Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Media Framing - Looking at the Occupy Movement Literature review

Media Framing - Looking at the Occupy Movement - Literature review Example The study revealed that the depiction of the Occupy Movement by the various media sources differed in treatment of the phenomenon, and that the differences were largely attributed to the type of media sources broadcasting the related news. The mass media, for instance, was generally dismissive in its portrayal of the movement and described it as lacking an impact or purpose. The reviews were generally found to be in favour of the administration rather than the public. The alternative media on the other hand actively portrayed the movement as revolutionary and was more positive in its approach. In conclusion, the study revealed the manner in which different types of media sources influence the public opinion either against or in favour of the news being broadcasted and the impact and implications of the media framing in the information age. Sr. # Topic Pg. # I Introduction i.i. Aims, objectives and justification i.ii. Research questions i.iii. Methods and sources i.iv Structural overv iew 1 Media framing & Social Movements 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Defining and explaining media frames 1.3. Media framing and social movements 1.4. Conclusions 2 Occupy and the media 2.1. Mainstream media 2.2. Alternative media 3. Analysis Bibliography I. Introduction: â€Å"The media conglomerates are not the only industry whose owners have become monopolistic in the American economy. But media products are unique in one vital respect. They do not manufacture nuts and bolts: they manufacture a social and political world.† Ben Bagdikian, The New Media Monopoly The mass media plays a key role as a powerful platform for broadcasting significant events and relaying messages to the public. Such power and control commanded by the medium helps determine the course of actions and manipulates the manner in which a given incident is perceived by the audience (Nabi and Oliver, 2009: p.20). However in recent times due to the rapid advancement in technology various digital modes of communica tion have emerged, dramatically altering the realm of mass communication and redefining the way messages are communicated to the public. Regardless of the channel of communication the information transferred to the recipients are framed in order to achieve the desired objectives of the sources that relay such messages. This phenomenon referred to as ‘media framing’ was observed in the case of one of the most prominent social occurrences in recent times – The Occupy Movement. i. Aims, Objectives, and Justification: Aims: To explore the concept of media framing and its influence on social movements To understand the manner in which a certain event is framed by the media and discuss the common types of media frames used by them. To investigate the manner in which the Occupy movement was framed by the U.S. media Objectives: To examine the various types of frames used to by the media in depicting similar events To observe the shift in use of frames over time i.e. past to present as well as with regard to the timeline of the event in question To explore and analyse the variation in frames used among different media outlets within the mass media as well as those used by the alternative media (such as generic blogs vs. mainstream newspapers) Justification: The study of media framing is of extreme significance

Monday, October 28, 2019

Conservation of biological Diversity Essay Example for Free

Conservation of biological Diversity Essay Conservation of biological diversity is the most important aspect on the globe since all demands of human existence are entirely dependent on it. Domestic, industrial, and leisure considerations of human existence are derived from nature. Recently, the focus on biodiversity conservation has increased owing to the greater levels of understanding on the local and international significance of conservation. Since the first United Nations Convention on Human Environment held in Stockholm 1972, the disparities between conservation and development have come to the lime light with great emphasis (Clifford Clifford, 61-62). However, conservation analysts have continued to differ over the overall effects of the international conservation rules in enhancing harmony that inculcates human being as a subcomponent of the ecosystem in which they exist. Whereas misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the term conservation has recurred for a long time, UNEP points out that it is the overall use of biological resources while enhancing their resilience to enhance inter and intra generational equity. The term conservation has been used interchangeably with preservation a notion which is totally wrong. The later denotes taking care of the biological diversity without exploiting them or their proceeds. Biological diversity (biodiversity) is a term used to indicate variations of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or the whole earth. It also encompasses the variability of living organisms from all sources, that include inter alia, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic and ecological complexes that they are part. This includes diversity within species, between them, and ecosystems (James Kim et al, 193-195). 2. Overview of the paper This paper explores conservation of biological diversity with an aim of establishing the existing conservation strategies present on a global scale and assessing their effectiveness. Tracing the origin of the concerns for conservation, the paper uses statistics to indicate the current situation of biodiversity conservation and threats globally. To add to that, it explores the policy and legislative framework to address the threats on a global scale and their domestication by various states. Using examples, the paper seeks to establish the future of conservation and the factors that will determine effective conservation of the biological diversity. 3. Background and statistics Conservation of biological diversity has existed since historic times where most of the communities lived and co-existed with the natural flora and fauna without posing any threat to it. Notably, after the settling of the Red Indians in Northwest Coast and Southwestern regions of North America, they totally relied on the wild without causing any threat to them. However, the modern conservation ideals are mostly linked to the first United Nations Convention on Human Environment which was held in Stockholm Sweden in 1972 (Clifford Clifford, 102-105). It was this meeting that resolved to form the United Nations Environment Program to act as the main body responsible for environment and conservation globally. Conservation biologists have indicated that the world is threatened with extinction than any other period in history. Global extinction is estimated to be 10, 000 higher than the natural background extinction rate. 32% of all the global surviving amphibians are threatened with extinction. Over the last 50 years, it is estimated that two-thirds of all the mammal genera weighing about 44 Kg (97lb) have become extinct. To add to that, 12% of all birds in the globe and 23% of all mammals are listed in the IUCN Red Data Book. By the year 2000, about 27% of the entire world coral reefs had collapsed and by 2050 extinction rates will range from 15% to 37% for all the planet species (IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management, 60-65). Of greater concern is that about 70% of all the studied plants have been designated as threatened or endangered. 4. Threats to conservation of biological diversity a) Industrial and Agricultural activities Since industrial revolution, advancement in technology has heightened the rate of natural resources exploitation from the natural system. This increase in exploitation has directly or indirectly affected the flora, fauna, or their habitat with a great extent. Currently, massive whaling industries in the pacific have resulted to the great decline of the species. After the discovery of â€Å"new lands† (currently North America), the British industrialists embarked on large scale harvesting of the forest products that threatened vast species of flora and fauna in the region. Of greater concern, is the wildlife products sale and use that have endangered biodiversity like the Tragelaphus speke, Myotis leibii, Lamptetra bifrenatus, Ambystoma opacum, Crotalus horridus, and Sterna dougalii among others. In addition species like Gavia, immer, Martes americana, Notropis bifrenatus, and Clemmys guttata have become threatened with time (Mark, 280-300). Agricultural activities on the other hand have encroached into most of the biodiversitys habitats due to the demand from the rising population to be fed. At this point, agriculturalists have shallowly argued that it is more important to feed the people as opposed to conservation. To add to that, modern agricultural activities have resulted to use of inorganic and toxic agro-chemicals that poison the flora and fauna. Pesticides and fertilizer remnants are easily swept to the aquatic ecosystems during the rainy seasons killing or inducing mutations in the biological systems. b) Pollution As indicated earlier, industrial productions most negative effect is probably pollution emitted to the natural systems. Notably, production of goods is operated on a totally capitalistic note where reduction of production costs is strongly emphasized. As a result, pollution control and waste management has taken a back hand in most of these industries and urban establishment. Therefore, they release most of their wastes directly into the ecosystems where massive poisoning of flora and fauna takes place. During the United Nations Convention on Environment and Development in 1992 at Rio-de-Janeiro, agenda 21 indicated the great need to control pollution by the member states. Of greater concerns was the direct emission of heavy metals that undergo bio-magnification and bio-accumulation to the environment. These toxicants have long tern effects and shift upwards to affect all level of food chain in an ecosystem. Glenn et al (540-545), emphasis the earlier connotation of the Silent springs on the trans-boundary nature of pollutants which results to extended impacts on a global scale. Rachael Carson found out that even after chemicals are used, they are transported via environmental dynamics to far places like the Polar Regions where she noted extensive death of penguins. c) Monopolistic application of conservation policies Notably, conservation of biodiversity has become a hard nut to crack due to lack of harmony in the overall design and application of conservation consideration between states. Though diplomacy has recently taken an upper hand in ensuring amicable resolution of conflicts, conservation of biodiversity still lags behind. This has been prompted by the varying priorities by different administrations and countries authorities’ consideration. This has especially been noted with the migratory birds in the world where they shift to various regions during different seasons. According to David (254-257) about 50% of the birds found in the Northern Hemisphere migrate towards the tropics during winter and back in springs. David continues to say that the Bar Tailed Godwit and the Sooty Shearwater have especially been under great threat from massive wetlands destruction. To add to that, Mara and Serengeti ecosystems (seventh wonder of the world) is under threat due to extensive destruction of forests that supply water to the fragile downstream ecosystem. 5. International laws, regulations and policy framework a) UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program) As indicated earlier, the United Nations Conference on Human Environment which resulted to formation of UNEP was the main beginning for conservation concerns. The body was established with the overall mandate of coordinating all environmentally related issues globally. It was especially charged with the responsibility of ensuring that conservation of biodiversity was strictly enhanced. As a result, it organized the Convention on Biological Diversity that was held in Rio-De-Janeiro in the year 1992. The latter is considered to be the most comprehensive meeting in the history of conservation as it formed the main guidelines for conservation of biodiversity in the member states which it broke into three main considerations: (1) Conservation of biological diversity by the member states with short and long term considerations (2) Sustainable use of its components (3) Fair and equitable sharing of the proceed resulting from consideration (2) It formed the main platform for the later conservation initiatives like Cartagena protocol and played a key role in establishment of Kyoto protocol. Holistically, the Convention on Biological Diversity is envisaged on precautionary principle which calls for greater concern and study of all impacts that would result to the biodiversity destruction upon establishment of various projects (European Union, 9-12). b) Ramser Convention (The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance) This convention was established to assist in conservation of wetlands that have international importance. Notably, most of the wetlands have usefulness that goes beyond their territorial jurisdictions either culturally, economically, scientifically, and have extensive recreational values. The convention came to force in 1975 and by the year 2000, about 1, 630, 000 square kilometers in 1, 021 sites had been designated. Canada has the greatest area of designated wetlands of 130, 000 square kilometers. Notably, this convention has particularly assisted the migratory bird species that occasionally uses these wetlands (William James et al, 495-500).

