Unit 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit 4 - Assignment Example On the contrary, Muslims oppose the notion that Jesus is God’s Son, notwithstanding, they believe that they honor Him more than even those in the Christian faith. Accordingly, Jesus Christ forms the basis of discussion in terms of similarities and dissimilarities between Christianity and the Islam faith. Christians and Muslims do believe that Jesus Christ was a messenger sent from God. The Qur’an acknowledges that Jesus was born of Virgin Mary and was sent to be a Messenger among messengers who had ceased to be in existence (Qur’an 5:75). On the other hand, the Bible speaks of God choosing Mary to bear the pregnancy of Jesus Christ. Accordingly, God sends the Angel Gabriel to go and inform Mary of the expected child born of the Spirit. The conditions under which Mary conceived Jesus are considered to be miraculous in both religions. For instance, the Qur’an says that Angel Gabriel introduced himself as a Messenger of Allah to give her news of the gift of a son. (Qur’an 19:16). On the other hand, the Bible supports these sentiments on a Christian view through the Book of Look chapter one verse twenty-six (Sayre, 2011). Accordingly, Jesus’s main purpose as God’s Messenger was to convey God’s message to the people and perform miracles am ong other duties as stipulated in the Bible and the Qur’an. Despite Jesus Christ being a common denominator among Muslims and Christians, there is a certain predicament that both religions disagree over. On one hand, Christians believe that Christ is the Son of God, and on the contrary, Muslims refute this notion by claiming that: just like other Messengers from Allah, Jesus Christ was a Prophet. Sayre (2011) states that Christians confine their divinity to Jesus Christ through worshipping Him and according him the title as the â€Å"Messiah† to mean, their Savior sent from God. In contrast, the Muslim faith believes in the miraculous existence of

Academic Skills Plus Essay Example for Free

Academic Skills Plus Essay Atwood writes: â€Å"What I mean by ‘science fiction’ is those books that descend from H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds, which treats of an invasion by tentacled, blood-sucking Martians shot to Earth in metal canisters – things that could not possibly happen – whereas, for me, â€Å"speculative fiction† means plots that descend from Jules Verne’s books about submarines and balloon travel and such – things that really could happen but just hadn’t completely happened when the authors wrote the books. I would place my own books in this second category: no Martians.† (From In other worlds, p.6) With these remarks in mind, is it useful to distinguish between science fiction and speculative fiction? In answering this question you might consider Le Guin’s suggestion that people who refer to their works as ‘speculative fiction’ rather than ‘science fiction’ are simply trying to protect themselves from some of the negative connotations associated with science fiction (see In other worlds)? Discuss in relation to at least two works. ‘Science fiction’ is often defined as a wide literary genre related to fictional stories. It contains many subgenres, such as space opera, cyberpunk, utopia, dystopia, alternative histories and speculative fiction. Although there are an extensive number of subgenres, some writers, as Margaret Atwood, have been trying to differentiate ‘speculative fiction’ from ‘science fiction’. Maybe this wideness of subgenres existing under the genre ‘science fiction’ is exactly the reason why Atwood found interesting to present this differentiation. When we consider science fiction stories, many different things can came up to our mind, such as aliens, intergalactic travel, artificial intelligence and utopian (or dystopian) societies. Considering that, as we can notice in these examples, these topics can differ a lot from each other and it might be understandable that Atwood  wanted to differentiate (more than just defining different subgenres) the kind of fiction related to more ‘plausible’ things (things that could really happen, as she says). Definitely, ‘speculative fiction’ books have a completely different scenario from cyberpunk, aliens or space opera works and this could awake a desire to disconnect them in a more significantly manner. However, it is possible to affirm that this distinction between ‘science’ and ‘speculative fiction’ is not useful and that there is no reason for making it, especially considering that speculative fiction is just one more subgenre of science fiction. This thesis will be supported by a number of points presented throughout this essay. Firstly, it will be argued that the subgenre ‘speculative fiction’ fits perfectly into the definitions and requisites related to ‘science fiction’. Secondly, it will be discussed that Atwood’s definition of ‘speculative fiction’ is vague and can change according to interpretation, and also that it can be used to define as speculative fiction other books that she clearly had classified as belonging to ‘science fiction’. Thereby, her definition can be seen as not clear, which makes it not useful at all. Finally, it will be presented that Atwood seems to reinforce this division specially because distinguishing ‘speculative fiction’ from ‘science fiction’ is convenient for her. There are some evidences for that, for example, Le Guin once said Atwood was trying to protect herself from negative connotations associated with ‘science fiction’. This is even noticeable considering that many of her attempts to define the genre contained irony and clichà ©s. Firstly, it will be discussed that ‘speculative fiction’ fits perfectly into the definitions and requisites related to the ‘science fiction’ subgenres, which makes unnecessary and not useful the distinction between them. It was stated before that ‘science fiction’ has a big number of subgenres and it is clear that they differ considerably from each other. However, despite their singularities, all of them have one kind of cohesive element in common, which brings each subgenre to be defined as part of the genre ‘science fiction’. To define this common element noticed in all the science fiction subgenres, it is useful to consider two Suvin’s definitions about science fiction: SF is, then, a literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition,  and whose main formal device is an imaginative framework alternative to the authors empirical environment (Suvin 1979, p. 7) and â€Å"Science Fiction is distinguished by the narrative dominance or hegemony of a fictional novum (novelty, innovation) validated by cognitive logic† (Suvin 1979, p. 63). Considering these two definitions, it is possible to affirm then that the necessary and sufficient conditions to identify one science fiction work are: the presence of a ‘novum’ and the presence of a ‘cognitive logic’, the logical consistency which makes the ‘novum’ become part of our knowledge about real things. With this in mind, we can analyse the book The Handmaid’s Tale from Atwood. She clearly have classified this book as not being ‘science fiction’, however, it is easy to identify the ‘novum’ and also the ‘cognitive logic’ in her book. The ‘novum’ is represented by the whole system of political organization in the Republic of Gilead described on the book and the ‘cognitive logic’ is given by some similarities that can be noticed between our society and the society described on the book. In the same way, for the book of H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, we can also identify the ‘novum’, which is given by the Martians and their technology; and the ‘cognitive logic’, given by the similarities existing between both societies. Thus, it can be affirmed that both books The Handmaid’s Tale and The War of the World belongs to the genre ‘science fiction’, contradicting Atwood’s previous proposition. This proves that although Atwood’s book can be classified as ‘speculative fiction’, it truly belongs to ‘science fiction’, leading us to verify again that ‘speculative fiction’ is just one more subgenre of ‘science fiction’. It makes clear then that the division between ‘science’ and ‘speculative’ fiction is not useful and not justifiable. Secondly, it will be presented that Atwood’s definition of ‘speculative fiction’ is imprecise and also can be used to define as speculative fiction other books that were categorized as ‘science fiction’ by her. In order to illustrate these points, we will analyse Atwood (2011) definition about ‘speculative fiction’ as â€Å"things that really could happen but just hadn’t completely happened when the authors wrote the books.† This is a vague and inaccurate idea. It could encompass different definitions because the range of things that could really happen is highly dependent of each person’s  beliefs and ideas, what makes this definition extremely subjective. Also, with just a few exceptions, it is not possible to say for sure what is and what is not going to happen. Besides, Atwood even gives us another definition: Oryx and Crake is not science fiction. Science fiction is when you have chemicals and rockets. (Watts 2003, p. 3). Considering both definitions given by her, it could be understood that she considers rockets and chemicals as things that really could not happen, as they belong to science fiction. However, it is known that rockets and chemicals are not things impossible to happen, especially because nowadays we can see some examples of them. Both definitions become contradictory then. Considering her first definition, books about this theme would be classified as speculative fiction; however, she decided to use these two themes to exemplify ‘science fiction’. Atwood’s definitions about ‘speculative fiction’ are imprecise, therefore, what is the purpose in using an imprecise and cloudy definition? It is simply not useful to distinguish ‘science’ from ‘speculative fiction’ then. Thirdly, it will be presented that Atwood seems to reinforce this division specially because distinguishing ‘speculative fiction’ from ‘science fiction’ is convenient for her. Le Guin (2009) states that Atwood was trying to protect herself from negative connotations associated with science fiction and also â€Å"from being relegated to a genre still shunned by hidebound readers, reviewers and prize-awarders†. Considering Le Guin’s remarks, it is possible to observe that ‘science fiction’ was not a literary genre with considerable prestige in the intellectual audience. This could reduce her reputation on the high literary society. One possible reason for ‘science fiction’ being underestimated is that science fiction could be related to some works produced for mass audience like Star Trek and Dr Who and intellectuals would associate her books to these works. Then it would be interesting for her to dissociate the connecti on between her books and the genre ‘science fiction’ once it was not so appreciated by the intellectual audience. And this is also noticed by considering that some of her remarks about ‘science fiction’ contains irony, as she frequently uses clichà ©s to refer about it, such as ‘rockets’, ‘chemicals’, ‘blood-sucking Martians’, ‘talking squids in outer space’, and ‘skin-tight clothing’. Thus, it is possible to verify why Atwood reinforces the division between ‘speculative’ and ‘science’ fiction. And  considering her reasons we can see that they are not justifiable and strong enough to make the distinction between ‘speculative’ and ‘science fiction’ useful. Finally, this essay discussed a number of points in order to support the thesis that the distinction between ‘speculative’ and ‘science’ fiction is not useful. Firstly, it was stated that although it may be hard to define some literary genres it is noticeable that ‘speculative ficti on’ fits perfectly in most of definitions of science fiction, making it a subgenre only. Secondly, it was presented that Atwood’s definition about ‘speculative fiction’ is vague and could classify as ‘speculative fiction’ some books that she clearly classified as ‘science fiction’. Thirdly, it was discussed that is convenient for her to separate ‘speculative fiction’ from ‘science fiction’ since the genre of ‘science fiction’ was not so appreciated by reviewers and prize awarders and was associated to some mass audience works. She does not want to be linked to this image so she tries to put her works under a different literary classification. This point shows us clearly that there is no consistent and general reason for her to do the distinction. In conclusion, this essay illustrated that is not useful to distinguish between ‘science fiction’ and ‘speculative fiction’ and the reason for this was explained by all of the arguments stated previously. References Atwood, M 1985, The Handmaid’s Tale, Anchor Books, New York. Atwood, M 2011, In Other Worlds SF and the Human Imagination, Doubleday. Le Guin, U 2009, ‘The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood’, The Guardian, 29 August. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/aug/29/margaret-atwood-year-of-flood Suvin, D 1979, Metamorphoses Of Science Fiction, Yale University Press, New Haven Watts, P 2003, ‘Margaret Atwood and the Hierarchy of Contempt’, On Spec, vol. 15, no. 2, summer, pp. 3-5. Wells, H 1898, The War of the World, New York Review Books, New York.

