesions. Even though some neurons from the transplanted tissue survive and develop reciprocal connections with host brain tissue, this is not enough to completely replace damaged fibers and support behavioral recovery Usually the grafts will not develop a normal morphological appearance, but some metabolic activity can be found within the transplant. Release and diffusion of trophic substances from the transplant and the damaged host brain may partially restore neuronal and behavioral functions. It is hypothesized that this combination of fetal brain transplants and trophic substances may provide a better opportunity for recovery than either treatment given by itself. While this paper focuses on fetal brain grafts as a means to treat Parkinsonism, research is also being conducted in conjunction with Alzheimer’s Disease, visual, frontal, and motor cortex lesions, hippocampal lesions, and many others (2,3) There are two current approaches to neural transplantation regarding Parkinson s; adrenal medullary and fetal brain grafts. Both methods suffer from limitations in tissue availability, cellular uniformity, and general applicability. The success of neural transplantation in animal models of Parkinson’s syndrome led to its clinical application in human patients with the syndrome. Each of the two methods mentioned has advantages and disadvantages. Transplantation of adrenal medullary tissue has the advantage of ready availability of human le... ... 1990, 28: 585-599. 3. Mickley, G. A. et. al. Neural grafts attenuate behavioral deficits produced by early radiation-induced hypoplasia of fascia dentate granule cells. Brain Research, 1990, 509: 280-292. 4. Bredesen, D. E. et. al. Neural Transplantation Using Temperature-sensitive Immortalized Neural Cells: A Preliminary Report. Ann. Neurol., 1990, 27: 205-207. 5. Hirsch, E. C. et. al. Does adrenal graft enhance recovery of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease. Ann Neurol., 1990; 27: 676-682. 6. Kordower, J. H. et. al. Putative Chromaffin Cell Survival and Enhanced Host-derived TH-fiber Innervation Following a Functional Adrenal Medulla Autograft for Parkinson’s Disease. Ann Neurol., 1991; 29: 405-412. 7. Stromberg, I. et. al. Reinnervation of Dopamine-denervated striatum by Substantia Nigra Transplants. Neuroscience, 1985, 14: 981-990.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Watergate Complex :: American History Papers

The Watergate Complex "The Watergate Complex is a series of modern buildings with balconies that looks like filed down Shark's Teeth" (Gold, 1). Located on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. it contains many hotel rooms and offices. What happened in the complex on June 17, 1972 early in the morning became a very historical event for our nation that no one will ever forget. The "Watergate Scandal and constitutional crisis that began on June 17, 1972 with the arrest of five burglars who broke into the Democratic National Committee (DMC) headquarters at the Watergate office building in Washington D.C. It ended with the registration of President Richard M. Nixon on August 9, 1974. (Watergate) At approximately 2:30 in the morning of June 17, 1972 five men were arrested at the Watergate Complex. The police seized a walkie talkie, 40 rolls of unexposed film, two 35 millimeter cameras, lock picks, pensized teargas guns, and bugging devices. (Gold, 75) These five men and two co-plotters were indicated in September 1972 on charges of burglary, conspiracy and wire tapping. Four months later they were convicted and sentenced to prison terms by District Court Judge John J. Sercia was convinced that relevant details had not been unveiled during the trial and offered leniency in exchanged for further information. As it became increasingly evident that the Watergate burglars were tied closely to the Central Intelligence Agency and the Committee to re-elect the president. (Watergate) Four of these men, that were arrested on the morning of June 17, 1972, came from Miami, Florida. They were Bernard L. Barker, Frank A. Sturgis, Virgillio R. Gonzalez, and Eugenio R. Martinez. The other man was from Rockville, Maryland named James W. McCord, Jr. The two co-plotters were G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt. (Watergate) The senate established and investigative committee headed by Senate Sam Ervin, Jr., to look into the growing scandal. As they were investigating, they related that the famous break-in was far more involved than what everyone had expected. (Watergate) The White Houses involvement of that morning first became evident when James McCord wrote a letter to Judge Sirca. In this letter McCord explained that he wanted to disclose the details of Watergate. He made it apparent that he would not speak to a Justice department official of an FBI agent. Although his letter did unveil details, it made server chargers. McCord justified that "Political pressure" (Westerfled 36) had generated many defendants to plead guilty and remain silent. He also claimed that there had been whiteness at the trail who had committed perjury in order to

