Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Case Brief, U.S. V. Clemons, 32F.3d 1504(11th Cir. 1994) Research Paper
Case Brief, U.S. V. Clemons, 32F.3d 1504(11th Cir. 1994) - Research Paper Example Althouse was murdered late in the night while driving toward a colleagueââ¬â¢s house, to discuss the next dayââ¬â¢s arrest warrants The court relied on the law stating that any individual who kills or attempts to kill federal agents while they are engaging in their official duties can be convicted of murder. In cases whereby an individual is found guilty of an attempted murder, a jail term of not more than twenty years is issued. The court was convinced that the federal agent (Althouse) was engaging in official duties when he was murdered. Clemons argued that the evidence presented to the judge was insufficient to show that the federal agent was on official duties at the time of the murder. In addition, he argued that the court broke the law by relying on similar cases and evidence to make its decision. Smith argued that the use of Clemonââ¬â¢s confessions in implicating him is against the law. The court argued that Althouse was trying to prevent the theft of FBI property when he was murdered. Even though the duties were being carried out late in the night, the court still believed that Althouse was performing his duties. The way in which Clemons carried out the carjacking led to murder. Any individual who kills or attempts to kill federal agents, or any officer or employee working in the secret service or drug enforcement administration, is punishable under sections 1111 and 1112 of the United Statesââ¬â¢ Constitution. Individuals found guilty of attempted murder are given jail terms of not more than twenty years. The court made its decision based on the argument that the federal agent was performing his official duties. Althouse was trying to prevent the theft of a federal car when he was killed. In such circumstances, the judges were convinced that the agent was performing official duties. The court also relied on the evidence presented by Althouseââ¬â¢s colleagues. Althouse had
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Importance of Natural Product Synthesis
Importance of Natural Product Synthesis History of medicine dates back practically to the existence of human civilization. Historically, the majority of new drugs have been generated from natural products and from compounds derived from natural products. Natural products, including plants, animals and minerals have always been a source of therapeutic agents for many years. Natural products sometimes exhibit pharmacological or biological property that can be of therapeutic benefit in treating diseases. As such, natural products are the active components not only of mostà traditional medicinesà but also of many newer medications. Furthermore, synthetic analogs of natural products with improved potency and safety can be prepared and therefore natural products are often used as Lead Copmpounds forà drug discovery. In fact, natural products are the inspiration for approximately one half of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs. The birth of the natural product synthesis dates back to 1828 when Friedrich Wà ¶hler synthesized urea, a naturally occurring substance from ammonium cyanate. This event as trivial as it may seem by todayââ¬â¢s standards not only gave birth to a boundless science called organic synthesis but also contributed to a demystification of mother Nature by burying the fact that synthesis of natureââ¬â¢s molecules is her exclusive domain. The second major achievement in the field of organic synthesis is the synthesis of acetic acid from elemental carbon by Kolbe3 in 1845. It is historically significant because Kolbe coined the word Synthesis for the first time to describe the process of assembling a chemical compound from other substances. The total synthesis of naturally occurring pigments alizarin in 1869 by Graebe and Liebermann and indigo in 1878 by Baeyer represent landmark accomplishments in the field. Probably, after urea, the most spectacular total synthesis of the nineteenth c entury was that of Emil Fischerââ¬â¢s (â⬠¡)-glucose not only for the complexity of the target but also for the considerable stereochemical control that accompanied it. Figure 1: Although the precedent was set in the nineteenth century, it was only in the twentieth century the field of total synthesis started to flourish when Robert Burns Woodward synthesized Quinine. This event ushered in the modern era of total synthesis and Woodward who received the 1965 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for several brilliant examples of total synthesis such as his 1954 synthesis of strychnine, cholesterol5 is regarded as the father of modern organic synthesis. Figure 2: Today the art of organic synthesis has improved to astoundingly high levels of sophistication. Through its practice, chemists are able to synthesize organic molecules of all types of structural motifs and for all intents and purposes. Some modern classical examples of total synthesis include the synthesis of prostaglandin PG2à ± and Ginkgolide by E. J Corey, Ingenol by Wood, Brevetoxin by Nicolaou, Vancomycin by Evans, Taxol by Holton6, Nicolaou7, Wender and Danishefsky8 groups independently. The discipline of natural product synthesis today, is an important field of investigation whose dividends stretch from new scientific knowledge to practical applications. Considered by many as the flagship of organic synthesis, natural product synthesis symbolizes the power of chemical synthesis at any given time and defines its scope and limitations. It also serves to improve chemical synthesis by attempting to push its frontiers into higher molecular complexity, diversity, and efficiency. they can synthesize not only the molecules of nature and their analogues, but also myriad other organic molecules for potential applications in many areas of science, technology and everyday life Introduction to THF-containing natural products Tetrahydrofuran (THF)-containing natural products widely occur in several important families of biologically active compounds, such as the annonaceous acetogenins [1] and polyether antibiotics isolated from Streptomyces organisms (ionomycin, lonomycins Aââ¬âC, or monensin) [2]. Itââ¬â¢s worthwhile at this juncture to discuss few THF ring containing natural products such as which have been of paramount importance to the mankind and also to the researchers who have been actively involved in the synthesis and isolation of these natural products. Acetogenins Acetogenins abbreviated as AAGs are a group of THF-Containing natural products isolated from Annonacae species which are vastly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. They exhibit different biological activities such as antitumor, ant-imalarial, anti microbial, anti protozoal, pesticidal activities2. The common structural features of acetogenins include several free hydroxy groups with various stereo centers, differently located oxygenated functional groups and tetrahydrofuran (THF) ring(s) along the long hydrocarbon chain with an à ±, à ²-unsaturated à ´-lactone moiety at the end. Uvaricin, a bis THF acetogenin was the first of the AAGs isolated from Uvaria acuminata in 1982. It exhibited potent anti-cancer activity by inhibiting NADH cells in the mitochondrion. The total synthesis of Hexepi-Uvaricin was published by Hoye in 1994 and subsequently first total synthesis was achieved by Keinan in 1998. Montanacin D is a non classical acetogenin isolated from the ethanolic extract of the leaves of Annona Montana16 by Qin group in 1999, possessing a 4,8-cis THP ring along with a 16,19-trans THF ring. Ionomycin Amphidinolides Amphidinolides constitute a series of unique cytotoxic polyketide macrolides obtained from marine symbiotic dinoflagellates of the genus Amphidinium, which are symbionts of Okinawan marine flatworms Amphiscolops spp.1 They exhibit potent cytotoxic activity against murine lymphoma L1210 cells and human epidermoid carcinoma KB cells. Given below are some important Amphidinolides that incorporate a THF-ring in their structure Pectenotoxins Pectenotoxin (PTX)-group toxins are a group of polyether macrolide compounds found in microalgae and bivalve molluscs of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and some parts of Europe. Their presence in shellfish was discovered due to their high acute toxicity in the mouse bioassay after intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of lipophilic extracts of shellfish. Pectinotoxins are exclusively produced by Dinophysis species. In shellfish they are always accompanied by closely related okadaic acid (OA)-group toxins. The common structural features of (PTX)-group toxins include a spiroketal group, three THF-rings, a bicyclic ketal and a six-membered cyclic hemiketal (Allingham et al., 2007). PTX2 is beleived to be the main precursor, from which many PTX-group toxins are derived through biotransformation during metabolism in the gut of bivalves. It is suggested that an oxidation of PTX2 occurs, leading to the formation of other PTX-group toxins, including PTX1, PTX3, and PTX6 PTX-group toxins have been shown to cause cell cycle arrest, cell death and apoptosis. The wide range (10-9 and 10-6 M) of effective concentrations of PTX-group toxins as well as the apparent resistance of some cell lines to the cytotoxic effect of PTX-group toxins indicate the existence of cell-specific factors affecting the sensitivity of biological systems to this group of natural compounds. Studies have confirmed that PTX2 induces apoptosis in several cell lines through multiple mechanisms, involving the perturbation of the cell cycle machinery, inhibition of mitotic separation and cytokinesis through the depolymerization of actin filaments. Oscillariolide and Phormidolide Oscillariolide is a halogenated macrolide isolated from a marine blue-green alga Oscillatoria sp. from Gokashowan-Bay, Mie Prefecture. It exhibits significant cytotoxic activity in the echinoderm egg assay. Phormidolide, a closely related macrolide was isolated from the extract of a laboratory culture of an Indonesian isolate of the cyanobacterium Phormidium sp. It displayed cytotoxicity towards drine shrimp with a LC50 of 1.5 à µM. The characteristic features of both oscillariolide and phormidolide include a trisubstituted bridged THF macrolactone with a long polyhydroxy chain containing a unique terminal bromo diene. Structural elucidation revealed that the polyhydroxy side as well as THF ring of both compounds have same stereochemistry Chagosensine Chagosensine is a sixteen-membered chlorinated macrolide isolated from the methanolic chloroform extract of a bright yellow sponge Leucetta chagosensis usually found in the coral reefs of Red Sea, Aqaba Gulf (Israel). the extract of the Leucetta sp. sponge exhibited potent ability to inhibit the epidermal growth factor receptor signaling pathway. A new mechanism for the action of naamidine A and inhibition of tumor cells was shown.