Rain At Auvers by Vincent Van Gogh Essay -- Art Analysis Art Interpret

Artist: Vincent Van Gogh Name of Piece: Rain At Auvers Description - Verbal From the piece of artwork â€Å"Rain at the Auvers†. I can see roofs of houses that are tucked into a valley, trees hiding the town, black birds, clouds upon the horizon, hills, vegetation, a dark stormy sky and rain. The artistic style is brush stroke? Aesthetic is the function or purpose of the work. The subject genre is still life. The image is impressionism. Oil and Crayon Watercolour paint was used with a variety of different style brushes. It is a natural piece The Rain of Auvers can be found at the National Museum of Wales Analysis The colours used in the artwork are earthy tones with various browns, greens, yellows, blues and some violet. These colours create a sense of harmony on the...

Okonkwo Character Essay

In his novel, Chinua Achebe takes the reader to the world of the Igbo tribe during the pre-imperialism Victorian era. Okonkwo, the main character, was a highly respected member of the Igbo tribe. He is the caretaker of a child, but with a stroke of irony, ends up killing him. After an accident, he and his family are forced into exile. By the time he returns, the Igbo tribe has undergone many changes. He finds these changes to his life and culture to be overwhelming, and thus takes his own life. Throughout the novel, Okonkwo’s words demonstrate his inner conflicts, his troubled past with his family, and his superiority complex. Okonkwo is a very conflicted individual because, throughout the novel he demonstrates severe internal discord. Achebe comments,†Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness† (13). Despite all of his showy manliness, deep down inside Okonkwo is ruled by fea r. He is afraid of coming off feminine and weak, like his father before him. He feels the need to surpass his father in every way, and does whatever he can to ensure his dominance. Okonkwo did not have a very warm upbringing. His harsh childhood is arguably the main reason Okonkwo is the way he is. â€Å"Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. He did not inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit.† (Page 16) His father proves unable to provide for his family, and in Igbo society, is looked upon as a bad father. This compels Okonkwo to be a better man than his father, but in some senses he takes it too far, and becomes a tyrant in his own home. â€Å"Okonkwoà ¢Ã‚€Â™s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth† (Pages 13-14) As the head of the household, he is free to do whatever he pleases and drives his wives and children to work too hard. Okonkwo hated his own father, and though he is trying to do right by his children, is only driving them down the same path he has been. Okonkwo feels the need to be dominant. He does whatever he can to establish his superiority, to make up for his fathers failures. â€Å"Okonkwo  was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino.† (Page 1) He establishes his dominance early on, by proving to be a superior wrestler than everyone else. He makes a name for himself, and proves that he doesn’t need anyone else’s help. à ¢Ã‚€ÂÅ"’I think it is good that our clan holds the ozo title in high esteem,’ said Okonkwo. ‘In those other clans you speak of, ozo is so low that every beggar takes it.’à ¢Ã‚€Â  (Page 69-70) Since he is very proud of his reputation, Okonkwo is pleased to know that positions of respect are publicly known and difficult to achieve. This means that his status in the community is an elite and meaningful accomplishment. As you have seen through the evidence I have given, Okonkwo’s personality is very dark. It’s been shown that he was very conflicted, had issues with his family, and felt the need to be superior. In conclusion, these many issues lead to the man’s downfall, and eventual suicide.

Abnormal Psychology: Abuse, Addiction, & Disorders

Psychological Disorder Analysis ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY: ABUSE, ADDICTION, & DISORDERS Psy 270 Jalisa Cooper February 4, 2012 Final paper Psychological Disorder Analysis Psychological disorders can be very debilitating for those who suffer from them. Psychological disorders affect a person’s ability to function normally in their daily lives. In regards to the case study of Nicole the patient Nicole is a 40-year-old Hispanic female who comes to the mental health clinical complaining of trouble sleeping, feeling â€Å"jumpy† all of the time, and experiencing an inability to concentrate.These symptoms are causing problems for her at work, where she is a finance manager. Though the information in regards to Nicole is very limited and difficult to analyze, however the symptoms suggest that Nicole may be suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder can be difficult to diagnose and the symptoms are often unrecognizable. Posttraumatic stress disorde r is an anxiety disorder which can develop from having experienced a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened.Like many anxiety disorder they may cause jumpy and sleepless behavior depending on the anxiety disorder the individual may have. Traumatic disorders can be triggered by stress or any other event that may cause the individual to develop anxiety related symptoms. A traumatic event might be military combat experience, violent personal attacks, or even car accidents. Post-traumatic disorders can be triggered by something in their past that be generated from something major or insignificant.While Nicole’s profile within the case study does not state the existence of a traumatic event throughout her past or present life, however I can only assume that she many have experienced something in her past that may have been triggered by stress at work or another aspect in her life. It is common for the individual to withhold this informat ion as it may be extremely difficult for them to relive the event because it may be too traumatic.Victims that may have experienced an event such as rape or car accident resulting in death or severe injuries may not experience symptoms at the moment of the event however they may develop symptoms shortly or later after the event once it is triggered by stress or other traumatic events. Being that the case study did not present a in depth history on Nicole I would attempt to gather information form the patient such as â€Å"Have you experienced a traumatic event recently or in your past? † This would be to gather information about the patient to that I can pin point the origin of what is causing her symptoms.The case study regarding Nicole mentions that she is a 40-year old woman that is suffering from a great deal of symptoms. According to the Demographics of â€Å"Faces of Abnormal Psychology Interactive: for Post-traumatic stress disorder†, middle age adults are more adversely affected than older and younger adults. In addition she is a Hispanic woman meaning for whatever disorder it is important to take into consideration her culture in treating her conditions. The DSM-IV states one of the criteria of Post-traumatic stress disorder is increased levels of arousal including insomnia, irritability, and hyper vigilance. People with these disorders may feel overly alert, be easily startled, develop sleep problems, and have trouble concentrating† (Comer, 2005). When suffering from PTSD and individual may begin to display symptoms of avoidance of any stimuli that is in anyway related or associated with the traumatic event. These methods many even include avoidance of thoughts, feelings and activities associated with are resemble the event. As stated in the case study Nicole mentioned that she is having complications with getting to sleep or in general getting the significant amount of sleep needed to maintain her energy level throughout the day. Through her lack of sleep she is experiencing difficulty concentrating at her work facility, where her position requires a focused mind and attentiveness. She also experiences the feeling of being jumpy frequently throughout the day which relates to being easily startled or paranoid due to a past experience in relation to her current stress levels. She may have experienced something in her past that is being stimulated by her events she participate in during the day causing her to flash back to that moment and relive this event.It is common for individuals that suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder to experience a sequence of involuntary flashbacks through thoughts and even dreams, which may also be an additional reason for Nicole’s lack of rest during the night. She may be involuntarily reliving her traumatic experience due to stress in her life preventing her to obtain the proper rest that she needs to function at work. The case study failed to explain her social life and the relationships she may have with others thus it does explain her detachment to her work assignments and her lack of focus to stay on task.Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms reflect emotional detachment from friends and family causing them to be unable to express loving feelings for them. Post- traumatic stress disorder individuals become hyper-vigilant which could cause them to become chronically un-alert to the things and events around them rendering them unresponsive. Which is another symptom that Nicole the case study patient displays throughout her explanation of her working abilities, she displays a lack of concentration to the tasks at hand and jumpy feeling all the time.Those that suffer from this disorder may often become startled easily and suffer from difficulty of sleeplessness. Those individuals with PTSD often develop other disorder such as depression; substance related disorders as well as anxiety disorders. Meaning those that suffer from severe Post-trauma tic stress disorders may often result to substance abuse and may of their symptoms may be influenced by the usage of these substances causing their condition to seem more extreme.As well as depression and anxiety disorders can in addition contribute to the symptoms PTSD raising the impact of each symptom to a higher level depending on the severity of each disorder. Many times individuals are misdiagnosed because of the commonality of symptoms between disorders. Studies have shown that 60% of adult men today have experience a traumatic even, whereas 51% of adult women have experience a traumatic event at least once in their life. It is common for many individuals that experience traumatic events sometime throughout their life to not be affected by these events.Of 50% of American that experience a traumatic event of any kind, only approximately 8% of them eventually experience Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms later in life. It is suggested that each event is different in their own way as well as has different impacts on each individual. There are factors that predict ones vulnerability of Post-traumatic stress disorder which would revolve around the nature of the event the individual experienced. The DSM-IV states the severity of the traumatic event in one of the leading factors that help predict whether an individual may be susceptible to later suffer from Post-traumatic stress disorder.The severe traumatic events that are more likely to induce PTSD are the events that are prolonged traumas that often affect ones family or self directly. Secondly the more likely trauma suffer that was experiencing pre-existing anxiety symptoms long before the severe traumatic event occurred is more likely to later develop Post- traumatic stress disorder symptoms. This is because the individual has already reached a point in their life that cause them to become worrisome making them unable to handle the pressures of a traumatic event of severe magnitude without having and episodes.These individuals are unstable to cope with whatever change this event has brought on causing them to develop additional anxiety disorders. Those individuals that have a history of mental illness are way more likely to experience PTSD symptoms. Third the individuals coping techniques play a large role in ones predictability of developing symptoms of PTSD. Traumatic events can take a toll on anyone and any magnitude of the event however ones predictability of developing PTSD is based on ones ability to cope with the tragic event.The individuals that lack the ability to move past the event often fall victim to this disorder. Those that dwell on the details of the event are at higher risk as well as those who refuse to discuss the events at all cost. Some events such as witness to death, accidents resulting in death and disastrous events could cause one to reframe communicating and expressing their feelings about the events. By reframing from acknowledging such event has occu rred I could cause a mental break. Finally support is an important factor when it comes to dealing with traumatic events much like any other disorder.Those that have a lack of support from friends, family, counseling or event therapy tend to be more susceptible to the developing the symptoms of PTSD. The lack of a support network is does not allow the individual to express their problems to someone that can understand or relate. And sufferer of a post-traumatic event needs to be able to reflect and vent some other emotions to someone close. They have to be a be to feel the support and encouragement of loved ones to keep them motivated to work through whatever they are experiencing.There have been a set of therapies to design to address this disorder to properly treat the symptoms. The three primary goals in theory are reducing the individual’s fear of provoking stimuli. This means that therapy will assist the individual in reducing the fear or unwillingness to address and con front activities and thoughts that trigger the traumatic event. Secondly, assisting the patient in modifying counterproductive thoughts, and lastly reducing stress are method used in therapy to assist the patient progress pass this event.The method of be reducing the individual’s fear of provoking stimuli are done through systematic desensitization, which is when an individual unlearns their fear thus reversing the classical conditioning process and eliminating the cause of them requiring the fear initially. The first phase is relaxation training of each muscle in the body while allowing the patient to then trained to calm themselves. The second phase is list of fear provoking stimuli descending from least threating and uncomfortable to more threating fears.The third phase us the desensitization phase where the patient is slightly provoke to introduce those thoughts or stimuli while remaining calm. It is often done through imagined stimuli and then they may introduce actual s timuli to the patient. In addition to this method therapist may use cognitive techniques which challenge ones irrational beliefs and unhealthy thoughts. Reference Comer, R. J. (2005). Fundamentals of abnormal psychology (4th ed. ). New York: Worth. Fundamentals of Abnormal PsychologyFaces of Abnormal Psychology Interactive application at the McGraw Hill Higher Education Web site: http://www. mhhe. com/socscience/psychology/faces/http://www. mhhe. com/socscience/psychology/faces/# Melinda Smith, M. A. , and Jeanne Segal, Ph. D. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): SYMPTOMS, TREATMENT, AND SELF-HELP, (2011), Retrieved February 4, 2012, http://www. helpguide. org/mental/post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment. htm Resources: Appendix A, Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology, and the Faces of Abnormal Psychology Interactive application at the McGraw Hill Higher Education Web

