Occupy Wall Street Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Occupy Wall Street - Essay Example The strict actions should be taken by the government and other legal bodies to eradicate them from the parks completely. â€Å"The protesters accuse many on Wall Street of unethical and criminal practices. They blame the banking industry for causing the Great Recession, beggaring the American middle class and many senior citizens to the extent that trillions in the assets of Americans in every sector of our society have been lost† (Koch par. 2). To demonstrate an example, a private business has developed much and is much tired of the attack, rapes, public defecations and other illegal activity on their possessions, and request for trespassers to be expelled. Not anything concerning this actuality reminds the First Amendment. The people here totally behave in a messy and a disorganized way by making the places totally unhygienic and polluted. The people at Occupy WallStreet are not menacing anyone excluding the politicians who have determined to apparent them out and defy their right to free speech, passive assembly, and appeal. To state another one example of attempt rape, the rape cases where reported in the parks by the Wall Street Protestants to the ladies who were for a recreation day out. At the beginning on the protesters was frequently youthful, partially as social networks throughout which they encourage the protests are also taken up by the young hands. As the protest grows, elder protesters also grow to be concerned. The normal age group of the activist was 33, with citizens in their 20s evenhanded by citizens in their 40 age group. Diverse spiritual faith has been representing at the protest together with Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The enormous mass of the protesters, considered the logic the unfairness to the all who are concerned. Along with those protester groups are revolutionary who are beside any government, some of whom are looking to connect in violence with the cops; others are essentials

Bp’s Ethical Culture Essay Example for Free

Bp’s Ethical Culture Essay We will go through the BP business context and culture, safety aspect, organization capability, responsiveness and risk assessment aspects of their ethical culture, result from the management and caused the disaster. BP Business Context and ethical culture: From the BP management employer aspects, they are not follow some mechanical level, safety procedure over and ignored which required by Act (e.g. Clean Air Act) over 8 year for their production. At the end the huge explosion occurred in March 2005. Because of the hydrocarbon liquid leakage and vapor, the ignition explosion result of the accident. They failed to give the safeguards protection tools to protect employees, this accident killing employees and injured people in Texas oil refinery. And the other issue of the Alaskan oil pipelines leaked; their culture also reflect the safety negligence in their operation and management. Not check the pipelines by routine maintenance. BP management did not doing any corrective action on the contract worker discovered the first pipeline leak in March of 2006, (e.g. whole stop the pipelines operation for checking details), still waiting the leakage happen on August 2006. And in October 2007 another spill in Prudhoe Bay, once again showing that BP was ignored the maintenance equipment and the safety level of the production. In 2010, violations again at BP facilities (at Ohio factory), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that workers might be exposed to injury or death should explosive or flammable chemicals be released at an Ohio factory. The BP working environment have the characteristic that is resistance to change, lack of trust and motivation; unclear expectations about supervisory and management behaviors, led to rules not being followed consistently and no initiating improvements. Management did not set or consistently reinforce process safety, operations performance and systematic to reduce the risk. e.g. neglected the safety protection tools. (Reference 01) Organizational Capability: poor management and communication in the complex organization, high turnover of refinery plant managers which will affect their consistency of responsibilities. Inability to see the risk, poor level of hazard awareness and process safety knowledge, e.g. the temporary worker doing wrong on the hydrocarbons to atmosphere with unclear control in the high risk and safety industry practice. Lack of early warning system in the refinery plant; e.g. poor communication, poor performance-management process and deteriorating the work standards. Means that BP allows the defective process in their production refinery and pipelines channel. Even though the project was carried out before the extensive research to identify any potential environment risks of the pipelines stretched to their network From the BP investor aspects, even a huge amount of fines, criminal penalties were paid again. They just only concern the profit rather then the employees, environment, base on their short term focus with high level oversight on prevention or improvement and safety management. Even the production was shut down a month for repairing; they just focus on resume the production which means profit as a priority. From the interest group, e.g. National Fish and Wildlife, the state law and act. BP was neglected their monitoring role, just paid the fund or fines to be a remedy, but still running at their loosen management culture. From the BP employees aspects, insider trading and fraud document (mail fraud and wire fraud), and reward from the manipulate the propane market at a high prices Integrity of the BP management, also lack of monitor and alert of the internal control. As the National oil company, the management let company making loss on violate Act, not setting a well control system for employees for prevention. These parts clearly showing the history of disregarding the well-being of stakeholders not follow the law and high level operation and maintenance level of BP. Different refinery plane have their own safety management system, and they did not share their best practice with others. So doing the same work but running at different safety system level. And as the employees of BP, from the result of the explosion, oil leakage and fraud issue all of them are affecting their society and economic damage. They know and maintain these BP culture but they do not concern until the accident or issue occurred. From these aspects of the BP ethical culture, and still no solid continues improvement, then it was caused the Gulf Coast oil spill disaster. At the beginning, BP tried to shift their responsiveness to the contractor Transocean, Ltd., loosen and negligence management style (know but not concern style), lying on the accident real situation to public. And delay the recovery work which subject to their management decision and style.

