Programming Solution Proposal Essay

Computer programs can help us solve everyday issues that might seem impossible. Household budgeting is an issue that burdens many Americans. Every individual is ultimately responsible for managing his or her finances. Developing a computer program that can help individuals manage their budget will greatly improve their life quality. The program would have to follow the program development cycle model and use the modular approach. Identifying Budget Issues The biggest challenge that many American families are facing after the 2008 recession is managing a monthly budget adequately. The fact is that many families increased their debt by borrowing more than their allocated budget. Americans need to learn to live base on how much they earn. Our first reaction, when in debt, would be to make up excuses as to why we are in that situation. Some of us will even try to blame relatives or credit card companies when faced with excessive debt. It is families, who do not budget properly, that end up losing their homes and vehicles to banks or lenders (msn, 2009). Who is Responsible? The task of managing your budget according to your earnings is a decision and responsibility that is ultimately yours. The first step to take when budgeting is to acknowledge your debt problem and stop finding justifications for it. The problem can be excessively stressful and it is recommended to seek assistance through friends, family, or even better from an organization that guides people through debt reduction. A non-profit organization, such as the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, will probably be the best option. To start getting a handle of the problem, one must establish a number of how much is owed (msn, 2009). Developing a Program Technology, at present day, is an important tool that can be used to our advantage to solve almost any issue. Many families that might be facing budgeting and even foreclosure issues might not be aware that such tools exist. The process of creating a computer program that will help us budget our monthly income can greatly improve our quality of life. Such program must follow the program development cycle and contain the three main components of a computer program; input, process, and output (Venit & Drake, 2009). Program Development Cycle The first step of the program development cycle is to analyze the problem. We need to fully understand the problem that needs to be solved. We also need to analyze which information is available to us. The initial information available to us is our monthly net pay, and our monthly economic obligations. We also need to establish our desired output, establishing a budget, and determine how our known information will help us achieve those results. At this point we might also become aware of information that is not included but is necessary in order to identify the problem properly. Such information may include unexpected expenses, depositing money into a savings account, etc. (Venit & Drake, 2009). The next step of the cycle is designing a program to solve the problem. The designing step of the program development cycle will yield a flowchart that will outline how the actual program is executed based on the known variables. The flowchart will include a starting point, inputs, assignments, If conditions, loops, outputs, and an ending point. The evaluation of each step of the program development cycle might yield additional subtasks that might need to be added to the original flowchart. This step also involves writing an algorithm in pseudocodes which will instruct the program on what to do. The last two steps of the cycle involve writing the pseudocode statements in program code. The program code will depend on which computer language is chosen. Finally the program needs to be executed to determine if it runs properly. A re-evaluation of the program might be needed if the program does not execute properly (Venit & Drake, 2009). The goal of the program is to aid the average household to adequately manage a budget. Modular Approach The modular approach that will be taken to create this budgeting program will ensure the creation of the proper program to solve the issue. The approach will first consider the major tasks that need to be accomplished. A module will be created for each task in the program. The tasks can later be broken down into sub-tasks as deemed necessary by the programmer. These sub-tasks will then be assigned sub-modules. The amount of sub-tasks is determined by the complexity of the problem and how many are needed to solve the problem. The purpose of breaking down tasks is to make the program much easier and simpler. The model that is used to break down tasks is called the top-down design (Venit & Drake, 2009). Conclusion Developing a computer program that can help individuals manage their budget will greatly improve their life quality.

Summary Essay Globalisations Time Is Up

Summary of James Howard Kunstler’s â€Å"Globalisation’s Time Is Up† Within James Howard Kunstler’s article â€Å"Globalisation’s Time is Up† (Guardian Weekly, 12-18 August 2005), he goes against Thomas Friedman’s view that â€Å"globalisation is here to stay†(254), arguing that globalisation is rather unstable. With the supply of cheap resources and world peace, we have the formula for globalisation, subtract either and we are on a crash course. Kunstler builds on this theory by going over events, which time after time have all lead to the same solution.The period of 1870-1914 the â€Å"first phase of globalisation†(254) is described as the era of coal and steam power. This period brought hope; nations were tied together with booming trade, along with the abundant supplies of resources. The introduction of oil without a doubt would override the power of coal. This was closely followed with serious ramifications for those without oil, the First World War. Kunstler’s formula for globalisation proves to be correct in earlier days. Furthermore, the oil era is slowly approaching its demise. Also you can read this summary –  Protecting Freedom of Expression on the CampusIt has brought economies greatly dependent on its production power that we no longer see what will come of our â€Å"McHousing Estates†(255). The suburban housing along with all other oil dependent arrangements will cease to expand when the global oil production well dries up. â€Å"The American Suburban Juggernaut† (255), is Kunstler’s description of how America has misallocated its existence around the oil economy. With this being said he continues to support his theory, the bond of nations is now separating from one another simply to attain control of what oil remains in this world.The abused usage of the era, and the over usage of its resources has led America through a boom, one that will end with a bust leaving everyone scrambling for what is left. Kunstler ends his argument stating, â€Å"the world is about to become a larger place again†(256), we can take from his explanations that he is implying; the breakdown of local communities butchered by large chains, how shopping will simply fade away in the background of life, and the need for cars will be of little to no use. As a result all that had once become in the oil-short era will then restart a cycle known as globalisation.

Broken Families Essay

Introduction Family is the basic unit of society. This is the most important component of a country. †The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.† (Santayana) 2012. Governance will only be effective if the citizens are properly oriented with good values and virtues, which is commonly taught by the family. †Marriage is the agreement to let a family happen.† (Wylie) 2012.A home is where a family lives. It may be alternated to the word ‘house’ but a house is more appropriately referring to the material structure, whereas ‘home’ refers to the intangible things that bind together the family members. It is the immeasurable love and care that keeps together the mother, father and their offspring, or the family. A home where good values and virtues are commonly taught by the family. Aside from providing an environment conducive to physical growth and health, the family must also create an atmosphere that would influence the cognitive and psychological growth of its member. If the needs of the individual family members are met, the other members are able to reach out to others in the family, the community, and society as a whole. However, no matter how happy a family in the terms of their relationship, there are still hardships and misunderstandings that will come along the way. It is just part of any relationship anyway. But, the sad part is when one of the family members gave up and the others have no choice but to accept and let go. Thus, the family starts to be broken, varies from numerous reasons why it had to be that way. But usually, misunderstanding starts from simple domestic quarrel that grows impertinently damaging the  long-forged relationship between the family members. When a couple split up, it is the children that are greatly affected scarring them physically, emotionally and socially. The most common dispute between a husband and a wife is the financial matter. This is rooted when the father, which should be the provider for the family, can’t give enough money for the sustenance of the whole family. A vice that cannot be given up may be associated with this. Single parenting or broken family is a very important social issue that can have significant effects on a child’s academic performance. Children who are raised in a single family home are at risk of not reaching their full potential. Broken homes are experienced by some of the students not only with those in poverty line families but same goes to middle and higher class families. Parents chose to live separately regardless how their children feel and its impact to their lives, however, there are still parents in spite of the situation still supports and care of their children in their studies, and others. The academic performance of children from broken home is often adversely affected, as well as the stress of inadequate financial resources. Children from broken home household are disadvantaged. Some of them do not go to school; those who do may attend low quality schools, with low academic performance. Some of them may drop out of school prematurely. The caring power of single parent may determine the length of schooling of child in the broken home family. The girls are more likely to become teen mothers while still in school. In most broken homes, the children are generally disadvantaged because they are generally regarded as being deprived academically, economically, socially and culturally. Their environment is not conducive to learning and in which education is not adequate. Most of the affected individuals are persons from low income areas in which unskilled employment, poor living conditions prevails. All these have negative impact in the academic performance of the pupils. Pupils in broken  home families always have deficit. As a result of loss one parent, these children suffer psychological problems. Background of the study The family is the child’s first place of contact with the world. The child as a result, acquires initial education and socialization from parents and other significant persons in the family. Agulana (1999) pointed out that the family lays the psychological, moral, and spiritual foundation in the overall development of the child. Structurally, family/homes is either broken or intact. A broken home in this context, is one that is not structurally intact, as a result of divorce, separation, death of one parent and illegitimacy. According to Frazer (2001), psychological home conditions arise mainly from illegitimacy of children, the label of adopted child, broken home, divorce and parental deprivation. Such abnormal conditions of the home, are likely to have a detrimental effect on school performance of the child he asserts. Life, in a single parent family or broken home can be stressful for both the child and the parent. Such families are faced with challenges of inadequate financial resources (children defense fund, 1994). Schultz (2006) noted that if adolescents from unstable homes are to be compared with those from stable homes, it would be seen that the former have more social, academic and emotional problems. Scales and Roehlkepartain (2003), are of the opinion that the family and its structure play a great role in children’s academic performance. Levin (2001), also states that parents are probably the actors with the clearest undimentional interest in a high level of their children’s academic performance. To some extent, there is simple evidence to show that marital instability brings about stress, tension, lack of motivation and frustration. Obviously, these manifestations act negatively on a child’s academic performance. Johnson (2005) asserts that children of unmarried parents/separated families often fail and are at risk emotionally. However, this may not be completely applicable in all instances of broken homes. Some children irrespective of home background or structure may work hard and become successful in life. Moreover, Ayodele (2006) stated that the  environment where a child finds himself/herself goes a long way in determining his learning ability and ultimately his academic performance. It is worthy to note that majority of high school students in the country who got poor or failing grades in their academic subjects came from broken homes. Some of them as we saw were not just having poor academic performance but instead they let themselves be retained at their year level after dropping-out their respective subjects. It is timely to identify or to determine if students in high school who came from broken homes are greatly affected in their academic classes. Difficult start: Children raised by a single parent are more likely to suffer distress. The research adds to a wealth of data that shows children suffer badly from divorce or parental break-up, and that those brought up by a single parent are more likely to do badly at school, suffer poor health, and fall into crime, addiction and poverty as adults. The report, funded by the Department of Health and published by the Office for National Statistics, investigated emotional disorders – ranked as those which cause considerable distress and interference with the way in which children perform at school and during play. It also looked at conduct disorders which result in aggressive, violent or anti-social behavior. The researchers studied nearly 8,000 children aged between five and 16 in 2004 and found almost one in ten had disorders. The children were checked again last year. The report said that a child whose parents had split during this time was more than four and a half times more likely to have developed an emotional disorder than one whose parents stayed together. They were nearly three times more likely to exhibit a conduct disorder. Eleven per cent of those children whose families broke up had emotional disorders, against 3 per cent among those whose families were still together. Nearly a third of children found to have mental disorders in 2004 still suffered from them three years later. The Department of Health said: ‘The Government is committed to helping children and young people experiencing mental health problems.’ ‘Broken families and serial fathers produce homes full of conflict and chaos and they are terrible for children.’ Llano High School as one of the public schools in Caloocan City is a school where many students are products of broken homes. As to what extent the effect of their family condition to their academic performance and what adjustment strategies they employ is the premise of this study. Thus the researcher aims that the result of this study may become basis for crafting a guidance program to promote better adjustment strategies for students from broken homes. Statement of the Problem This study aims to determine the correlation between the academic performance and adjustment strategies of students from broken homes in Llano High School, Division of City Schools, Caloocan City. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions: 1.What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of: 1.1gender, 1.2age 1.3size of the family 1.4guardian whom he/she stays with, and 1.5cause/s of parents’ separation? 2.To what extent do the student respondents encounter difficulties in the following areas: 2.1academic performance, 2.2interpersonal relationship, 2.3socio-economic status, and 2.4personality development? 3.What adjustment strategies do the respondents employ in addressing the difficulties they encounter in the aforementioned areas? 4.What is the level of academic performance of the student respondents based on their previous G.W.A.? 5.Is there a significant relationship between the level of academic performance and the identified adjustment strategies of the respondents? 6.What guidance program may be proposed to promote better adjustment strategies of the students from broken homes? BIBLIOGRAPHY A. Books Marquardt, Elizabeth. â€Å"Between Two Worlds â€Å"The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce 2005 B. Journals/Magazines Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, Year 2010/ Volume 7 / Issue 3 / Page no. 240-243 C. Unpublished Materials Ijeoma, Alika Henrietta and Samson Edosa Ogboro, Relationship between Broken Homes and Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria June 2012 Sawadjaan, Glaiza M. Broken Family: Its Effect in the Academic Performance of the Selected College Students of Laguna State Polytechnic University D. Electronic/Online Sources Family Structure and Children’s Educational Outcomes: LifeSiteNews.com January 2006, http//www.americanvalues.org/briefs/edoutcomes.htm Causes of Broken Homes, http://primenet.hubpages.com/hub/Causes-of-Broke-Homes Divorce Study Breaks New Ground, Gallagher, Maggie, October, 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005 Single Parent Households and Childhood Academic Achievement, Jones Katherine 2007, http://voices.yahoo.com/single-parent-household-academic-achievement-524122.html Children of Divorce: Psychological, Psychiatric, Behavioral Problems and Suicide http://www.divorcereform.org/psy.html Broken Home Children are ‘Five times More Likely to Suffer Mental Troubles’, Doughty, Steve, Updated 21 October 2008 Academic Performance of Students Coming from Broken Homes, Namz0810’s, http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Academic-Perfomance-Of-Students-Coming-From/47316 Mending a Broken Home, Billy Graham, June 21, 20012 http://www.oppapers.com/essay/Broken-Family/737897 http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Academic-Performance-Of-Students-Coming-From/47316 http://www.questia.com/library/1G1-297135944/relationship-between-broken-homes -and-acedemic-achievement http://www.oppapers.com/essays/The-Psychological-Effects-On-The-Emotional/843277 http://gomestic.com/family/the-effect-of-broken-home-on-the-acedmic-performance-of-pupils/ Queltin.http://www.oppapers.com/course-notes/Factors-Related-To-The-Academic Performance/940078 n.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic achievement Millienor D. Tapia August 2012. http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Broken-Family/1068740 Iowa State Study Says Most Children Recover From Divorce Adjustment Problems 2012,http://www.divorcereform.org/psy.html Michael J.McManus, President Marriage Savers, http://www.marriagesavers.org