Saturday, October 26, 2019

iceman - preservation Essay -- essays research papers fc

1. Explain why the iceman was so well preserved? ( source one) It is said that a frozen body will stay preserved over hundreds, even thousand of years. During the first stage of investigations Austrian archaeologist Konrad Spindler researched the layout which had proved that the iceman’s body position and placement of weapons were preserved in the same position from when the Iceman had died, it had also been proved that the body was initially covered in a thin layer of snow which had helped complete the freeze drying process before it turned into ice. The body had been so well preserved because of the depth that the Iceman was actually lying in the ground, which was near the watershed (watershed meaning a line of high land where streams on one side flow into one river or sea and streams on the other side flow into another.) This meant that a glacier would be able to develop above him throughout the next millennia without moving his position down hill. In this position he was able to remain buried, frozen, covered and protected by the cold over a period of 5,300 years as the worlds oldest, best preserved natural mummy. 2a) What purpose do you think the tattoo served? (Source 2) Scientists believe that the Iceman’s tattoo’s were first applied in 3,200 BC, the first evidence of acupuncture. Based on this information I believe that this ‘cruciform tattoo’ was marked on the iceman’s body in order to serve as a medical and therapeutic purpose, as it was discovered that he suffered from Acute Arthritis, Worms and Diarrhoea. Dr Frank Bahr (President of the German Academy for Acupuncture) who studies the trends and patterns of the iceman’s tattoos, believes that the cruciform, meaning cross-shape, tattoo and a master point tattoo on his back were applied in order to treat rheumatism. Bahr says â€Å""These points would still be selected by the best acupuncturists today." "It is the most common combination for treating rheumatic illness." Bahr also discovered 15 other smaller groups of tattoos marked on the Iceman’s back and legs which form an ancient acupuncture chart developed in central Europe, 2000 years before china. Bahr states â€Å"I was amazed , 80% of the points correspond to those used in Acupuncture today.† 2b) How does this influence previous historical concept of body art? Body art is one of the oldest forms of creative expression ... ...le to be Bias as there is no variety from where and who the opinions come from, they are one sided views which no one has attempted to prove or disprove in this particular article. 3c) Who is the main audience or who is source 10 aimed at? Source 10 is mainly aimed at an audience of an older mature group both male and female who particularly take an interest in science and history as the article has been printed in â€Å"Science Today† . Bibliography Konarad Spindler (1995) The Man In The Ice, Orion Books, London Chapter 13 Page 69-71 Chapter 15 Page 77-81 Chapter 17 Page 80-83 Toni Hurley, Philippa Medcalf, Jan Rolph (2000) Antiquity 1 Second Edition, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne Victoria, Australia Chapter 1 Page 5 Chapter 10 Page 103, 104, 113 Scott Fetzer (1991) The World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc, Chicago London Sydney Toronto Reference - B number 2 page 648 Left page right column. http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/otzi.htm Last updated 2000 http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/iceman/iceman.html Last updated 2005 http://www.fashion-era.com/jewellery.htm Last updated 1999 http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/clothing2.html Last updated 2003

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Islam, Apostasy and Missions Essay

Sharkey’s Empire and Muslim Conversion: Historical Reflections on Christian Missions in Egypt, Kieser’s Mission as A Factor of Change in Turkey (Nineteenth to first half of Twentieth Century) and Erhan’s Ottoman’s Official Attitude Toward American Missionaries and a chapter from Timothy Marr’s work â€Å"The Cultural Roots of American Islamicism†, are scholarly enterprises that provides a comprehensive details about some historical phenomenon pertaining to Christian Missionaries, Islamic world and American History. All these articles refer to missionaries’ activities in the different geographical region within Islamic world but all these indicate similarities in their social and political orientations, their patterns and procedures and their successes and failures. All the authors have tried to present different aspects of missionary activities in the Islamic world with different approaches of historiography. But mostly all of them have illustrated the Mission’s movements in the Western hemisphere of the Islamic world. Egypt and Ottoman empire during the 19th century and early 20th century with a brief references to other parts of Islamic world (Mostly Sharkey has provided succinct comparisons with Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia etc. ) hither and thither. Their methodology to explore the historical realities, to analyze the issue and to provide judgments remains different. For example, Sharkey like a distinguished historian approaches the question with professional integrity and objectivity and restrains himself from providing sweeping conclusions about the whole scenario that he has analyzed intensively and extensively. He only provides the verified and verifiable arguments in support of his thesis and tries to coverall the aspects of evolution of phenomenon of Mission activity, their triumphs and failures and applies these historical judgments to the contemporary situation and ruling tenet of Clash of Civilization. Whereas Hans-Lucas Kieser arguments lucidly without relying much on primary and secondary sources but sometimes he adopts an authoritative stance over some issue without providing any substantial proof. Although Erhan also mulls over the phenomenon of Missionary activity in the Ottoman Empire but he has considered a specific issue of Ottoman’s official attitudes toward theses Evangelical missions. Other writer like Sharkey and Kieser touch some aspects of Ottoman’s approach and policies toward these missionaries but Erhan discusses these exhaustively along with the diplomatic relations between Ottoman Empire and United States of America in the early 18th century and how these relations affected the American missionaries status in the geographical domain of Ottoman empire. Timothy Marr postulates his theory first and then draws on far-fetched intellectual arguments to support his thesis. He collects all the historical evidences that can support his thesis and arrange them in a way so that they seem converging on a single point i. e. to draw parallels between major tenets of abolitionist spirit with romantic perception of Islamic world. He takes into account the whole Antebellum period. The ultimate purposes of all the articles seem to develop an understanding of the patterns and processes of Evangelical missionaries work in the Muslim world and its implications in the contemporary scenario (except Timothy Marr that analyzes the effect of Ismaicism on antislavery movement in America). Sharkey’s work is of great importance in this regard as its intention is to trace down the roots of Missionary activity in the Anglo-American imperialism and to locate the causes of the origin of post-colonial trend of considering these missionaries as neo-crusaders and proponents of anti-Islamic neo-imperialism by the Muslim masses. Kieser’s article seems to create a justification based on historical facts and figures that Missionaries in the Ottoman empires were â€Å"actors of social and mental change†. He tries to subvert the popular Muslim notion that Christian missionaries were carters of anti-Muslim agenda. Erhan’s â€Å"Ottoman Official Attitudes Toward American Missionaries† give the impression of a complete intellectual exercise to advance some historical findings. All the writers have specified a special period of Evangelical missionary activities in a particular geographical location. Sharkey takes into account the Missionary activities in Egypt but does not bind himself to chronological limits. He covers the colonial and post-colonial eras but pays special attention to the imperialistic moves of Anglo-American nations and their correlation with the missionary activities of the Anglo-American Churches. Kieser consider the activities of ABCFM in the Ottoman Empire especially the Armenian and Assyrian provinces in the 19th century and first half of 20th century. Sharkey, Kieser and Erhan adopts the same argumentative line about the gradual evolution of missionary activity and acknowledged rightfully explained the phenomenon of Missionaries’ premature activities to convert Muslim to the Christianity, their realization of the impossibility of the efforts and diversion to other socio-religious groups and minorities in the same geographical area. Sharkey says that although Ottoman’s political moves of â€Å"liberalism and tolerance† under the Anglo American imperial influence has facilitated the missionary activities but socio-cultural compulsions remained there that hindered the way of missionaries and kept them away from an agenda of conversion. So conversion of majority Muslims was a fruitless effort. So zealous missionaries turned their attention to the Orthodox Christians of the area i. e. to convert native orthodox Coptic Christians to Protestants. Kieser has analyzed the same pattern of diversion among the missionaries of ABCFM (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions) in Ottoman Empire. He illustrates that â€Å"The first Missionaries of ABCFM learnt early on the impossibility of evangelizing the members of Ottoman ummet†¦Their resistance to conversion was partly due the strong legal an social sanctions against conversions, but not only to that. Like the Jews, for deep historical and psychological reasons, the Muslims remained on the whole impermeable to the enthusiastic approach of the Protestants. † (Kieser, p. 392-393) He further asserts that â€Å"therefore the ABCFM concentrated its work on the Assyrians, Armenians and Greek minorities and kept in contact with Muslim marginals. † (p. 393) Erhan takes a different stance and says that the initials efforts of the American missionary were directed toward Jews living at Palestine (p. 316) but soon realized that Jew were â€Å"tight-knit religious community and thus largely immune to Christian evangelical activities† ( Erhan, p. 315) But he further illustrates that Christian missionaries were diverted to their fellow Christian with Eastern version of Christianity. All these writers have assessed the situation precisely as Quranic injunctions and â€Å"Shariah’s† rulings that consider Islam as the final version of divine religions that encompass the teachings and tenets of Christianity and Judaism. These Islamic doctrines further hold that â€Å"Murtid† i. e. convert, has no place in Islamic society. These injunctions are psychologically and emotionally absorbed in the Muslims minds so the ultimate result of apostasy was social outcast and in some cases death penalty.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Stock Track Simulation Sample