Differences essays

Differences essays It was a cold January night in Brooklyn. I was helping my father provide a sound system for a Jewish high school play. Normally when one thinks of Jewish people, they think that they are just regular people who instead of going to church go to temple. However there are many different types of Jews. The ones my father and I were working for that night were called Hasidic Jews. Every winter my father would have several bookings of equipment rentals for their high school plays. For a long time, I thought that, besides some noticeable differences, they were the same as my Jewish friends in school, but one night, something weird happened. I was sitting on a box back stage doing my homework. Pops and I had just finished setting up so I had time on my hands to study. While doing my tricky Fifth grade work, I noticed a small Hasidic toddler standing across the way just starring at me. At first, I thought it was just a common behavior of a small person, so not worried in the least bit, I simply stared back at the tiny dude. Surprisingly, our staring contest lasted for a long two minutes. It finally ended when my father walked in and scared the poor kid away. He did see us staring and asked what that was about. I told him what had happened and his explanation for it was kind of strange. He said the boy probably had never been that close to black people in his life. When dad said that, I did not think that was possible; knowing how many black people there are in New York. Then He began to tell me about the Dad had been working with the hasidic community for over twenty years. He said they would usually rent studio time from him in Manhattan. Then eventually, they would ask him to do on location work in other boroughs. After years ...

Labor Unions in 1900 essays

Labor Unions in 1900 essays Would you have joined a Labor Union in 1900? I believe that in 1900 I would have been torn over whether or not to join a labor union. Prior to 1900, people had organized together, but they really had no clout. Even though they stood up for what they believed, in the end, the federal government always stepped in on the side of business. Oftentimes, many people were killed during the process. For example, in 1877 when the four largest railroad companies got together and decided to cut their employees salaries by ten percent, the workers struck back in defense. However, President Hayes called in federal troops. After a few weeks, the battle between the workers and the soldiers ended, but over 100 people were killed. There were also strikes by steelworkers and silver miners in 1892, in which federal troops were called in, and several people ended up dying in these incidents as well. Employers could bribe politicians, as well as hire scabs to replace the striking workers. After President Garfield was killed, politicians were forced into reforming the spoils system-giving appointed positions to loyal members of the party in power. This placed many politicians in the position of looking elsewhere for money. Therefore, they turned to where the money was-the big corporations. With campaign money coming from the big corporations, they could bribe politicians into doing what they wanted because they were donating so much money. Employers could also force workers to sign a yellow dog contract stating they would not join a union as a requirement for employment. Then, if a worker joined a union after signing this contract, the employee could be blacklisted and no other business would hire him. Many workers lived in company housing and shopped at company-owned stores. Therefore, the corporations had the upper hand. The employee had not much of a choice but to bow down to the employers demand ...

Types of Scales in Social Science Research

Types of Scales in Social Science Research A scale is a type of composite measure that is composed of several items that have a logical or empirical structure among them. That is, scales make use of differences in intensity among the indicators of a variable. For example, when a question has the response choices of always, sometimes, rarely, and never, this represents a scale because the answer choices are rank-ordered and have differences in intensity. Another example would be strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree. There are several different types of scales. We’ll look at four commonly used scales in social science research and how they are constructed. Likert Scale Likert scales are one of the most commonly used scales in social science research. They offer a simple rating system that is common to surveys of all kinds. The scale is named for the psychologist who created it,  Rensis Likert. One common use of the Likert scale is a survey that asks respondents to offer their opinion on something by stating the level to which they agree or disagree. It often looks like this: Strongly agreeAgreeNeither agree nor disagreeDisagreeStrongly disagree Within the scale, the individual items that compose it are called Likert items. To create the scale, each answer choice is assigned a score (for instance, 0-4), and the answers for several Likert items (that measure the same concept) can be added together for each individual to obtain an overall Likert score. For example, let’s say that were interested in measuring prejudice against women. One method would be to create a series of statements reflecting prejudiced ideas, each with the Likert response categories listed above. For example, some of the statements might be, Women shouldn’t be allowed to vote, or Women can’t drive as well as men. We would then assign each of the response categories a score of 0 to 4 (for example, assign a score of 0 to strongly disagree, a 1 to disagree, a 2 to neither agree or disagree, etc.). The scores for each of the statements would then be totaled for each respondent to create an overall score of prejudice. If we had five  statements and a respondent answered strongly agree to each item, his or her overall prejudice score would be 20, indicating a very high degree of prejudice against women. Bogardus Social Distance Scale The Bogardus social distance scale was created by sociologist Emory S. Bogardus as a technique for measuring the willingness of people to participate in social relations with other kinds of people. (Incidentally, Bogardus established one of the first departments of sociology on American soil at the University of Southern California in 1915.) Quite simply, the scale invites people to state the degree to which they are accepting of other groups. Let’s say we are interested in the extent to which Christians in the U.S. are willing to associate with Muslims. We might ask the following questions: Are you willing to live in the same country as Muslims?Are you willing to live in the same community as Muslims?Are you willing to live in the same neighborhood as Muslims?Are you willing to live next door to a Muslim?Are you willing to let your son or daughter marry a Muslim? The clear differences in intensity suggest a structure among the items. Presumably, if a person is willing to accept a certain association, he is willing to accept all those that precede it on the list (those with lesser intensities), though this is not necessarily the case as some critics of this scale point out. Each item on the scale is scored to reflect the level of social distance, from 1.00 as a measure of no social distance (which would apply to question 5 in the above survey), to 5.00 measuring maximize social distance in the given scale (though the level of social distance could be higher on other scales). When the ratings for each response are averaged, a lower score indicates a greater level of acceptance than does a higher score. Thurstone Scale The Thurstone scale, created by Louis Thurstone, is intended to develop a format for generating groups of indicators of a variable that have an empirical structure among them. For example, if you were studying discrimination, you would create a list of items (10, for example) and then ask respondents to assign scores of 1 to 10 to each item. In essence, respondents are ranking the items in order of the weakest indicator of discrimination all the way to the strongest indicator. Once the respondents have scored the items, the researcher examines the scores assigned to each item by all the respondents to determine which items the respondents agreed upon most. If the scale items were adequately developed and scored, the economy and effectiveness of data reduction present in the Bogardus social distance scale would appear. Semantic Differential Scale The semantic differential scale asks respondents to answer a questionnaire and choose between two opposite positions, using qualifiers to bridge the gap between them. For instance, suppose you wanted to get respondents’ opinions about a new comedy television show. Youd first decide what dimensions to measure and then find two opposite terms that represent those dimensions. For example, enjoyable and unenjoyable, funny and not funny, relatable and not relatable. You would then create a rating sheet for respondents to indicate how they feel about the television show in each dimension. Your questionnaire would look something like this:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Very Much  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Somewhat  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Neither  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Somewhat  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Very MuchEnjoyable  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  UnenjoyableFunny  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not FunnyRelatable  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unrelatable