Monday, September 16, 2019

College Athletes Essay

For the longest time the NCAA was never a multi-billion dollar industry; many years they did not make half of that. Many big colleges had budgets that would make teams such as Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Oregon, Etc. laugh about what they were able to provide for sports. There have been questions for years about whether a college athlete should be paid or not and if athletes deserve to be paid for what they do at that level, after already being paid to go to school there, for most of the players. When athletes go to college they still put themselves in the same physical danger as a professional athlete does. The NCAA alone is a multi-billion dollar industry that generated over 845 billion dollars last year in 2011. Facts have shown that college athletes in the NCAA, on an annual salary, make zero dollars; however, it is a blessing that they are going to school for free. This business is that they get all the work done and the business they want to come in and basically the NCAA athletes work for free. Having a scholarship and having their education paid for is something great but the money they get for school is not the only money they need for the bumpy road to their profession. The billions of dollars that is received annually is nowhere close to being equitable to just a bachelor’s degree. What the student athletes are earning is a big slice of heaven to some students and their families of course, but it showed accumulate to something higher than that degree of college education. â€Å"The NCAA has been historically stubborn over changing its ways to adapt to the times. But lately, even NCAA President Mark Emmert has conceded that it may be time for college players in big money sports to start getting a cash stipend amounting to as much as a few thousand dollars per year. † (Blake Baxter, Eureka College) At least the president of the NCAA has been admiring the idea of giving money to the players and helping them through their college years. Being an athlete in college is having a job, and their job is to bust their butts at practice, come to play on game day, and repeat that cycle, with no pay. Many athletes with their schedules do not have time to make themselves meals, so they have to buy food or they drive to places where they could get it- which costs money in gas. Football and basketball at the Division One level have been the biggest suppliers of money because many of their revenues. These two sports have evolved to the level that coaches and universities are making staggering amounts of money off of the talent of their student-athletes. With the amount of money coaches and schools make, the athletes should be able to get paid for their hard work, all the pain that they put their bodies through, the countless hours of practice workouts, and classes. Surely they need to be paid for putting it all on the line. Argument #2 Many college athletes make decisions that will change their lives- such as Trent Richardson, who played for University Of Alabama. Richardson had to deal with the decision of having to raise two children while being a full time college athlete. When all this was going on, Richardson had no income what so ever, no time, and was dedicated to the football program at U of A. Richardson brought publicity to his school and to other athletes with children that they were trying to raise. While Richardson was at school playing, his two daughters would be at home with their mother watching their daddy play and kissing the screen when he would appear. â€Å"He’s a big strong guy, he’s hitting everybody in practice. And when he’s around his kids, he’s a completely different person,† running back Eddie Lacy said. â€Å"He’s real sweet. He’s a good father. † With all the strength he shows on the field and the sweetness he shares with his daughter, and the hard work he and others put out, they still earn zero dollars each year. It shows and tells all the time- he puts in time and effort to make it in life and take care of his girls â€Å"It’s a level of maturity you don’t normally find among guys his age,† running backs coach Burton Burns said. â€Å"They are a priority for him. He has a tough schedule with school and football, but he is going to find time to spend with those girls. † That level of maturity should never be second guessed and overlooked to give certain players money to get through school and help raise their family like in Richardson’s situation. He is basically working a full time job, going to school, and playing football for Coach Saben. He needs to get what he earns, which would be a little salary. A father and athlete that could say this â€Å"I don’t want them to struggle like I did, to go through the stuff I had to go through,† Richardson said. â€Å"That’s really motivated me on the field. â€Å"Because when I play with my girls on my mind, I feel like nobody can stop me. † Richardson is not the only struggling college athlete. There are a lot of other teams in college that have athletes that participate in the games and practices but do not get any profit from their hard work and dedication. Argument #3 Eric LeGrand, the former Rutgers University football player who was paralyzed from the neck down during a 2010 game, GIving the same effort that each professional athlete makes each game day. Players putting their bodies in this physical danger, and only getting a certain degree when graduating after four years of college. LeGrand the Big Defensive Lineman was on kick off team running down the field trying to make a tackle, and when hitting a player he fell to the ground and was motionless; it was devastating. â€Å"The way Eric lives his life epitomizes what we are looking for in Buccaneer Men,† Schiano said. If the NCAA would recognize the effort and the danger these athletes are put in, they would be generous and give college athletes a little salary. Players like LeGrand are why i stand behind the decision to pay the players a little profit of what they help make. Without all of these amazing athletes i dont beleive the schools would encounter most of the money they make as a university or college. NOt just football, other sports bring in huge amounts of money from ticket sales, team apparel sales, etc. College Athletes are the epitome of where all the money comes from and deserve more then a bachelor degree, and deserve a little allowance for all their hardwork, bringing in a lot of the income. Works cited http://usatoday30. usatoday. com/sports/college/football/acc/story/2012-01-08/tough-guy-richardson-softens-up-as-a-dad/52458854/1 http://www. cbssports. com/collegefootball/story/21575106/if-college-athletes-really-owe-schools-money-then-they-must-be-paid