Friday, October 25, 2019
Divorce or Annulment Essay -- Social Issues, Custody of the Children
In the failure of marriage, most couples nowadays prefer to have a divorce or annulment. For them, separation is a lot easier than forcing a relationship to work. However, the consequences of divorce appear to have greater impacts on children and not just on the couple. The custody of the children is usually brought into court settlements to determine which party, whether the motherââ¬â¢s or the fatherââ¬â¢s, qualifies for custody. In this regard, lawyers require help from mental health experts who would make evaluations of both parties. Mental health experts also provide counseling that would help the individuals to cope with the condition that they are experiencing. This way, the psychologist would have dual tasks: a forensic evaluator and a therapeutic counselor. This dual task would be the center of this discussion. In 1997, Greenberg and Shuman wrote an article that shows the irreconcilable conflict between dual roles of mental health experts in court proceedings. Several factors have enabled mental health experts to appear as forensic expert witnesses. However, these two roles are not compatible due to several differences between these and confidentiality and anonymity are compromised. Definitions must first be provided to differentiate between the roles. The therapist refers to a clinician or mental health expert who provides psychotherapy to the client. His primary responsibility is to treat his patient. A fact witness, meanwhile, refers to the person testifying based on direct observations. He does not offer expert opinions. In short, a therapist who serves as fact witness is someone who testifies based on the observations carried out during therapy. His conclusions are thus drawn from his observations (Strasburger, Gutheil, &... ...ings as therapist and forensic expert. This is due to the premise that assuming the roles of both a therapist and a forensic expert may lead to the possibility that the expert is more concerned about the conclusion of the case than the integrity and accuracy of his testimony. Furthermore, there are many differences between the roles of the therapist and the expert. Some of these differences include attitudes of each expert, goals, and roles of therapist-patient and forensic-expert-patient relationships. These differences lead to the incompatibility of dual roles. Furthermore, confidentiality and anonymity are compromised when therapists provide testimony in court proceedings. While some researchers believe that the dual roles can be compatible, the points discussed in this paper are adequate enough to conclude that therapeutic and forensic roles are incompatible.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Raising Resilient Children
Another point he article makes is that by raising resilient children, they tend to be more self- efficient, resulting In future success as a teenager and an adult(Wade). Relation to Textbook There is a section in the textbook titled ââ¬Å"The Wellsprings of Resilienceâ⬠. It states children who have been beaten, neglected, or constantly subjected to verbal or physical abuse by their parents are more likely than other children to have emotional problems, become delinquent and violent, commit crimes, drop out of school, develop mental disorders such as depression, and develop chronic stress-related illnesses.It goes on to conclude that most children are surprisingly resilient, eventually overcoming drastic effects of having an abusive parent or even being sexually molested. These situations are extremely devastating, but don't happen In everyone life, but if a child was molested, even they can heal from that wound by being rescued by love. The book emphasizes the most significant reason for the resilience of children, is that we are all constantly interpreting our experiences. Whether we want to remain prisoners of childhood, or be enlightened by the possibilities of adulthood, IS a choice that ;s Vital.Child development research RAISING RESILIENT CHILDREN 3 does suggest certain overall guidelines to help parents teach children to be confident, considerate, and helpful: set high expectations that are appropriate to the child's age and temperament, and teach the child how to meet them, explain why the parent has applied a rule, encourage empathy, and notice, approve of, and reward good behavior(Camps). Relates to My World I chose this article because I can definitely relate to It. My mother raised me alone cause my dad left when I was a little girl.I remember In my childhood she always made sure that I was growing up to be an emotionally strong person. When I wanted to get myself dressed with no help, my mom would let me because she wanted me to learn the res ponsibility of dressing myself. She also let me be Ms. Bossy basically. The practices she taught me and wanted me to really grasp during my childhood has positively affected me as a teenager and a young adult. I do not plan to have children anytime soon, but I do completely agree that children need to be resilient. It really evolves their stronghold on life.Having a strong head on your shoulders is essential for getting through the tough tribulations and trials life throws at you. This article hits the head on the hammer. I truly appreciate the Information I have gotten from It. Ask Questions 1 OFF I Nils article sat arts out Walt a parent slang ââ¬Å"How can we Keep two Solos inanely Ana merry, I thought, in a world that can seem as precarious as the one we live in now? â⬠As I continued to read the article, I began asking myself how creditable these experts are and what are they really trying to accomplish.This article does not mention the hardships of raising children, and does not address how difficult it can be to do so. It Just states that if a parent uses these specific strategies when raising their children, the child will be emotionally stable, which is not always the case. Sometimes other things can interfere. Avoid Emotional Reasoning This article begins to go in detail about the parent wanting to solve the child's problems, sometimes blocking the logical thing to do, which is to let the child learn from their mistakes, and develop self-responsibility.Don't Oversimplify The article gives off an either/or thinking, with it being either you practice these guidelines or your children will grow up unemotionally stable. RAISING RESILIENT 5 Consider Other Interpretations This article does not give the opposite side of being resilient, so who is to say that these experts are correct, and know what they are talking about. Tolerate Uncertainty This article does not involve certainty of a sure situation. It Just simply states some things a parent can do to raise their child to be emotionally intact.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Creating Performance Goals and Measures for Your Charter School Essay
This document is designed to provide guidance and assistance in developing sound goals and measures ââ¬â both educational and organizational ââ¬â for inclusion in your charter agreement with [Authorizing Agency]. The following guidance focuses especially on providing deeper guidance for developing strong educational goals and measures ââ¬â i.e., those that will comprise the Academic and Student Non-Academic Performance indicators of your charter agreement. This task demands particular attention because educational performance indicators are often more challenging to state in meaningful, objective terms than are non-educational measures, such as those focusing on Organizational and Management Performance (the third category of performance indicators required for your charter agreement). However, the principles for developing all of these types of goals and measures are very similar; thus, to the extent applicable, you should follow the guidance in these pages for developing your non-educational goals and measures as well. I. General Criteria for Goals Goals should be SMART: Specific and Tied to Standards Measurable Ambitious and Attainable Reflective of Your Mission Time-Specific with Target Date 1. Specific A well-defined goal must be specific, clearly and concisely stated, and easily understood. Academic goals should be tied to academic standards that specify what students should This document was first developed by Margaret Lin as a guidance tool for the Charter Schools Office of Ball State University (IN) to offer to the schools it oversees. It has been adapted for distribution at the Annual Conference of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, Nov. 13-14, 2003, San Diego, CA. Many of the concepts, definitions and principles in these pages are adapted from the following sources: Measuring Up: How Chicagoââ¬â¢s Charter Schools Make Their Missions Count, by Margaret Lin (Leadership for Quality Education, 2001); Guidelines for Writing Charter School Accountability Plans, 2001-2002 (Charter Schools Institute, State University of New York), http://www.newyorkcharters.org/charterny/act_guide.html; and ââ¬Å"Some Expectations Regarding the Contents of Charter School Accountability Plans,â⬠District of Columbia Public Charter School Board. know and be able to do, for each subject or content area and for each grade, age, or other grouping level. Equally important, academic goals should be developed with solid knowledge of studentsââ¬â¢ baseline achievement levels. 2. Measurable A goal should be tied to measurable results to be achieved. Measurement is then simply an assessment of success or failure in achieving the goal. 3. Ambitious and Attainable A goal should be challenging yet attainable and realistic. Academic goals should be based on a well-informed assessment of your schoolââ¬â¢s capacities and your studentsââ¬â¢ baseline achievement levels. 4. Reflective of Your Mission A goal should be a natural outgrowth of your school mission, reflecting the schoolââ¬â¢s values and aspirations. 5. Time-Specific with Target Date A well-conceived goal should specify a time frame or target date for achievement. Ball State expects its charter schools to specify both long-term goals that each school expects to achieve by the end of its fourth year of operation, along with annual benchmarks that will enable the school, authorizer and other stakeholders to monitor and assess the pace of progress. Definitions of Key Terms To develop adequate learning goals and measures, schools should begin with a clear understanding of a few essential terms: Goal: A clear, measurable statement of what students will know and be able to do in order to be considered ââ¬Å"educatedâ⬠after a certain length of time attending the school. Standard: A clear, measurable statement of what students will be expected to know (a content standard) or be able to do (a performance or skill standard) at a given point in their development, usually each year and at graduation. (Standards are usually defined grade-by-grade and subject-by-subject, and are thus more specific than ââ¬â but necessary to support ââ¬â overarching school goals.) Assessment (sometimes also ââ¬Å"measureâ⬠): A method, tool or system to evaluate and demonstrate student progress toward ââ¬â or mastery of ââ¬â a particular learning standard or goal. (Examples: A standardized test, or a portfolio-judging system) Measure: An application of an assessment that defines progress toward or attainment of a goal and indicates the level of performance that will constitute success. (Example: ââ¬Å"Students at the Successful Charter School will improve their performance on the reading portion of the Stanford-9 by at least 3% per year, on average.â⬠) Assessments ââ¬â and by extension, measures ââ¬â should be valid, reliable, and demonstrate scoring consistency: â⬠¢ Valid: Assesses the skill or knowledge it is intended to assess. Reliable: Provides consistent results when taken repeatedly by the student at a given point in his/her development, as well as by other students at the same point in development. Scoring Consistency: Produces consistent scores, ratings, results or responses when a particular assessment tool, scoring guide or rubric is used by different evaluators to assess the same student performance or work sample. 