Innovation, knowledge and learning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Innovation, knowledge and learning - Assignment Example Knowledge management is undertaken with great zeal and initiative in today’s organizations and accounts for a key success factor for them too. It primarily addresses the ways in which organizations might manage the knowledge existing within its systems and its employees. It also provides the basis on which information technology may be used for leveraging the existing knowledge and creating or generating new knowledge too. A more effective solution is reached at when this knowledge is transferred or integrated into sets of policies for capturing and generating more knowledge. The firms are considered to be a network of relationships existing between individuals, groups and sub units who are further embedded into a broader network of relationships with competitors, customers, suppliers, and other organizations. However, the superficial aspects of contexts and problems would have to be eliminated for the transfer of knowledge to be successful. This is also true that in cases where knowledge is applied inappropriately or in such contexts where is does not fit rightly, it is likely to result in fall in performance. That is why the topic of knowledge transfer has attained great importance and the field of research. (Baum, 2002, p.198). The project seeks to make a critical evaluation of an article on knowledge management through making a comprehensive review of the case study of ‘InTouch’ within Schlumberger. It evaluates the ways in which knowledge is created, mobilized and diffused within the organization. The analysis of the paper in conducted w ith the use of adequate academic references. The project is conducted using qualitative research techniques in which the literature review provides critical analysis of the researches conducted before providing statements for or against the topic; and the data analysis is done using secondary research techniques. The data are integrated and compiled to arrive at the research findings and analysis. Critical Literature Globalization and the innovation are very closely related in the modern era. Globalization is one of the most important events of the civilization (Ervin, Smith, 2008, p. 7). The concept has brought immense changes in the thinking process of the human beings and development of new ideas and innovations in the world. Innovation is used in every field of the social behaviour of human beings and new things are generating every day for the enhancement of the lifestyle and business processes. Innovation in the field are also used in the industries and for the enhancement of the business functions knowledge management system is the latest technology used to build a knowledge base for the employees in the organization for the learning and innovation process. According to the author Robert Thierauf, in a knowledge management system the most important aspect for the firm is the storing of data which acts as the real knowledge of the firm. The collective knowledge of the different employees and the experiences from the different sources of the organization are organized at a single database for discovering at later stages (Thierauf, 1999, p. 72). But on the contrary by the author Stuart Barnes, knowledge reflects a phenomenon which is very difficult to quantify as it is the most difficult activity to segregate knowledge from other activities. Each and every aspects of the daily life can be a dynamic source of knowledge for everyone. Rather than its theoretical aspect it is more about practical implementation of the daily understanding of business processes (Barnes, 2002, p. 99). According to the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), organizations need to evaluate their activities and implement strategies for building an efficient

Child abuse research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Child abuse research paper - Essay Example The definition has expanded through the years as it came to cover physical injury to physical assault, neglect, emotional abuse, and coercive sexual activity. Statistics speaks about this grim situation: in 2002, 896,000 cases of child abuse and neglect were substantiated across 50 states and that according to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, about 81% of these cases were perpetuated by parents. (Runyon et al. 2006, p. 23) These kinds of reports, however, do not necessarily reflect the actual incidence of child abuse because the figures may still be higher as many cases of abuse are still estimated to be unreported. The gravity of the situation is highlighted by the fact that child abuse is one of the five leading causes of childhood death in the United States today. (Mankiller 1999, p. 87) The answer is quite complicated to the question why parents abuse their children. There are several dimensions to the issue. For example, mothers are more prone to maltreat their children than fathers or that substance abuse contribute to the emergence of child abuse, among others. These variables, however underscore the need for effective intervention approaches to address the numerous issues in the subject. This paper will explore why treatment is important, how it is being carried out and how this strategy is more effective than punishment in addressing child abuse. In the treatment of parents involved in child abuse, it is important to consider the ecological issues that lead to the abuse. For example, is there unemployment in parents or a maltreatment in the childhood history of the parents? Also, the number of children in the family, the physical or developmental disabilities that are difficult to manage as well as other care giving responsibilities must be considered. It is important that in addressing the problem of child abuse, all parts of the family system issue must be treated. Particularly,

European Union Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

European Union Law - Essay Example On concern is the manner at which the individuals are identified for their tasks and the level of professionalism upon which they execute these missions. Evaluation and Analysis Upon placing the whole idea under the international sporting arena, a series of issues raise for the concern. Such issues are developed along the regions of concern, such as the accountability crisis, the aspects of infringe of the international human rights, and the suitability of the firms. Such concerns are further magnified when the provisions of the charter for fundamental rights are considered. However, the development in the international sporting arena across various states of Europe has lead to the invoke of this model of security. A paramount concern towards the adoption of this measure is the violent based riots that broke out in the autumn of 2010 across various sporting destinations in Europe. The event indicated the existence of a major loophole on the ability of the private military and securit y companies in providing security in this model of assignments (Reg A6-0471/2006). Various issues of concern were developed while considering this option. Amongst them is the efficiency of the responsible firms in addressing such crisis. Also considered was the policy that sees the involvement of the police when the crisis gets out of control. However, the first issue still remains much prominent in the whole debate. Subsequently, the other side effects that may be associated to the deployment of these private security firms are also eminent (Zarate 1998). The enactment of the legislation that foresees the deployment of the Private Military and Security Companies in offering security services in international sporting arena, across member states of the European Union, has series of loopholes for consideration (Krahmann 2005). Amongst them is the concern over the training of the staff involved in the execution of the security measures. Reading from the findings of the report on autum n of 2010 riots, the manner in which the Private Military and Security Companies entrusted with security handled the matter leaves much to be desired. This is with regards to the numerous concerns on the violation of the international human rights as well as the provision of the charter of fundamental rights. Illegal detentions, as well as the utilization of uncouth tactics in the interrogation of the suspects were highly highlighted (Avant, 2005, p56) On this regard, it is vital to analyze the wave of mandate accredited to the Private Military and Security Companies. Chief focus is laid against issues such as the detention and he interrogation of the suspects. Focusing on the policy in exercise, the key objectives are nested on the containing of the violence, apparently referred to as hooliganism. This is achieved via the evaluation of the weakness in the current system and establishing methodologies of sealing the loopholes. However, the process deployed by the legislation from th e European Union seems to undermine the imperial threat that lead to the crisis in the initial consideration. This reflects on the capability and the potential of the private military and security companies in addressing security crisis of the magnitude experienced in 2010. In effort to address such loopholes, the proposed act seeks to establish a mutual co-relationship between the law enforcement

Enviromental law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Enviromental law - Essay Example The government in Europe typically establishes the performance regulations for polluters which allow them purchase licenses. The polluters who lack to comply with the set law and conditions put in their licenses can be prosecuted or face the civil punishment. Although the control and command approach is usually important, the limitations are apparently increasing. It depends its effectiveness on standard bodies which can be under-financed or inefficient. The environmental goals are normally set with no proper contemplation of economic costs1. Command and control strategies are poorly equipped to cater for the highly compound issues. They lack to respond nicely with public concerns. Thus, it calls for growing interest in more flexible approaches which are reflexive for environmental protection. These include laws and policies which enhance for self-regulation. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the most crucial example for this new approach. The main idea concerning the environmental impact assessment relates to when a project has the probability of having serious environmental consequences which can be scrutinized before establishment of development. That is fundamentally a two stage process. The first stage deals with gathering and analysis of crucial information. The developer then prepares or commissions from the environmental consultant an environmental statement which describes the possible environment effects of development. Theoretically, this should be objective and accurate. Depending on Donald Mc Gillivray and Stuart Bell, the two British environmental lawyers, the ideas of EIA would include a completely biased free information kind of collation produced in a manner which would be sound, coherent and complete. Realistically, the environmental statements given on behalf of developers are usually biased and of low quality. This indicates why countries like Czech Republic and Croatic have come up with accreditation systems used by consultants responsible for such preparations. If the development is contradictory, more reports can be produced by pressure groups, private individuals and government agencies. The report can be commissioned via planning authorities. The second stage involves the assessment of that information by appropriate planning authority. The authority should take the probable environmental impacts into responsibility before coming with a decision whether or not to allow the development. The environmental impact assessment is principally a procedural mechanism. The authority may involve economic benefits of a project which could overshadow the environmental harm which is likely to result. But it cannot allow development without giving proper consideration to the concerned environmental implications. The history of Environmental Impact Assessment In Europe, Germany and France in 1975 and 1976 respectively, were the primary countries to introduce the EIA requirements. The suggestion aroused strong challenge though the EIA directive was expected in the European Community's Second Action Programmed on Environment in 1977. After eight years of strong debate, this came into action in July 1988 and has been edified. The EIA necessities were then introduced by many of the European EC and non-EC countries. Almost all the developed counties now currently the mandatory environmental

Price Elasticity of Demand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Price Elasticity of Demand - Essay Example As corn and soybean are substitutes, one can be used in place of the other, so when the demand for corn is increased, its price also goes up making the farmers choose to plant corn instead of soybeans. We know that producers are after their gains or profits, so higher prices will encourage them to supply more of that good. They will find the increasing demand for corn and its high price more profitable than planting soybean. And given that the price of resources or factors of producing corn will be the same as in producing soybean, even the farmlands which were intended for soybean will be used now for planting corn resulting to a decrease in the supply of soybean. The price of corn oil will be definitely increased because as the number of buyers of corn increases, the market demand for it will also increase and price of corn have to be increased to maintain equilibrium. This is because if price will be kept at the same level even with the increase in demand, the supply of corn might not be enough for the demand and will create a shortage in corn. This is what exactly happened in the US last October of 2010 (Berry & Polansek, 2010). Shortage in food supplies made the prices shoot up but prices of grains fell when the weather was better and inventories for US corn were increased.

General Equilibrium and welfare economies Essay

General Equilibrium and welfare economies - Essay Example A deductive structure that tolerates a contradiction does so under the penalty of being useless since any statement can be derived flawlessly and immediately from that contradiction. In its mathematical form, economic theory is open to an efficient scrutiny for logical errors." We will try to be coherent, and we will do our best to avoid any contradiction when speaking about General Equilibrium and Welfare Economics. It is easy to get confused with these microeconomic models, so we will deal with them using simple and logical words. The most important thing is to understand those models and to apply the knowledge in our everyday life as much as possible. Microeconomics is defined by the Wikipedia (2005d) as "the study of the economic behaviour of individual consumers, firms, and industries and the distribution of production and income among them. It considers individuals both as suppliers of labour and capital and as the ultimate consumers of the final product. It analyzes firms both as suppliers of products and as consumers of labour and capital." It is necessary to understand this simple definition to apply that knowledge to General Equilibrium and Welfare Economics. ... Harberger (2002) speaks about the importance of Microeconomics as follows: "The strength of microeconomics comes from the simplicity of its underlying structure and its close touch with the real world. In a nutshell, microeconomics has to do with supply and demand, and with the way they interact in various markets." In microeconomic theory, the partial equilibrium supply and demand economic model was originally conceived by Alfred Marshall when he tried to explain changes in the price and quantity of goods sold in competitive markets. This microeconomic model just deals with an imperfectly competitive market. It has its foundation in the theories used by some economists before Marshall like Adam Smith, and it is one of the most fundamental models of economic schools in the present time, widely used as a basic building block for many other economic models. The theory of supply and demand is important for understanding a market economy as it is an explanation of the mechanism by which many economic decisions are made. Nevertheless, unlike General Equilibrium models, the supply and demand theory offers a partial equilibrium model fixed by unexplained forces. (Wikipedia, 2005d). The theory of supply and demand frequently considers that markets are perfectly competitive. This means that there are many buyers and sellers in the market. It also means that none of them have the capacity to influence the price of the good. In real life, this assumption usually fails because some economic agents have the ability to influence prices. (Wikipedia, 2005d). Wikipedia, 2005h In Microeconomics we say that the market "clears" at the point where the supply and demand find a balance at a given price. It means that the amount of a commodity at a given price equals the

Price Elasticity of Demand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Price Elasticity of Demand - Essay Example As corn and soybean are substitutes, one can be used in place of the other, so when the demand for corn is increased, its price also goes up making the farmers choose to plant corn instead of soybeans. We know that producers are after their gains or profits, so higher prices will encourage them to supply more of that good. They will find the increasing demand for corn and its high price more profitable than planting soybean. And given that the price of resources or factors of producing corn will be the same as in producing soybean, even the farmlands which were intended for soybean will be used now for planting corn resulting to a decrease in the supply of soybean. The price of corn oil will be definitely increased because as the number of buyers of corn increases, the market demand for it will also increase and price of corn have to be increased to maintain equilibrium. This is because if price will be kept at the same level even with the increase in demand, the supply of corn might not be enough for the demand and will create a shortage in corn. This is what exactly happened in the US last October of 2010 (Berry & Polansek, 2010). Shortage in food supplies made the prices shoot up but prices of grains fell when the weather was better and inventories for US corn were increased.