The Truth About Iraq May Be Elusive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Truth About Iraq May Be Elusive - Essay Example Was the intelligence on Iraq deliberately corrupted or was there an administrative blunder that skewed the presentations? Was there an overall rush to war after 9/11 during which period the evidence was disregarded in favor of "groupthink"? To answer these important questions, it's necessary to examine the irregularities that surrounded 9/11 and the events that led up to the War in Iraq. We will find a pattern of mismanagement, deceit, and rationalization. The loudest and most convincing case for going to war was based on the belief that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD). United Nations weapons inspectors had been in and out of Iraq on an irregular basis for the 10 years prior to the fall of 2002 and again just months before the war. They had never found verifiable evidence of a WMD program. In November 2002 the UN team returned to Iraq headed by international expert Hans Blix. They were still unable to report with any conviction the presence of WMD. During this period Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, was getting concerned about the lack of evidence for WMD. And he was not alone. General James Marks, in charge of ground intelligence had similar misgivings. When Rumsfeld was questioned about his uncertainty he later admitted that he was unsure. He said, "I was very worried about it" (Woodward 100). When asked if he was aware that a two star general named Spider Marks shared a similar concern about the lack of WMD evidence Rumsfeld replied, "No. I mean, we dealt with the combatant commander's people. I may have met him, but I don't know him" (Woodward 100). It may seem incredulous that in the fine tooth search for WMD, the Secretary of Defense had not talked to, and in fact did not know, the General in charge of ground intelligence. To mislead the public on this critical breakdown in communications would serve Rumsfeld no good purpose. We can only guess that the failure was due to incompetence, indifference, or 'groupthink'. While Rumsfelds's beliefs may have clouded his objectivity, the Niger uranium connection can not be so easily dismissed. During the State of the Union address in January 2003, Mr. Bush said to the nation, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa" ("State of the Union Address"). However, the CIA had discredited this information as early as 2002 (Stein). Both the CIA and the State Department had voiced doubts about the authenticity of the documents. Yet, the information was included in the address to the public. Days before the war, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Security Council held that the documents were suspect and inaccurate. The FBI would later investigate them as forgeries (Getrz). In the days before the war, Congress raised concern over the issue of the Niger uranium connection. In a letter to President Bush dated March 17, 2003, Representative Henry Waxman wrote, "In the last ten days, however, it has become incontrovertibly clear that a key piece of evidence you and other Administration officials have cited regarding Iraq's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons is a hoax". Because Waxman could see the wheels of war beginning to spin, he closed his letter with a sense of urgency, "Given the urgency of the situation, I would appreciate an expeditious response to these questions.". Honest leaders would have provided a quick and honest reply. The Honorable Henry Waxman would have to wait a full six weeks. On April 29, 2003 he received a letter from a low level State Department employee. It said in part, "Based on what appeared at the time

Hip-hop scholarly notes Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hip-hop scholarly notes - Case Study Example ssay I will try to find out if sexism has anything to do with hip hop at all, analyze what things hip hop artists tend to accentuate in their lyrics and, finally, touch upon the issues of responsibility of hip hop artists for what they do. There is no doubt that sexism, which is typically more of a discrimination against women, is degrading. Unfortunately, there is ample evidence that sexist ideas are being exploited by hip hop artists to a certain extent. The harsh truth is that hip hop is mainly focused on sexist ideas because it sells well. And this, in turn, involves another issue, namely, the things that mainstream culture tolerates and things it rejects. The question is whether disruptive content is a problem of hip hop per se or simply a part of a highly commercialized music industry that is willing to accept things that may demean women, for instance (Rose 122). On the other hand, one may assume that honest narrative of hip hop lyrics, which may turn to sexist motifs from time to time, is actually about freedom of expression that allows reflecting a real state of things within our society. In fact, hip hop relies heavily on sexism as one of its topics. Yet at the same time, it might as well help young people f ocus on the problem and realize how to deal with it in reality. According to Rose, it is much easier to fight sexist ideas in hip hop than tackling sexist culture as a whole (150). In order to solve a problem one needs to identify it first, and hip hop serves this educative function pretty well. Obviously, hip hop is rather a consequence than a source of the problem here. Hip hop is, probably, the only popular music genre where autobiographical nature of lyrics prevails and is valued for (137). In their lyrics hip hop artists try to touch upon things they have been through themselves; in fact, hip hop is often perceived as an opportunity to speak up about the aspects of urban life that other music genres traditionally pay little attention to or none

Your definition of wisdom and how is that can be connected to Allegory Essay

Your definition of wisdom and how is that can be connected to Allegory the cave by macvalley and where do you see the wisdom in that story - Essay Example To me, wisdom is a different concept, distinct from the mere process of merely acquiring knowledge. Thus, I see wisdom as understanding one’s self and the value of freedom as well as the ability to apply theories into practice through one’s virtues. The Allegory of the Cave, which is part of Plato’s classic work, The Republic, offers a wise and profound illustration of the concept of wisdom through the thoughts of Aristotle, the author’s teacher and mentor. Plato’s wisdom becomes highlighted throughout the story but there are occasions where is gets accentuated by the way he presents his philosophy. One of the most significant indicators in this context is Aristotle’s reference to the significance of the soul over the body. He perceives the journey upwards from the cave as the â€Å"ascend of the soul into the intellectual world† and not as a physical escape from bondage (P.3 S/1). Thus, Plato intends to connote the idea that the soul is the essence that can liberate humans and, on the other hand, the body focuses on superficial matters such as trivial comforts. Postulation of such a profound idea in the story is an example of Plato’s wisdom. Aristotle’s contention is that the prisoners acquiesce themselves to confinement in the cave on the presumption that it is a safe and comfortable place because they lack virtues, due to which they do not value their freedom. Thus, if a person attempts to escape from the cave and is blinded by sunlight they will ridicule him and say that it is â€Å"better not to think of ascending† and, thus, due to their lack of wisdom, the prisoner community will put to death the one who attempts to differ (Plato p 517). By this allusion, Plato attempts to emphasize that generally people lack the faculty of wisdom and thus fail to recognize their honor and virtues. For them, the minor comforts in life, in this case, a sense of security that the prisoners feel inside the cave, are more important than the dignity