3 II. Essential Principles to Guide the Development of Sound Educational Goals and Measures â⬠¢ Your mandate as the operator of a charter school is not just to teach well but also to demonstrate objectively ââ¬â in ways that are clear, understandable and credible to a variety of external audiences ââ¬â that you are doing so. Thus, you must measure and report academic progress precisely and extensively. Distinguish between goals and measures. Goals are the starting point, but require valid, reliable ways to measure and demonstrate that you have achieved them. Make sure that your goals are clear, specific and measurable. Your measures for attainment of those goals should describe how you will assess progress, and how much progress will constitute success. Educational goals must be connected to a well-defined set of learning standards for both content (what students should know) and performance (what students should be able to do). Such standards should exist for every subject or content area and each grade, age or other grouping level in the school. Focus on outcomes and evidence of learning, not inputs. For example, participation rates or the number of hours spent on an activity are not sufficient measures of success. Participation and investment of time areà necessary first steps, but they are inputs, not measures of learning and accomplishment. In developing goals for your accountability plan, focus on whatââ¬â¢s most important. Ten or fewer clear, well-chosen and carefully measured educational goals (for both Academic and Student Non-Academic Performance) should allow you to provide a convincing story of your progress and achievements ââ¬â and will be more effective than listing a score of vague, trivial, redundant or hard-to-measure indicators. The measures you develop to assess achievement of each goal, if not based on standardized assessments, should be demonstrably valid and reliable. (The attached framework will provide some help in developing validity and reliability of assessments.) A Note on Defining Standards: Milestones on the Path to Broader School Goals Educational goals must be tied to clear content and performance standards specifying what you expect your students to know and be able to do in order to graduate or be promoted to the next level. These standards need only to be referenced in your accountability plan, but they form the foundation of your schoolââ¬â¢s education program. As such, selecting and developing grade-bygrade, subject-by-subject standards is an essential component of accountability planning that goes hand-in-hand with broader goal-setting. Of course, many of your school standards will be Indiana state standards. However, most schools have important aims beyond the state requirements, and developing these supplemental standards is a technically challenging task. It usually consists of several steps, including: 1. Articulating desired characteristics of ââ¬Å"educatedâ⬠students at a general level ââ¬â or setting yourà schoolââ¬â¢s overarching goals; 2. Breaking these general qualities and goals into more concrete graduation or exit standards; and 3. Benchmarking these exit standards down into specific and measurable grade-age-level content and performance standards.2 III. Practical Steps for Developing Sound Educational Goals and Measures â⬠¢ Define a set of goals that describe what success will look like at your school. These goals should be carefully selected to reflect the breadth and depth of your mission, and should answer critical questions such as: How will you know if your school is succeeding (or not)? What will be important characteristics of ââ¬Å"educated studentsâ⬠at your school? What will students know and be able to do after a certain period of time? Outline your goals in precise, declarative sentences. Example: ââ¬Å"All students at the Excelencia Charter School will be proficient readers and writers of Spanish within four years of enrolling.â⬠Identify at least one and possibly multiple measures to assess and demonstrate progress toward each goal. These measures must indicate both (1) the level of performance you will expect your school or students to achieve, and (2) how much progress will indicate success. (It is not sufficient to say youââ¬â¢ll administer a certain type of assessment; you must explain how you expect your students to perform on it to demonstrate progress and success.) Adapted from Accountability for Student Performance: An Annotated Resource Guide for Shaping an Accountability Plan for Your Charter School (Charter Friends National Network, 2nd ed., 2001), p. 5, http://www.charterfriends.org/accountability.doc. You may develop different types of measures to assess (1) absolute achievement; (2) student growth or gains; or (3) achievement compared to other schools. (The box below provides an example of different ways to measure achievement of the same goal.) For every goal, choose means of assessment that make non-attainment of the goal as objectively apparent as success. That is, the assessment(s) should tell you (and external audiences) immediately whether you have achieved a particular goal or not. Make sure that your measures of student learning are based on knowledge of your studentsââ¬â¢ baseline achievement levels. Without such knowledge, your measures will not be meaningful or realistic. Set long-term goals as well as intermediate (typically annual) benchmarks to assess progress. Administer assessments corresponding to this timeline to provide longitudinal data over the term of the charter. To have time to counter learning deficits that students may have upon entering your school, you may consider setting certain goals for students who have been enrolled in your school for a certain period of time, such as ââ¬Å"students who have been in the school for at least three years.â⬠For every measure you develop, ask yourself, ââ¬Å"Will this measure be readily understandable and credible to someone who doesnââ¬â¢t spend a day or a week in our school getting to know us?â⬠Remember, your school will be judged by the media, community leaders and the public at large, in addition to your authorizer and parents. For measures not based on standardized tests, establishing external credibility typically requires demonstrating validity and reliability. (The attached framework offers an overview of one way for schools to do this.) Understand what data you will need to gather to support each measure. Remember, if you have no data, you have no case proving your schoolââ¬â¢s achievements. Likewise, if you have insufficient data, you have an insufficient case. There is no single best way to measure achievement of a particular goal. As charter schools, you are free to choose measures that you prefer, provided that they are also meaningful and persuasive to external audiences. The following example shows how three different measures might be applied to a single learning goal. (These goals could be developed by one school or by three different schools that have the same goal.) Note that each measure describes how progress will be assessed and how much progress will constitute success. The third measure allows the school to assess skills beyond those measured on standardized tests, and would thus require some demonstration of validity and reliability or be used in addition to externally validated assessments.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Full Review PowerScore SAT Reading Bible by Victoria Wood
Full Review PowerScore SAT Reading Bible by Victoria Wood SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips PowerScore is a test prep company with fingers in many pies, including the SAT prep pie (the most standardized of pies?). They have published a trilogy of SAT Prep books: SAT Math Bible, SAT Writing Bible, and SAT Reading Bible (which is what I'll be reviewing today). Like most prep books, the SAT Reading Bible has some positive and some negative aspects. Read on to figure out whether or not this book is appropriate for you and if you should add it into your own test prep. Why trust this review? When you're evaluating advice (both in life in general and on the Internet in particular), itââ¬â¢s v. important to know why that advice is trustworthy and believable. And as you probably already know if you're reading this blog, your SAT score is important (we even have an infographic to that effect), and following the wrong advice might lead to a bad score and loss of chance to improve it. So why is this review worthy of your trust? Because I know what Iââ¬â¢m talking about. I took the (current) SAT twice in high school and scored a perfect 800 on the Critical Reading section both times. I've also been doing in-depth analysis of the SAT questions by skill set and writing articles on each skill. Other reviewers donââ¬â¢t necessarily have the expertise to be able to differentiate between books, so they end up recommending books as a sort of afterthought (and itââ¬â¢s pretty obvious). In addition, I'm not getting paid for this recommendation, and donââ¬â¢t get paid if you end up buying the book (unlike other sites like about.com and reviews.com, which get paid for featuring books and if you click on their link to buy it). I do have one disclaimer, however. Disclaimer I work at PrepScholar, an education company that produces online SAT and ACT prep programs. PrepScholar diagnoses your strengths and weaknesses and customizes a test prep program to suit your needs. My primary job consists of writing and editing articles (like this one) for the associated blog and grading the essays of students taking practice tests through the program. While I think that PrepScholar provides the best prep platform currently available, you donââ¬â¢t necessarily need a prep program to do well on the SAT. Writing this review might actually lost us some customers, since you might decide you donââ¬â¢t need a program after all. But if you decide you donââ¬â¢t want to have to deal with 5 different books and want an integrated program that customizes to your learning, however, you should give PrepScholar a test run (that was a totally unintentional "test" pun, but now I noticed it and there is no going back). PowerScore SAT Reading Bible Book Review When thinking about any (test prep) book with a review in mind, I tend to focus in on the following three points: tend to go with three important questions to evaluate it Whoââ¬â¢s the author and whatââ¬â¢s her experience/background? How effective is this book overall? What are the pros and what are the cons of this book? About the author Victoria, or Vicki, Wood specializes in GMAT, GRE, and SAT prep. She is the Senior Curriculum Developer (according to her book bio) slash Director of SAT Development (according to her LinkedIn page) at PowerScore, a test prep company thatââ¬â¢s been around since 1997. She attended Michigan State University for her undergraduate education, has experience as an educator as well as a test prep specialist, and currently writes for PowerScore's SAT blog. How effective is this book? As I know from my own experience tutoring, SAT Reading is the most difficult score to improve, because the skills you need to master it (logical/critical reasoning skills) are not as easily taught as the content on the Writing and Math sections. To prepare for SAT Reading, you have to focus in on different question types and the skills theyââ¬â¢re asking for in order to approach the questions in a systematic way. While the PowerScore SAT Reading Bible does divide up question types, but I didnââ¬â¢t find their approach to learning how to deal with them all that helpful. On the other hand, the PowerScore Reading Bible was the #1 about.com best SAT prep book of 2014, and is also a top-ranking test prep book on amazon.com, which means some people find it useful. Screen shot taken 2015-07-02 at 2.37.20 PM by Laura Staffaroni. All rights reserved. Itââ¬â¢s so popular that it ranks higher for ACT prep than for SAT prep on Amazon, despite being an SAT prep book. Wait, what? Amazon, what are you doing. Pros and Cons of PowerScore SAT Reading Bible Pros 1. Accurate categorization of sentence types. For sentence completion, the general categories (contrast, similarity, definition, and cause and effect) seem at least somewhat accurate and useful. After all, knowing what kind of sentence a sentence completion question is might make it easier for you to figure out how the missing word relates to the rest of the words in the sentence. 