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Blue Ridge Case †Activity Based Costing (ABC) Essay

1) Profitability Analysis: Blue Ridge Large Medium Small Total Sales $308,762.00 $183,744.00 $318,024.00 $810,530.00 Manufacturing Costs $112,552.70 $72,164.09 $162,864.09 $347,580.88 Sales and Administration Costs $78,303.47 $50,790.54 $156,805.99 $285,900.00 Total Costs $190,856.16 $122,954.63 $319,670.08 $633,480.88 Cost as % Sales 61.81% 66.92% 100.52% 78.16% Profit $117,905.84 $60,789.37 ($1,646.08) $177,049.12 Profit Margin 38.19% 33.08% -0.52% 21.84% Note: For detailed calculations please reference attached document. 2) Define action steps for Blue Ridge based on the analysis: The above customer profitability analysis indicates that the small customers have a negative profit margin. As this specific customer base accounts for 40% of Blue Ridges total sales volume we recommend the following action steps be taken in order to increase their profitability: * Develop an on line/electronic ordering system for customers in order to eliminate the high costs associated with entering purchase orders by Blue Ridge employees. Currently this represents 14.56% of total costs with 12.23% of total costs allocated to small customers. * Develop an electronic payment system for small customers, where payments are wired directly into Blue Ridges bank account before the order is processed and shipped. Currently credit checks for small customers represent  1% of total costs. * Study the effects on price increases for small customers. Currently, shipping costs for small customers represent 4.14% of the total costs, increasing the price for small customers could help offset the shipping costs. * Conduct a study on small customer orders to help determine if a minimum order requirement can help eliminate the costs associated with shipping without sacrificing the high volume. * Invest in new inking technology in order to help justify increases in prices. The investment should eliminate their customer complaints and increase their demand. * Determine the costs associated with investing in a higher quality towel and align with an appropriate sales strategy. * Determine if advertising costs are being properly allocated. * Study the effects of implementing an incentive program for the independent manufactures who achieve a certain sales volume. 3) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this customer profitability system. Did Blue Ridge define the right activities? Advantages: * The system provides managers with an insight into why differences exist in the operating incomes earned from different customers. * The system enables managers to determine profitability levels (profit contributions) of specific customer groups and highlights the costs assignable to each customer. * The system allocates costs of activities that support individual customer groups to aid in determining cost reduction strategies. * The System focuses on profit rather than turnover. * The system allocates the relevant costs associated with each customer. Disadvantages: * The system may prompt managers to make quick decision such as firing customers, instead of implementing cost cutting initiatives. * The system focuses heavily on the different types of customers rather than on the different products. * The system does not provide detailed information on the order size and frequency for each individual company within their customer group. * The system does not focus on customer behavior such as loyalty and future growth patterns. * The system does not enable managers to determine if price discounting will encourage increased purchases while minimizing profit erosion. In conclusion Blue Ridge defined the right activities; however they might want to consider conducting a product profitability analysis. This will enable them to manage the product mix more efficiently and identify future cost cutting in initiatives. In addition, we fell this would be another valuable exercise in determining weather or not going national would be profitable for Blue Ridge.