PART1-Investment Policy Statement Purpose of Policy Statement The purpose of the Policy Statement is to create an agreement between XXXX, YYY, and ZZZ to collectively manage a mock $1,000,000 portfolio during the 2011 fall semester. It will define the investment objectives, strategies, and risks associated with this portfolio. Investment Objectives The objective of our team is to seek capital appreciation of portfolio in three months.Moreover, given the little risk tolerance of the team, our nominal return should exceeds the rate of inflation over some period of the time through capital gains, and increase the purchase power of our group. The chosen benchmark to beat is the S&P index. Investment Strategies Our investment strategies are somewhere in between to maximize expected returns and to minimize risks. We use Market timing as one of our strategies to maximum our returns. The market timing strategy is to making buy or sell decisions of financial assets by attempting to predict fu ture market price movements.The prediction is based on an outlook of market or economic conditions resulting from technical or fundamental analysis. Also we another strategy is to analysis base on performance of a particular financial asset. The start-up fund was divided into six parts: 10% cash, 5% mutual funds, 55% stocks, 30% bonds, and may vary by+/-5%. Given the short time frame, liquidity is a concern and as such long-term speculative investments such as real estate, art and antiques, and collectibles will be avoided.Only those investments than can be traded on a short-term notice will be used. Taxes and trading costs will not be considered since this is a simulation. Investment Risk On the grounds of strong risk aversion expressed within the team, risk bearing in excess of general market risk is not tolerated. Moreover, the team strives to mitigate the inevitable share of market risk as much as possible. As to the weight assigned to each stock that is central to risk control, there is a cap of 25% of the fund that is available to each stock.No extra use of fund is allowed on single stock basis. PART2-Methodology 1. Well-Diversified & Best Risk-Return Trade-off Portfolios After we established the investment policy that specified our investment objectives, risk tolerance, allocation of different types of securities in details, we then sought for the best selections of securities. Generally, our first methodology was very simple but useful: maintain an appropriate level of portfolio diversification, and maximize the total return on our investment meanwhile limit the total risk.According to this basic approach, firstly, we divided our bond investment into four portions equally in Treasury Bonds and different corporate bonds, which enjoyed good credits, rated above A, and operated stable and profitable in the long-run: |Table1 Bond Selections | | |Coupon Rate/Maturity |Rating | |T-Note |3. 75%/15-Feb-2013 |AAA | |MetLife Inc. |5. 000%/15-Jun-2015 |A | |Morg an Stanley |5. 250%/02-Feb-2012 |A | |Merck & Co Inc. |4. 000%/30-Jun-2015 |AA | Secondly, with respect to the reserved attitude for mutual funds, our team decided to only invest in two of them, taking up 5% of our whole portfolio value totally.The following table provides summary information on these two funds: |Table2 Mutual Fund Selections | | |Blackrock Aggressive Prepared P (BCAPX) |Goldman Sachs Trust Equity Growth (GAPAX) | |Category |Large Blend |World Stock | |YTD Return |-3. 94% |-5. 30% | |Morningstar Overall Rating | | |Beta |1. 01 |0. 96 | |Mean Annual Return |1. 02 |1. 00 | |R-squared |96. 63 |95. 10 | |Standard Deviation |20. 05 |22. 64 | |Sharp Ratio |0. 0 |0. 52 | |Treynor Ratio |10. 53 |10. 21 | |Source: www. yahoo. com/finance | |www. reuters. com/finance | |All information are based on 3 years performance of the mutual funds |Finally, we would invest into two major kinds of stocks with different risk-return trade-offs. We would buy and hold value stocks from well-known, high-credited and strong firms with the attempt to diversify our portfolio and gain a stable growth. On the other hand, we would also choose some other growth stocks, which were generally characterized as higher-risky, non-US and more volatile, aiming at buying them low and selling them high to â€Å"speculate† or â€Å"gamble† the extraordinary gains in a relatively short period.Due to the complex and crucial features for stock selection, we thereafter developed a comprehensive procedure particularly, called a blend of â€Å"Specific Analysis† and â€Å"Overall Analysis† by our own, to help us select our portfolio wisely. 2. Specific Fundamental Analysis When choosing the value stocks, we primarily applied the fundamental analysis including different kinds of analyses for sectors, firm’s specific potentials, cash flows, earnings, and dividends. This procedure had approximate four steps: To begin with, we would view the sector and firm ’s overall ability because we were buying a business, not a stock.Generally, corporates in prosperous industries and growing stages would likely take our prior consideration. An important indicator to show whether a corporate has potential ability was the historical prices of its stock. Therefore, a long-run descend stock price usually implied the decline of the firm, which largely against our favor. Then we needed more fundamental analysis for a firm’s earning ability in depth, such as earning per share that shows how well earning support its shareholders’ benefits and the P/E ratio that indicates how investors expect its future earning power.General speaking, we preferred earning growth at least 7% annually and P/E ratios at the lowest 10% of all equity securities when selecting the growth stocks. After viewing a firm’s possible return, we next looked into another important factor-the risks along with the firm. Basically we would like to know the firmâ €™s Beta that measures how much the systematic risk affects the firm’s stock and the leverage ratio that discloses its financial stability and stress. Thus we were looking for firms having low Beta and D/E ratio of no more than 1.Finally, we would use the discounted cash flow model to find out the reasonable market value for the firm’s stock and to see whether it is incorrectly undervalued by the market. The following table provided the summary of our holding-oriented equity securities: |Table3 Stock Selections | | | |Google Inc. (GOOG) | |New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. EDU) | 3. Overall Performance Analysis After well knowing the firms and their stocks we chosen from the comprehensive selection procedure, we took one more step to mix then together and see how much our portfolio’s overall proposition fits our objectives and expectations. We decided to combine all equity securities, bonds and mutual funds, which we would like to hold for a rel atively long time span and calculate the overall expected rate of return and risk using Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). 4.Tracking and Monitoring Process While the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) claimed that the stock prices were reflecting all relevant news and information and always showing the inherent value of the company, valuing a stock was just a vain attempt. Our team members, however, were more inclined to believe that the EMH was honestly set up in the academic wonderland. Thus, beside the stock valuation analysis addressed above, we also made the agreement that paying attention to both whole market and firm specific news on daily basis and making appropriate adjustments according to the news in time.In addition, we would keep tracking and recording our portfolio’s overall performance and rating on a week basis meanwhile monitoring the growth stock’s specific performance on daily basis because day-time monitoring and trading could enable us to avoid th e big loss due to the high volatility of them and grab the best time to gain the extraordinary profits. PART3-Microanalysis of the Market During this stock simulation, our group has learned that it’s quite instrumental to analyze and, if possible, follow the market trend for the sake of wise investment.Hence, microanalysis of the market is equally, and sometimes more important as the number analysis. Since the stock simulation only lasted for three months, out group mainly did the short-term analysis. Depending on our analysis, world’s financial market has become more volatile and unpredictable for the short run, primarily because the global economy grows sluggishly and involves more risky events. Several reasons are illustrated as follows. The euro zone debt crisis is the number one big headache. The debt problem in Europe has become persistent and pervasive. Greece experienced the most serious situation.Simply, Greece has borrowed much more money than they can pay ba ck. Italy is in better financial shape, but still risky since investors continued demand high interest rate of its bond. Other countries, such as Spain and even France, the second largest euro zone economy, have also been under pressure as investors question the creditworthiness of every euro zone government. Consequently, the global stocks, especially European and American Stocks have caught the euro zone flu. Investors have become super sensitive about each piece of information associated with the term, euro zone.Our group has recorded that the Dow Jones Industry Average index fluctuated mostly following the euro zone policy changes. It soared rapidly when European Union announced the Greek rescue plan and plumped immediately when the Greek government announced the Greek referendum the next day. â€Å"Markets always want short, sharp, simple solutions. † said Bob Janjuah, fixed income analyst at Nomura Securities (‘The eurozone†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, 2011). † In additi on, the future of U. S. economy is ambiguous. U. S. has been through a tough time since the subprime mortgage crisis. Analysts share different point of views about whether U.S. is experiencing a recovery or recession. First, the macroeconomic data tells an unclear story. The growth rate of real GDP (As illustrated by the figure below) in the third quarter is 2. 0%, higher than the previous two quarters. While compared to the previous year, we can see the U. S. economy has slowed down. Though the U. S. economy has jumped out of the mire in 2008, it remains unstable. While we focusing on the recent year data, we can see no big signal of an up-coming boom or bust. As showed below, the unemployment rate has remained above 9 percent.New jobs are created, but not sufficient. Average Hourly Earnings remains the same. CPI and PPI both declined on October, primarily due to the decline of energy price. In addition, the 2011 U. S. fiscal policy remains neutral. The market is unlikely to get fu rther stimulus. Also we can forecast an increase in the rate of fiscal tightening at the federal level over the next period of time. Overall, U. S. economy still remains unsustainable and U. S. financial market is highly sensitive, which can be immediately shocked by each piece of up-coming information, whether positive or negative. Table4 United States – Monthly Data | |Data Series | | |Our Value |Rank |S&P500 |Comparison with peers | | | | | |Google |Kraft |BRK-B |BP | |09/13/2011 |529. 2 |34. 23 |68. 85 |36. 45 | |09/20/2011 |546. 63 |34. 52 |69. 72 |38. 77 | |09/27/2011 |539. 34 |34. 93 |72. 07 |37. 94 | |10/4/2011 |501. 90 |32. 86 |73. 17 |35. 42 | |10/11/2011 |543. 8 |34. 40 |73. 41 |38. 36 | |10/18/2011 |590. 51 |35. 24 |75. 07 |41. 11 | |10/25/2011 |583. 16 |34. 93 |75. 74 |43. 52 | |11/1/2011 |578. 65 |34. 56 |75. 52 |42. 72 | |11/8/2011 |612. 4 |35. 48 |78. 16 |44. 70 | |11/15/2011 |616. 56 |35. 48 |75. 93 |43. 70 | |11/18/2011 |594. 88 |34. 77 |75. 37 |42. 48 | |To tal Return |12. 34% |1. 58% |9. 47% |16. 54% | Source: www. google. com/financeFrom the table and graph above, we could clearly see that the best performer in our portfolio was BP with a 16. 54% total return, while the worst one was Kraft with a total return of 1. 58% during the holding period. Among all of the four holding-oriented securities, the only one underperformed than the benchmark, namely S&P500, was Kraft. All other three stocks had much better return than the S&P500 of 3. 64%. Overall, these observe actually proved that our selection approach for holding-oriented stocks was successful. PART5-Conclusion What we did successfully:Generally speaking, the first class we learned from this three-month stock simulation is how to select stocks and establish a portfolio wisely and systematically. From initially setting up the investment policy, we explored how to select and allocate the individual securities, how to diversify our portfolio to minimize the risks, and how to find th e best return-risk trade-off for our portfolio. Through this procedure, we really needed to use all financial knowledge we have learned before, including fundamental analysis, ratio analysis, technical analysis, free cash flow analysis and so on.Another significant difference is that we did pay a lot attention to follow macroeconomic and financial news, as well as particular news about our securities. It brought us more quickly and sensitive observe ability to what happened all over the world than before. In addition, we did well on diversifying our portfolio and minimize the systematic risks. Since we established an investment policy in details that we strictly implemented, we had everything under control and didn’t expose to any extraordinary risks out of our expectation.What we would improve in the future: Unfortunately, we did beat the benchmark performance finally, although we once did well and ranked better during the trading period. Firstly, we had to admit that someti mes we have delayed trading and tracking our portfolio, resulting in great losses on some particular stocks. Besides, we had limited experience on daytime trading and using on-time information, so we sometimes encounter unexpected results. For example, we sold Apple’s stocks immediately after we got the news about its CEO, Steven Jobs’s death.However, as we all know, the Apple’s price wasn’t affected a lot in the next trading date. In the way that was expected, unlike our holding-oriented stocks, our gambling-oriented stocks general performances were typically unsatisfied. Therefore, we concluded that wisely selecting stocks according to the macroeconomics and fundamental analysis and then holding them for a relatively long period would be the best way to gain profit from security market.Interestingly, we also found that people might not that know themselves on risk tolerance. Whatever from our investment policy or our trading strategy and results, our po rtfolio is somewhat risk-averse, so we well diversified our investment and always holding a relatively high level of bonds and mutual funds, as well as some excess cash. Interesting finding is that, however, our group members got all high-risk-tolerance ranking in the survey that we finished on class. Appendix1 Ratio Calculation Spreadsheet pic] Appendix2 Class Ratings [pic] References â€Å"The eurozone debt crisis just won't quit†, retrospect from: http://finance. yahoo. com/news/eurozone-debt-crisis-just-wont-211300837. html â€Å"StanChart warns on China’s local-government debt†, retrospect from: http://www. marketwatch. com/story/stanchart-warns-on-chinas-local-government-debt-2011-09-20 Data, retrospect from www. yahoo. com/finance Data, retrospect from www. reuters. com/finance Data, retrospect from www. google. com/finance