2. Novel and useful suggestions for studying vocab. On page 150, there is an interesting list of strategies for studying vocab words that I think might be helpful (even if some of the items are awkwardly worded) because it addresses non-verbal learners, with strategies for visual learners and audio (sic; I think they meant aural) learners. For example, instead of just reading a vocabulary word in a sentence, Wood suggests reading it aloud (for aural learners) and drawing a picture to represent the word (for visual learners). If learning vocab (and knowing how to use it) is the main area in which you are struggling, I think this particular list of strategies would be very useful - it might even stimulate you to come up with new ways to learn vocab that work well for you! 3. Accessible. There are fun quotes, tips, vocabulary, and more in the margins of this book. The layout also has a little variety, with even the occasional picture thrown in! 4. Key words for passage based questions. Starting on page 178, Wood lists a variety of key words that are helpful to page attention to when reading the passage. These include change-of-direction words and phrases like "however" and "rather than" as well as comparison words and phrases like "similarly" and "just as." If you struggle with extracting meaning from passages, learning to spot these words is extremely helpful. That being said, there are some serious downsides to the SAT Reading Bible. Cons 1. There can only be one...way to approach the passage. Wood claims there is only one way to attack the passages, which is to read the entire passage. She is quite adamant that you must read the entire passage to score in the 95th percentile or higher, which I have an issue with because what if that's not what you're aiming for and where is she getting those numbers? (I was doing some critical reading of my own there) Saying that there's only way to take the test and that you must follow these steps is unnecessarily restrictive. I find that the best way to read the passage is to be flexible - sometimes skimming is the right answer, sometimes looking at the question first helps, and sometimes you just want to power through the passage and answer the questions after. To figure out which strategy is right for you, click here. 2. Way too much focus on sentence completion questions. This tends to be a problem with a lot of prep (books and otherwise), because vocab is easier to pinpoint as an area of weakness, and you get an (artificial) feeling of satisfaction from learning lists and roots and suffixes.Even taking that into consideration, however, the proportions are way off for the SAT Reading Bible: pages 36-154, 395-455 (190 pages, give or take) are all on sentence completion or vocab; out of a 458 page book, that seems a huge proportion, particularly considering only pages 162-385 (234 pages, give or take) are devoted to passage-based questions. The relative amount of pages/time spent on vocab in this book is not proportional to the amount of space the questions take up on even the current SAT (190:234 âⰠ19:48. For those of you really wishing there was some bonus math in this book review: you're welcome). Unless your ONLY weakness is vocab, you are wasting your time spending it as this book sugges ts. 3. The sentence completion advice isnââ¬â¢t relevant to most students. All the strategies given seem like they would be pointless if you didn't know the vocab word, and pointless if you did; basically, the advice is only relevant to a certain subset of students. For example, take "The PowerScore Four-Step Solution" (starting with the strategies on p. 41). If you donââ¬â¢t know any of the answer choices/donââ¬â¢t know the vocab, going through the trouble to cross out irrelevant info, rephrase the sentence, read only parts of the sentence, and then try to relate the sentence to your own life is way more time than this question is worth. Sentence completion questions are not worth any more than other SAT Reading questions ââ¬â why spend so much time? If you do know the word, then adding on extra strategy is extraneous and will just take away time from the passage-based questions. Perhaps these strategies are aimed at those students who "sort of" know what the word means, or can guess by process of elimination, yet do this all really quickly so as not to lose too much time. This not only seems to be a very narrow group of people, but the fact that the strategies are targeted at that demographic is never explicitly stated (at least not as far as I saw). 4. Explanations are convoluted, and the vocabulary used in explanations is unnecessarily complicated. For instance, Wood consistently uses the phrase "question stem" to refer to questions on the SAT. I suppose I can kind of see where she's coming from (if you just call the question part "questions," then what do you call the question + answer? My answer: the question and its answer choices, but I guess that could get clunk), but that's not the only instance of overly complicate vocabulary in this book. Take this quotation from page 55 regarding sentence completion questions: "For example, subordinating conjunctions are often the first word of a Contrast Sentence containing a dependent clause and independent clause." (p. 55) My immediate response: what. If someone needs help with these questions, she probably won't appreciate phrases like "subordinating conjunctions" being thrown into the explanations. Yes, itââ¬â¢s correct terminology, but that is NOT something you will be tested on ââ¬â why take up extra time learning grammar terms that arenââ¬â¢t even tested on SAT Writing when you could be using that time better elsewhere? You're studying for the SAT, not for your own personal grammar education. See my recommendations for the best way to approach sentence completion questions for an alterative approach. 5. Breakdown of question type is too broad for passage-based reading. While Wood does break down types of passage based questions, the categories (except for vocab in context) are so big as to be meaningless (literal comprehension and extended reasoning). The types of questions are not necessarily grouped by skill ââ¬â main idea questions are lumped in with facts and details. There are also some unnecessary categories, like cause and effect (the skills you use to answer these questions are not meaningfully different from those you use to answer "facts and details" questions). I know from experience what a pain it is to categorize SAT questions by skill type, so I do understand why Wood chose to emphasize the categories she did; I, however, believe that the most useful way to study passage-based questions is by taking into account both the skill being tested AND the way it is tested. Yes, main point questions and detail questions require core literal comprehension skills, but the way you go about answering main point questions is likely going to be different than the way you answer little picture/detail questions. This mindset also underlies the SAT Reading skills articles that are already up and coming soon on the PrepScholar blog. 6. Questions and examples are of...questionable quality. While no material other than the Official SAT Study Guide (and free official SATs) will have actual SAT questions on them, it's important that any supplemental questions/examples you use to prepare for the SAT are of comparable quality. Frankly, I did not find that to be the case with the SAT Reading Bible. Here's an example of a sentence completion question I found fishy: "Carmine was proud of his ____, intelligent daughter whose sound judgement was admired by her teachers and peers alike. A. irritable B. brave c. sensible D. artistic E. pampered." (p. 60) First of all, the vocab is way too easy. Here's the easiest official single-blank sentence completion question I've been able to find, for comparison: Unable to discover how the fire started, the inspectors filed a tentative report stating that the cause was ______.(A) noteworthy(B) definitive(C) fundamental (D) conclusive(E) indeterminate I think that the difference in the level of vocab is probably very slight, but it is there. For a look into the words most often found on the SAT, check out this free resource. Second of all, I feel like an alternate answer could be argued for that practice question: if you take the meaning of "sound" to be "relating to things you hear," rather than "reliable," and think that musicians are artistic, then I feel like "Carmine was proud of his artistic, intelligent daughter whose sound judgement was admired by her teachers and peers alike" is totally arguable (sound judgement sounds like it's something musicians would have to me, and I have a master's degree in music!). If it were just the sentence completion questions that had quality lapses, I wouldn't be so concerned (since those are going away in Spring 2016 anyway), but the passages used for passage-based reading questions in this book also struck me as problematic. There are no references in the intro or at the back of the book to reprints or licensing that would indicate the passages are taken from works of literature, which makes me think that they were written by Wood herself (or others at PowerScore). This is in no way meant as a slam at Wood's writing - I quite enjoyed her passage warning residents of Naples about the dangers of volcanic activity - but it does make me wonder how comparable the passages in this book are to passages that appear on the SAT. It's the classic "more practice isn't better when the questions aren't what you'll encounter on the actual test" problem. Overall Rating So...I don't know that I would really recommend using this book for prep. Aside from the fact that itââ¬â¢s not particularly recent (published in 2012), and that (this edition) will be obsolete by Spring 2016, its cons outweigh its pros. My general sense is that it has good strategies for learning vocab and for reading in generalâ⬠¦but not great strategies for SAT Reading. If youââ¬â¢re being extremely thorough and want to make sure you leave no stone unturned in prep, this could be helpful. As I said, it does present some concepts in ways I hadnââ¬â¢t seen (like ways to learn vocab or read passages). If youââ¬â¢re trying to improve a very low score, this book also might be able to help you with improving some core strengths (not the actual strength of your core, that would require doing sit-ups while doing test prep). When it comes to SAT strategies, however, I think that this book goes into way too much (unhelpful) detail, and if youââ¬â¢re scoring at a 500 or above, I donââ¬â¢t see this really boosting your score that much. Overall rating: 51/100 Other Options For SAT Reading Prep? If the words "free online resources for SAT Reading prep" are music to your ears, then I have got some good news for you! In addition to general strategy articles for low and high scorers, the PrepScholar blog also breaks down questions by skill type with focused suggestions. Most of the articles (on sentence completion, vocab in context, analogy, author technique, and paired passage questions) are live; the others will be posted in the next week or so. Whatââ¬â¢s Next? Read our detailed guide to the best SAT books for Critical Reading, the best SAT prep books, and our list of the best SAT Prep Websites to pull together your own study program. Whatââ¬â¢s a good SAT score for you? Figure it out using our step-by-step guide based around the colleges youââ¬â¢re applying to. Aiming for a high score? Read our guide to scoring a perfect 800 on SAT Reading or a perfect 1600 on the SAT, written by our resident perfect scorer (and PrepScholar co-founder) Allen Cheng. And donââ¬â¢t forget to check out our top-of-the-class SAT prep program! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:
Monday, October 21, 2019
The eNotes Blog The Greatest Books of AllTime
The Greatest Books of AllTime Is it possible to rank the worlds best literature? Well, no, and were certainly not going to try. Although in 2007, one publication did. Now we ask, did it get it right? The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Booksà is a collection of Top Ten lists provided by some of the worlds most respected authors125 altogether, from Norman Mailer, to Jonathan Franzen, to Stephen King and Annie Proulx. In all, a total of 544 works were mentioned at least once in the 125 lists, which were further separated by different criteria to concoct a number of other lists: The Top Top Ten Books of All Time The Top Ten Books by Living Writers The Top Ten Books of the Twentieth Century The Top Ten Mysteries The Top Ten Comedies and many more. Despite the books seemingly absolutist mission to seek out the best ten books ever, its editor J. Peder Zane views the collection more as a reading guide. He was inspired by a dream that other readers will probably find familiar; stranded on a desert island and thirsting for nothing other than a really good book, Zane suddenly found himself pelted from above with one masterpiece after another, turning his little isle into a Tower of Biblio-Babel. He interpreted the dream to represent the opportunity and befuddlement book lovers face, and resolved to answer that perpetual readers question, What should I read next? Part Rand-McNally, part Zagats, part cultural Prozac, it takes the anxiety out of bibliophilia by offering a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the worlds best books.J. Peder Zane Something notable about the reduction of a near infinite choice of works to one relatively small collection is the resultant ability to point out patterns in the writers selections. Amongst all of them, there is an overwhelming prevalence to go for memorable character-driven dramas of love and death, delineated by nuanced prose, as Sven Birkerts so elegantly puts it. We can also see that across all of the lists, the 1920s produced the most popular works, comprising 15 novels named on two or more lists. (The twentieth century in all was the far more appreciated century.) The books appendix cross-references the 544 books by many other illuminating standards. And yet, can we really reduce the supposed best literature of all time into lists, no matter how many we have of them? Annie Proulx, who submitted a list of her own top ten didnt seem to think so as she penned,à Lists, unless grocery shopping lists, are truly aà reductio ad absurdum. Whatever you believe, whether the 544 books in The Top Tenà can be considered the best books ever or not, the collection must at least highlight a multitude of books that can all be deemed worth your time. Close your eyes and stab your finger on any one of its pages and youll stumble upon a good read (or at least somebodys good read). After all, given that 125 famous and respected living writers contributed to the list of top top ten below, it wouldnt do you any harm to give each a try. At least, I know what my next New Years resolution will be. Thanks to Flavorwire, we have a nifty infograph to pictorially dilute the massive amount of information found in the book. Have a look through the results and tell us what you think in a comment. Who was shafted? Who doesnt deserve to be on the list? We want to hear your thoughts!