Women’s Rights Movement

The Women’s Rights Movement Women’s Suffrage is a subject that could easily be considered a black mark on the history of the United States. The entire history of the right for women to vote takes many twists and turns but eventually turned out alright. This paper will take a look at some of these twists and turns along with some of the major figures involved in the  suffrage  movement. The first recorded instance in American history where a woman demanded the right to vote was in 1647.Margaret Brent, a property owner in Maryland wanted two votes in the newly formed colonial assembly to represent her vote and the vote of Lord Baltimore whom she held power-of-attorney. (Pleck, 2007) The governor eventually turned down her demands. The 1790 constitution of New Jersey allowed women property owners the right to vote through a loophole that stated that â€Å"all inhabitants† that met property and residence requirements could vote.This loophole was closed in 1807 by a state legislator that had almost lost an election due to a women’s voting bloc. Other than these isolated incidents the first organized women’s  suffrage movement  can be traced back to the mid 1800’s with the  Seneca Falls  Convention. The organized movement started at Seneca Falls, NY with a meeting called by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. (National Women's History Museum, 2007) Both women received their start in the women’s suffrage movement by being active in the abolitionist movement.Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an important element of the Women’s Rights Movement, but not many people know of her significance or contributions because she has been overshadowed by her longtime associate and friend, Susan B. Anthony. However, I feel that she was a woman of great importance who was the driving force behind the 1848 Convention, played a leadership role in the women’s rights movement for the next fifty years, and in the wor ds of Henry Thomas, â€Å"She was the architect and author of the movement’s most important strategies ad documents. † Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in 1815 into an affluent family in Johnstown, New York.Now, while Stanton was growing up, she tried to imitate her brother’s academic achievements due to the fact that her parents, Daniel and Mary Livingston Cady, preferred their sons to their daughters. In trying to copy her male siblings, she got an extraordinary education: she went to Johnstown Academy and studied Greek and mathematics; she learned how to ride and manage a horse; she became a skilled debater; and she attended the Troy Female Seminary in New York (one of the first women ‘s academies to offer an advanced education equal to that of male academies) where she studies logic, physiology, and natural rights philosophy.However, it wasn’t her education, but watching her father, who was a judge and lawyer, handle his cases, that cause her to become involved in various women rights movements. Stanton and Mott attended the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 and were refused seating for being women. After this incident the two women started seeing a connection between the plight of slaves and the treatment of women in the United States. The women’s movement took a back seat to the slavery movement during the American Civil War as the women turned their attention to working through the war.However, after the war was over the women’s movement thought they were in a good position to win some key battles due to their war work and the attention being paid to equal rights at the time. This was not to be so as the Republicans in power believed that women’s suffrage would hurt their chances to push forth rights for freed slaves because of the widespread unpopularity of women’s rights. (National Women's History Museum, 2007)   After the war the women’s movement split into r ival factions with Stanton and Susan B.Anthony forming the National Woman’s Suffrage Association and Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe forming the American Woman’s Suffrage Association. The NWSA did not support the passing of the 15th amendment because the amendment did not address the giving of equal rights to women as well as blacks and fought against the passing of the amendment as a result. The AWSA supported the 15th amendment and wanted to fight for women’s rights in the states separately. Pleck, 2007) The two movements eventually reunited in 1890 to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association led by Susan B. Anthony until 1900 when Carrie Chapman Catt took over. Catt was integral in the strategy to work for women’s suffrage on both the federal and state level upon her re-election to president of the NAWSA in 1915 which led to another faction split between the NAWSA and a group led by Alice Paul who believed that the major push of the fight needed to be focused at the federal level. About. com, 2007)   Finally all the hard work of the women’s movement paid off in the summer of 1920 with the ratification of the 19th amendment. This was not an easily won victory however. Congress first took up the issue in 1915 but the bill lost in the voting and was shelved for almost three years. (â€Å"Women's Suffrage,† 2007) On the eve of the vote President Wilson made a widely publicized appeal for the passage of the bill and this time the bill barely passed with the need two-thirds majority.However, the bill failed to gain the necessary votes to pass the Senate even with another of President Wilson’s appeals for the passage of the bill. The bill would be voted down twice over the following year before finally gaining enough votes to pass due to Congress’ interest in having the issue solved prior to the presidential elections slated for 1920 and on June 4, 1919 the Senate voted to pass the bill to add the amendment to the constitution securing women’s rights. The effects of the 19th amendment on the United States can be seen everywhere.More women now hold public office and the United States even has a woman running for the Democratic nomination for president. The women’s voting block is one politicians cannot forget about and still have hopes of being successful. The ability of women to vote, even though sparsely used until the 1980s, changed how companies did business and what legislation was passed for respect of the potential voting power of women. More women friendly policies exist, both in the workplace and in general life, which can be attributed to the hard work of the pioneers in the women’s movement.Knowing that men controlled the ability of women to vote and that a way of life would be drastically changed makes the gains of women to vote even more amazing. I can stand back now and admire the bravery of the women who fought for what was and is right fully theirs and for the bravery of the men to do the right thing by allowing women equal rights. You can just reflect about today’s life and affairs to see that the shift from legal rights to suffrage was successful.Our public offices consist of many great female leaders, and the future for America is brighter with collaboration of men and women alike. The efforts of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns were indeed not in vain as they rallied up people to protest in unison and the results are evidenced by the American political structure today. References About. Com. (2007). Women's History: about Carrie Chapman Catt. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from About. com Web Site: http://womenshistory. about. com/library/bio/blbio_catt_carrie_chapman. htmNational Women's History Museum. (2007). Women's Suffrage exhibition. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from National Women's History Museum Web Site: http://www. nwhm. org/exhibits/tour_02-02d. html Pleck, E. (2007). Women's Suffrage. Retrieved Nov ember 24, 2007, from Scholastic Web Site: http://teacher. scholastic. com/activities/suffrage/history. htm Women's Suffrage. (2007, November 26). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_women's_suffrage_in_the_United_States