Acute chest sydrome Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Acute chest sydrome - Research Paper Example Basically, the illness is defined as follows: â€Å"ACS is the term used to describe a new pulmonary infiltrate with respiratory findings in a person with sickle cell disease.† (Miller, 2011). The causes of Acute Chest Syndrome have been found to be both infectious and noninfectious. Thus causing its treatment modalities to be different and not typical when compared to the treatment of other pulmonary illnesses that might be found in non Sickle Cell patients. Hence the unique nature of Acute Chest Syndrome as a stand alone illness or as part of the Sickle Cell complications. â€Å"2504 febrile events in 466 children with SCD resulted in 466 of the infants acquiring ACS. The incidence of ACS cumulatively decreased over time from 27.0% to 17.4% among febrile children with SCD (P More commonly seen as a complication among children suffering from CSD, ACS has proven to have a peak incidence among children between 2-4 of age, which accounts for 25.3 per 100 patients years among children with hemoglobin SS. The epidemiology of the illness also offers evidence that among patients with SCD; â€Å"ACS is the second most common cause of hospitalization (second to vasoocclusive pain) with a reported rate of 12.8 hospitalizations per 100 patient years. It is the most common cause of death, with one-fourth of SCD-related deaths due to ACS. In a report from the CSSCD, the death rate in patients with ACS is 1.8 percent in children and 4.3 percent in adults.†(Uptodate.com, 2014) Among hospitalized patients with SCD, almost half of those confined can be

Liberalization Policies of the 1990 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Liberalization Policies of the 1990 - Essay Example These include almost all sectors that contribute to the growth of the economy of any country. It was thus a big issue at hand since US was still claiming the title of being a super power, which meant that for that to be confirmed to be true in the international arena, then it was inevitable for the US to do something to boost the economic growth. This culminated to the establishment of the liberalization policies that brought an economic boom on the US that has persisted even today. The American government concentrated much on establishing free trade that enhanced flow of goods and services produced hence increasing production process for the entire world. Rather than focusing on tariff reduction, the US policies were based on organization for economic cooperation development (OECD) in order to create transparency in 1990s by accepting to outlaw the action of bribing foreign government officials to gain trade advantage over other nations. In addition, the US urges international commu nities to deregulate their firms and industries and take measures to ensure that existing regulations are transparent and do not bias against foreign firms and companies, and are in line with international policies. To keep the train moving, liberalization simply means an economic idea of loosening the rules and regulations that govern international trade with an aim of attracting more revenue to the US to enhance the economic status that had been adversely affected by the Second World War. During world war, US economy was deeply damaged and infringed in that it was mandated to rescue European nations that were falling. This led to the principled idea of harnessing of the human capital and the development of technology especially through higher education, which was viewed as a future investment strategy (Adler 45). It is good to note that it is at this point in time that the government enforced economic machineries, which were meant to counter check the growth of the economy. In thi s attempt to bring a rapid change of growth, five policies were developed and enhanced in different sectors. One of these policies was the restructuring of the yearly budget of the federal government

Road Transport Directive Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Road Transport Directive - Coursework Example RTD enforcement will lead to denser networks of Distribution Hubs in the UK. RTD enforcement has come as a boon to property consultants. As stricter regulations means, companies want to spare time on transport of goods. This calls for relocalisation of existing warehouses, and gradual expansion into large-scale Distribution centres (DC's). The main aim of this research proposal is, to look into several interconnected factors that support our hypothesis; we investigate the pattern of warehouse development in the UK in recent years, and try to isolate any tendency for locational hotspots. Our assumption lies in the volatile Midlands region. After identification, we study the impact of a host of parameters like location, labour and advances in warehouse design to validate the hypothesis. We had to restrict the scope and feasibility of our study on conceptual model to theoretical description only, also the results that followed from UK's distribution using isochronous models, as data access is difficult. With the adoption of the full-fledged EU Working Time Directive with effect from April 2005, transport companies are facing a crunch in meeting delivery commitments. The only thing that can offset difficulties posed by shortage of HGV drivers is an overhaul of the existing distribution supply chain, to find out areas of deficiency, and systematically examine the development of the distribution shed market for future needs of the UK economy. One big spin-off from globalisation, has been the switch from sourcing materials and products from UK suppliers to a global

Importance of accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Importance of accounting - Essay Example It is proved that accounting systems can highly influence the decision-making process and that the mode of intervention of these systems in the above process is not standardized. Under these terms, it can be assumed that the view of Thaler on accounting systems, as presented above, is justified. In order to understand the role of accounting system in the decision-making process it would be necessary to refer to the involvement of accounting information in critical decisions. Indeed, accounting systems affect the decision-making process through the data they incorporate, i.e. through the accounting information. Drury (2007) notes that accounting is used for ‘communicating information to people who have an interest in the organization, i.e. shareholders, employees or even the government’ (Drury 2007, p.4). It is assumed that the primary role of accounting is to provide to individuals critical information in regard to various business activities. Nikolai et al. (2009) note that accounting information has a different role in decision-making. For example, investors use accounting information, as incorporated in a company’s financial reports, in order to decide the level of their investment in the particular organization (Nikolai et al. 2009, p.7). Moreover, s tock exchanges also review the accounting information in order to take decisions related to ‘listings, cancellations or rule-making’ (Nikolai et al. 2009, p.7). Accounting information is also valuable in negotiations between employers and trade unions. The latter need accounting information in order to get informed on the financial status of the employer involved and decide on their position and their financial claims (Nikolai et al. 2009, p.7). According to Hall (2010) accounting information is quite critical in the development of strategic decisions. It is explained that strategic managers have to review their firm’s financial data before taking any decision (Hall

Nordstrom Rewards Its Customers Essay Example for Free

Nordstrom Rewards Its Customers Essay Nordstrom is a great place to go shopping and receive rewards while spending money. Nordstrom shoppers automatically become members of Nordstrom’s Fashion Rewards program when they people sign up for the store’s credit. When each person accumulates 2,000 points, then they receive a $20 Nordstrom Note, a gift certificate redeemable for Nordstrom merchandise or services. In the book one of the questions is â€Å"what are the design characteristics of an effective loyalty program.† The structure of their loyalty program and how they use the data collected through the program to make informed product, marketing and customer experience decisions are key to its success. The store’s frequent customers will be able to get perks like custom shopping parties and tickets to in-store fashion shows after shelling out just half as much as they used to spend to qualify for rewards. Loyalty marketing is and should always be much bigger than points, thresholds or incentives. It is about changing and influencing behavior in a proactive manner that creates long-term brand advocates who, in turn, enter into a dialogue with the brand. Nordstrom’s program is effective for a number of key reasons. First, even the lower levels of Nordstrom’s loyalty program are engaging because they offer meaningful soft benefits and because it’s aspirational, members remain engaged; they aspire to be at the higher tiers in the program so they can get the bigger rewards. Another question asks is the Nordstrom program worth what it spends to reward customers. I think it does because when you reward your customers then they would want to come into the store and buy their supplies to build up their points. When they do that then they get awards. Example would be I have a credit card and I receive points, the more I spend then the more money I get off from that store. I use my card all the time and I go and pay it off. I would get a credit card from any store I shop at if they reward me to use it.