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Traditional Medicines Essays

Traditional Medicines Essays Traditional Medicines Essay Traditional Medicines Essay A Research Guide in Nursing Education, 4th Edition. , copyrighted in 1997, 2003, 2006, pg 262 SAMPLING PROCEDURE The researcher will use the simple random sampling wherein the selection of samples on random basis from a sampling frame. Each element has an equal chance or probability of being chosen as subject of the study. STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF DATA Statistics is one way of getting the information’s organized. To have a general view of the whole scenario of the study, statistical tool is used. This also includes the scaling system, which is used by the proponents as a technique to monitor the respondent’s interpretation of facts. 2 After the distribution and collection of the instrument, the responses are tallied by using the frequency, mean, weighted mean and ranking. Below are the Formulas used to arrive to the computation used by the Statistical Tool: 2 scribd. com/doc/11757473/Thesis-Chapter-2-3-Final Where n = number of respondents who are perceived pseudoscience T = total number of respondent. Mean = F(X1 + X2 + †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Xn) n Where: F = Frequency that a given X was chosen by the respondents X = Represents any of the numerical ratings 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 represents, excellent, very good, good, fair, poor n = Total number of respondents Weighted mean WM = TFV N Where: TFV= stands for total frequency value N= stands for the total number of respondents The response options were assigned could be determined with equivalents and scale below: ValueScaleInterpretation 13. 50=aboveVery dissatisfied 22. 50-3. 49Dissatisfied 31. 50-2. 49Satisfied 41. 49 -belowVery satisfied Please indicate your response to the following statements. | | Strongly Agree| Agree| Disagree| Strongly Disagree| I have faith in traditional healers. | | | | | | | I believe that their supernatural healing-power is given by God. | | | | | | | I have had positive experiences in consulting traditional healers. | | | | | | | I will recommend traditional healers to my friends. | | | | | | | I consult first traditional healers than true doctors. | | | | | | | It is safe to consult traditional healers. | | | | | | | It does not cost expensive. | | | | | | | | What is your reason/s in patronizing traditional healers as your alternative medication? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________| Your co-operation in completing this study by responding to the following questions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Mark for your answer. Name of the school: School’s address: Name: Age a. 35 and below__ b. 36-45__ c. 46-55__ d. 56 and above__ Gender a. Male__ b. Female__ Position a. Principal__ b. Head teacher__ c. Master teacher__ d. Classroom teacher__ e. Others: Please kindly state ____________________ Religion a. Roman Catholic__ b. Iglesia Ni Cristo__ c. Born Again__ d. Muslim__ e. Protestant__ f. United Methodist__ g. Others: Please specify __________________ Current Marital Status a. Single__ b. Married__ c. Separated__ d. Divorced__ e. Widowed__ Number of children ____________ Average how long you spend time in consulting traditional healers a. Below 1 hour__ b. 1-2 hours__ c. 2-3 hours__ d. 3 hours and above __ Past or current health problem/s that you consulted to traditional healers (included your family) a. Nakagat ng hayop (aso, ahas atbp) __ b. Nakulam__ c. Nanganak__ d. Namatanda__ e. Nagpatuli__ f. Nausog__ g. Nagpatawak__ h. Nagpahilot__ i. Nagpasuob__ j. Nagpadasal__ k. Others: Please specify _________________ How much money did you spend on consulting traditional healers? a. Below 100 pesos__ b. 100-300 pesos__ c. 300-500 pesos__ d. 500 and above__