Sunday, October 20, 2019
How to Tell a Male From a Female Shark
How to Tell a Male From a Female Shark Ever wondered how to tell the sex of a shark? Distinguishing the sex of a shark is easier than in most marine species. Its all in the sharks external anatomy. Male sharks have modified pelvic fins called claspers. Females do not have these claspers. As male sharks age, the calcium is deposited in the claspers, so that older males have harder claspers. In addition to the absence of claspers, females tend to be larger than males, although those differences may not always be obvious, especially in the wild. Where Claspers Are Located These claspers are located on the sharks underside, within the sharks two pelvic fins. They look kind of like long fingers that extend underneath the sharks belly.à Shark Reproduction in Brief The claspers are used for reproduction. Sharks breed via sexual reproduction with internal fertilization. This involves the sharks usually positioning themselves belly to belly, a process that can involve a lot of biting. The claspers have grooves which are used to transfer sperm from the male shark to the females cloaca.à The sperm is moved through the grooves using seawater. The sperm fertilizes the females eggs, and voila!- a shark embryo is created. From there, development and birth vary by species.à In some species, such as bamboo sharks, the female lays eggs outside of her body (oviparous). About 40% of the 400 shark species lay eggs. In ovoviviparousà sharks, such as whale sharks, basking sharks, and thresher sharks, the eggs develop inside the females body, but the young are born live. Placental viviparous sharks give birth in a way similar to mammals- the young shark is nourished inside the female by a yolk-sac placenta, before being born live. Bull sharks, lemon sharks, and hammerhead sharks are examples of species that employ this strategy.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Lesson Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2
Lesson Plan - Essay Example The following will be the applicable common standards for the lesson plan together with their respective assessment criteria: 2. Teaching the children various vocabularies that show courtesy and regard- The children should be able to use the words during interactive class lessons that mock instances when the words should be used and how they should be used. 3. Teaching the children the importance of obedience and sincerity especially to their parents in situations that call for obedience and sincerity. Children should be able to demonstrate an understanding on the importance of staying obedient and sincere. The children should be able to show and in depth understanding and actually realize the obedience and sincerity are virtues. The primary source of motivation for the lesson plan is that the children will be active participants in the reading and learning initiatives. The children will take part in games and role plays that will allow them to enjoy role playing through plays that will pick specific scenes from the book and allow the children to act the scenes out. Before the reading of the book the children were not able to express themselves with sincerity and obedience and to understand the need for being sincere and obedient. The children should able to connect between the virtue of obedience and sincerity with the positive outcomes. The lesson plan will take an informal approach to allow the children to learn in a less strict environment. Although rules and procedures will not really be important, the children will be expected to understand the moral teachings behind the
Friday, October 18, 2019
The Probation System of Georgia Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
The Probation System of Georgia - Term Paper Example As observed in the past years, the crime rate has increased leading to a consequent upsurge in the number of criminals in the population, in the state of Georgia. This resulted in set up of improved probationer and management responsibilities. Therefore, the probation operations were more successful such that an improvement in case management was observed. Improved case management resulted in supervision that is more efficient from the probation officers in such a way that they did not affect the society in a negative manner. There was also the creation of an environment whereby the departments run by the probation officers are redirected such that the probation officers handle cases of higher risk probationer population. The state of Georgia also developed the Probation Reporting Contact Centre. It was specifically developed to help in the improvement of processes by the probation officers and acted as a reliable source of information and assistance. The Probation Reporting Contact Centre was also observed to offer relief to the probation officers through offering compliance reports and offering routine content. This was made probable by the formation of an Interactive Voice Response system, which handled the automation of notes system documentation and call reception automation. The adoption of this new system also meant that the probation officers received customer support from staff members designated to make live telephone conversations. The Probation Reporting Contact Centre proved to be an efficient and effective way since it offered a low risk operation whereby all stable probationers were in a position to report their residences and at the same time comply with the court order conditions of probation. Through this body, the probation officers were also able to participate in self-improvement programs with translation in better service delivery (Palmer, 2008). The probation officers are responsible for the management of all cases and the decision-making activities pertaining offenders in the state of Georgia. These probation officers are highly qualified in the field of handling cases of delinquency and hence the all the assisting technologies were designed in such a way that all the data concerning patients was delivered to the probation officers in a timely manner electronically. The transmission of patientââ¬â¢s data electronically prepares the probation officers psychologically such that they are able to prepare prior to meeting with the patient. As a result, the tactics and approaches employed by the probation officers are informed as they already have an insight of the case at hand. This increased the effectiveness of the probation programs making the probation system in Georgia robust. The Probation Reporting Contact Centre acts as a very essential reporting tool for the probation officers. This is because this organization was formed and designed in such way that it acts as a positive sanction and supervision tool. The use of this instrument has proven to be very successful in the sense that the community receives safer and faster probationer supervision and compliance. This is evident through instances whereby the probationers are not always required to report to the office to offer their service as a probation officer in person. This in turn translates into the overcoming of many shortcomings posed such as time wastage on the job owning to the wait time in most probation lobbies and childcare expenses. The incorporation of this new technology in probation offices,
The Elderly and Medications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
The Elderly and Medications - Essay Example This support system, which provides a soothing effect apart from partially or completely curing the element, is given by medicines. Medicinal curing is affected when correctly prescribed (by a doctor or pharmacist) and followed. However these medicines may adversely affect some other functions of body more so in case of old age people. So it is mediatory for aging old people to undergo medicines under strict supervision of their doctor or pharmacist (Marshall, Helen 2007). Commonly occurred disease among old age persons are Coronary heart disease, Cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Strokes, Arthritis, Osteoporosis. There are other diseases not the result of aging, but have a higher incidence in older adults like Cardiovascular, Dementia, Depression, Diabetes, falls and Injuries, Gastrointestinal Disorders, Hearing impairment, Memory, Nutrition, Parkinson's disease, Respiratory Disease, Pressure ulcers, Sleep problems, Thyroid Disease, Urinary Disorders, Visual impairment and many more. All these follow different medication, life span after detection and occurrence in old age groups (Connecticut United for Research Excellence). Generally prescribed medication for elderly people includes Sleeping Tablets, Anti-depressants, Tablets for B.P, Anti-Parkinson's Medicine, Pain Killers, Anti-biotics, Steroids, Water tablets etc (Bhimsingh, Suresh 2003). Some of the side effects occurred from these medicines are Confusion, falls due to unsteadiness, loss of bladder and bowel control, Confusion, drop in B.P, dry mouth, depression, impotence, Nausea, poor appetite, acidity, gastro-intestinal bleed, ringing in the ears, constipation, Diarrhoea, Skin rash, Alteration of body salt balance and like wise (Bhimsingh, Suresh 2003). Elderly people are more prone to side effects because of multiple reasons summarized as under. Multiple medications may lead to interaction between medicines giving back the side effects. Inefficient liver/kidneys to breakdown and excreting medicines causing them to remain for longer duration in system. Sensitive nervous system Physical deterioration ( Marshall, Helen 2007) Case study The subject of case study (name- DJ, age-73, living in nursing home) is suffering from high Cholesterol and Mild Hypertension, Along with Weak muscle tone, impaired vision and lack of strength. The disease, mobility and Sensory Deficits are common occurrence among old age people. List of drugs the she is taking with drug schedule is given below. Type of tablets Name of Medicine Reason for medicine Schedule Prescription Drugs Lipitor a cholesterol lowering pill After morning meal Prescription Drugs TriCon lowers fats from the blood After morning meal Prescription Drugs Klor-Con a potassium supplement After morning meal Prescription Drugs Chlorthalidone diuretic to reduce blood pressure At night Over The Counter Drugs Excedrin Extra Strength minor aches and pains regularly Over The Counter Drugs Vicks Vapor Rub minor aches and pains regularly Over The Counter Drugs Airborne cold/flu prevention regularly Over The Counter Drugs Centrum multivitamin daily The prescribed drugs taken by subject can be broadly divided into three categories, namely tablets for B/P. cholesterol lowering pills and pain killers. Major side effects caused due to these
Literaty Anaylsis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Literaty Anaylsis - Essay Example The essay tries to make a literary analysis of Frostââ¬â¢s poem ââ¬Å"Birchesâ⬠laying special emphasis on its theme and the literary devices employed in it. One of the major themes of the poem is that of imagination versus reality. The poet, like the birch swinger, tries to fly into an imaginary world, but he ultimately realizes that ââ¬Å"one must remain within the natural world itself and that complete escape into the world of the imagination is impossibleâ⬠("Birches: Themes"). The poet finds the birch tree ââ¬Å"bend to left and rightâ⬠and he understands the reality that it is the result of ice-storms. However, his imagination goes beyond the actual reason and concludes that some boy would be swinging on the birches. Thus, the tension between ââ¬Å"the real world and the world of the imagination, runs throughout Frosts poetry and gives the poem philosophical dimension and meaning far greater than that of a simple meditation on birch treesâ⬠("Birches: Introductionâ⬠). Later the poet himself identifies with the boy and considers himself to be a birch swinger. The poet is of the opinion that when one is ââ¬Å" weary of considerationsâ⬠and life seems to be ââ¬Å"a pathless woodâ⬠, he/she is quite likely to ââ¬Å"to get away from the earth awhileâ⬠. Thus, the climbing of the boy in the poem symbolizes manââ¬â¢s escape from the real world to the world of imagination or illusion and his coming down to earth suggests coming back to the world of reality. For the poet, the escape from the earth is only momentary and this occasional climb to the world of imagination provides one with the inner strength to face the real world. As Frost himself puts it: ââ¬Å"Id like to get away from earth awhile / And then come back to it and begin overâ⬠. At the end, the poet comes to the realization that the ââ¬Å"earth is the right place for loveâ⬠and that he cannot find a better place than this. Thus, the poem can be rightly understood as a conflict of the soul
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Organisational Development Plan Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Organisational Development Plan - Coursework Example The paragraphs below will be looking at how the organizational structure and its development are fitted within the overall organizational development agenda of the force as it performs its security functions. As stated in the foregoing paragraph of this essay, one of the responsibilities of the Port Authority is to secure the nationââ¬â¢s leading airports, consequently the main ports under the security watch of the Port Authority are the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and the LaGuardia Airport. Judging by the sensitivity of these entry points to national security the role of the Port Authority Police Department is very important. They carry out duties spanning from checking security details of all human and vehicular movements in and around the airport, in addition to offering special security detachment service to diplomats and other high profiled personalities traveling through the airport. Operating from Jersey City in New Jersey, the headquarters of the Port Authority Police Departmentââ¬â¢s headquarters has a complex network of personnel and equipment that are constantly working around the clock to collate crime related information, analyze the information and proceed to transmit the information to the relevant task force for onward action to be taking to this effect. The New York and New Jersey Intelligence and Crime Information Systems and the National Crime Information Centre headquartered in Washington DC are working in close partnership to make the campaign against crime a living reality. In many ways this essay is intended to present a lucid procedure for carrying out a comprehensive analysis scheme that will adequately fit the within the boarders of the changing dynamics of organizational development in contemporary justice and public safety institutions. It addresses the pivotal place to embrace the process of transformation,
Pluralists Democracies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Pluralists Democracies - Essay Example The prime minister is also known for his advocacy to "more" democracy evidenced by his move in providing more voting rights to the citizens through referendums. Including the public in national decision making an essential component of democracy yet I am quite confused on the Supplementary Voting system which he advocates. I believe that election can be made more efficient if the United States example could be followed. The electoral college system which chooses electors who are pledged to vote for a given candidate. For a huge country like the United Kingdom, this can work more efficiently since people are more acquainted with the lower level officials than the president candidates. Also, absolute democracy where all people for president is not quite feasible especially in the presence of interest groups which only have a small population. Electoral college system of election can guarantee towards a more pluralist democratic nation The result of the Program for International Student Assessment which gave a very low rating for German students in math, reading, writing, and science was a shock for the government which always prides itself in providing good education (German Youth 2006). However, looking at the situation of the country where educational attainment is tied to its social system this should not come as a surprise. Having been born and raised in the United States, I am quite shocked to know that this type of educational system exists. I believe that every citizen regardless of the economic status of his parents should have the right to be educated in the same manner as his peers. In order to solve this problem in Germany, I believe that education should be made a public good like roads and bridges. The government should allocate enough budget to fund its educational infrastructure and necessities. The government should be fully responsible for the provision of books, teachers, and computers to schools especially in the primary level. Another solution which can be proposed is the creation of a scholarship trust fund which will subsidize the allowance of students who cannot afford them. The government could also launched a stratified system where the poorest's educational expenses are fully subsidized. Climbing up, as income increases he subsidy becomes smaller. References Jones, B. et. al. 2004, Politics UK. United Kingdom: Longman German Youth Betrayed by Education System 2006, Retrieved 25 June 2008, from