The Physics of the Sound Wave and its Effects on the Human Ear Essay

The Physics of the Sound Wave and its Effects on the Human Ear Could you imagine living in a world without sound? It would be enormously different from the world that we know. Our primary form of inter-human communication would be based on visual or tactile imagery. Our sense of perception would be changed. Telecommunication would be different. We would not have the pleasure of music or the soothing sounds of nature. Sound has had an immense impact on our world. This essay will explore the unseen world of sound waves and how humans perceive them. Generally, people hear sound waves traveling through air. These waves cannot be seen, but are heard or felt via vibration. Sound waves originate from vibrating objects and travel in longitudinal waves through mediums (such as a solid, a liquid, or a gaseous material). These types of waves are defined by the textbook as: â€Å"†¦wave[s] in which the vibrations of the medium are parallel to the direction the wave is moving.1† Figure 8.52 shows an excellent example of a tuning fork producing longitudinal waves, which are perceived as sound. It is apparent that as the prongs are struck, they move outward. As they move outward, the neighboring air molecules are compressed together creating what is called compression. The tuning fork prongs reverse the pressure as they move inward and cause a rarefaction (the opposite of a compression) in the neighboring air molecules. The process is repeated until the tuning fork returns to its resting state. As previously stated, sound waves can travel through various mediums. The universal formula to obtain the speed of a sound wave is:Speed=distance/time. â€Å"The faster which a sound wave travels, the more distance it will cover in the same period of tim... ...le that has an intensity of 10-3 W/m2 can be determined2: db = 10 log 10 ( 10-3/10-12 ) = 90-dB. Decibel levels from 0-80 dB are safe to the human ear. Prolonged exposure to sounds higher than that can result in hearing damage. With the factors of frequency and amplitude brought into relation of hearing, it is apparent that nothing would be understood without the concepts that can be referred to from physics. Physics enables the analysis of the human’s ability to understand sound waves. References: 1-Kirkpatrick, L.D. (2001). Physics A World View. (4 ed.) Philadelphia: Harcourt 2-Russell, K. (1997). Sound Waves. Retrieved: 4-30-03 From: www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/linguistics/ressell/138/sec4/actoust/htm 3-Henderson, T. (1998). Sound Waves and the Eardrum. Retrieved: 4-30-03 From: Http://www.glenbrook.k12/gbssci/phys/mmedia/waves/edl.html 4