The Cost of Coronary Heart Disease to Society Essay Example for Free

The Cost of Coronary Heart Disease to Society Essay â€Å"Coronary heart disease (CHD), also called coronary artery disease (CAD), is when the vessels supplying blood and oxygen to your heart become narrow or constrictedâ‘ ºÃ¢â‚¬  The main causes are: Smoking cigarettes Cigarette smoking is a major cause of strokes. High blood pressure Can put strain on your heart and can lead to CHD. High cholesterol levels Cholesterol is essential for healthy cells, but if there is too much in the blood it can lead to CHD. Unhealthy diet A bad diet can lead to diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and uncontrolled weight. Each of these factors independently contribute to a high risk of heart disease. Physical inactivity Regular physical activity decreases the risk of coronary artery disease because it makes the coronary arteries wider and more flexible. Alcohol consumption Raises blood pressure; puts more pressure on arteries. Obesity Reduces HDL cholesterol which enable lipids to be transported within the water-based bloodstream. The cost of coronary heart disease to society cannot be viewed in terms of just money, but also the loss of 166,000 lives every year, this figure is the number of people who died of coronary heart disease in 1961 in the UK. The figure in 1997 however had fallen to 140,500. In 2000, this figure had fallen still to 125,000, and in 2010 more than 65,000 people died from coronary heart disease; more than for any other diseaseâ‘ ¹. The total direct healthcare costs of coronary heart disease in 1999 came to  £1.73 billion. The major costs were those used for hospital inpatient care, which accounted for  £917 million (or 53% of the total) and drug treatment, which accounted for  £558 million (or 32% of the total). Rehabilitation and community care, prevention and primary care, accident and emergency (AE) and outpatient care accounted for 7.4%, 3.6%, and 2.9%, respectively, of total direct costs. People aged 65 years and above and men utilised 63% and 52% of total expenditure, respectivelyâ‘ ´. In 2006, coronary heart disease cost the UK NHS approximately  £3.2 billion, this represents a cost per capita of just over  £50 for each condition. The cost of hospital care for people who have coronary heart diseases accounts for about 73% of these costsâ‘ µ. The hospital costs for stroke account for 94% of the total health care costsâ‘ ¶. In 2006 the total cost of coronary heart disease to the UK economy was approximately  £9.0 billionâ‘ ¸. Some patients with coronary heart disease will be referred for cardiac rehabilitation, particularly following bypass surgery or if they have experienced angina or a heart attack. The rehabilitation may consist of an exercise plan to help regain stamina safely based on individual ability and needs, and education, counseling, and training. Training may include ways to better manage stress, as well as how to manage other lifestyle factors that contribute to coronary heart disease. An estimated 401 000 people provided informal care to coronary heart disease patients in the UK and about 408 million hours were used to care for them. Informal care of coronary heart disease sufferers was estimated to cost  £2.42 billionâ‘ ´. About 150 565 working years were lost from deaths from coronary heart disease in England and Wales; 71% of these working years lost were from deaths in men in the 45–64 year age rangeâ‘ ´. There were 65.4 million working days lost because of incapacity resulting from coronary heart disease in the UK. In 2004, the average length of stay for an individual entering the hospital for CHD complications was 4.3 daysâ‘ ´. To the UK population, an estimated 765 000 men and 698 000 women had experienced a coronary heart disease event in the past year, with those aged 55 and above accounting for 88% of cases, also to the UK population, an estimated 1.42 million men and 1.14 million women have a history of doctor diagnosed coronary heart diseaseâ‘ ·. In 2006 over 2.2 million people were living with CHD; 1.3 million men and 860,000 womenâ‘ ¸. The mortality cost of coronary heart disease in the UK was estimated to be about  £1.81 billion (of which  £1.68 billion can be attributed to men and  £0.123 billion to women)â‘ ´. The total cost of illness associated with coronary heart disease in the UK is  £7.06 billion per yearâ‘ ·. CHD, by itself, is the most common cause of premature death in the UK. About one fifth (18%) of premature deaths in men and one in ten (9%) premature deaths in women from CHD, which caused over 28,000 premature deaths in the UK in 2008â‘ ¶. Rates of CHD are higher in men than in women and rates increase with age. However CHD is also a major cause of premature (under 75) deaths. In 2010, there were over 21,000 premature deaths from CHD in Englandâ‘ ¸. CHD rates are not distributed evenly around England. Death rates are much higher in the North of England compared to the South. Premature mortality rates in the North West are about 50% higher than in the South East for men, and 60% higher for women. But CHD rates in England are lower than in the rest of the UKâ‘ ¸. Approximately 85% of those who die of coronary artery disease are age 65 or olderâ‘ ½. People that are diagnosed with coronary heart disease may feel worried or anxious about their personal well being and how this diagnosis will affect their lifestyleâ‘ ». Patients diagnosed with heart disease may experience guilty feelings. They may believe that their chosen lifestyles may have contributed to them acquiring coronary heart diseaseâ‘ ». Patients with coronary heart disease may isolate themselves socially from their friends as a result of side effects of their medications or symptoms of their disease, such as fatigueâ‘ ». Depression is a condition that patients with coronary heart disease may experience. This may be caused by a variety of reasons. They may become less motivated and less functional in their roles in life; achieving goals and getting jobsâ‘ ». Depression is strongly correlated with the presence of angina within a patients with coronary heart disease. Also patients with physical health problems such as coronary heart disease often have worse quality of lifeâ‘ ¼. In conclusion, the cost of coronary heart disease to society are the mass amount of people lost to this disease every year, the pain that the relatives and friends endure and the economic burden from the cost of all the healthcare and time invested to help those in need.

Use of Reversed-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC)

Use of Reversed-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) Introduction Reversed-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) is one of the commonly used techniques in separation of a wide ranging of analyte based on differences in their structures. In RP-HPLC, the polar mobile phase and nonpolar stationary phase was practised. In this mode of HPLC, the analyte retains into stationary phase by hydrophobic interaction (Hanai, 1999; Swadesh, 2001). The surface area of nonpolar part of analyte molecules is more readily to bind to the RP-HPLC stationary phase. Thus, the less polar analyte will has longer retention time, whereas polar analyte elute more readily. Stationary phase and Column packing In RP-HPLC, the stationary phase is employing of alkylated silica gel column. In other words, the column is packing of nonpolar hydrophobic organic species (eg. octyl, octadecyl and phenyl groups). These hydrophobic organic species attached by siloxane bonds (-Si-O-Si-) to the silica surface (Corradini, Katz, Eksteen, Schoenmakers, Miller, 1998). C18 and C8 phase are most commonly used in the column of RP-HPLC. C18 phase is more hydrophobic as it has longer alkyl chain length which bonded to silica gel. C8 has shorter alkyl chain length compared to C18. It has less carbon attached on silica gel. Besides, phenyl group that bonded to silica surface develops the interaction of aromatic ring (Waksmundzka-Hajnos Sherma, 2011). Mobile Phase The organic solvent such as methanol and acetonitrile are most widely used as mobile phase in RP-HPLC. It is due to they have the characteristic of free of particles and UV transparency (Swadesh, 2001). In addition, acetonitrile, methanol and tetrahydrofuran also served as organic modifiers in RP-HPLC. According to Hanai(1999), the concentration of organic modifiers could alter the overall retention time of analytes. However, the relative changes in retention time are still depends on the properties of analytes (Hanai, 1999; Waksmundzka-Hajnos Sherma, 2011). Furthermore, isocratic and gradient elution also applied in RP-HPLC. In isocratic elution, mobile phase composition is remained constant throughout the elution. For gradient elution, the mobile phase composition is changed continuously throughout the elution. Gradient elution gives a better separation peaks for early eluters and sharper peaks for late eluters, but it need greater skills for method development (Ahuja Dong, 2005) . Detector There are many different spectrophotometric detectors that can be used in RP-HPLC. The main function of the detector in RP-HPLC is to trace and detect the presence of analyte components in the chromatography medium. These detectors are including ultraviolet-visible(UV-VIS) detector, diode array detector(DAD), chemiluminescence nitrogen detector(CLND), refractive index(RI) detector, mass spectroscopy(MS) and others (Swadesh, 2001). UV-VIS detector is the most popular detector among spectrophotometric detectors. Waksmundzka-Hajnos Sherma (2011) stated that UV-VIS detector is utilized by referring to interaction of electromagnetic radiation with analyte sample at the wavelength in the region of 190nm to 1100nm. A high sensitivity of detector is crucial as it also control the signal noise level and drift of the baseline. Applications RP-HPLC methods mostly used to detect known or unknown substances in sample for the quality control. It is applicable in food chemistry, forensic chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, toxicological analyses, herbal drugs analyses and others. 2.0 Determination of drug samples by RP-HPLC Reversed-phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) has been generally and effectively utilised to determine numerous drugs samples. Dual wavelength detectors have been employed in the simultaneous investigation of two antispasmodic drugs, phloroglucinol (PG) and its methylated derivative tri-O-methylphloroglucinol (TMP), that are established as pain-relieving drugs when used in combination as they manage to suppress the catechol-O-methyl transferase, relax the smooth muscles, and decrease the abdominal pain induced by glycerol. Present method employing RP-HPLC successfully separate and quantify PG and TMP by using isocratic elution and dual wavelength technique. Apart from studying the injectable sample solution, the serum extracted from blood of healthy volunteers and degraded compounds have also been investigated in order to obtain a complete analysis. Plasma was first centrifuged out of the blood, deproteinated and stock sample was added into the serum obtained. Degrading agent and stress conditions of hydrolysis were used in aid to degrade the PG and TMP. It has been investigated that only oxidation degraded the molecule drastically. (Hasan et al., 2013) Cinitapride hydrogen tartarate has been also estimated by RP-HPLC. Cinitapride hydrogen tartarate is a new prokinetic drug, used as antiulcer agent of the benzamide by acting as an agonist of the 5-HT1 and 5-HT4 receptors and antagonist for 5-HT2 receptors. The preparation of sample solution for this work is simple, by just powdered the tablets and mixed with the mobile phase used. The retention time obtained for cinitapride hydrogen tartarate is 3.737 min. Method validation and optimization have been carried out to validate the findings. (Reddy, Shekar Murali, 2012) Simultaneous investigation of lisinopril and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) has been employed in bulk, pharmaceuticals formulations and human serum by RP-HPLC. The major uses of lisinopril are treating hypertension and congestive heart failure, preventing renal complications caused by diabetes while NSAIDs (naproxen, flurbiprofen, diclofenac sodium and mefenamic acid) are primarily used for treatment of acute or chronic pain and inflammation. As there might be interactions between lisinopril and NSAIDs, these two compounds must be detected simultaneously. (Sultana, Arayne, Siddiqui Naveed, 2012) Paracetamol, grouped in non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs has been discovered by colorimetric and spectroflurimetric techniques and being realised that it can combine with other drugs and thus, determined singly by RP-HPLC. It has antipyretic, analgesic and weak anti-inflammatory action, generally administered to suppress violent pains in advanced cancers. It has been found out that as concentration of one of mobile phases, ACN is high, paracetamol undergone improper dissolution. Meanwhile, phenomena such as broadening, fronting and tailing were remarkably lessened as ACN concentration gradually decreases. (Devi et al., 2013) Due to the rapid growth of demanding of NSAIDs, it is essential that to determine not the NSAIDs only, but also their combination drugs. The main function of NSAIDs is said to be inhibited cyclooxygenase in vitro and in vivo, hence decreasing the synthesis of prostaglandins which mediate the inflammation. Fifteen drugs have been simultaneously examined by robustness approach, including aceclofenac (ACF), aspirin (ASP), diclofenac (DCF), etoricoxib (ETC), ketorolac (KTL), paracetamol (PCM), salicylic acid (SA), ibuprofen (IBF) and naproxen (NPX) while the combination drugs being studied are clopidogrel (CLP), thiocolchicoside (THC), dextromethorphan (DXM), moxifloxacin (MXF), chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) and domperidone (DOM). By varying the method parameters, effect on chromatographic separation of all the drugs can be investigated. (Patel, Samanthulam Shrigod, Modh Chaudhari, 2013) Olmesartan medoxomil is an effective antihypertensive reagent, functioned as inhibitor that prevents the angiotensin II from binding to the AT1 receptors in vascular muscle. The validated analytical method for the Olmesartan medoxomil determination in the presence of its degraded product in bulk drug has been established. The degraded products are formed under the conditions suggested by International Conference of Harmonization (ICH), which are acid hydrolysis (0.1M HCL), alkaline hydrolysis (0.1M NaOH), oxidation (30% H2O2), photolysis (UV), and thermal degradation under stress conditions. The sample was found to be highly susceptible to acid and alkaline hydrolysis and oxidation while for other conditions, no degradation was performed. (Hamrapurkar Gadapayale, 2013) Quantitative determination of oseltamivir phosphate (OSP) has been exercised by RP-HPLC. OSP is the drug to treat swine flu, prevents the virus from releasing by infected cells by selectively blocks the viral surface enzyme neuraminidase. Oseltamivir phosphate is also the drug of choice for treatment of avian influenza that diagnosed to be caused by H1N1 virus. This quantitative method was statistically validated for linearity, precision, accuracy, ruggedness, robustness and sensitivity. (Malipatil, Jahan Patil, 2011) 3.0 Determination of food samples by RP-HPLC Reversed-phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) has been widely used to determine the food samples. Honey is a food sources which consists of supersaturated solution of sugars (mostly fructose and sucrose) and other significant amount of minor compounds such as organic acids, furanic aldehydes and acids, enzymes, amino acids and proteins, mineral and water-soluble vitamins. The characterization of these minor compounds have been known to be a reliable tool to determine the botanical an geographical origin as well as the quality of the honey. Many methods have been launched out for the determination the minority organic compounds such as furanic aldehydes and acids but less for vitamins in honey. So, a new analytical method was proposed which utilize RP-HPLC to determine the presence of five water-soluble vitamins in honey that are vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B3 (nicotinic acid), vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), vitamin B9 (folic acid) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Variety of validation parameters have been carried out in this proposed method in term of detection and quantificat ion limit, linearity, precision, sensitivity as well as the bias to validate their findings (Ciululu et al., 2011). In fact, due to the higher concentrations of saccharides, slightly acidic condition and water activity as well as the presence of organic acids in honey, it favor the formation of furanic aldehydes especially 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF). Hence, HMF is a good parameter for determine the quality of the honey. Apart from this, 2-furaldehyde, 2-furoic acid, 3-furaldehyde and 3-furoic acid also has been quantified in honey samples. Hence, 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF), 2-furaldehyde (2-F), 3-furaldehyde (3-F), 2-furoic acid (2-FA) and 3-furoic acid (3-FA) has been investigated simultaneously and completely validated on 18 honey samples which different in their age, botanical and geographical origin by RP-HPLC. From the result, HMF was quantified in all samples. 2-F and 2-FA was showed in almost half of the samples whereas 3-F was detected in three honey samples and 3-FA in only one. Validation parameters were performed in term of detection limits, precision, linearity and ac curacy (Spano et al., 2008). Brominated phenols have been known to have strong odor properties and act as key flavor compounds in seafoods. The presence of the bromophenol compounds, their concentration and the marine environments controlled the different in the strength and characteristic of odor and flavor in seafoods. Hence, RP-HPLC was employed to determine the presence of simple bromophenols in marine fishes simultaneously which include 2-bromophenol (2-BP), 4-bromophenol (4-BP), 2,4-dibromophenol (2,4-DBP), 2,6-dibormophenol (2,6-DBP) and 2,4,6-tribromophenol (2,4,6-TBP). All the bromphenols have been extracted from the fish samples by combined steam distillation-solvent extraction (SDE) with 2mL of pentane/diethyl ether (6:4) and identified by RP-HPLC with UV-detection. (Silva et al., 2005) Nowadays, the employment of food additives in the production of processed and fast foods was gradually increasing throughout the world. However, illegal and excess addition of food additives can cause significant health problems were well known by community. For an example, in china, the ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China strongly prohibited the addition of acesulfame, saccharin, neotame, stevioside, benzoic acid, caffeine and dehydroacetic acid as well as regulated the addition level of sorbic acid to 0.2g/kg into red wine. Variety of methods is available to determine the food additives present in food and drinks. However, simultaneous determination of large amount of food additives in red wine which mentioned as above was proposed by using dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE) followed by RP-HPLC with ultraviolet (UV) detection in this study. The red wine samples were undergoes the dSPE methods which considered as most powerful cleanup technologies in re moving various matrix and then analyzed by RP-HPLC with UV detection. Different kinds of validation parameters were utilized to determine the satisfaction and accuracy of the results. Apart from this, amino-functionalized Fe3O4 magnetic polymer (MP) which coupled with tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) also proved that it is an efficient absorbent in dSPE extraction procedure which could eliminate most of the interferences in the red wine. (Zhao et al., 2013) Apart from this, the dosage of additives especially preservatives, is the most strictly controlled by EU law because of their potential risk to human health and safety. Nationally and international authorities have been established the guidelines for the usage of preservatives in food and foodstuff which about the maximum dosage, use conditions and type of food in which they can be used. In our daily life, the most common preservatives are sorbic acid, natamycin and lysozyme. So, analytical method for simultaneous determination of the four preservatives in different kinds of cheeses that are sorbic acid, natamycin, lysozyme and benzoic acid by single RP-HPLC was established. Benzoic acid was also included into the determination step is because it can be synthesized naturally from the microbial metabolism even it’s not added technically to cheese during production. All preservatives were extracted from the samples through a simple extraction step and then separated by RP-HPLC. Finally, the analytes were analyzed by a single wavelength UV detector (280nm) and even a triple wavelength UV detector (227nm, 280nm and 303nm) for a more sensitive determination. (Guarino et al., 2011)