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Organisational Development Plan Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Organisational Development Plan - Coursework Example The paragraphs below will be looking at how the organizational structure and its development are fitted within the overall organizational development agenda of the force as it performs its security functions. As stated in the foregoing paragraph of this essay, one of the responsibilities of the Port Authority is to secure the nationââ¬â¢s leading airports, consequently the main ports under the security watch of the Port Authority are the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and the LaGuardia Airport. Judging by the sensitivity of these entry points to national security the role of the Port Authority Police Department is very important. They carry out duties spanning from checking security details of all human and vehicular movements in and around the airport, in addition to offering special security detachment service to diplomats and other high profiled personalities traveling through the airport. Operating from Jersey City in New Jersey, the headquarters of the Port Authority Police Departmentââ¬â¢s headquarters has a complex network of personnel and equipment that are constantly working around the clock to collate crime related information, analyze the information and proceed to transmit the information to the relevant task force for onward action to be taking to this effect. The New York and New Jersey Intelligence and Crime Information Systems and the National Crime Information Centre headquartered in Washington DC are working in close partnership to make the campaign against crime a living reality. In many ways this essay is intended to present a lucid procedure for carrying out a comprehensive analysis scheme that will adequately fit the within the boarders of the changing dynamics of organizational development in contemporary justice and public safety institutions. It addresses the pivotal place to embrace the process of transformation,
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Achieving Personal Goals While Contributing to the Good of Humanity Essay
Achieving Personal Goals While Contributing to the Good of Humanity - Essay Example The first acquaintance with your university was as a result of inquiries that I made to my mentors about the best institution to prepare myself for my chosen career. They highly recommended this institution as a value-based organization that is committed to the development of highly qualified professionals who will not only deliver on their mandates effectively but will also contribute towards the achievement of national goals. As a nature enthusiast, I love the park-like setting of this university and would love an opportunity to call such a beautiful setting my home during my most formative years. Also, the sporting environment around the university is attractive to me because I like running. In addition, the city of Geneva is a melting pot of cultures that will provide an opportunity to appreciate the culture of other countries. I also have an interest in international affairs which staying in Geneva will enable me to explore. For example, the location of the United Nations and th e financial centre that is the city will give me an opportunity to interact with both organizations and individuals that shape global affairs. The institution has a qualified and dedicated staff that facilitates the learning process by making sure that they have all the resources that they need to learn (Webster University 1). In addition, the institution has created a culture of collaboration among both the student and teaching community. Furthermore, the institution is committed to global academic standards. This is important for me since I want to intern at an international organization.
Monday, October 14, 2019
The red scare and the crucible
The red scare and the crucible The term Red Scare indicates two marked periods of strong and great anti-Communism in the United States of America. The first Red Scare took place from the year 1919 to 1920, and the second Red Scare, occurred between 1947 and 1957. The first Red Scare related to worker or socialist, political and radicalism revolution, while the second Red Scare focused on issues relating to foreign and national communists who infiltrated the society or influenced the federal government. The beginning of the first Red Scare was due to the Bolshevik Russian Revolution of 1917 and the greatly patriotic World War I year, as the left-wing political violence, anarchist and social agitation worsen national political and social. Mr. Murray B. Levin a former member of the Communist Party and a political scientist noted that the Red Scare was a national wide rebellion against radical hysteria, which was provoked by a buildup of fear, anxiety and intimidation that Bolshevik revolution was forth coming in America was forth coming. The revolution would give a new look to the home, civility, Church, home, marriage, and the entire American Lifestyle (Burnett).The media and Newspapers translated the political anxiety and fears into xenophobia, solely because an array of radical anarchism were seen to be the answers to poverty. Recent European immigrants were often the advocates and, the World Industrial Workers supported several strikes, organized by labor in 1916 and 1917. The pre ss portrayed the strikes as radical threats to US society and as being instigated by some foreign agents provocateurs, and the left wing. The press media misrepresented genuine labor strikes as being Communism establishment plots, crimes against society, and anti-government conspiracies. Transformations in public views and opinion lead to the loosing of many members by the left-wing organizations like the Industrial Workers of the World, communist and the Communist Party America. Several American states enacted a law known as the criminal syndicalism laws, which outlawed advocating of unrest and violence between the years 1919 and 1920. This was done in an effort to secure and effect social change in the states. The restrictions and regulations in the law included limitation of free speech. Aggressive investigation by police took root after the passing of these laws. Irrespective of ideological gradation, Red Scare failed to distinguish between socialism communism, and social democracy. The Second Red Scare took place after World War II, and coincided with the increased fear of communist espionage consequent, the Chinese Civil War, the Korean War, the acknowledgment of intelligence work for the Soviet Union given by several high-ranking American government officials, the Berlin Blockade, and Soviet Eastern Europe. The occurrences of the late 1940s, the court trial of Julius Rosenberg, and Ethel, the Iron Curtain between 1945 to 1991 around Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Unions nuclear weapon creation surprised the American public (Miller). The influencing popular opinion about America national security, in turn, connected to fear of the ability of the Soviet Union, carrying out an atomic-bombing on its territories, and fear of the United States of America Party of Communist contributed largely to the Red Scare. Whittaker Chambers, Elizabeth Bentley, former CPUSA members and NKVD spies, testified at the House Un-American Activities Committee, that communist sympathiz ers and Soviet spies had made penetration into the government of the United States and this happened prior to and even after World War II. Out of pride, other United States American citizen spies confessed, to their activities of espionage in instances where the statute of limitations on their prosecution had run. In the year 1949, fear of American traitors and anti communist, was mounted by the winning of the Chinese Civil War by the Chinese Communists against the Western supported Kuomintang, one of the founders of the Peoples Republic of China, and later the intervention of the Chinese in the Korean War against American ally nation of South Korea (Eaklor 87). The Second Red Scare greatly changed and aggravated the temper of U.S society. The societys later identification as anti-intellectual may be have been seen as a contributed by factors such as escalating popularity of anti-communist espionage like ââ¬Å"My Son Johnâ⬠and science fiction movies such as ââ¬Å"The Thing from another Worldâ⬠of 1951. Such resources contained themes and stories of the invasion, infiltration, destruction, and subversion, of United States society by non-American sentiments and inhuman individuals. The animosity even lead to a baseball team, originally known as Cincinnati Reds to , temporarily change theirÃâà name to Cincinnati Red legs to avoid the loose of money and their career ruining legacy consistent in being ball playing Reds. As an indication of the ability of the American government to curry out intelligence gathering, it released details of the Venona Project for the Soviet Union from 1940 through 1980 in 1995. In the duration of the McCarthy era, many Americans were accused of being members of the Communists movement or of being communist sympathizers and therefore becoming the objects and subject of aggressive interrogations and questioning by the private industry panels, or government, committees and special agencies. Government employees, individuals in the showbiz and entertainment industry, teachers, union activists and instructors, were the primary targets of such victimization and suspicions (Bowers 19). Despite questionable evidence or inconclusive findings, the suspicions continued to be given credence. There was also a great exaggeration of level of threat presented by a persons real or supposed leftist interactions or beliefs. A great number of people went through the pain of losing employment, career destruction, and even long-term imprisonment. Most of the punishments issued were because of trial verdicts and convictions based on laws that would be later declared unconstitutio nal. The most famous and well-known examples of McCarthyism during the Red Scare are Sen. McCarthys own personal trial hearings, speeches, and communists investigations. The Hollywood blacklist, associated with the House Committee on Non-American Activities hearings, and a range of anti-communist behavior of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), are key examples of McCarthyism. The cultural and social widespread phenomenon had an immense effect on all levels of society. Furthermore, it was seen as the source of a great debatable issues and conflict in the United States of America. The Crucible is known to be a tale of the Salem witch-hunts that was practiced during the preceding days before the institution and founding of the United States (Bloom 197). Arthur Miller, a play writer, wrote that story. It is an allegorical presentation of Joseph McCarthy and the hunt for Communists in the 1950s during the Red Scare. The intention of the play was to depict that McCarthy, as being the wit ch hunters, and that he was making profits from public hysteria by persecuting innocent people. The soviet archives along with the data of the Venona Project released by the U.S intelligence, later suggested that some of McCarthys targets were actually guilty of becoming enemy agents. During the Red Scare and the Crucible United States citizens, were in apprehension of communism in the same manner in which people were in witchcraft trepidation in the Salem witch trials. Distinguishing attributes of the two occurrences are can be compared between that of Arthur Millers Crucible narrative and the Red Scare occurrences that took place in American history. During the time when the witch trials were conducted in The Crucible, people were forced to either agreeing or confessing to having committed the witchery crime or direct the blame towards another suspect or a different person. Part of the crucible story, records that trouble in The Crucible started when Abigail Williams blamed Tituba for the actions of the girls who used to dance among the trees or woods. She replied that, she made him not to do it, but instead made Betty to do it. The statement given against another person generated the emergence of pandemonium in Salem. Such quotes are perfect example that leader s like Miller presented in his dialog relating to the way people conducted themselves during the duration of the Red Scare. Another example of an instance of how people behaved during the Red Scare is Mary Warren story. She states that John Proctor is worked in the company and together with the devil. Arthur Millers vividly illustrated the thought that everyone must agree to confess or face death, and that being against the court meant also being against the church in The Crucible narration. The achievements by Sen. McCarthy to United States are undeniable to the historians and those who look at history with impartial eye. At a time when agents of the most murderous empire in human history were infiltrating America, McCarthy was the only voice that stood against victimization and tyranny (Senator McCarthy Inc.). He managed to expose hundreds of agents who were determined to destroy Unite States. If Sen. McCarthy never got the nerve to express what he knew, the possibilities that the USSR might still have been in existence today would be true. Senator Joseph McCarthy is on record as having been the first one who indicated that communism had come over to the United States of America and their spies were letting out Americans secret intelligence information. Lies seemed to be the grounds upon which America was governed, from its very commencement of Salem with trial to the Sen. McCarthy occurrences. A considerable number of people of the Eastern Europeans descent, who once lived under the ruler ship of the Soviet, owe their freedom to Senator McCarthy today. The patriotism of Sen. McCarthy did not fail to come with a price. It cost him his work and finally his life. Having determinate his willingness to protect and defend United States freedom, Senator Joseph McCarthy is without a doubt an American patriot and hero. Although he ruined several lives and led to the downfall of many careers, McCarthy is the man who changed the landscape of American politics. His speech proved that America adhered to the tenets of the constitution of freedom of expression and speech. His acts of free speech, hunting for communist proposers and liberals who were thought to be pro-communist led to the downfall of President Harry S.S. Truman and several other Democrats from the Congress and the White House. His actions also led to the fanning of the cold war hatred embers that went on for several years up until the early 90s. McCarthy also changed the atomic bomb focus of the world through the Red Scare. He broke through the ranks of communism, ensured that the formulae for making atomic bombs has not been spread by Communist spies in the U.S. This somehow contributed to the curtailing of the number of countries and people who can make bombs that are of a powerful nature. McCarthy is a man who reduced the communist stance and existence around America and in the Globe!