Monday, October 21, 2019

Reading Aloud Essay Example

Reading Aloud Essay Example Reading Aloud Paper Reading Aloud Paper I. INTRODUCTION Reading aloud activity is commonly used by teachers all around the world. However,most ELT methodology authors such as Broghton,Brumfit,Flavell,Hill,and Pincas, on the other hand some speacialists suggest its use. The discussion about reading aloud is a perennial one. It has been discussed over thirty years or more,reading aloud is beneficial or just a time filler. In recent years,it is proven to be a useful tool while acquiring vocabulary,developing reading skills and comprehension of context. Reading aloud effects language learning in a positive manner. There will be a comprehensive revision of reading aloud and will be answered the following questions: 1-What are the effects of read-aloud activities? 2-What are the advantages or disadvantages of reading aloud activities? 3-How can teachers use read-aloud activities to enhance student’s ability to read? II. THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT READING ALOUD Reading aloud is regarded as bad practice by EFL/ESL teachers and by EFL/ESL methodology experts(Amer, 1997, 43). For example, Hill and Dobbyn(1979: 69) consider that reading aloud is only a way of filling 45 minutes in classroom and reading aloud is not beneficial for students(cited in Amer, 1997, 43). Other oppositions to reading aloud claim that: It is boring, causing anxiety and it has no noteworthy benefit for the students, particularly for the listeners. Reading aloud is a complicated activity to do well both for native speakers and language learners, so this might cause demotivation of students (Gibson, 2008, 29 30). The pupils might be handicapped by English spelling and make mistakes in the pronunciation of words they know orally (Birch cited in Gibson, 2008, 30). ‘A frequently cited reason for using reading aloud is for the improvement of pronunciation. However, doubt is cast on the effectiveness of this by Celce-Murcia, Brinton, and Goodwin (1996) because of the controlled and therefore slightly unnatural texts that are often used; these do not neccessarily help pronunciation in spontaneous speech(cited in Gibson,2008, 30). These texts usually edit redundancy, fragmentation, and incompleteness which feature in everyday speech(Gibson, 2008, 30). ’ Reading aloud is actually important for the EFL/ESL readers, especially at the beginning of learnig the language. These learners tend to read word by word because of their limited linguistic skill while reading to themselves. They have anxiety to coprehend each word, they tend to seperate sentences into unmeaningful parts when they read. As a result, the sentences lose their totality so they become meaningless (Dhaif cited in Amer, 1997, 43). III. THE EFFECTS OF THE TEACHER’S READING ALOUD ON STUDENTS The role of reading aloud in EFL/ESL learning has not researched very much, but some studies has been made. For example; May (1986: 74) researched the effect of theacher’s reading aloud in English on the reading understanding of native Spanish-speaking children. He found out that the research favours use of reading aloud with EFL students regardless of linguistic level (cited in Amer, 1997, 44). Another study with Spanish-Speaking children has shown that reading aloud has an important positive effect on ESL learners’ reading comprehension, especially their ability to inter-relate, interpret and draw conclusions from the content (Santos cited in Amer, 1997: 44). An experiment made by Amer (1997) in order to find out the effect of the teacher’s read aloud on the reading comprehension of sixth-grade EFL learners reading a narrative text. He divided into two classes the students from an intermediate school in Cairo. The experimental class involves 39 students and the control class involves 36 students. All of the students had been studying EFL for six years. The Perfect Pearl by Osborne(1989) was used in the study. Then, the story was divided into four part and all parts were taught one by one in different days. Different teachers taugt each class. The teacher who taught the experimental class was trained by Amer to read the whole story aloud meaningfully. The key vocabulary in the part was given and it is read in the classroom, it is discussed and explained. To keep learners motivated and interested, they were told to read silently when the teacher read aloud. For keeping learners attention, teacher stopped at random spots in the text and demand them to read the next word. Then teacher asked some questions about the text. The same process was applied with the control class but that students read the text silently with no oral reading. Finally, two tests were used to evaluate the effect of reading aloud. The first test was a multiple choice, the second test was an adapted form of a story frame. The result was that the experimental group outperformed the control group on multiple choice and story frame tests. He concluded that learners had better understand of what they were reading in the teacher reading aloud process than in the silent reading process. Reading aloud by the teacher can aid EFL learners to improve a positive manner towards reading. Besides, reading aloud can stimulate them to read for pleasure. (Amer, 1997, 46). IV. THE POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF READING ALOUD L2 learners face some reading and writing problems because of the opacity of English orthography and the specific skills requires to decode it. Native English speakers produce different strategies to cope with this (Gibson, 2008: 30). L1 readers may not have produced these strategies because their orthographies are different from English, they have to get them so that they can read fluently in English. They tend to trust their L1 reading strateies when reading in English(Gibson, 2008: 30) So as to accelerate word recognition and to aid pronounce and learn new words it is very important making accurate connections between graphemes and phonemes (Stanovich cited in Gibson, 2008: 30). Reading aloud supplies readers to make and practise these connections. Birch proposes reading aloud as practice so that the pupils have as much feedback as possible on their decoding abilities. Reading aloud can also aid to improve reading fluency; Grabe and Stoller reccomend paired re-reading activities, where students try to accelerate their reading aloud via re-reading the same passage to each other for one minute and try to speed up each time (cited in Gibson, 2008, 31 ). Reading aloud might be a very useful diagnostic device. The intonation the student uses can show that where comprehension is not accurate (Underhill, cited in Gibson, 2008: 31 ). For instance, a teacher listening to a student’s reading aloud can specify the problems such as pronunciation, comprehension of graphemic-phonemic connections and so on. Some expert books on pronunciation are likely to focus on segmental and the accurate production of particular sounds or at most, single sentences are read aloud or spoken. Reading aloud is used for rehearsed speaking activities and to make new learnt speech patterns permanent by Chun (2002). This can supply students reading aloud each other. She advocates that listening and imitating should be used rarely because students quickly tire of it (cited in Gibson, 2008). Dictation by a student to a classmate or group is suggested for pronunciation practice as well ( Davis and Rinvolucri cited in Gibson 2008: 32). Foss and Reitzel (1988) suggest that reading aloud is a way of cutting down communication anxiety, however it is seen as anxiety-provoking by some students (cited in Gibson, 2008: 32). Willis(2008: 59) uses choral reading in order to reduce students’ stress of reading alone. The process of reading aloud together strenghten patterns. (Willis ibid. ) Reading aloud activities can be the only speaking opportunity that timid students have, so reading aloud aid timid and unconfident students with speaking exercise for a limited time until they feel themselves capable of speaking spontaneously (Gibson, 2008: 32). Reading aloud has an indirect mission in writing, however it is connected to writing with intonation. Chafe (1986, cited by Tench 1996) advocates that while wirting has no intonation, stress or pauses, both readers and writers tend to assign these elements to whatever they are reading and writing, in this way intonation might affect what is written, whether it is informal or formal formulaic letter (Gibson, 2008, 32). Earl Stevick (1989) interviewed seven particularly successful language learners and found that most of them, involving himself, used reading aloud as a learning technique outside the classroom. One learner chose to read aloud,rather than silently, to practise intonation and get the sound and flow of the language, particularly in the early stages of learning. He said it aided his comprehension-it is likely that reading aloud aided him to chunk the text into sense groups,even though he said he did not understand all the words-and to learn by heart new words. Another student found reading aloud was particularly beneficial for the improvement of his pronunciation. Others spoke of reliance, primarily in the beginning stages of language learning, on visual information to help access meaning, and then repeating it aloud to themselves. Stevick himself also liked to link what he was seeing with his articulatory processes and audotoriy feedback, and realized that he remembered things better if he said them aloud. ’Macaro (2001) suggests subvocalization as a technique for memorization. It seems that Stevick’s students were repeating words and phrases louder than in subvo calization for this and other aims (Gibson,2008, 32-33 ) ‘ V. VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT DURING READING ALOUD Reading aloud can give the opportunity to children to gain vocabulary and it affects the cildren by enhancing their vocabulary (Rosenhouse et al cited in Terblanche, 2002: 6). Reding aloud to children gives a strong context for building vocabulary as well (Biemiller Boote 2006,Bravo et al. 2007 cited in Kindle,2009 : 202). Besides,children are exposed to a more discriptive flow of language than of their daily language and conversation,their vocabulary enrichs with each story (Terblanche,202: 6). However, the book chosen for read alouds should be appealing,thus read aloud increase the children’s motivation and interest (Fisher et al. cited in Kindle,2009: 202) and the probability of novel words learning (Bloom cited in Kindle ibid). Smith and Elley pointed out that vocabulary acquisition are expanded while the teacher or adult reading aloud demonstrates or gives information about the targeted words (cited in Terblanche,2002: 6). Even brief explanation of one or two sentences, while presenting the text,can be beneficial for children to make beginning links between novel words and their meaning (Biemiller Boote cited in Kindle,2009 : 203). According to Carey, word learning is extended via repeated readings of text and this gives opportunities to revise and refine word meaning ( Kindle,2002: 203 ). These repetitions support students to go deeper stages of word reportory from never heard it to sounds familiar,to has something to do with,to well known (Dale cited in Kindle ibid). In addition,talking about the story during and post reading can support informal communication about words,language,opinions and real life experiences ( Terblanche,2002: 6). Reading aloud genarally supported but the most appropriate form is not clear ( Fisher et al. cited in Santoro et al. 2008: 397). Beck and Mckeown (2001) discovered the use of â€Å"text talk† in the first grade classrooms. Their study proposed that text based debates as part of reading aloud can enhance vocabulary gaining and understanding ( Beck el at. cited in Santoro, 2008 : 397). Carey recommended a two-stage model for acquiring word which includes fast and extended mapping. Fast mapping is a tool for incidental word learnig(cited in Kindle 2009: 203 ) Extended mapping is needed to achieve complete word knowledge. The definition is revised and refined to show new information via additional exposures(Carey 1978; Justice el at. ited in Kindle,2009: 203) â€Å" The style of read-aloud interection is significant to vocabulary growth ( Dickinson Smith, 1994; Gren Brabham Lynch-Brown,2002) with reading styles that encourage child participation out-performing verbatim readings. Simply put â€Å"the way boks are shared with children matters† ( McGee Schickedanz,2007,p. 742)† â€Å"High-quality read-alouds are characterized by adult mediation. Effective teachers weave in questions and comm ents as they read,creating a conversation between the children,the text,and the teacher. To facilitate word learning,teachers employ a variety of strategies such as elaboration of student responses,naming,questioning, and labeling (Roberts cited in Kindle,2009: 203)† Analysis of the literature on gaining vocabulary via read alouds comes to two conclusions. Primary,adult mediation help word acquisition ( Justice 2002,Walsh Blewitt cited in Kindle,2009, 203 ). It is pointed out that supporting vocabulary learning in the first grades using repeated reading combined with word meaning explanations work ( Biemiller and Boote cited in Kindle,2009: 203). Second,the connected effectiveness of various forms of mediation persists less clear. Adult explanations are obviously connected to word gaining,however it is not clear which aspects of the explanations are vital elements: the context,a paraphrased sentence,or even the child’s interest in the story (Brett, Rothlein Hurley cited in Kindle,2009: 203 ). It is probable Active participation in debates is more important than the types of questions posed (Walsh Blewitt, 2006 cited in Kindle,2009: 203). Read-aloud can be seen as small elements of balanced instruction. This balance does not base on a prescribed formula,it results from plenty of decisions made by teachers. These instructional decisions affect the balance of direct and incidental instruction. Teachers’ choices of a suitable balance are obvious in their uses of read-alouds, styles of reading, text determination, and in the way vocabulary is improved. (Kindle,2009: 210) The positive effects of read alouds and story telling on literacy improvement and second language learning have been proved many times by different specialists such as Vivas,Elley,Mason and Krashen (Cho Choi,2008: 69). Furthermore,there is consistent evidence that reading outside the classroom is very beneficial both first and secon language acquisition( Krashen cited in Cho Choi). VI. CONCLUSION Reading aloud can be mostly seen as an old fashioned,boring reading around the class. It is seen as part of outdated methodologies,however this does not indicate that it is no longer beneficial and useful in language learning. If reading aloud is used sensitively and appropriately,the objections can be eliminated. It is the mission of the teachers and students to decide how best to use reading aloud. If reading aloud is to be used successfully,it requires to be sparingly,sensitively,with obvious learning purposes and it should not be forgotten that reading aloud is only one of the many tools in a teacher’s kit. References Amer,Aly A. (1997). The Effect of The Teacher’s Reading Aloud on the Reading Comprehension of EFL Students. ELT Journal. 51/1: 43-47 Cho,Kyong Sook and Choi Dong Seop(2008). Are Read-Aloud and Free Reading â€Å"Natural Partners†?. Knowledge Quest. 36/5: 69-73 Gibson,Sally. (2008). Reading Aloud: A Useful Learnig Tool?. ELT Journal. 62/1: 29-37 Kindle,Karen J. 2009). Vocabulary Development During Read-Alouds: Primary Practices. The Reading Teacher. 63/3: 202-211. Santoro,Lana Edwards. Chard,J. David. Howard,Lisa. Baker,Scott K. (2008). Making Very Most of Classroom Read-Alouds to Promote Comprehension and Vocabulary. The Reading Teacher. 61/5: 396-408. Terblanche,Leezil(2002) Read-Alouds: Do They Enhance Students’ Ability to Read?. TE SOL Journal. 14p. Willis,Judy(2008). Teaching the Brain to Read : Strategies for Improving Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. Alexandria, VA, USA: Association for Supervision Curriculum Development

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Explaining Glasnost and Perestroika

Explaining Glasnost and Perestroika When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union in March 1985, the country had already been steeped in oppression, secrecy, and suspicion for over six decades. Gorbachev wanted to change that. Within his first few years as general secretary of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev instituted the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), which opened the door to criticism and change. These were revolutionary ideas in the stagnant Soviet Union and would ultimately destroy it. What Was Glasnost? Glasnost, which translates to openness in English, was General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachevs policy for a new, open policy in the Soviet Union where people could freely express their opinions. With glasnost, Soviet citizens no longer had to worry about neighbors, friends, and acquaintances turning them into the KGB for whispering something that could be construed as criticism of the government or its leaders. They no longer had to worry about arrest and exile for a negative thought against the State. Glasnost allowed the Soviet people to reexamine their history, voice their opinions on governmental policies, and receive news not pre-approved by the government. What Was Perestroika? Perestroika, which in English translates to restructuring, was Gorbachevs  program to restructure the Soviet economy in an attempt to revitalize it. To restructure, Gorbachev decentralized the controls over the economy, effectively lessening the governments role in the decision-making processes of individual enterprises. Perestroika also hoped to improve production levels by bettering the lives of workers, including giving them more recreation time and safer working conditions. The overall perception of work in the Soviet Union was to be changed from corruption to honesty, from slacking to hard work. Individual workers, it was hoped, would take a personal interest in their work and would be rewarded for helping to better production levels. Did These Policies Work? Gorbachevs policies of glasnost and perestroika changed the fabric of the Soviet Union. It allowed citizens to clamor for better living conditions, more freedoms, and an end to Communism.   While Gorbachev had hoped his policies would revitalize the Soviet Union, they instead destroyed it. By 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and by 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated. What had once been a single country, became 15 separate republics.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 88