Assess Benjamin Franklin's contributions to science Research Paper

Assess Benjamin Franklin's contributions to science - Research Paper Example Science is one of the most important fields for development. The world before the 18th century has been described as a primitive world, where people depended on manual ways of during things. The contribution of science was not given the attention it deserved. It was until the 18th century that science became an important field of study for the development of Europe and America. This began with Isaac Newton’s discovery of the law of gravity and light. Newton’s discoveries inspired other scientists, including Edward Jenner and Joseph Priestley who later made important scientific discoveries in medicine and chemistry respectively (Fisher 12). In fact, 18th century comes out as the century that several discoveries were made, including steam engine, cotton gin, mercury thermometer, gas lighting, and hot-air balloon just to name but a few. Benjamin Franklin is among the great American scientists of the 18th century whose contributions in science have been of great importance to the world, several years after his death. Life Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 Boston, Massachusetts to a poor family comprising of his father, Josiah who happened to be a candle maker and Abiah, his mother. He was the fifteenth child in their family. Franklin was not lucky to have a formal education. He only managed to attend school for two years before being sent home for lack of school fees (Murre 15). However, since his family was too poor to afford the school fees required, Franklin abandoned school and resorted to helping his poor father in candle making. Nonetheless, since he had interest in having good education, he taught himself how to read and write, as well as how to experiment. Since his family could not afford enough money to feed the entire family, Franklin began working as a printer in Boston to boost his family income. Even though he was working as a printer, he still had a lot of interest in education. As such, he kept reading books and periodicals at night after leaving work (Canada par. 3). The more he continued practicing reading and writing, the more he developed good grammar and style of writing. However, when he was about 17 years of age, Franklin resigned from the print shop where he had been working as a printer. This is after he had gained a wealth of experience in typesetting skills. He then left Boston for Philadelphia, where he arrived very hungry and tired (Murre 18). It did not take him long before getting a new job in Samuel Keimer’s printing shop. Here, he demonstrated great skills, which earned him good salary. At age 22, in 1978, he started his print shop in partnership with Meredith. Few years later at the age of 24 year, Franklin met Deborah, whom he fell in love with, married, and were blessed with two children named Sarah and Francis Folger. His printing business became a great success, transforming him from a poor boy to a wealthy businessperson. In fact, his success in printing business made him become the

Methods of Interrogation Essay Example for Free

Methods of Interrogation Essay An important component on a methodical approach to criminological research is the aspect of investigation. Utilizing the techniques of interview and investigation, it is primarily bordered by government policies and social regulations. The techniques employed by both draws heavily from the studies of psychology and sociology, as a tool to facilitate the enforcement of law in the society. In probing towards a case, the objective of the entire investigation would be to ascertain the details of the crime that would eventually lead to the offender’s arrest and meet its just punishment. But before this could be achieved, investigators had to go first through the process of discovering and identifying the criminal. Upon the offender’s positive identification, law enforcers or investigators go the tedious process of locating the criminal and establish his responsibility over the crime before the court. In whatever stage the investigation may be in, whether in the process of identification, location, or court litigation, the investigator relies heavily on gathered information that could be extracted through techniques of interview and interrogation. With the fast development of technology used in crime investigation, the method of interview and interrogation might be perceived as having of no use. However, investigators still continue to depend on these methods particularly on cases wherein there is scarce or no physical evidence to work on. II. Reasons for Conducting an Interview or Interrogation The basic reason for utilizing interview or interrogation is to obtain information. The endpoint would be for the investigator to bring a subject to admit or confess of having done a crime. The objective of the entire course of investigation of course, is to arrive at the truth of the situation. Specifically, these are: †¢ Provoke the guilty to confess †¢ Allows the investigator to narrow down the list of suspected criminals †¢ To identify the facts and know the circumstances surrounding the crime †¢ To establish the identity of all those who are involved of the crime †¢ To gather information that would help locate physical evidence †¢ Gather information that would lead to hideouts, crime operations, organizations or individuals involved, especially crimes involving drug trafficking †¢ Gather information that could be used as reference for future investigation †¢ It is also utilized as a pre-test and post-test in conducting polygraph tests of suspected criminals (Aubry, Caputo. 1980) III. Difference Between Interview and Interrogation The nature or circumstances by which an interview and interrogation is used vastly differ, although the terms are frequently associated together. Interviews are carried out in a more genial atmosphere. The person from whom information is taken out is set to feel at ease. It is assumed that when a person feels no anxiety or unthreatened by person questioning, the greater the tendency that a person would speak more and thus give out more information. An interview is usually used by an investigator towards a possible witness. On the other hand, when a person is subjected to sever psychological (and sometimes physical) pressure, placing the person in great discomfort, such method is called an interrogation. This is usually employed when the one being questioned is uncooperative. The investigator uses psychological warfare, to gain control and force a confession over the person. Success in interrogation is achieved when the investigator has learned to skillfully practice it both as a technique and art. Conducting an investigation requires a good understanding of human behavior as well as knowing how to influence the situation by acting, since the person being questioned could range from a respected professional, a teenager, or even as young as a child. It is highly relevant to the success of the case that the investigator know how to adapt to the varying demands of the circumstances. A. Methods of Interrogation In conducting interrogation, it is important that the subject be properly classified whether it is an emotional or non-emotional offender. The classification dictates the course of action that the investigator will undertake his approach towards the offender. †¢ Emotional Offender In carrying out an interrogation under this classification is much easier, compared to a non-emotional offender. Often emotional offenders commit a crime out of passion, therefore most are first-time offenders. They are driven by strong emotions in committing the crime such as jealousy, lust, or anger. The investigator will find it easier to drive him to confession by dealing through his emotions. There are a variety of ways with which this can be done. The investigator primarily wins the confidence of the offender by demonstrating sympathy or compassion, and being pleasant where hostility was expected (i. e. giving a cup of coffee). It is also vital that overt reactions towards the crime or any association, reference to it be closely observed. An emotional, first-time offender would less likely be good at hiding his emotions. When lying, his tension would easily be observable. The tension in his body will lead to dryness in the mouth. The offender might relieve himself of the tension by playing with his fingers or by tapping his foot. Frequently, lying goes with poor eye contact. When confronted by hard data proving his guilt, emotional offenders often break down for confession.