The Censorship Of Art Essay -- essays research papers

Things are heating up in America. People are protesting outside of the movie theaters, concerts, and book and record stores of this great nation everywhere. What is all the fuss about? Censorship, Government officials and raving mad protesters alike have been trying to stop the expressive creativity in everything from Marilyn Manson to Mark Twain. One of the biggest shake-ups happened in museums all over the world recently that would have made Michelangelo and DiVinchi’s hair stand on end. In the Constitution of the United States, the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, religion, press, the right to assemble and to petition the government; the Ninth Amendment says, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people". So it seems one cannot use any of the other rights to quell the rights of an individual or group. Then why is the government trying to censor literature, movies, m usic and art? All of the world’s modern society has become desensitized and easily trainable. Therefore society has come to accept the ideals, morals, and values driven into the psyche by the dominant forces in the nation: the Government and the Church. By quieting the objective voice these two institutions stand in the lead and stay in control. One might assume that the blood-sucking politicians have nothing better to do than to look for things that offend any one major group of people (i.e. the church) to obtain votes. In this manner the government is becoming more and more controlling and artistic censorship is just another way to maintain control. Things were not always so. Government had very little to say about censoring anything. Was it not only three decades ago that as one nation the population was united by the ideals of peace love, and harmony? As an art student in the 60’s era, Robert Mansfield states in his article, Artistic Freedom: government challenge "the first amendment was seldom an issue of concern†¦In fact it seemed that boundaries of expression were governed only by individual creative ability intellect and imagination". Where have these ideals gone? It seems in recent years they have disappeared with the freedom of thought. Why is it so important to some people not to offend? It s eems the people easily offended are the ones deciding what is acceptable f... ...ndependent of any government intervention. Over the years our right to have freedom of speech has proven to be frivolous and impertinent to the two dominant institutions of the modern world. Furthermore the nations revered Bill of Rights has been kicked to the curb by the government and the Church for many years. Neither the government nor the Church has the right to interdict material that can be injurious to their faith or morals. What if every civil rights speaker were required by law to include the views of the Ku Klux Klan in their speeches? Every statement one believed to be true would be worthless while being undercut by falsehood. "The nation is quickly becoming a country of cowards and bullies. Our politicians are unable or unwilling to defend the rights embodied in the constitution†¦" Says H.G. Hovagimyan. Fear that new ideas will bring strong opinions that speak out opposing views and take away some control from the Church and government disgust and fury these two institutions. We as a society have the choice to see, hear, and read controversial books, music, movies, and art. Neither governmental tyranny nor the Church’s intimidation should abridge that choice.

Comparing Amish and North American Society Essay examples -- Compariso

Comparing Amish and North American Society We can compare Amish society as seen in the movie Witness to North American society to decide which is more ideal. An ideal society is one where there is a strong sense of community among all the members. Education prepares children for life; therefore the type of education a child receives will change the society in the next generation. Although education is valued in both societies, its focus is much different. The Laws of a society reflect the values of a community, and it shows what they consider to be right and wrong. Each society has laws that reflect its values; however the way the laws are expressed is much different. Family life in a society is important, because families bring the community together. Though children are valued in both the societies, family life is different between the two when comparing the roles of the husband and the wife. The Amish lifestyle is more ideal because there is a better sense of community within the society. Education in both societies is recognized as important. We see this in both societies because of the mandatory education laws. However, the focus of the education in each society is different. In North American society the focus of education is quite broad; to graduate highschool a person must have language, physical education, science, english and arts credits. Also, it is mandatory to attend school until grade 10. In Amish society however, school is only required up to grade 8. The...

Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King and the civil Rights Movement Essay ex

How would you feel if you were told you can’t sit in the front of the bus or you can’t dine in a certain restaurants because of the color of your skin? The civil rights movement was a movement that held massive numbers of nonviolent protest against racial segregation and discrimination in America especially the southern states during the 1950’s and 60’s. The struggle of African Americans to gain equal rights in America during this time was a major problem. The civil rights movement was not only about stopping racial segregation amongst African Americans but also to challenge the terrible economic, political, and cultural consequences of that time. But with the help of great leaders and organizations in the civil rights movement, help brake the pattern of African Americans being discriminated against and being segregated. Martin Luther King Jr. And Maya Angelou were great leaders who had a huge impact on the civil rights movement; even thou gh Dr. King was in the field marching and protesting to fight against segregation and Angelou wrote poetry to inspire the movement and people aware of segregation, they both helped put an end to segregation here in America (American civil rights movement). King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which is an organization that was founded to fight against racial segregation in the South. King attitude of nonviolent protests and campaigns led to numerous arrest during the 1950’s and 60’s. His protests had success in ending racial segregation in the South, but his protests and campaigns in Birmingham, Alabama gained him worldwide attention. Through all King’s hard work and determination, brought together more than thousands and thousands of people to bo... ...r ideas, King through marching and protesting, Angelou through her writings are considered two of the most influential people because of their accomplishments as civil rights activists. During the civil rights movement they both helped black people to understand how racial segregation and prejudice must be fought. Works Cited â€Å"American civil rights movement.† Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2013. . â€Å"Martin Luther King, Jr...† Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2013. . The Poetry Foundation. 2013. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/maya-angelou#poe

Acquisition Payment Cycle

Acquisition and Payment Cycle According to Arens, Elder and Beasley (2006), â€Å"is considered as the third major transaction cycle. † The three major transactions in the acquisition and payment cycle include: 1. Acquisition of goods and services 2. Cash Disbursements 3. Purchase returns and allowances and purchase discounts Components such as, acquisition of raw materials, equipment, supplies, utilities, repairs and maintenance, and research and development plays a major role in the acquisition and payment cycle.The major accounts that are associated with the acquisition and payment cycle are, accounts payable, inventory, and expenses. The methodology for designing tests for phase 1 – 3 of the process includes; identification of client risks affecting other accounts, setting tolerable misstatements, assessing inherent risk for accounts, and assessing control risks for accounts. Business functions included in the acquisition and payment cycle includes: processing purch ase orders, receiving goods and services, recognizing the liability, and processing and recording cash disbursements.The incorporation of e-commerce affects the acquisition and payment cycle in many ways. Information about the products and services that Apollo Shoes offers is readily accessible on the internet. This could be a hindrance for Apollo Shoes, since the company competitors can mimic the company’s products and services. For communication purposes, Apollo Shoes use the company’s intranet to communicate information securely. This action prevents a potential leak of information to the public and competitors. Below is a detailed illustration of the audit of the acquisition and payment cycle for Apollo Shoes.TRANSACTION-RELATED AUDIT OBJECTIVE| KEY INTERNAL CONTROL| COMMON TEST OF CONTROL| COMMON SUBSTANTIVE TESTS OF TRANSACTIONS| | | | | 1. Recorded acquisitions are for goods and services received, consistent with the best interests of the client. | | | | 2. | Pu rchase requisition, purchase order, receiving report, and vendor’s invoice are attached to the voucher. Acquisitions are approved at the proper level. Computer accepts entry of purchases only from authorized vendors in the vendor master file. Documents are cancelled to prevent their reuse.Vendor’s invoices, receiving reports, purchase orders, and purchase requisitions are internally verified. | Examine documents in voucher package for existence. Examine indication of approval. Attempt to input transactions with valid and invalid vendors. Examine indication of cancellation. Examine indication of internal verification. | Review the acquisitions journal, general ledger, and accounts payable master file for large or unusual accounts. Examine underlying documents for reasonableness and authenticity. Examine vendor master file for unusual vendors.Trace inventory acquisitions to inventory master file. Examine fixed assets acquired. | TRANSACTION-RELATED AUDIT OBJECTIVE| KEY I NTERNAL CONTROL| COMMON TEST OF CONTROL| COMMON SUBSTANTIVE TESTS OF TRANSACTIONS| | | | | 3. Existing acquisition transactions are recorded. | | | | 4. | Purchase orders are prenumbered and accounted for. Receiving reports are prenumbered and accounted for. Vouchers are prenumbered and accounted for. | Account for a sequence of purchase orders. Account for a sequence of receiving reports. Account for a sequence of vouchers. Trace from a file of receiving reports to the acquisitions journal. Trace from a file of vendors’ invoices to the acquisitions journal. | 5. Recorded acquisition transactions are accurate. | Calculations and amounts are internally verified. Batch totals are compared with computer summary reports. Acquisitions are approved for prices and discounts. | Examine indication of internal verification. Examine file of batch totals for initials of data control clerk; compare totals to summary reports. Examine indication of approval. Compare recorded transactions in the acquisitions journal with the vendor’s invoice, receiving report, and other supporting documentation. Re-compute the clerical accuracy on the vendor’s invoice, including discounts and freight. | TRANSACTION-RELATED AUDIT OBJECTIVE| KEY INTERNAL CONTROL| COMMON TEST OF CONTROL| COMMON SUBSTANTIVE TESTS OF TRANSACTIONS| | | | | 6. Acquisition transactions are properly classified. | | | | 7. | An adequate chart of accounts is used. Account classifications are internally verified. | Examine procedures manual and chart of accounts.Examine indication of internal verification. | Compare classification with chart of accounts by referring to vendor’s invoices. | 8. Acquisition transactions are recorded on the correct dates. | Procedures require recording transactions as soon as possible after the goods and services have been verified. Dates are internally verified. | Examine procedures manual and observe whether unrecorded vendor’s invoices exist. Examine ind ication of internal verification. | Compare dates of receiving reports and vendor’s invoices with dates in the acquisitions journal. 9. Acquisition transactions are properly included in the accounts payable and inventory master files and are properly summarized. | Accounts payable master file contents are internally verified. Accounts payable master file or trial balance totals are compared with general ledger balances. | Examine indication of internal verification. Examine initials on general ledger accounts indicating comparison. | Test clerical accuracy by footing the journals and tracing postings to general ledger and accounts payable and inventory master files. | Results of the AuditOf the preliminary audit of Apollo Shoes acquisition and payment cycle a sample size of 120 invoices were selected. There were missing invoices related to the sample size. The invoices were properly posted to the general ledger sales and accounts receivable control accounts. Each invoice was posted to the appropriate account, no discrepancy was found. The invoices not listed to the proper accounts demonstrated no deviations to other documents, re-calculations, or comparisons. The expected credit approval notation, â€Å"No credit approval,† was not found in the related documents.When a notation of the, â€Å"Wrong quantity billed,† was posted, a description of the explanation followed. In addition, the notation of, â€Å"CM,† meant the customer contacted Apollo Shoes stating an error and credit memo was issued on the following date. This notation caused all credit memos to generate a debit to a sales return account followed by a credit to accounts receivable. In regards to the other documentation, there were no additional discrepancies to alert management regarding the acquisition and payment cycle. All findings of the 120 sample size were warranted.