History - Essay Example It is at this point that one could say that the Author is trying to establish an impression that the book is supposed to descriptively tell something about the Baroque period, and the ultimate way of understanding it is to look at the common trends or patterns in politics, economics, religion, arts and sciences at that period of time. In this case, the Author simply did not try to single out the basic concept of understanding history. In fact, there is a use of the same methodology of establishing or creating clear ideas of a certain historical period. The book starts to talk about â€Å"The Patteru of Politics and Economics† (Friedrich 1-67) in Chapter I, then down to religion, war, science and so on. The discussion specifically ends with Bibliographical essay (Friedrich 3271). In other words, the book is organized in a way that the readers can learn many things about social, political and economical issues associated with the Baroque period. It is interesting at some point, because the book does not only focus on artistic expression, but rather the descriptive events during the period as far as the association of the arts is concerned. The Author simply pointed out at some point that there are many things to learn about the Age of the Baroque aside from the art and relevant artistic expression. There were primary sources involved in the discussion, supporting the Author’s main argument. These also include some supporting materials like secondary information from credible intellectual works. In other words, the Author tried to establish a significant justification so as not to defeat the purpose of the entire book. The supporting details were necessary requirements in order to come up with the better perspective and descriptive thought about the Baroque period. At some point, considering that the entire work is quite exploratory in its nature, there might be remarkable

Cases in international marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Cases in international marketing - Essay Example The Multinationals have gained a huge market and a large number of new consumers, but have not been able to realize the full potential of their investments in China. They have benefited from cheap imports but have not been able to sell their own products for equal value or quantity and have ended in a trade deficit with their Chinese counterparts. However the Chinese too need the world markets as much as the world needs them and in this quid-pro-quo there is still a silver lining and by understanding and segmenting the market properly, lost ground can be recovered. Ever since the Chinese came out of their Walled existence and opened themselves to the International communities, they have become the focus of the whole world. Having the largest population on Earth opened up a marketing opportunity that was beyond comprehension to most conglomerates. Added to that the purchasing power dazzled one and all and Multinationals of all hues went headlong to get a piece of the action. Liberalization of the economy and a bent towards industrialization in a hurry offered huge opportunities for expansion. As of now as many as 320,000 foreign ventures have come up on mainland China, and they are growing by the day. China is the second largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investments that have crossed 400 billion dollars. Investments have come in from all quarters of the world, mainly from the USA. China does offer great marketing opportunities due to its huge population and capabilities. It has abundant cheap labour, a good infrastructure and liberal open market policies that are loved by the Multinationals. There are huge opportunities in manufacturing. Labour intensive industries thrive well due to very high productivity level of the workers and vigilant government machinery that still keeps them in line with their firm labour laws. Liberalization has created more job opportunities and the growing population is easily absorbed in industrial activities. To promote these

Friday, October 18, 2019

The Increase in the Frequency of Involvement of Ex-Mental Patients in Case Study

The Increase in the Frequency of Involvement of Ex-Mental Patients in the Criminal Justice System - Case Study Example The objective of this study is to determine the effect of deinstitutionalization on the frequency of involvement of ex-mental patients in the criminal justice system through an analysis or review of available data and information on private and public mental hospital capacities, and crime rates in purposively selected U.S. inner-cities. In the advent of deinstitutionalization, several former mental patients have turned out to be considerably involved with the criminal justice system, which is an area they are especially unprepared to deal with. Researchers and observers alike, depending on their specific concern in the issue, have thus far predisposed to examine this outcome of the process of deinstitutionalization in one of two ways (LaFond & Durham, 1992). First, the mainstream media have took hold of particular offenses involving the abrupt and dramatic murder of unsuspecting victims by sadistic murderers, whom they readily recognized as ‘escaped lunatics’ or ‘psychos on a rampage’ (LaFond & Durham, 1992, 33); labels that intricately connects the suspected murderer to mental disorder. Second, mental health practitioners have been swift to reveal what they see as the prejudice and pointless imprisonment of mentally ill people for minor offences, which the experts typify as the unnecessary interference of the criminal justice system into the area of mental health (ibid). Both interpretations of reality have a generally central point of view that deinstitutionalization is at the core of the predicament; furthermore, both perspectives sensibly give rise to a claim for rehospitalization of people with mental disorder, either for the reason that they are incapable of living in civilized society or quite weak to survive a narrow-minded intolerance and mistreatment of society (LaFond & Durham, 1992). The root is identical, the solution is identical, and the only thing that has been inadequate is empirical research of what we all believe to be obvious: ‘that deinstitutionalized mental patients either are criminals or are treated like criminals’ (Bean, 2003, 141).  

Toyota recall is not safe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Toyota recall is not safe - Essay Example One of these companies is Toyota Motor Corporation, commonly known as Toyota. This is a multinational corporation with its headquarters in Japan. Toyota has factories in most parts of the world which makes it one of the world’s largest automaker (Toyota, 2010). The cars manufactured by Toyota were considered the best until the series of accidents that were caused by the cars’ design. Some say that the issue was not very serious and it was unnecessarily amplified by its competitors over the media. Very recently, several vehicles faced the problem of the accelerator pedal getting stuck which caused unintended acceleration and hence many accidents. As a corrective measure, Toyota has decided to recall its sold cars and fix them (Reed, P., 2010). According to a source, by January 28, 2010, Toyota had announced recalls of about 5.2 million cars for the pedal entrapment/floor mat problem, and an additional 2.3 million cars for the accelerator pedal problem. Out of these, almost 1.7 million cars have both these problems (Toyota Press Release, 2010). In addition to this, it cut down on its production to a great extent as well. Other companies that have faced the same problems include Honda, Ford, etc. However, the problem faced by these org anizations did not affect their image and financial condition at the same scale as Toyota. Now when we talk about this incident and Toyota’s reaction of recalling the cars that were potentially damaged, people often take two different sides. Some say that the Toyota recall was a good idea while some disagree. It is very important that all aspects of this issue are discussed so that we can understand the strategy better from all angles. Therefore, in this paper, we will discuss both sides of the argument in the coming paragraphs, firstly discussing the arguments for the Toyota recall. The Toyota recall is believed to be the best thing for everyone. We noted in the

Thursday, October 17, 2019

BHS 420 Mod 1 CBT (Quantitative Reasoning) Essay

BHS 420 Mod 1 CBT (Quantitative Reasoning) - Essay Example 52). I agree with this statement and feel that it is important to learn critical thinking. Secondly, I would like to learn to understand the research process whereby accurate data can be obtained to support or disprove any particular hypothesis. Finally, I think that the ability to combine both qualitative and quantitative processes to achieve the answer to a research question is a superior approach. While both methods have their independent strengths, I believe that they are best used in combination to balance the data and increase understanding of the results. From a personal standpoint, i.e., outside of my professional career, I think that the knowledge gained from this course will allow me to perceive aspects in my daily life with a more accurate view because I will be constantly thinking about why events have happened. I will be considering possible explanations and will be equipped to analyze the information I encounter in a logical and reasonable manner; and I think this is applicable to all aspects of life. In writing about sports statistics, Guthrie (1994) stated that people â€Å"who are otherwise averse to quantitative reasoning will often become expert analysts when the subject being analyzed is of interest to them. A statistical argument presented in a context of ones experience is far more likely to be retained than one presented in the context of a hypothetical situation† (p. 1064). I think this validates my perception that critical thinking is not solely for professionals; it has application across all spectrums of hu man experience. History has revealed many people who have been considered geniuses in their field such as Beethoven in music or Earnest Hemingway in literature. Many of these individuals, however, were also known to suffer from manic-depression or what today is called Bipolar disorder. The health-related research

How did the Industrial Revolution change and redefine the world Research Paper

How did the Industrial Revolution change and redefine the world - Research Paper Example The changes caused to the world as a result of industrial revolution are presented in this paper using appropriate literature. It is proved that the effects of industrial revolution have been significantly more than the planners of this movement had imagined. Such implication can be characterized as expected since the culture, the social ethics and the political frameworks of states internationally are often highly differentiated. The power of industrial revolution to change and redefine the world cannot be doubted. At a first level, industrial revolution has been related just to the economy and technology; this trend is reflected in the following definition: ‘industrial revolution is the process by which the society acquired control over vast resources of inanimate energy’.1 The above definition is based on the view that industrial revolution is mostly related to the economy, a view that is critically opposed by most theorists and academic researchers. Of course, in its early phases industrial revolution has been related to the use of sources of energy not used in production previously, at least not massively: ‘coal, oil and electricity’.2 In regard to the society, the industrial revolution led to the development of new social classes: ‘industrial workers, i.e. the non-specialized staff of industrial units, and scientific professionals, such as engineers and technicians’.3 In other words, the industrial revolution can be considered as responsible for the introduction of inequality in the workplace. Since workers of different educational background have become necessary, different terms of employment have not been avoided. Indeed, the inequalities related to a series of employment issues, such as the level of compensation, the access to high levels of the organizational hierarchy and the level of performance – based awards, have become quite common in firms of all industries.4 The expansion of this phenomenon has re sulted to important social inequalities: since not all individuals have been fairly compensated for their work their potentials to secure their financial status are different.5 Professionals and highly specialized workers can reach a quite high level of income, a fact that gives them the opportunity to establish a style of life quite different from that of non-specialized workers. In other words, the inequalities in the workplace, as a result of industrial revolution, have resulted to inequalities in society. The oppositions of people to the above inequalities have been quite strong. The appearance of social movements for the protection of the rights of the weaker members of the society has been related to the industrial revolution. The movements focusing on ‘the rights of women’s and of minorities’6 have resulted in order to lessen inequalities both in work and in social life, as these two aspects of human life have been affected by industrial revolution. The hi gh involvement of industrial revolution in social life is made clear through the study of Mokyr (1985). The above researcher focuses on the effects of industrial revolution on social life and economy of Britain. It is noted that in the particular country industrial revolution has led to the transformation of the economy and the society: a) initially, industrial revolu

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

BHS 420 Mod 1 CBT (Quantitative Reasoning) Essay

BHS 420 Mod 1 CBT (Quantitative Reasoning) - Essay Example 52). I agree with this statement and feel that it is important to learn critical thinking. Secondly, I would like to learn to understand the research process whereby accurate data can be obtained to support or disprove any particular hypothesis. Finally, I think that the ability to combine both qualitative and quantitative processes to achieve the answer to a research question is a superior approach. While both methods have their independent strengths, I believe that they are best used in combination to balance the data and increase understanding of the results. From a personal standpoint, i.e., outside of my professional career, I think that the knowledge gained from this course will allow me to perceive aspects in my daily life with a more accurate view because I will be constantly thinking about why events have happened. I will be considering possible explanations and will be equipped to analyze the information I encounter in a logical and reasonable manner; and I think this is applicable to all aspects of life. In writing about sports statistics, Guthrie (1994) stated that people â€Å"who are otherwise averse to quantitative reasoning will often become expert analysts when the subject being analyzed is of interest to them. A statistical argument presented in a context of ones experience is far more likely to be retained than one presented in the context of a hypothetical situation† (p. 1064). I think this validates my perception that critical thinking is not solely for professionals; it has application across all spectrums of hu man experience. History has revealed many people who have been considered geniuses in their field such as Beethoven in music or Earnest Hemingway in literature. Many of these individuals, however, were also known to suffer from manic-depression or what today is called Bipolar disorder. The health-related research