Outdoor Play and Learning | Analysis

Outdoor Play and Learning | Analysis Discuss with reference to curriculum documentation and relevant research literature the importance of effective provision and planning for outdoor play and exploration in UK early years settings. In this assignment I am going to look at why it is relevant for effective provision and planning for the outdoor environment in the early years in the UK. Outdoor play is a vital element of young childrens physical, social and emotional development. Play is a young childs activity for learning. Therefore making the most of outdoor play is essential, providing plenty of experiences in a varied manner for children, early years settings are in a unique position to offer these, fully integrated with the indoors. The four aspects of Birth to Three Matters Framework include examples of experiences that very young children should have both indoors and outdoors. Similarly, the curriculum guidance for the foundation stage includes many ideas for taking learning outside. All six areas of learning can be effectively promoted, from the earliest stepping stones through to the early learning goals at the end of foundation stage. The statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation stage: setting and standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. (DCSF 2008) states the following in relation to the outdoor environment; ‘Wherever possible, there should be access to an outdoor play area and this is the expected norm for providers. ‘The indoor and outdoor environments (should be linked) so that children can move freely between them. ‘A rich and varied environment supports childrens learning and development. It gives them the confidence to explore and learn in secure and safe yet challenging, indoor and outdoor spaces. ‘Children must have opportunities play indoors and outdoors. All early year providers must have access to an outdoor play area which can benefit the children. If the setting does not have direct access to an outdoor play area they must make arrangements for daily opportunities for outdoor play in an appropriate nearby location. ‘Being outdoors has a positive impact on childrens sense of well-being and helps all aspects of childrens development. (See EYFS Statutory Framework (p.35 and 37); EYFS Practice Guidance (p.7) and ‘Principles into Practice card 3.3: Enabling Environments- the Learning Environment). The EYFS statutory framework for the EYFS is put in place so that every child in a setting environment has the best possible experience of the outdoors, as so much learning and development goes on within the outdoors and to cover the six early learning goals. The outdoors offers a unique environment, which is very different from the indoors. It offers space and freedom to try things out, to explore and experiment without the constraints associated with an indoor environment (Tovey 2007). Some opportunities for learning can only happen outside. The experience of a change in the weather, finding insects, making a large scale construction/painting all of these motivate children into mental and physical engagement, and can only be done outside. In fact all learning goals can be achieved outside while the childrens health and well-being are also being boosted. Outside children can run fast, shout and squeal and find out what their bodies and voices can really do (Ouvry, 2008). The space is more open, less confided and the greater space; the more unrestricted the movement possibilities. Indoors is a space where adults are in control, but outdoors as fewer restrictions, where children can escape the controlling eyes of adults (Stephenson 2002). The four main thinkers of early childhood towards the curriculum, advocating outdoor provision as essential for childrens learning and development are; Friedrich Froebel , Margaret McMillan ,Susan Issacs and Maria Montessori. â€Å"These four all held the view that the young child is first and foremost a whole person, with thoughts, feelings and imagination that need to be cared for and cherished† (Curtis 1986. P.5).They all believed in a child centred approach and free-flow play. Young children are motivated and wish to learn, they dont have to be sat at a table quietly (Curtis 1986). Friedrich Froebel argued that play was a serious and significant activity for the young child. David Cohen (1987) suggests that Froebel was the first educator to use childrens play for practical purposes. In order to help children learn through play Froebel devised series of playthings and games (Bruce 1991). As Curtis (1986 p.6) points out, he used the ‘timeless playthings of childhood in his curriculum. ‘Balls, boards, sand, clay, for example, have made up childrens play throughout the ages. The role of the adult is crucial in Froebels approach to play. Cohen however doesnt agree that children should learn particular things, as that would be to advocate play as preparation for life. Froebel valued play because it helped children to make meaning, and as Janet Moyles (1989 p.168) points out the importance of adults and children being ‘equal partners in play, as in conversation (Bruce 1991). Janet Moyles (1989, p.24) points out that Froebel pioneered the theory of firsthand experience as the basis of play, but this was entirely different to that, Seguin (1812-1880), who developed learning though the senses for disabled children. This curriculum was aimed towards a particular direction. However, Froebels approach to play was targeted at all childrens needs, rather than Seguin, who concentrated on disadvantaged children (Bruce 1991). As Yvonne Conolly (1983) points out (OMEP), ‘A good Curriculum is a good curriculum for all (in Bruce, 1987, Ch.9). Margaret McMillan, pioneer of nursery education campaigned for an education centred on the garden. She was the first person to model a nursery with children flowing freely between the inside and outside environment she quoted; ‘The best classroom and the richest cupboard is roofed by the sky. She put so much emphasis on the outdoor environment that it has been recognised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in its good practice guidelines for the early learning goals, which repeatedly stress those young children, should have access to a well-planned outdoors (Ouvry 2008). McMillan expanded on the ideas of Froebel, to see children playing as the integrated activity. It was through the garden that we see her begin to develop the free-flow play side of the curriculum. It is interesting to see that for Froebel, McMillan and Issacs, it was the childs free play in the outdoors that led to their greatest contributions to the early childhood educational curriculum (Bruce 1991). Issacs valued free-flow play because it gave children freedom in their actions, thoughts and emotional expression. Issacs further stressed that play also meets the emotional needs of a child, as they express all emotional during play (Bruce 1991). Montessori, who was also a pioneer for education, she thought it was an insult to children to suggest they should play. Montessori provided children with specific sense training apparatus which she expected them to use in an exact manner within the classroom, whereas McMillan believed children gained better sensory experience by playing in the garden (Bruce, 1991). Surely if practitioners are planning and setting up the activities that a child plays outdoors it is not really the childs freedom of choice, in a way it is still like the Montessori approach. Both Sylva and Bruner argued, in the 1980s, that structure is a characteristic of materials and activities themselves. Structured activities such as construction are the most challenging and unstructured materials, such as sand and water, and open ended resources, outdoors lack any clear goal structure and, therefore, do not challenge childrens minds (Bruner 1980; Sylva et al 1980). Ouvry (2008) suggests making the most out of the outdoor area is also important, so that the children in that setting have the best opportunities possible and the changing of resources provided should be different daily. Also, it is important that the children have the opportunity to explore different resources and not stick with their favourite all the time i.e. bicycles. So Bruner and Sylvas research isnt very clear as all settings have a number of different opportunities for children to do in the outdoors environment, structured and unstructured. Children learn from them all in different ways and they are all targeting the six areas of learning. Piaget saw movement and physical development as the provision for higher levels of thinking. However Smith (p.68) argues this point and believes ‘it is stillness we have to justify, not movement. Early Years children cant be sat down all day they need freedom to express themselves and explore their environment in order to learn new things, sitting down is going to make them more likely to disengage with what is going on. If movement is such an important aspect of a childs development, access to outdoor space must be part of a daily routine in order to nurture this mind-body growth. ‘Children want space at all ages. But from the age of one to seven, space, that is ample space, almost as much wanted as food and air. To move, to run, to find things out by new movement, to feel ones life in every limb, that is the life of early childhood. So said Margaret McMillan (1930) Childrens entitlement to high quality outdoor play experiences is strongly supported throughout the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework and early years providers have a statutory duty to facilitate daily outdoor opportunities all year round for the children in their care. (See EYFS Statutory Framework (p.35 and 37); EYFS Practice Guidance (p.7) and ‘Principles into Practice card 3.3: Enabling Environments- the Learning Environment). When children are denied adequate space they often feel desperately frustrated and this can lead to uncooperative behaviour. Research has shown that in environments that enable children to move about, to collaborate with others and take frequent breaks during calm activities, the behaviour of children who have a tendency to lose their temper or get over excited is less disturbing (Berk, l. E and Winsler, A 1995). This therefore shows that the tendency for children to shout and squeal and run around and be very ‘hyperactive is taken outside there that type of behaviour is accessible (Ouvry 2008). Ouvry (2008) states that boys brains mature in a different sequence to those of girls and in some areas, at a slower rate. Boys first develop the parts of the brain for knowing about movement and space in which they have to move themselves and other things. Other areas of the curriculum then arise meaningfully out of play. Girls, stereotypically like playing imaginatively in the home corner and working with and alongside adults. Girls come to an understanding of adult world through domestic play and talk; they use reading and writing in their play because their brains are more developed for language at the three to five year old stage. The whole emphasis on activities that focus on children who are good at talking, fitting in, quick at learning and understanding other peoples intentions. Boys can tend to feel uncomfortable because they tend to feel more secure in the outdoor environment, where they can be themselves and still learn from their experiences just in a different manner. By the setting giving less attention to the outdoors environment and quality of outdoor play, they may be denying access to education to a significant number of boys (Bilton, H. 1998). The outdoor space must be viewed as an essential teaching and learning environment which is linked with the learning that goes on inside, but with even greater status because it allows for children to learn through movement. If we believe that young children learn through play and that play is thought in action- then offering children a playing space outdoors would seem the most effective means to fulfil their need to play, learning through first hand experiences and cooperate with others, that also cover the six main learning goals (Ouvry. 2008). Despite the much higher profile given to outdoor play in recent years with the introduction of the Curriculum Guidance for the foundation stage (QCA 2000), there is still evidence that the ‘purpose and value of outdoor play is not well understood'(Tovey. 2007). Many practitioners have an unconscious belief that effective learning only happens when children are still, quiet and calm, with a pencil and paper at hand and with a teacher nearby to offer instruction. The idea that when children are physically active, many people believe they cant be learning anything to do with the curriculum (Ouvry 2008). But then what about forest schools, they are based outside all of the time and are still based on the curriculum and the learning intentions are still met and this is all due to planning for the six areas of learning. It is certainly true that if the outdoors is not well planned and the setting does not have clear aims for the childrens learning outside, then practitioners may find it difficult to see any worthwhile learning going on outside. This is however true when considering any environment for young children inside or outside. Without clarity of aims and learning intentions for children in play situations, it is impossible to know what to look for when observing the children or to know how to further the childrens learning. Structuring the environment and supporting childrens learning is as important outside as in (Ouvry 2008). The key person working with a four-year-old child may have observed on several occasions that the child is rather unsteady when moving around the outside area. The practitioner then plans to build an obstacle course to give the child lots of opportunities to use a wide range of physical movements. These then support the planning for enhanced provision. In many cases, this planned adjustment and enrichment of some aspect of the settings provision will also be relevant to other children in a group. Many of the other children in the group will enjoy helping to build and develop the obstacle course and will join the focus child in actively using and enjoying the challenges it offers. ‘The right of the child to rest and leisure and engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and arts. (UNICEF 1989). There are constraints and fears that limit childrens opportunities for play particularly outdoors, deprive children of essential childhood experiences and opportunities- opportunities to develop friendships and to make relationships, to experience all emotions, to take risks, have adventures and misadventures, to have contact with nature and the environment (Casey, T. 2007). Children need to climb, run, jump, an bash balls against walls (Lewis Howdle, lecture, RIHE,1980). http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/83976 http://www3.hants.gov.uk/childrens-services/childcare/providers/childcarepublications/horizons/horizons-issue-16/outdoor-learning-and-the-eyfs.htm http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/151379 http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/132681 http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/planning-quality-provision-early-years-5276