Does Gender or Sexuality Affect a Young Person’s Transition to Adulthood Essay

In this essay there will be a discussion about whether or gender effects the transition to adulthood. There will be a brief definition of gender and transition. There has been great debate over gender but there has been little about masculinity and femininity and the transition to adulthood. It will look at the transitions that gender goes through in relation to that of the past and present day. Then which will be compared if they have changed or continuously stayed the same. There will be theoretical discussion of the psychoanalytic and biosocial theory and how this helps us to understand if gender effects the transitions to adulthood. Being in school and going into the workforce will be examples of how these theories can be applied and explain again if the transitions to adulthood are effect by gender. Then to finished there will be a conclusion. When we think of gender we normal think of the sex of the person, so whether they are female or male. According to Mackenzie (2001:150) gender â€Å"relates to social divisions associated with notions of masculinity and femininity and such divisions vary according to changing contexts†. But is it as simple as this?! Gender is not just determined by whether you are male or female; it is a lot deeper than that as has a variety of aspects. These are gender assignment, gender role, gender identity and gender attribution. To become an adult there is considered to be five core transitions that a young person goes through. These are leaving home, completing school, entering the workforce, marriage and having children. This process is prolonged and varied compared to that of half a century ago. In comparison to then it takes longer for young adults to gain economic and psychological autonomy. According to Berlin et al (2010:20) â€Å" experiences in early adulthood now vary greatly b y gender, race, ethnicity and social class. In industrial society’s most men make the transition to adulthood by be able to go out and work. In comparison to some world cultures who make their transition through rituals. However, the passage form boy to man has become more complicated and hard to determine, which has cause issues which they are not mentally and physically prepared for flood et al(2007:666). Today there is contradiction and problems in relation to what it is to be a man is on the upraise and this is practically noticeable where there has been conflict, for example, in Northern Ireland (ibid). In Northern Ireland there is a tradition for men to live up the masculinity that was presented by other before them which has put pressure of the youths to be just the same. The homicide rates between 1969 to 2001 are a reflection of the phenomena that is associated with the transition of youth into adulthood and violence. There has been more studies on the gender norms is not new however there is significant difference in the amount of research on female and males. Morgan 1981 argues that ‘taking gender seriously’ means bring men back in. he stresses that if we accept that men is not the norm women the deviation and if we want to fully understand the life experiences and chances of all men and women we need to consider the social construction of both femininity and masculinity and focus our research and women and men experiences†. Marchbank& Letherby( 2007:28) . Although it was not until the 20th century that subcultures were recognised as male due to the youth movement but still masculinity was not studied flood et all (2007:666). It is the belief of feminist that males disempowered women, according to McKinnon that there is system of power in which male dominances that oppresses women. Therefore, masculinity was seen as a problem. (Mackinnon, C. (1993) However Hearn argues that â €Å"In particular, it refers to the way in which particular forms of masculinity persist not just in relation to femininity, but also to other forms of masculinity. Accordingly, different forms of masculinity exist in relations of power, that may be characterized as hegemonic or subordinated in relation to one another† Bagihole &cross (2002: 208). This suggests the men are not only oppressors of women but of other men. Men and female are different in respect to the gender roles in which they adopt. Naturally men are more strong, aggressive and emotionally detached compared to females who nurturing and caring. However, the family play’s is significant in terms of gender and the transition to adult. The family are the first interaction that the child will have and this is where the main socialisation occurs. They will learn the norms, values and morals form their family In the 1950’s and 1960’s the family role and adult responsibility were viewed as bring synonymous. Men were characterized by the capability to marry and support the family. Whereas, it was getting married and becoming a mother for women. By the age of twenty one woman was married and had a child by the age they was twenty three. This suggests that by the age twenty that men and women were recognised as adults. In the 20th century there was not much relevance’s of when adolescence was, but in their late teen ’s men worked and most of them had formed families. Transitions to adulthood were similar today and just before the industrialization because like then becoming and adult was a gradual and characterized by â€Å"semi-autonomy† with youths waiting until they were economically stable to set up a home. Eagly (1987) social role theory looks at two structural aspects of gender relations. These are the gendered divisions of labour and gendered based hierarchy. This theory demonstrates how these factors pin down the beliefs that society has about men and women. It shows hoe roles of individuals require particular traits and behaviour in order to be seen competent of their gender. Society for example has the idea that women have to be the child bearer and a process the child rearing traits. This is due to the biological reproduction that they have. The theory believes that due to the role segregation it encourages set beliefs and stereotype. This can be seen with the traits associated with each gender. Males are expected to be aggressive, brave, breadwinner and physical able. Whereas, in terms of female they are considered to be caring and nurturing due to their child rearing traits. The gendered stereotypes are reinforced by the status differences of men and women. There appears to be a link between divisions of labour and hierarchy. It is said that makes roles carry more importance and statuses compared to those of females. Home rearing is considered to be of low status compared to that of males who are of high statuses and bring money in. This suggests that stereotypes towards gender reflect upon the status of their traditional roles. It was Freud psychoanalytic theory that looks at the idea that biological factors and the social environment as defining influences of a child’s gender role development. Freud believed the gender role developed in the phallic stage, the child will experience a biological based attachment for the parent of the opposite gender. It was the belief of Freud that it was due the child’s identification with the same gender that resulted in gender role development. The theory helps to explain the reason why boys and girls act in certain ways. Freud stated† that boys are more motivated then girls acquire a more define gender role† Lowu (2007:291) there will is more define because of social pressures. According to money and ehrhardt (1972) biosocial theory there are specific events that determine a person gender role. Almost from the minute that the parent’s find out the sex of the child they will treat the child according to their gender. For example, if the sex of the child is a boy then the colour that the parent will dress them is typically blue and pink if it is a girl. The environment in which the child lives in is also determined by their gender. According to jones (2009:81) the colours that the parents pick shows masculinity or femininity. Therefore as there is this assumption then this affects the clothes, activities and toys they are encouraged to do, this would suggest that each gender are encourage to go down a particular path. The colours that the parents pick shows masculinity or femininity. Therefore as there is this assumption then this affects the clothes, activities and toys they are encouraged to do, this would suggest that each gender are encourage to go down a particular path This then in term may affect the way in which they portray themselves as young adolescents in school. Most girls fine this transition from youth to adolescence quiet difficult, most girls will portray themselves in a way to which they will achieve male approval, this is more easy for those of the popular group. This allows more opportunity for this type of grills to put them at rick and in dangerous situation as they are portraying an older sexuality. According to Woods (1994:32) state â€Å"that women are portrayed as women as sex objects who are usually young, thin beautiful, passive, dependent, and often incompetent and dumb. Female characters devote their primary energies to improving their appearances and taking care of homes and people†. If this is the image that is being injected in the youth minds then it is likely that this is how they will behaviour as they enter into a relationship. This can be seen as negative thing in the eyes of feminists as they beleive that women are oppressed by men. However, if they are raised the same way they have been parents were raised then this would be considered the norm. However, those who were not part of the in crowd reject the notion that there body was for the desire of men only. They opted for the comfy culture rather than the ‘tarty’ look. At this age there is a lot of images that young people will be surround by the media. As mentioned before there is the portrayal of ideal women all over the media, it this girl both in the popular crowds and none popular crowds can have an effect on the transition to adulthood. These images will allow the young girls to think that they have to look a certain way in order to be desire by males (Renold. E. (2005) This may resul t in it effecting there health as they may develop an eating disorder to get their desire look. This could be detrimental their ability to have a family in the future. This suggests that they will not meet one of the five core traditions. In comparison males transitions to adulthood by building on hierarchy among there group. A way that they do this is via showing there masculinity by taking up sports, this will be were all the hierarchy ranking will take place. If they have a problem they will generally solve their issue by fighting this results in them protecting their man hood. Whereas with girls if they have an issues with other then this will go on for a period of time ( Goodwin 2006) Another transition that men and women have is going to full time work. This can be a hard transition to adjust to as being a young adolescence most of the time does not mean having the responsibility of a full time job. Especially for women as they will also have to consider with the right time to have a family is. A problem with this is that they will have to a battle for equal pay. The equal pay act was not introduced till 1947 and was a direct change due to the changing roles of women in society. This means that men and women will receive the same amount of pay for the same job. As well as this, they can apply for the same position in a job regardless of where it is in the hierarchy. However, saying this and it being put into action is different. Still today there is a debate about men and women’s pay. If a man and women go for the same job it is more likely that the man will be given the job. A reason for this may be that if a women has ring her finger the employer will take into account that there is a high chance she will want a family. This mean that they would have to pay for maternity leave,whereas will a man this would not be the case. It is the believed that there is â€Å"An important part of this cultural change comes from providing better information to employees and to shareholders on a company’s record on equal pay and employment,† (www.guardian.co.uk) This may affect the way women transition into the workforce, this is because they may be put of the idea of career as they may feel what’s the point working at the same level as men only to receive less pay then them. To conclude it would suggest that gender does have a effect on the transition to adulthood. It is apparent that the way in which gender transitions in the past was based on the idea of the men being the bread winner and the female the child bearer. However this has seemed to change as time has moved on. The different theories look at the transition from different points of view but all suggest that gender does affect the transition. It will appear that girls more than more have a tougher time making the transition due to surrounding influences in society.

Choosing a School Essay

Wanting to further your education, but faced with too many choices? Don’t think you can find the time in your busy schedule? There are many options out there now, that are becoming more popular. Not too long ago online schooling was not looked at as an acceptable method of education by employers. Before 2006 you could not even use a Federal student loan to attend an online school. As time has now shown both types of schooling, online and traditional, provide the same quality of education. Some traditional schools even offer some of their classes online to give you some freedom with your time while still being a part of the campus. Online versus traditional schooling offer different methods of learning that may appeal to students because of the atmosphere and the convenience. While both online and traditional schools do their best to cater to the needs of all their students, there are just some things that cannot be done online. If you are a visual or audio learner either type of school will work for you. If you are a hands on type of learner you might find yourself having an easier time learning in a more traditional school setting. This is not to say that you could not utilize an online school but, you may have a harder time or find it more time consuming having to find ways to turn your lesson into a physical thing that you have an easier time with. You have to be self motivate with an online school as well, the instructor is not at your home to remind you that paper is due in two days. If you need their help you have to try to call or e-mail. For some people not having an instructor at their disposal is not an option, they need someone to be almost looking over their shoulder encouraging them to press on, for this type of student online may not be the way to go. You have to be motivated to go the extra distance and use the resource available to you to further your education. The atmosphere is also different. With an online school you get to create your own atmosphere. If you find music helps you focus play whatever music you want. Have 20 minutes to spare after your shower? You can do your school work in your towel if you like. With an online education you can do your create a place that is comfortable for you. If one day you need to get out of the house you can still do your work just grab your laptop and go to the park, or beach. You don’t have to be tied down to the same building and surrounds with an online education like you do in a more traditional setting. You don’t have to deal with other distracting you, if your study spot has too many distractions move. In a more traditional setting you are confined to the same four walls surrounded by the same people daily. This provides a very structured place to learn but some people may find this boring and uncomfortable. Convenience is another big part of if an online school or traditional school is better for you is time. A traditional school is on a schedule, this makes working a full time job or trying to raise a family more difficult. With an online school you can work you classes into when you have free time. Many online schools have applications that you can use on you smart phone or tablet that will let you keep up on your discussion questions whenever you find yourself with free time. This relieves some of the stress of trying to find time to keep up with your work. Online schooling also provides you with the convinces of choosing what time is good for you to log in. you are a night owl and want to do your work at 3am, just long in. As long as you meet the requirements for attendance and participation, turning all of you assignments in on time, they won’t care what time of day you do your work. There are many of reasons to choose one school over another. It all comes down to your personal preference. Take the time to evaluate your needs and research your options. Every school whether it is online or traditional will better suite one person over another. Take your time; ask yourself the following questions before picking the school you are making a commitment. Do you need direct human interaction or can you just chat online? Will the busy schedule of your life allow you to take large chunks out of your day to go to school or will you have to break it up over the course of the entire day when you have time? These are all things you need to answer for yourself before you can pick a school that will be right for you. Online schools provide a greater freedom, where you are when you long in, when you log in, how active you are in your participation. They also require you to be more self motivated and responsible for yourself. Traditional schools will provide you with a more structured plan, you know when and where you have to be and you are surrounded by human interaction. The instructor is right there for you, if you find yourself needing extra guidance.