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely Essay

Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely - Essay Example The worst thing about having power by a man is that he tends to forget what the people around him deserve and how he shall be doing his bit to make sure that the condition and plight of the people is enhanced. What he seems to do however is to fill up his own pockets and look after exponentially increasing his possessions and property. This is where absolute corruption starts to come in within the related equations. It is against ethics to manifest such a basis. Similarly, those leaders who believe in getting their own way done through power and misuse it for their own means are the ones who actually misguide the people under their folds. Ethically speaking, they think less of the organization as a whole and more about their own selves. This is an anomaly that needs to be taken care of, at the earliest. The need is to discern where power can be used for the betterment of the people and how it can further be transformed into something of value for all concerned. There are certain leaders who would not mind indulging in acts that go against the organizational practice. They aim to find ways and means through which their personal selves can be benefited the most. The subordinates working under them have to take the brunt, which is something that comes out as a corruption as Lord Acton points out. This corruption tells them that they are indispensable and nothing will be able to make them feel as such. They continue with their norms and create confusions for all and sundry, thus cashing in on the pretext that what has worked well for these leaders to date, will work wonders for them in the future as well (Quah 91-97). When corruption is understood from a management perspective, it is seen from an angle where there is a great amount of understanding available for the ones who would find it hard to do justice to others than to their own

Monday, October 14, 2019

Lord of the Flies - Leadership Essay Example for Free

Lord of the Flies Leadership Essay The ideas of Leadership and human nature can best be related to an up and coming Hollywood star. They start out all innocent but the fame, fortune, and power catch up with them. It changes them, having people look up to you and knowing that they will follow everything they do allows you to understand the power that you have. They can end up going out of control and it will change them for the worst. The ability to have this kind of power, for Jack, turns him into being obsessive with being the leader of the tribe. When he does not win it makes him really jealous of Ralph. He makes everyone turn on Ralph to become the unofficial leader. The power drives him crazy and starts to beat on kids on the island for no apparent reason, it even escalades to killing them. It is human nature to have the desire for power, to lead other people, and control them, even though we don’t try to the greed can overpower us to do the wrong choices. The human nature of wanting power can come for several different reasons such as competition to be the leader of the tribe, having too much desire to be a leader, and when you are neglected by the others. A major reason there was greed to have power, in Lord of the Flies, is because there was competition in who would be it. Jack thought he was a shoe-in to be leader since he had the choir to back him up. Instead, Ralph was chosen over Jack. Jack was extremely angry that he lost and believed he deserved to be the leader. It was even embarassing to him because Ralph, who beat him out for being the leader, wasn’t even interested in winning. Jack became obsessed in having power over the tribe that he was ready to go great lengths to get what he wanted. He made some boys on the island feel like outsiders in order to get the tribe on his side. This is an example why competition is a main reason why there was a greed to have power. A large factor in Lord of the Flies, especially in Jack, is to have too much desire to be leader. When Jack used to live back in England he went to boarding school. In those days boarding schools were not the greatest places. He had boundaries on where he could go, what he could do and who he could talk too. Virtually, everyday of his life is scheduled. Once getting n this island he was free, he was free to do whatever he wanted. Because he was being confined to such a boring and routine life he wanted more than freedom. He wanted to control the freedom of others, he wanted to be leader. In his mind he was trying to prove he was responsible and could handle it, but what he did was plain cruelty and evil. You get a big impression that Jack never wants to leave this island. This is showing you that Jack you that Jack is one of the first to lose contact with civilization, its human nature to want power but he is going mad. A major key for Ralph to have power is because he was starting to get neglected by the others. At first Ralph wasn’t to fond in being chosen to be leader but knew he had some ideas on how they could get off the island. At first everyone listened to him and they were all excited to work. Then they wanted to hunt Ralph was okay with this because they could use some meat. This was a huge mistake, all they wanted to do was hunt. Ralph held assemblies to get them under control because no one was building shelters or working on the fire, they had lost all discipline The hunters were not happy what Ralph was telling him. The hunters were starting to favor the leader of the hunters Jack, because what he was telling seemed to be much more appealing to them. Jack then saw his chance to become the leader they were all frusterated at Ralph so the hunters all got together and moved out to a secluded part of the island. Those who were left behind, including Jack, were left with next to nothing. Ralph finally realized he was the lows of the lows, he was at Piggy’s level. This made him want some recognition to get back the status he once had so he joined Ralph. Once again its human nature that if you can’t beat them you join them. Ralph joined the group knowing it was wrong and through joining even lost contact with civilization. He want the power he once had as lesder but becomes a savage through it. Leadership, human nature and the effects it has is shown throughout the novel Lord Of The Flies. How much control we have over our human can make a big difference on our personality and how we react to different confrontations. The chance of having power will come at different times in our life we must choose the time we take them.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

An Overview of the Rare Disease Known as Kabuki Syndrome Essay

An Overview of the Rare Disease Known as Kabuki Syndrome As I look to graduate, I become increasingly aware that I have my entire life to look forward to. Even though I will have struggles throughout my life, I still have my well being to fall back on. When all else fails, I am and hopefully always will be self-assured that I am here, healthy and able to bring myself through the worst of circumstances. This realization and knowledge has presented itself in the most realistic way just within the past three years, while I continually helped disabled children learn various life skills. In these three years, my attention was unforgivably snagged by one child, Damion, who seemed to have an unfathomable web of trials and difficulties in his fragile little life. On an undying attempt to learn more about this child, I started working with him one-on-one and with his therapists and teachers. I soon came to realize that Damion had moderate to severe learning disabilities, speech impediments, fine (small muscles) and gross (large muscles) motor problems and sensory difficulties. His previous doctors considered Kabuki Syndrome, an extremely rare disease that is terribly difficult to diagnose, as a possible diagnosis. Even though Damion doesn't posses most of the characteristics accompanying Kabuki Syndrome, he may still have it. What would it take to diagnose him with the rare disease? Could Damion even be considered a Kabuki patient with only minor implications? Through this paper, answers to these pending questions will be portrayed, and the reader will gain a real understanding of what is currently known about Kabuki Syndrome. Two doctors from Japan, Dr. Niikawa and Dr. Kuroki first discovered Kabuki Syndrome in 1980 ("Kabuk... .... MedicineNet. Retrieved March 25, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://medicinenet.com/script/main/AlphaIdx.asp?li=MNI&p=A_DICT Mhanni, A., & Chudley, A. (1999) . Genetic landmarks through philately &endash; Kabuki theater and Kabuki syndrome. In A. Chudley (Ed.) , Clinical Genetics (pp. 116-117) . Ireland: Munksgaard. Mhanni, A., Cross, H., & Chudley, A. (1999) . Kabuki syndrome: description of dental findings in 8 patients. Clinical Genetics (pp. 154-157) . Ireland: Munksgaard. Olney, A., Schaefer, G., & Kolodziej, P. (1998, September) . Kabuki syndrome. Ear, Nose and Throat Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http:/www.entjournal.com/html/september_98_syndrome.html An overview of kabuki syndrome. Geocities. Retrieved March 15, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/2978/kabuki.html An Overview of the Rare Disease Known as Kabuki Syndrome Essay An Overview of the Rare Disease Known as Kabuki Syndrome As I look to graduate, I become increasingly aware that I have my entire life to look forward to. Even though I will have struggles throughout my life, I still have my well being to fall back on. When all else fails, I am and hopefully always will be self-assured that I am here, healthy and able to bring myself through the worst of circumstances. This realization and knowledge has presented itself in the most realistic way just within the past three years, while I continually helped disabled children learn various life skills. In these three years, my attention was unforgivably snagged by one child, Damion, who seemed to have an unfathomable web of trials and difficulties in his fragile little life. On an undying attempt to learn more about this child, I started working with him one-on-one and with his therapists and teachers. I soon came to realize that Damion had moderate to severe learning disabilities, speech impediments, fine (small muscles) and gross (large muscles) motor problems and sensory difficulties. His previous doctors considered Kabuki Syndrome, an extremely rare disease that is terribly difficult to diagnose, as a possible diagnosis. Even though Damion doesn't posses most of the characteristics accompanying Kabuki Syndrome, he may still have it. What would it take to diagnose him with the rare disease? Could Damion even be considered a Kabuki patient with only minor implications? Through this paper, answers to these pending questions will be portrayed, and the reader will gain a real understanding of what is currently known about Kabuki Syndrome. Two doctors from Japan, Dr. Niikawa and Dr. Kuroki first discovered Kabuki Syndrome in 1980 ("Kabuk... .... MedicineNet. Retrieved March 25, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://medicinenet.com/script/main/AlphaIdx.asp?li=MNI&p=A_DICT Mhanni, A., & Chudley, A. (1999) . Genetic landmarks through philately &endash; Kabuki theater and Kabuki syndrome. In A. Chudley (Ed.) , Clinical Genetics (pp. 116-117) . Ireland: Munksgaard. Mhanni, A., Cross, H., & Chudley, A. (1999) . Kabuki syndrome: description of dental findings in 8 patients. Clinical Genetics (pp. 154-157) . Ireland: Munksgaard. Olney, A., Schaefer, G., & Kolodziej, P. (1998, September) . Kabuki syndrome. Ear, Nose and Throat Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http:/www.entjournal.com/html/september_98_syndrome.html An overview of kabuki syndrome. Geocities. Retrieved March 15, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/2978/kabuki.html