The Impact of Ancient Religion on Homer’s Odyssey Essay -- Homer Odyss

The Impact of Ancient Religion on Homer’s Odyssey    There has long been a fashion among critics and historians, including Sir James Frazier and Graham Hancock, to insist upon taking the account of Odysseus' voyage to Hades in Book XI of the Odyssey at near face-value as a description of people and places familiar to a Greek audience of Homer's day. Both linguistics and comparative history have been employed to discover exactly how accurately this originally oral epic conveys this gritty realism. Something, however, is not right with this purely empiric approach. What is missing is an examination through the lens of ancient religious practices. Surely a literary work so teeming with deities-wise Athena, spiteful Poseidon, impish Hermes, omnipotent Zeus-deserves such study. In protohistoric times, the worshipers of the gods sought out mystic union with their deities by means of bodily mortification and ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs. These practices are spelled out both in the Rig Veda of India and the Chinese Book of Songs. In the Veda, Indra is worshiped in a ritual that includes large doses of soma. The Book of Songs, compiled by Confucius from the many texts of poetry and myth at his disposal, contains repeated accounts of trance and religious ekstasis. In the twenty-second chapter of St. John's Revelation, the Koine Greek term translated as sorcerers in the King James Bible is pharmakeusin Literally, this word denotes those who use drugs to achieve arcane effects. Since plants were the mainstay of medical science in those distant days, a secondary meaning might be applied: herbalists. Robin Fox, in his book Pagans and Christians, argues that the role of such figures as the Sybil of Cumae and the Delphic prophetess ... ...se value to the Odyssey as a voice from an antique time aimed at future generations. During the Roman Empire, both the Odyssey and its companion, the Iliad, were considered as foundational texts in education. Small wonder; history, poetry, parable, hymn-such a literary work is its own small cosmos. It deserves to be approached and interacted with as a living entity that still matters in Western civilization. That is possible only if we view such works in the context of the societies that produced them. Religion was a huge component of such a society. Although we now possess technological marvels that might give a Greek deity apoplexy from shame, the ancient Greeks are still Us. Men and women will always feel the need to see the world through fresher eyes than their own. Works Cited: Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Books, 1962. The Impact of Ancient Religion on Homer’s Odyssey Essay -- Homer Odyss The Impact of Ancient Religion on Homer’s Odyssey    There has long been a fashion among critics and historians, including Sir James Frazier and Graham Hancock, to insist upon taking the account of Odysseus' voyage to Hades in Book XI of the Odyssey at near face-value as a description of people and places familiar to a Greek audience of Homer's day. Both linguistics and comparative history have been employed to discover exactly how accurately this originally oral epic conveys this gritty realism. Something, however, is not right with this purely empiric approach. What is missing is an examination through the lens of ancient religious practices. Surely a literary work so teeming with deities-wise Athena, spiteful Poseidon, impish Hermes, omnipotent Zeus-deserves such study. In protohistoric times, the worshipers of the gods sought out mystic union with their deities by means of bodily mortification and ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs. These practices are spelled out both in the Rig Veda of India and the Chinese Book of Songs. In the Veda, Indra is worshiped in a ritual that includes large doses of soma. The Book of Songs, compiled by Confucius from the many texts of poetry and myth at his disposal, contains repeated accounts of trance and religious ekstasis. In the twenty-second chapter of St. John's Revelation, the Koine Greek term translated as sorcerers in the King James Bible is pharmakeusin Literally, this word denotes those who use drugs to achieve arcane effects. Since plants were the mainstay of medical science in those distant days, a secondary meaning might be applied: herbalists. Robin Fox, in his book Pagans and Christians, argues that the role of such figures as the Sybil of Cumae and the Delphic prophetess ... ...se value to the Odyssey as a voice from an antique time aimed at future generations. During the Roman Empire, both the Odyssey and its companion, the Iliad, were considered as foundational texts in education. Small wonder; history, poetry, parable, hymn-such a literary work is its own small cosmos. It deserves to be approached and interacted with as a living entity that still matters in Western civilization. That is possible only if we view such works in the context of the societies that produced them. Religion was a huge component of such a society. Although we now possess technological marvels that might give a Greek deity apoplexy from shame, the ancient Greeks are still Us. Men and women will always feel the need to see the world through fresher eyes than their own. Works Cited: Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Books, 1962.

Why do Nurses earn less than rock stars?

There are many reasons as to why nurses earn less than rock stars. The first, most important one, is to recognise that we are comparing these two respective salaries on a statistical basis, most likely average such as a mean, or median wage. We must take into account the range of salaries, to see how much the data we are comparing is skewed. A nurses salary cannot really vary much, as rates in hospitals (in the same area) will be similar, only varying slightly for higher positions within the nursing profession. This is in complete contrast to what rock stars can earn – some can earn just $10 an hour, despite enjoying tremendous popularity. Others, however, can earn millions and billions, and therefore, this will mean that the results for pop stars' wages will be skewed, given the wide range of salaries. Wages are set very much like price is – by market equilibrium. Looking at the labour market, we can see that, once immensely popular, demand for an artist becomes very inelastic – people will buy his merchandise even if the price increases quite a lot. Supply for nurses, on the other hand, may be elastic, as there are plenty of individuals who are willing to try and seek employment in that field, assuming that the skills required aren't very hard to come by (to enter the profession). On the other hand, it can be argued that supply for artists is inelastic, due to the relatively small numbers of people in the industry. This argument can easily be refuted by pointing out the hordes of riff-raff and other emotional junkies who pander towards an illustrious career of fame and fortune, and attempt to become rock-stars. However, if they are not famous or are deemed lacking of the talent needed to earn that label, they will most likely not be counted as a â€Å"rock star† and they will find it hard to enter the music industry and therefore their efforts will be in vain, and they will be discounted by those seeking to make their fortune by accumulating and manipulating market trends. Thus, we can see that demand and supply is inelastic for rock stars, while elastic for nurses. If you draw a demand and supply diagram, who will be able to see that the rock stars' wages will be determined by a higher market equilibrium than their hospital-working (female) counterparts. Immobility of labour is another thing which contribute towards the supply of the respective professions. Being a rock star is unlikely to be one of the first or main jobs an individual will undertake in his life. Thus, stars will probably have other vocational skills ready to be of use if they suffer an untimely demise at the hands of fickle fans. This will encourage people to try and become rock-stars as they will be able to find another job later or before they strike success. Nurses, on the other hand, have less of a reason to be as occupationally mobile, as their career is more likely to be a steady, longer one, quite predictable in nature. This would mean that nurses would have to aim to try and stay in that profession for a long period of time, which may actually discourage some people from becoming nurses. However, the mobility of labour seems o have little impact in actuality as it seems that this would make supply of labour more inelastic and elastic for nurses and pop stars respectively. Geographical mobility of labour also seems to have little bearing on the supply of labour. Lastly, there are many benefits to be gained from each profession. Rock stars have the opportunity to make millions very quickly, become famous, recognised and more influential. Nurses' benefits lie more in the vicinity of pension payments, and possibly the knowledge that you are helping the community. These seem to be the main reasons as to why nurses get paid less than pop-stars. Why do Nurses earn less than rock stars? There are many reasons as to why nurses earn less than rock stars. The first, most important one, is to recognise that we are comparing these two respective salaries on a statistical basis, most likely average such as a mean, or median wage. We must take into account the range of salaries, to see how much the data we are comparing is skewed. A nurses salary cannot really vary much, as rates in hospitals (in the same area) will be similar, only varying slightly for higher positions within the nursing profession. This is in complete contrast to what rock stars can earn – some can earn just $10 an hour, despite enjoying tremendous popularity. Others, however, can earn millions and billions, and therefore, this will mean that the results for pop stars' wages will be skewed, given the wide range of salaries. Wages are set very much like price is – by market equilibrium. Looking at the labour market, we can see that, once immensely popular, demand for an artist becomes very inelastic – people will buy his merchandise even if the price increases quite a lot. Supply for nurses, on the other hand, may be elastic, as there are plenty of individuals who are willing to try and seek employment in that field, assuming that the skills required aren't very hard to come by (to enter the profession). On the other hand, it can be argued that supply for artists is inelastic, due to the relatively small numbers of people in the industry. This argument can easily be refuted by pointing out the hordes of riff-raff and other emotional junkies who pander towards an illustrious career of fame and fortune, and attempt to become rock-stars. However, if they are not famous or are deemed lacking of the talent needed to earn that label, they will most likely not be counted as a â€Å"rock star† and they will find it hard to enter the music industry and therefore their efforts will be in vain, and they will be discounted by those seeking to make their fortune by accumulating and manipulating market trends. Thus, we can see that demand and supply is inelastic for rock stars, while elastic for nurses. If you draw a demand and supply diagram, who will be able to see that the rock stars' wages will be determined by a higher market equilibrium than their hospital-working (female) counterparts. Immobility of labour is another thing which contribute towards the supply of the respective professions. Being a rock star is unlikely to be one of the first or main jobs an individual will undertake in his life. Thus, stars will probably have other vocational skills ready to be of use if they suffer an untimely demise at the hands of fickle fans. This will encourage people to try and become rock-stars as they will be able to find another job later or before they strike success. Nurses, on the other hand, have less of a reason to be as occupationally mobile, as their career is more likely to be a steady, longer one, quite predictable in nature. This would mean that nurses would have to aim to try and stay in that profession for a long period of time, which may actually discourage some people from becoming nurses. However, the mobility of labour seems o have little impact in actuality as it seems that this would make supply of labour more inelastic and elastic for nurses and pop stars respectively. Geographical mobility of labour also seems to have little bearing on the supply of labour. Lastly, there are many benefits to be gained from each profession. Rock stars have the opportunity to make millions very quickly, become famous, recognised and more influential. Nurses' benefits lie more in the vicinity of pension payments, and possibly the knowledge that you are helping the community. These seem to be the main reasons as to why nurses get paid less than pop-stars.