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Cal Poly: Building for Sustainability? :: University Issues Essays
If you walk up Poly Canyon Road and take a left, crossing Brizzolara Creek, you will come to the agriculture portion of main campus. The abbotoir stands next to the bull pen and the creek. The bridge crosses a fish ladder to aid the salmon back up the creek to where they can spawn. If you continue walking you will come to a reservoir with pumps and machinery used by engineering students. On the other side of the reservoir, there is a small bird sanctuary and beyond are fields that are often full of students learning how to survey the land. Behind you a stand of trees blocks out the bustle of campus life and in front of you the fields are ringed by beautiful mountains. But this is all about to change. The abbatoir is going to be moved and the fields will become the concrete foundations of a new residential complex: Student Housing North. Student Housing North is a huge residential development that was approved and added to the Master Plan in 2001 and is projected to be completed in stages beginning in 2007. The complex will be comprised mainly of apartment style upper class housing but will also include restaurant and retail spaces. The plan is to double the number of students living on campus. The project will include two new parking structures in order to support the increase of students. A lot of controversy surrounds this aspect of the new project. The development aims to reduce traffic and congestion because 2,700 students will be living on campus instead of commuting to school everyday. But the problem is that Student Housing North is going to sit right next to Brizzolara Creek, an environmentally sensitive area, and a new bridge will have to be built to accommodate the road leading to the complex and the new parking structures which will have a negative influence on the creek. But on the other hand it will reduce the number of commuters and will create a living and learning community. The plan includes a village center with shops and dinning facilities so the inhabitants will not feel the need to drive off campus.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Ethics of Cookies Essay -- Technology Computers Internet Essays
Ethics of Cookies ethà ·ic 1 plural but singular or plural in construction : the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation 2 a : a set of moral principles or values b : a theory or system of moral values <the present-day materialistic ethic> c plural but singular or plural in construction : the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group <professional ethics> d : a guiding philosophy HTTP cookie <World-Wide Web> A packet of information sent by an HTTP server to a World-Wide Web browser and then sent back by the browser each time it accesses that server. Cookies can contain any arbitrary information the server chooses and are used to maintain state between otherwise stateless HTTP transactions. Typically this is used to authenticate or identify a registered user of a web site without requiring them to sign in again every time they access that site. Other uses are, e.g. maintaining a "shopping basket" of goods you have selected to purchase during a session at a site, site personalisation (presenting different pages to different users), tracking a particular user's access to a site. This day and age, it is undisputed that computers are one of the greatest tools for a person to have, and a not having a connection to the internet is a dreadful; thought for others. The programs that are used by internet servers are a technology that advance so quickly, that it is difficult for a user to know with what he or she is exactly interacting. For example, if a user were to be browsing through a web site to buy a product, the web site (the server) could build a cookie for the user. The information that a cookie collects is claimed to be harmless by the w... ...may be one answer to this fear of privacy protection but, ultimately it is the responsibility of the internet users and servers to stay informed of the many different risks of the internet. Bibliography Glassberg, Richy. "Don't Fear the Cookie Monster." Mediaweek. 2 Oct. 2000: IQ38. Santa Clara University Expanded Academic Index. The Gale Group. 15 Nov. 2000. <http://w.../purl=rcl_EAIM_0_A66014940&dyn=5!xrn_4_0_A66014940?sw_aep=scuweb_cn> "How Web Servers' Cookies Threaten Your Privacy." Junk Busters. 14 Nov. 2000 <http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html> Lawler, Barbera. "Hot button: online privacy." Silicon Valley News. 5 Nov. 2000. San Jose Mercury News. 15 Nov 2000 <http://www.mercuryce...news/viewpoints/docs/Soapbox05.htm> "Persistent Cookie FAQ." Cookie Central. 14 Nov 2000. <http://www.cookiecentral.com/faq.htm>
Friday, October 11, 2019
How to Start an Iphone Repair Company
DeviceTrade How to start an iPhone/iPod repair shop. DeviceTrade iPhone/iPod Repair On average 4. 5 million iPhone 3G and 3GSââ¬â¢s glass screens break every year. In the past the only options were to take the phone to Apple ($200 to repair), take it to a big repair shop ($80 to repair) or do a mail in repair service and be without a phone for 3-5 days. A new trend of home based iPhone repair businesses are now emerging and becoming extremely successful. The factors that contribute to their success are â⬠¢ â⬠¢ â⬠¢ Local ââ¬â Within 10 miles of customers Fast ââ¬â Repairs done in under 15 min Inexpensive ââ¬â On average charging $40 ââ¬â $60How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Start-up After you have decided that you want to start an iPhone repair business the first step is to learn the repairs. It is easiest to do this by buying a broken iPhone so that you can practice on it and not worry about breaking one of your customers phones. This a lso gives you more time to get comfortable opening the phone up and working with the tiny components. Now that you have mastered the skills of the trade you can begin to determine how you are going to run your business.Things like where are you going to get replacement parts, how you are going to market, and where you actually want this business to take place. There are a growing number of people operating home based iPhone repair businesses and simply set up shop at home. This model works well because it helps to keep costs down on all fronts and you can work form the comfort of your home. Even if you do plan to open a store eventually, starting out of your home and getting a feel for the demand in your market is always a good idea. If you do decide to work rom home it is important to check local laws about running a business from your home and make sure that you are in compliance. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Which iPhone repair makes the most money? The iPho nes front and back glass screen is very susceptible to drops and accounts for 80% of the broken iPhones out there. The rest of the repairs consist of water damage, charging port, speakers etc. The great thing about the front glass screen on the iPhone 4 & 4S is that a replacement screen can cost under $20.This leaves a profit margin of $20 ââ¬â $40 per repair which takes on average 10 minutes. The business or repairing cracked iPhone screens alone is more than a $200 million dollar business, based on the average price of $50 per repair. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Inventory Your inventory level should grow as your sales grow. However, it is prudent to start small, keeping inventory at a realistic level. For instance keeping enough parts on hand to last you at least 5 ââ¬â 7 days is a good measure.This way you will have enough time to order more parts and account for shipping time. It is always good to carry a little more inventory than necessary so tha t you are never out of parts if you have an un-particularly busy day. Another big factor when buying parts is the quality. There are dozens of parts suppliers out there and not all parts are created the same. For instance, the iPhone 4 screen has four different quality levels that are all marketed as the same part by online suppliers. You will never know which quality you get until they are shipped to you.There is also the question of using a US or Chinese supplier. It is recommended to start with a US supplier and then based on your own personal risk tolerance, and time you are able to wait for shipping try other options. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Pricing Pricing your repair services is a challenging proposition. Setting your price too low and you run the risk of undermining your profits. While if you set your prices too high you can run the risk of losing customers to competitors.One important thing to take into consideration is your competition and what p rices they are charging. You can find them by doing an online search of ââ¬Å"Your City iPhone Repairâ⬠and this should bring up your major local competitors. The one price point that is universal is Apple who charges $200 to repair a cracked screen. It is not always beneficial to undercut your competition, but in a home based iPhone repair business it is usually pretty reasonable since you are cutting costs on having a storefront.Setting your price is pretty straight forward just remember to account for the replacement parts, labor, advertising, and any other expenses that you incur. The typical profit margin for most repairs is $40 ââ¬â $60. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop DeviceTrade Income Potential Opportunities in the home based iPhone repair business market are growing exponentially. Your income potential depends on how hard you work and marketing your business because if you live in any city or suburb then the market is there!There are dozens of iPhone repai r businesses started by United iPhone Repair, some full time and some part time. The part time businesses, people just repairing phones in the evening, are able to bring in on average 3 iPhone repairs per day which equates to $37,500 in revenue per year or $30,000 in profit. While the full time businesses can bring in 5 ââ¬â 10 phones per day and generate revenues over $100,000 annually. How to start a iPhone/iPod repair shop
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Inquiring Minds Want to Know 1 & 2 Essay