Saturday, October 12, 2019

The Root of the Economic Crisis is Moral Crisis Essay -- Business Ethi

The foreclosure crisis is not actually a crisis, but a consequence of greed, policies, and immoral choices. The increasing rate of foreclosures and decreasing value of homes is inevitable. Bailing out banks or borrowers to help them reform loans and mortgage rates will only provide temporary relief. The crisis exists on a larger scale. Greed has overcome society increasing personal and public debt. The government is only making matters worse by bailing out lenders and borrowers whom are guided by their desires for superficial wealth. Policies passed by men and women with the selfish motive of authority, power, and preservation; men and women who have lost sight of their family, neighbor, and the well-being of society. J. Krishnamurti writes, â€Å"Society is the relationship between people- the relationship between one person and another, between one family and another, between one group and another, and between the individual and the group. Human relationship is soc iety† (1963). We no longer look out for our neighbor, we fear opening our door to strangers, and run from situations that do not satisfy our selfish desires. The foreclosure crisis is therefore a matter of thought. Our thoughts have clouded our needs with wants, our faith with fears, and our empathy with envy. To solve the foreclosure crisis we must regress to the simplest way of life, encouraging relationships that build a community, and discourage the desire to cling to materials, such as homes we cannot afford. We have all become Lumpenproletariat, according to Karl Marx, this defines us as â€Å"criminals, vagabonds, beggars; who have no stake in the economy and therefore sell their labor to the highest bidder† (Wikipedia, 2009). The institutions, gove... ...wth. Look at the entrepreneurs creating jobs. Look at the officials upholding the law without corruption. Look at the homeowner working diligently to pay his bills. Look at the contributing taxpayers. Look at the volunteers. Look at the employers treating their workers fairly. Look at the people living in peace. Reward this! Reward good deeds! Laws must be upheld and wrongful deeds given zero-tolerance. Personal consequence is how we develop coping skills, patients, and understanding. Reward only those who contribute to the well being of our society, our family, and human relationships. This will give individuals a sense of ownership within their communities, responsibility of the outcomes, and the freedom to create, grow, and prosper. When each of us has the freedom to accomplish our ambitions in good faith without tyranny, society will prosper.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Government-operated Gambling

Over the past few years, government operated gambling has grown into a massive business, there has been much controversy around the topic of weather or not Gambling should be regulated. In this essay I will explain my point of view on this topic and give examples that support my ideas. So, what should the state’s policy towards gambling? I believe that the state should not regulate gambling because of three main reasons. My first reason is people’s rights and freedoms.Second, Gambling has grown into a major industry over the pas few years; the centre for addiction and mental health stated in their Gambling Policy framework in 2011 â€Å"Government-operated gambling has steadily expanded in Ontario in the past two decades, revenues reaching $4. 7 billion in 2009. † (2). This shows that Gambling has grown to become a major industry in today’s economy and by doing so it has helped society in several different aspects, the growth of the gambling industry has l ead to an increase in revenue for the government, thus resulting in more social benefits towards the public.Finally, The gambling industry has lead to many job opportunities in north America, offering a beacon of hope to those in need of jobs during a recession. In modern society, freedom is not only supported but also cherished, people should be given the freedom to live their lives as they please, weather they choose to live their lives in a healthy way or not that is up to them. However, they must be given the right to live as they please. In the United States, groups such as the KKK are protected under the first amendment, which protects their freedom of speech, no matter how ludicrous it may be, they have the right to say as they please.The same should be applied to life. People should have the choice to live their lives as they please without being watched over by the government. Since gambling does require participants to be of legal age, we know that the people gambling are adults. These grown ups should be able to have control over their own lives, its their responsibility to understand the chances they are taking when gambling. Some may argue that certain people can’t control their gambling problems and have gotten too addicted to gambling and that casinos take advantage of these people.These claims are supported by some statistics given in the centre for addiction and mental health, which states, â€Å"it is estimated that between 30% and 40% of Ontario’s gambling revenues come from the 3% of the population with gambling problems† (2). This statistic shows that the gambling industry does heavily depend of the people addicted to the game. I would respond by expressing two points. First, the people with gambling problems of which they cannot control are a minority, in Jonathan Wolff’s â€Å"Ethics and public policy A Philosophical inquiry†, the author states that â€Å"between 0. and 0. 8 of the UK adult population could be classified as problem gambles† (59). Furthermore, in the centre for addiction and mental health’s Gambling Policy framework in 2011 that â€Å"just over 3% of the province’s population experiences moderate to severe gambling problems. †(57). These numbers do not justify having to discipline an entire industry that would affect hundreds of thousands of people that work in it and making their living off jobs in that industry.Second, increasing government regulations on casinos and lotteries will not stop these problem gamblers from gambling. Jonathan Wolff states â€Å"in the late 1950s there were towns about 25 percent of the adult population gambled illegally on a regular basis. †(55). Taking this point into perspective, it could be inferred that if the government increases the regulations on legal casinos and lotteries that would make it harder for people with an addiction to gamble, these people will find other ways to feed their addictio n.This is a severe problem because when these people begin to gamble illegally they will put their money into other illegal activities, which could include drugs, weapons or violence. In fact, many large gangs could use this opportunity to fund their illegal activities, which would lead to more trouble in society; another point to be made towards this issue would be that of money, not only would these gamblers be putting their lives at risk when gambling illegally and dealing with gangs, but they could also be keeping this money out of the government’s hand which could go government programs to help the less fortunate.This brings me to my next point and that is that gambling has become a major source of revenue for the government. Government regulated gambling has grown into a massive industry which generates a significant amount of revenue each year of which most ends up in the government as funding for many different organizations. in the paper named â€Å"Gambling: Its Pl easure and costs† by Lorne Tepperman it states that â€Å"The industry group’s report †¦ says 57 per cent of gambling revenue – $8. 7 billion- supported government services and charities. (9). Tepperman also states that gambling is the â€Å"most financially significant† (9) segment in entertainment and that it contributes â€Å"$15. 3 billion a year to the economy, according to the Canadian Gaming Association. † (9). Ronald Pavalko also states in his paper titled â€Å"gambling and public policy† â€Å"State revenues from casino taxes totaled nearly $3. 5 billion. † (336). The reality is that today, we are in a recession we can’t afford to decrease that revenue by implementing harsh restrictions on gambling.It is argued that even though gambling is a major source of revenue for the government, it is also a source of misery for people with gambling addictions. The centre for Addiction and Mental health states that â€Å"F or these individuals, a range of harms may occur, resulting in heavy social, economic, and health costs such as crime, dysfunctional relationships, and bankruptcy. † (2). However, the solution to this problem is not adding restrictions to gambling but is actually using the money made from gambling towards a better cause.As I have previously stated, people addicted to gambling will not be cured from their addiction by regulating legal gambling because they will find other means to feed their addiction. I believe that the best solution to these people’s gambling problem would be using the revenue that they generate for the government in taxes could be used to create social programs for people with serious addictions to gambling that would help them quit.I believe this solution would be ideal because the minority of people with gambling addictions will be treated in a proper healthy way in order to get over their addiction, the left over revenue could still be used in othe r social programs and finally, the money and profit that the casinos and lotteries generate will still flow which would result in more jobs, another source of income to the economy and would prevent people from getting fired from their jobs if harsh restrictions were to be applied to gambling agencies.My final argument for this essay is that of employment. As previously stated, gambling generates a huge amount of revenue for the government, Gambling is a growing industry and with its growth it creates several opportunities for jobs for people in need. Gambling generates many jobs that help the economy grow in this time of need. Gambling generates jobs of all sorts, from the engineers and architects that build and design the casinos, to the people who sell lottery tickets, to those who actually work in casinos.All of these people generate their income because of the gambling industry. Tepperman states that in Canada gambling accounts for â€Å"267,000 full time jobs. † (6). Pa valko also states in his paper that in only eleven states a total of 370,207 people are employed in casinos, In a country with a current unemployment rate of 8%, the Gambling industry should be seen as a source for solutions to a much more serious problem than an addiction to gambling. Expanding the gambling industry will in return create more job opportunities and help decrease the unemployment rate dramatically.However, if the government begins to set harsher policies towards gambling and casinos are required to cut costs, the unemployment rate might increase which would create even more social issue, which could result in protests and riots from the workers who have lost their jobs due to the harsh policy towards gambling. Some might argue that Gambling still creates harm towards many people and even though it can create jobs it can also result in many people losing their jobs. I would respond by quoting Lorne Tepperman â€Å"A majority of adults gamble responsible; only a small minority of the population experiences gambling related harm. (1). I believe that gambling will create more jobs that it will end and that that is just a minor side effect that could be easily cured by the revenue that gambling will generate for the government, this money could be put back into society and produce new projects that create new job opportunities and these jobs could be offered to those who had lost their previous jobs. In conclusion I would say that I do not believe that the government should regulate gambling because of the reasons that I have stated earlier in this essay.First, Gambling is a choice and freedom. It a civil right and the government should not be able to decide weather or not you are allowed to gamble or how much you are allowed to gamble. Second, Gambling has grown into a major industry and has become a major source of revenue to the government. Gambling has helped fund many government programs used to help the less fortunate, even though gambling do es create certain people who are addicted to it, they are nowhere near as many as the people whom gambling helps.In this situation the pros drastically outweigh the cons and as previously stated, the revenue generated from gambling could go towards social programs made to help people with gambling addictions, that way these people will eventually cure themselves of their addiction and the hundreds of thousands of people whom depend on gambling a source of income would not be affected, which is what I believe is a win-win situation. This brings me to my final argument, employment.The gambling industry has created hundreds of thousands of job opportunities to many of those who need it, especially in a recession where millions struggle to find an income support for them and their families. I would say that the government should encourage gambling businesses to grow. However, as Christiane Pouline states in his paper titled â€Å"Gambling† that â€Å"Decisions on policy pertaini ng to gambling need to be based on a full accounting of the health, economic and social benefits and costs of gambling. (1208). Which is why the policy towards gambling should be set to help both the gambler and the Casinos. That policy should state that a majority of the profit that is generated from Casinos should go towards social programs that will benefit society; these social programs should include programs made to help gambling addicts with their problems. James Doughney perfectly sums up this policy in his book titled â€Å"The poker machine state†.Doughney says, â€Å"Try to do good; but even when you cannot at least do not knowingly cause harm. † (1). Over the past several years, gambling has grown into the largest sector of the entertainment industry, creating the most amount of revenue to the government. Our society should be scared of this phenomenon and try to regulate it, we should actually take advantage of it and use it to help make the most the most of this opportunity by using the money made from gambling to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.