Bank Notes Essay

Linear Probability Models (LPMs) * Econometric model to explain repayment experience on past/old loans. * Regression model with a â€Å"dummy† dependent variable Z; Z = 1 default and Z=0 no default. * Weakness: no guarantee that the estimated default probabilities will always lie between 0 and 1 (theoretical flaw) Logit and Probit Models * Developed to overcome weakness of LPM. * Explicitly restrict the estimated range of default probabilities to lie between 0 and 1. * Logit: assumes probability of default to be logistically distributed. Probit: assumes probability of default has a cumulative normal distribution function. Linear Discriminant Analysis * Derived from statistical technique called multivariate analysis. * Divides borrowers into high or low default risk classes. * Altman’s LDM = most famous model developed in the late 1960s. Z < 1. 8 (critical value), there is a high chance of default. * Weaknesses * Only considers two extreme cases (default/no default). * Weights need not be stationary over time. 3. New Credit Risk Evaluation Models Newer models have been developed – use financial theory and financial market data to make inferences about default probabilities. * Most relevant for evaluating loans to larger corporate borrowers. * Area of very active continuing research by FIs. Credit Ratings * Ratings change relatively infrequently – objective of ratings stability. * Only chance when there is reason to believe that a long-term change in the company’s creditworthiness has taken place. * S&P: AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB, B and CCC * Moody’s: Aaa, Aa, A, Baa, Ba, B and Caa Bonds with ratings of BBB and above are considered to be â€Å"investment grade† Estimating Default Probabilities 1. Historical Data * Provided by rating agencies e. g. cumulative average default rates * If a company starts with a: * Good credit rating, default probabilities tend to increase with time. * Poor credit rating, default prob abilities tend to decrease with time. * Default Intensity vs Unconditional Default Probability * Default intensity or hazard rate is the probability of default conditional on no earlier default. * Unconditional default probability is the probability of default as seen at time zero. Default intensities and unconditional default probabilities for a Caa rated company in the third year Supplement point 14 by monitoring a combination of internal reports, prudential reports and market information. 16. Should intervene to require effective and timely remedial action to address liquidity deficiencies. 17. Should communicate with other regulators e. g. central banks – cooperation TOPIC 7: CORE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE BANKING SUPERVISION Overview * Most important global standard for prudential regulation and supervision. * Endorsed by vast majority of countries. * Provides benchmark against which supervisory regimes can be assessed. * 1995: Mexican and Barings Crises Lyon Summit in 1996 for G7 Leaders. 1997: Document drafted and endorsed at G7 meeting. Final version presented at annual meetings of World Bank and IMF in Hong Kong. * 1998: G-22 endorsed * 2006: Revision of the Core Principles * 2011: Basel Committee mandates a major review, issues revised consultative paper. The Core Principles (2006) * 25 minimum requirements that need to be met for an effective re gulatory system. * May need to be supplemented by other measures. * Seven major groups * Framework for supervisory authority – Principle 1 * Licensing and structure – Principles 2-5 * Prudential regulations and requirements – Principles 6-18 * Methods of ongoing banking supervision – Principles 19-21 * Accounting and disclosure – Principle 22 * Corrective and remedial powers of supervisors – Principle 23 * Consolidated and cross-border banking – Principles 24-25. * Explicitly recognise: * Effective banking supervision is essential for a strong economic environment. * Supervision seeks to ensure banks operate in a safe and sound manner and hold sufficient capital and reserves. * Strong and effective supervision is a public good and critical to financial stability. * While cost of supervision is high, the cost of poor supervision is even higher. Key objective of banking supervision: * Maintain stability and confidence in the financial system * Encourage good corporate governance and enhance market transparency Revised Core Principles (2011) * Core Principles and assessment methodology merged into a single document. * Number of core principles increased to 29. * Takes account of several key trends and developments: * Need to deal with systemically important banks * Macroprudential focus (system-wide) and systemic risk * Effective crisis management, recovery and resolution measures. Sound corporate governance * Greater public disclosure and transparency enhance market discipline. * Two broad groups: 1. Supervisory powers, responsibilities and functions. Focus on effective risk-based supervision, and the need for early intervention and timely supervisory actions. Principles 1-13. 2. Prudential regulations and requirements. Cover supervisory expectations of banks, emphasising the importance of good corporate governance and risk management, as well as compliance with supervisory standards. Supervisory powers, responsibilities and functions 1. Clear responsibilities and objectives for each authority involved. Suitable legal framework. 2. Supervisor has operational independence, transparent processes, sound governance and adequate resources, and is accountable. 3. Cooperation and collaboration with domestic authorities and foreign supervisors. 4. Permissible activities of banks is controlled. 5. Assessment of bank ownership structure and governance. 6. Power to review, reject and impose prudential conditions on any changes in ownership or controlling interests. 7. Power to approve or reject major acquisitions. 8. Forward-looking assessment of the risk profile of banks and banking groups. 9. Uses appropriate range of techniques and tools to implement supervisory approach. 10. Collects, reviews and analyses prudential reports and statistical returns. 11. Early address of unsafe and unsound practices. 12. Supervises banking group on consolidated basis (including globally) 13. Cross-border sharing of information and cooperation. Prudential regulations and requirements 14. Robust corporate governance policies and processes. 15. Banks have a comprehensive risk management process, including recovery plans. 6. Set prudent and appropriate capital adequacy requirements. 17. Banks have an adequate credit risk management process. 18. Banks have adequate policies and processes for the early identification and management of problems assets, and maintain adequate provisions and reserves. 19. Banks have adequate policies re concentration risk. 20. Banks required to enter into any transactions with related pa rties on an arm’s length basis. 21. Banks have adequate policies re country and transfer risk. 22. Banks have an adequate market risk management process. 23. Banks have adequate systems re interest rate risk in the banking book. 24. Set prudent and appropriate liquidity requirements. 25. Banks have an adequate operational risk management framework. 26. Banks have adequate internal controls to establish and maintain a properly controlled operating environment for the conduct of their business. E. g. delegating authority and responsibility, separation of the functions that involve committing the bank. 27. Banks maintain adequate and reliable records, prepare financial statements in accordance with accounting policies etc. 8. Banks regularly publish information on a consolidated and solo basis. 29. Banks have adequate policies and processes e. g. strict customer due diligence. Preconditions for Effective Banking Supervision 1. Provision of sound and sustainable macroeconomic policies. 2. A well established framework for financial stability policy formulation. 3. A well developed public infrastructure 4. A clear framework for crisis managemen t, recovery and resolution 5. An appropriate level of systemic protection (or public safety net) 6. Effective market discipline 001: IMF and World Bank Study on Countries’ Compliance with Core Principles * 32 countries are compliant with 10 or few BCPs * Only 5 countries were assessed as fully compliant with 25 or more of the BCPs. * Developing countries less compliant than advanced economies. * Advanced economies generally possess more robust internal frameworks as defined by the ‘preconditions’ 2008: IMF Study on BCP Compliance * Based on 136 compliance assessments. * Continued work needed on strengthening banking supervision in many jurisdictions, particularly in the area of risk management. More than 40% of countries did not comply with the essential criteria of principles dealing with risk management, consolidated supervision and the abuse of financial services. * More than 30% did not possess the necessary operational independence to perform effective super vision nor have adequate ability to use their formal powers to take corrective action. * On average, countries in Western Europe demonstrated a much higher degree of compliance (above 90%) with BCP than their counterparts in other regions. * Africa and Western Hemisphere weak. Generally, high-income countries reflected a higher degree of compliance. TOPIC 8: CAPITAL ADEQUACY Overview * Adequate capital better able to withstand losses, provide credit through the business cycle and help promote public confidence in banking system. Importance of Capital Adequacy * Absorb unanticipated losses and preserve confidence in the FI * Protect uninsured depositors and other stakeholders * Protect FI insurance funds and taxpayers * Protect deposit insurance owners against increases in insurance premiums * To acquire real investments in order to provide financial services e. . equity financing is very important. Capital Adequacy * Capital too low banks may be unable to absorb high level of losses . * Capital too high banks may not be able to make the most efficient use of their resources. Constraint on credit availability. Pre-1988 * Banks regulated using balance sheet measures e. g. ratio of capital to assets. * Variations between countries re definitions, required ratios and enforcement of regulations. * 1980s: bank leverage increased, OBS derivatives trading increased. * LDC debt = major problem 1988 Basel Capital Accord (Basel I) * G10 agreed to Basel I Only covered credit risk * Capital / risk-adjusted assets > 8% * Tier 1 capital = shareholders equity and retained earnings * Tier 2 capital = additional internal and external resources e. g. loan loss reserves * Tier 1 capital / risk-adjusted assets > 4% * On-balance-sheet assets assigned to one of four categories * 0% – cash and government bonds * 20% – claims on OECD banks * 50% – residential mortgages * 100% – corporate loans, corporate bonds * Off-balance-sheet assets divided into co ntingent or guarantee contracts and FX/IR forward, futures, option and swap contracts. Two step process (i) derive credit equivalent amounts as product of FV and conversion factor then (ii) multiply amount by risk weight. * OBS market contracts or derivative instruments = potential exposure + current exposure. * Potential exposure: credit risk if counterparty defaults in the future. * Current exposure: cost of replacing a derivative securities contract at today’s prices. 1996 Amendment * Implemented in 1998 * Requires banks to measure and hold capital for market risk. * k is a multiplicative factor chosen by regulators (at least 3) VaR is the 99% 10-day value at risk SRC is the specific risk charge Total Capital = 0. 08 x [Credit risk RWA + Market risk RWA] where market risk RWA = 12. 5 x [k x VaR + SRC] Basel II (2004) * Implemented in 2007 * Three pillars 1. New minimum capital requirements for credit and operational risk 2. Supervisory review: more thorough and uniform 3. Market discipline: more disclosure * Only applied to large international banks in US * Implemented by securities companies as well as banks in EU Pillar 1: Minimum Capital Requirements * Credit risk measurement: * Standardised approach (external credit rating based risk weights) * Internal rating based (IRB) Market risk = unchanged * Operational risk: * Basic indicator: 15% of gross income * Standardised: multiplicative factor for income arising from each business line. * Advanced measurement approaches: assess 99. 9% worst case loss over one year. * Total capital = 0. 08 x [Credit risk RWA + market risk RWA + Operational risk RWA] Pillar 2: Supervisory Review * Importance of effective supervisory review of banks’ internal assessments of their overall risks. Pillar 3: Market discipline * Increasing transparency – public disclosure Basel 2. 5 (Implemented 2011) * Stressed VaR for market risk * Incremental risk charge Ensures products such as bonds and derivatives in the trading book have the same capital requirement that they would if they were in the banking book. * Comprehensive risk measure (re credit default correlations) Basel III (2010) * Considerably increase quality and quantity of banks capital * Macroprudential overlay – systemic risk * Allows time for smooth transition to new regime * Core capital only retained earnings and common shares * Reserves increased from 2% to 4. 5% * Capital conservation buffer – 2. 5% of RWA * Countercyclical capital buffer * Tracing/monitoring of liquidity funding Introduction of a maximum leverage ratio Capital Definitions and Requirements * Common equity > 4. 5% of RWA * Tier 1 > 6% of RWA * Phased implementation of capital levels stretching to Jan 1, 2015 * Phased implementation of capital definition stretching to Jan 1, 2018 Microprudential Features * Greater focus on common equity * Loss-absorbing during stress/crisis period capital conservation buffer * Promoting integrated manageme nt of market and counterparty credit risk. * Liquidity standard introduced introduced Jan 1, 2015 Introduced Jan 1, 2018 Available Stable Funding Factors Required Stable Funding Factors Macroprudential Factors * Countercyclical buffer * Acts as a brake in good times of high credit growth and a decompressor to restrict credit during downturns. * Within a range of 0-2. 5% * Left to the discretion of national regulators * Dividends restricted when capital is below required level * Phased in between Jan 1, 2016 – Jan 1, 2019 * Leverage Ratio * Target 3% * Ratio of Tier 1 capital to total exposure > 3% * Introduced on Jan 1, 2018 after a transition period * SIFIs * Required to hold additional loss absorbency capital, ranging from 1-2. 5% in common equity