How Men and Women Communicate Essay

Genderlect: How Men and Women Communicate Describe who the participants of the conversation were. Give the age of each person, location of conversation, relationship of participants to each other, etc. If you do not know the participants, then make your best guess about the characteristics of the conversation participants I was having coffee with a friend and her boyfriend. They were both in their mid twenties and were together for a couple of years. They knew each other ever since in college and they are both working in a respectable company. Describe what the conversation was about, and give specific details about how the conversation relates to genderlect. These details may either support or disagree with the concept of genderlect you read about in the linguistic anthropology learning module. My friend told me that they were planning to get married and are trying to resolve some issues between them before they take the vow. They went to see a counselor and confided their relationship problems and tried to resolve them. They consulted few problems especially trying to understand their differences and establish a harmonious relationship and avoiding conflict. One of the problems that they consulted is their communication problem that usually results in conflict and misunderstanding. The communication of the two is related to genderlect theory of communication as they are observing differences in their way of interacting with other people, especially people belonging from the opposite sex. The couple asked questions pertaining to the communication styles utilized by each other. Women want intimacy and human connection, while men want to retain their independence. Women want their connections and communication to be reciprocated. Men, on the other hand, aim for a position as a sign of their competitive nature. What is your interpretation of genderlect? Do you believe that it is common among people you regularly converse with? Is it more common in certain age groups, social situations, etc? Do you think it does not have much validity? Make sure you refer to your research to back up your argument. Men and women are considered to be different in all aspects. One of their differences is in their way of conversing and interacting with other people. Communication is a vital component of society in trying to achieve unity and understanding. It is important in making a connection with other people. But, one of the hindrances in attaining understanding is that when the two people are different in their way of conversing with each other. Genderlect describes the variation of language inherent to one or the other gender. The genderlect also refers to men and women’s way of communication and how the two differ. There is no need to compare the two means of communication because the two methods are entirely different. The communication process of the two is not a matter of who is right or who is dominant, understanding is hard to achieve due to the prevailing difference of the two communication processes (â€Å"Genderlect,† 2008). According to theories such as the sociolinguistic and genderlect theory, the differences in communication and behavior of the two sexes are anchored on their discernible cultural and social experiences (Poole & Hollingshead, 2004). Deborah Tannen claimed that even if the two people of different sexes came from the same culture, they will not still understand each other. The genderlect theory by Tannen discussed the differences in communication of men and women and the difference in the communication styles the two genders are utilizing (Robinson, 2003). One way of looking at the genderlect is seeing them like two different cultures conversing with each other with so many inherent barriers that hinder the attainment of understanding and unity. One of the fundamental differences of the two genders is that women would like to establish connection and for them, human connection is very important. Men, on the other hand, are more attentive to the status in an interaction. (â€Å"Genderlect,† 2008). Men always try to avoid intangible and confusing conversation. Men always seek â€Å"solid facts† and data than hitting around the bush. However, women are more particular with their feelings and emotions in order to create a rapport and connection with the other person in the interaction. The reason behind this is that men tend to view emotion as a sign of weakness and make themselves vulnerable to any type of attack (â€Å"Genderlect,† 2008). Women are also more engaged in private conversations for they seek to establish more individualized relationships. They refuse to talk more in public for the absence of human connection. They were also undermined by men in public, so they talk less. Men prefer more of the public forum where there is the presence of the audience that may recognize and look up to them. Men want authority and superiority (â€Å"Genderlect,† 2008). For women, conflicts reduce the connection that they are trying to establish, so as much as possible they try to avoid them. Men, on the other hand, find conflict as a way of gaining authority. A sharp conversation and fight imposes the positions and status of the involved persons. Thus, the inherent inferiority of women makes women comply than argue. In reality, men initiate more conflict than women (â€Å"Genderlect,† 2008). Due to the cultural and social experiences of the two sexes, their ways of communication may also be affected. In my own opinion and assessment, the theory is quite true through experiences from conversing with various people. The theory did not stress that conflict and misunderstanding will not always arise when two genders try to communicate. Conflict will also arise due to differences in personality, worldview and opinions, not only gender. The only flaw of the theory is that the theory greatly emphasizes on the goal of men to dominate others and the goal of women to establish deep relationship. These two are no longer applicable today since there have been changes in the society in ways of relating to gender issues and the emergence of women’s power and contemporary feministic views altered this proposition in the theory (Carriero, 2008). Do you think the language behaviors of males and females reflect differences in how we expect males and females to behave? Why or why not? Refer to the text in your discussion. The theory attempts to explain the inherent differences in communication that emerged from the differences in gender. The premises of the theory are well-explained. The theory is anchored on the cultural and social construction of an individual. The inherent role of men is to be dominant and superior. They are always up to compete for the hierarchical positions. Women, on the other hand, are expected to behave as inferior and subtle beings. In the contemporary society, as the theory puts greater emphasis on the goals of the genders in their communication and suggests that interaction is no longer applicable as the society, it also attempts to attain parity and equality among genders. References Carriero, H. (2008, July 25).Do Men and Women Speak Different Dialects?. Associated Content. Retrieved October 10, 2008 from http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/906989/do_men_and_women_speak_different_dialects. html? cat=38. Genderlect. (2008). ChangingMinds. org. Syque. Retrieved October 10, 2008 from http://changingminds. org/explanations/gender/genderlect. htm. Poole, M. S. & Hollingshead, A. B. (2004). Theories of Small Groups: Interdisciplinary Perspective. California: Sage Publications, Inc. Robinson, D. (2003). Becoming a Translator: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Translation. Oxon: Routledge.

Beyond Europe

The Roaring Twenties brought forth a new musical style in the United States. Piercing together the complex blend of European and African American musical traditions, merging the soulfulness of the blues and the syncopated rhythms resulted in a unique, rhythmic compelling music that is known as jazz. It is a music dominated by improvisations and a definitive beat (Kamien, 1998, p. 359). This popular music has produced some of the best American musical figures- Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker.Indeed, it has become one of the more popular music the world has known and continues to enjoy today. There are two clear-cut jazz features: syncopation and rhythmic swing. It boasts of lively rhythm that is oftentimes hard to describe but easy to recognize and listen to. Its call and response feature, wherein a voice is answered by an instrument or an instrument is answered by another instrument arose from the African American church services where the congregation responds voc ally to the preacher’s call (p. 360).But more than the percussive sounds, improvisations, call and respond, and the performance techniques that accompany jazz music, jazz music is popularly known as the â€Å"only truly American contribution to the world of music† (Wright, 1996, p. 390). While jazz music is an amalgam of different musical streams, it is in America where jazz was planted and flourished. There is no contest about that. There is no concrete record that show when jazz started or how it first sounded because the music was only heard; hence no musical notations were traced.However, its origin was placed somewhere in 1900 (Kamien, 1998, p. 359). What was certain about jazz music though was where it was first heard: in southern and Midwestern cities. Jazz music was first heard in the streets, bars, brothels and dance halls in New Orleans, St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago (Wright, 19976 p. 390). Furthermore, it was in New Orleans where many jazz legends began - Armstrong, King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton (p. 391). One of Oliver’s finest works is the Dippermouth Blues, which showcase instrumental blues in its unique New Orleans style.This style is usually rooted on a march, a church melody or a ragtime piece (p. 365). On the other hand, Armstrong was best known as the inventor of scat singing, warbling nonsense syllables like dat-a-bat—a-dip-da (p. 365). He was also an outstanding jazz trumpeter and his performance of Hotter than That with this group The Hot Fives focused on the improvisatory solos. When the Spanish-American War ended, there was a surplus of military band instruments sold at a cheap price. Many black musicians brought instruments and took up employment in bars and brothels (Wright, 1996, p.391). Band instruments were instrumental (pardon the pun) in shaping jazz music. It was a reflection of the African Americans’ love of music and importantly, their determination to succeed. The precursors of jazz m usic were ragtime and the blues which existed in the 1890s to 1915 (Kamien, 1998 p. 360). Ragtime was generally played by black pianists (Wright, 1996p. 390). Black pianists experienced difficulties looking for employment so they were reduced to playing in brothels, saloons, and dancehalls. Despite that, the popularity of ragtime music could not be discounted.By the end of World War I, roughly two thousand piano sheets of piano ragtime music were sold (p. 390). Scott Joplin, the man behind famous pieces like Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer was the best-known composer of ragtime music. Similar to ragtime music, blues was another music that grew out of the African Americans. It is said that blues were a kind of black folk song that originated in the 1880s-1890s in the South (Wright, 1996, p. 387). It was developed out of the work songs, spirituals and field hollers of the black slaves (p. 387).Typical blues subjects were of poverty, loneliness, oppression, and melancholy. By 1912, the blues were printed as sheet music (p. 387). Ragtime music, with its upbeat sound, and the blues, which reflected the hard life and the tough-minded humor of the African Americans, helped uplift peoples’ spirits. The Progressive Era, which covered 1900s up to the First World War, was a period of marked changes in the country. Problems on capital, labor, immigration, and corruption in politics pervaded the country (Jordan and Litwack, 1991, pp. 570-594).Adding more reason to be depressive was the aftermath of the First World War. Repression and intolerance pervaded the country. The post-war years brought despair for many African Americans. With the Jim Crow restrictions, the lynching, beatings, and revival of the Ku Klux Klan, Americans, especially the African Americans, turned to music for comfort. Their desolate living unleashed their creativity. Out of ragtime and the blues came the expressive, raspy style that became the jazz. The end of the war and the great black migr ation made it possible for jazz music to spread in America.As aforementioned, jazz became the rage in the 20s. Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald even dubbed the time as the â€Å"Jazz Age† (Wright, 1996, p. 394). Jazz music became so popular that it was now performed in large dancehalls and even in movie houses (p. 394). In the years to follow, jazz developed into a rich sub styles such as swing, bebop, cool jazz, free jazz and rock fusion. Ellington was one of the most revered composer, arranger and conductor in the swing era. Some of his works include Ko-Ko, Air shaft, and Blue Serge (Kamien, 1998, p. 367).Other notable jazz piece is the bebop-syled Bloomdido performed by alto saxophonist Charlie â€Å"Bird† Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, bass player Curly Russell, pianist Thelonious Monk and percussionist Buddy Rich (p. 368). Meanwhile, Miles Runs the Voodoo Down from trumpeter Miles Davis exemplifies jazz rock. No doubt, jazz music is one of the most important Ameri can contributions to twentieth century popular culture. At the heart of jazz is improvisation. Looking back, people were probably drawn to jazz music precisely because of this.Through music, they had the freedom to follow their own flights of fancy. It is this appeal that made it popular with people during that time. Jazz music became a diversion, bit at the same time, an aspiration that perhaps one day, they would do more than make do. References Kamien, R. (1998). Music An Appreciation 3rd ed. USA: McGraw-Hill. Jordan, W. and Litwack, L. (1991). The United States Combined Edition 7th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Wright, C. (1996). Listening to Music 2nd ed. Minnesota: West Publishing Company.