First and foremost for any case study, the reader must first understand what they are researching and why. Penton Media, a publisher of business trade magazines such as Industry Week, Machine Design, and Restaurant Hospitality, was the subject of this particular case study. Upon reading the case study on Penton Media, the reader learns that Penton Media has made great progress in the growth of their company through a six year period, 1992-1998, based on the research results provided. Ken Long, Penton Mediaââ¬â¢s Director, stated in 1998 that there was a growing belief that Penton Media was generating fewer services than in the past. In 1992, Penton Media was reaching out to their readers by having them request product information through mail, which back then, that form of communication was acceptable. However, as time elapsed, technology and communication advanced. By 1998, Penton Media was providing information requests through e-mail and websites. In this case study, the research results provided two different years, 1992 and 1997. The years that elapsed from 1992 to 1997 proved that there was a growth in response and response selections to the advertisements Penton Media provided, in the business magazines they publicized for. From reading the case study the reader can build the management-research question hierarchy. The first thing to identify is the management dilemma, which in this case is: Will Penton Media experience lower advertising revenues, if alternate methods of inquiry stimulation are sought, since companies do not track the source of their leads? Secondly, defining the management question, which is: Are there publications or magazines that are generating fewer leads now as opposed to the past years? Next, the reader must ask the research question(s), which is: Should Penton Media continue to include reader service cards in the magazines they advertise for, for readers to request additional information on companies, which in turn enhances advertisement and business for the companies listed? If not, what are the alternative advertising methods that are more technologically advanced that could be applied to boost advertising revenues? Upon defining the research question(s), the investigative que stions need to be identified throughout the case study. For this case, the investigative questions are: What are the percentages of readers/subscribers using the reader service cards currently in comparison to the years past? If there is a declineà detected in the usage of reader cards, what are the alternative methods that they are using to contact businesses and companies? Is there any way to implement different strategic means of these methods to enhance advertising revenue? After identifying the investigative questions, the management questions are the next step on the management-research question hierarchy. The management questions for this case include: Will Penton Media experience a decline in revenue due to the alternate methods of advanced advertising technology of customer inquiry stimulation? Penton Media will need to make a management decision is the last step for the hierarchy. In this case, Penton Media will need to decide whether to terminate the use of reader service cards in the magazines they advertise and replace the advertisements with alternate methods of advanced technology advertising. If they do decide to implement a more strategic technologically advanced method of advertisement, the readers and subscribers will be able to directly contact businesses and companies they are interested in on a present and current time schedule. After reading this case study, there are some ethical issues that are relevant to it. The most vital ethical issue that is presented in this case is the right to privacy, or confidentiality. Upon reading the case and the forms that are included to be sent to the readers and subscribers questioned and polled, it is read within the cover letter for the survey that ââ¬Å"All individual responses will remain completely confidential, with answers combined and presented in statistical form only.â⬠At the end of the cover letter Penton Media asks the selected person for the survey to correct or make any necessary changes to their mailing address, to ensure they would be in the random drawing for the handheld color television. Having that information in the survey is proof that Penton Media is aware of who is responding to which questions, regardless of privacy and confidentiality. Based upon the results they received, out of 710 participants, Penton Media only analyzed 676 surveys. Penton claims the reasoning behind only analyzing 676 surveys was due to the fact that those participants were purchase decision makers for their organization. From there, Penton Media stated that the standard deviation of the survey results they received was four, with a ninety-five percent level of confidence. Out of the 676 surveys analyzed, Penton Media did an in depth follow-up with only fortyà participants. Given the information of how Penton Media conducted the entire survey process, it is possible there was more room for error than Penton anticipated. Penton Mediaââ¬â¢s research team runs the risk of their data results and information being inaccurate since all of the participants that responded didnââ¬â¢t have their answers considered for the research. References Cooper, D., Schindler, P. (2001). Business Research Methods: Cases: Inquiring Minds Want to Know ââ¬â ââ¬â Now!.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Managing Cultural Diversity
Summary This academic paper will consider the study ââ¬Å"Cooperation and competition in intercultural interactionsâ⬠conducted by David Matsumoto and Hyi Sung Hwang, San Francisco State University, United States. Prisonerââ¬â¢s Dilemma, Ultimatum, Trust Game are well-known play games which allowed to accumulate sufficient knowledge in the presented area of studies in terms of cooperation, competition, punishment, trust, trustworthy and clearly demonstrates that people of different cultures plays these games differently. Earlier research has come to conclusion that intercultural interactions shows less positive results in cooperative behaviors in game play than intracultural interactions; but to date no empirical links have been made between behavioral outcomes and cultural differences between the participants, which became the actual purpose of the study. The first hypothesis is that Intercultural condition will produce less positive behavioral outcomes and cooperation than the Control condition and the second hypotheses states that these behavioral differences are connected to cultural differences. Organizers of the study offered modified version of Prisonerââ¬â¢s Dilemma where partner either country mate or international one. Americans were put in the same sex-dyads in one of three conditions: with another American participants (Control Condition ââ¬â 120 people, 40 males and 80 females), with an international student (Intercultural condition ââ¬â 41 Americans, 20 males, 21 females and 41 international participants, 20 males and 21 females), or with another American but under stressful condition (Stress conditions ââ¬â 90 people, 44 males and 46 females). The aim of the participants is to increase their participation fee, and they were told that an amount of paid sum depends on their play, in reality they received standard amount of fee. They were seated opposite each other and were not allowed to talk, each pair was separated by divider, Experimenter observed the play on the other side of the table. Each participant was given 20 1$ coins and a blue (competitiveness, defection or betrayal) and yellow (cooperation, trust, vulnerability) card. They had an option whether to play with blue or yellow card within the time allotted for each play. Participants in the Control and Intercultural Conditions were instructed to increase their original payoffs and they received participation fee regardless they won or lost the play; the length of each round 20 s. Participants in stress conditions were instructed that one participant should win over other, and winner will receive all coins from looser; each round lasted for 4 s. Play continued for 20 rounds, or until one of the players lost all their money. Researchers opted a broad-based approach, where they defined a set of context variables (they were extracted from the plays and summed across both players for production a score for each pair) and in addition they created 10 individual characteristics (cooperation, betrayal, forgiveness, retaliation, reparation, defection, reconciliation, stalemate, prosocial acts, antisocial acts); examined indices of cultural differences between pairs of individuals from different cultures, using home country scores on Hofestedeââ¬â¢ (2001) cultural dimensions (Individualism vs. Collectivism, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity vs. Femininity, and Long vs. Short Term Orientation) . Researches also created cultural differences score in the intercultural condition. All participants passed a personality test (Neo-Five Factor Inventory) and were qualified as acceptable. Besides this, participants self-reported their emotions using 9- point scale (0-9 anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, surprise, pride, shame, embracement, guilt, interest and etc. ) before entering the experiment room and after. For the intercultural Conditions researches computed Cultural Distances scores for each pair using Hofstedeââ¬â¢s (2001) five cultural dimensions. As the result after computing dependent/independent variable (Condition), taking into consideration that pair had the same characteristics (same sex strangers in the same condition), analyzing data for hypotheses, conducting post hoc comparisons using Scheffe tests, thus researchers concluded that Intercultural Condition looked like the Stress Condition, demonstrating worse behavioral outcomes than the Control Condition despite the Intercultural Conditions had the same instructions and procedures as the ontrol Condition. Hypothesis 1 was proved. Initiators of the study also computed pair level correlations between Geographic and Cultural Distance scores with each of the behavioral outcomes in the Intercultural Conditions. Greater cultural Distance on Power Distance was reliably was strongly associated with less positive behavioral outcomes. Hypothesis 2 was supported. Discussion Strengths This study is the very first research which empirically linked behavioral outcomes to cultural differences between the players and it is undeniable that these findings play will make essential contribution for future empirical works, business development, intercultural trainers and participants itself. Organizers of the study introduced personality scale to control individual-level effects, offered participants to self-report twice their emotional state prior and after experiment, measured and computed dependent/independent context variables (used well-known Hofestedââ¬â¢s cultural dimensions) in order to reduce the possibility of commitment of the ecological and cultural attribution fallacy. Limitations Cross-cultural literature do not explain us sufficiently what happens in intercultural situations because cross-cultural differences are not necessarily translated to behavioral differences in intercultural interactions; moreover, there is no empirical demonstration that less cooperative and more destructive behaviors associated with intercultural interactions connected to cultural differences between the participants. Game rules and experimental procedure make direct comparisons very difficult and there is a possibility that instructions are interpreted differently in different cultures. Difference scores of participantsââ¬â¢ home country scores on cultural dimensions are not strongly linked to participants because they are simply diffuse and abstract. Methodology didnââ¬â¢t allow for separation of relative standing of the relative standing of power distance and examination of whether differences were consistent at different values of dimension. Another concerns how the participants in the Intercultural Condition perceive differences between each other. Plus, it is implicit whether these perceptions are automatic or deliberate thought. One of the limitations of the study related to potential explanatory variables (such variables may have been at play) that were not measured (culturally-based, individual differences in economic expectations, religious differences etc. ) References Matsumoto D. Hwang H. S. , (2011), Cooperation and competition in intercultural interactions, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Vol. 35 , Issue 5 , pp. 677-685 Ailon, G. (2008). Mirror, mirror on the wall: Cultureââ¬â¢s consequences in a value test of its own design. Academy of Management Review, 33(4), 885ââ¬â904. Allik, J. , & Realo, A. (2004). Individualismââ¬âCollectivism and social capital. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35(1), 29ââ¬â49.
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