Oedipus The Great Essay

In the book Oedipus The King, there was a curse that stated that Oedipus was to kill his father, Laius, and marry his mother, Jocasta. So when Oedipus’ parents find out that Jocasta is pregnant they have the baby and give it to a man to take to the top of a mountain. But instead of the man taking the baby, Oedipus, to the mountain top he gave him to a family and the family then raised Oedipus. When Oedipus was older he was traveling to the town of Thebes when he ran across some people that demanded that Oedipus get off the road and let them get pass. Being himself Oedipus got mad and killed them all, what he did not know was that that was his father and when he got to Thebes he would marry his mother, the queen, and become the new king of Thebes. Oedipus always had trouble controlling his anger and in that moment it went all down hill. In Oedipus The King, written by Sophocles, Oedipus exhibits the following tragic flaws : he jumps to conclusions, he’s controlling, he has anger problems, and he’s too confident. The first tragic flaw of Oedipus is his problem of jumping to conclusions. In every bad situation with Oedipus, which happens to be quite frequent, he always assumes something before a conclusion ever occurs. He never just waits to see what someone has to say or to see what happens, it’s like he always controls the ending of every situation and he likes it until everything goes wrong. In the book Oedipus jumps to the conclusion that Tiresias is conspiring with Creon to keep the secret that they had killed King Laius. He does not consider the fact that they are looking out for him so that he wont expose himself. But Tiresias finally gets tired of the things that Oedipus is saying and he says, â€Å" I am going. But first I will say what I came here to say†¦ The man you are trying to find, with your threatening proclamations, the murderer of Laius that man is here in Thebes†¦ He will be revealed as brother and father of his children with whom he now lives, the son and husband of the woman who gave him birth, the murderer and marriage partner of his father. Go think this out. And if you find that I am wrong, then say I have no skill in prophecy†, Tiresias then leaves Oedipus standing there stunned(Oedipus the King pg. 40). After that Oedipus gets so upset and starts to yell and starts to tell the people of Thebes that Tiresias and Creon are lying. That they just want the blame off of themselves and on to him. He says this because he does not believe it and because he wants to make a scene and just wants to be the center of attention and he wants everyone on his side just in case something happens and he need someone to stick up for him. And because Oedipus is the king the people will listen to him because they trust him and they trust what he says when he says that he did not kill Laius. Another tragic flaw of Oedipus is the fact that he’s controlling. Oedipus controls, well he tries to control, everything that everyone does. He never wants anyone to say anything about Laius’ death or about his background. He tries to control every situation, every conversation and so forth. When he was talking to Tiresias, Tiresias decided to leave because his conversation with Oedipus was getting nowhere. Tiresias said, â€Å" I will go, then. Boy, lead me away†, and then Oedipus say, thinking he had to, said, â€Å" Yes take him away. While you’re here you are a hindrance, a nuisance; once out of the way you wont annoy me any more. † (Oedipus the King pg. 30 & 31). He thought that would make him seem in control of Tiresias life and the things he did in his life but Tiresias did not like that and he came back at Oedipus even harder making Oedipus go to his palace and think about what has just happened. The only logical thing that Oedipus could have been in control of was the town of Thebes because he was now the new king of Thebes, but everything was messed up when everyone found out that he had killed their previous king Laius. The next tragic flaw of Oedipus is his anger problems. In every situation with Oedipus he always ends up yelling at someone. He cant control his feelings and this problem will eventually end his life. Like with the conversation he was having with Creon they ended up having a screaming match because of Oedipus and his horrible tragic flaw of jumping to conclusions. Creon found out that Oedipus has put the death of their old king Laius in his and Tiresias’ hands. When Creon confronts Oedipus, Oedipus gets angry and says to Creon, â€Å" You! What are you doing here? Do you have the face to come to my palace-you who are convicted as my murderer, exposed as a robber attempting to steal my throne? †. He gets upset and has to have his wife/ mother, help get him under control and calmed down He acts like a little kid and the one person who can help keep him under control is his wife/ mother. Another tragic flaw of Oedipus is the fact that he is too confident. Its okay to be confident in yourself and what you do, but when you become too confident you can become cocky and sometimes over-bearing which indeed happens to Oedipus. Oedipus always goes around boasting about how he is king and that no one should step to him because he could have them killed, how he was the one to solve the riddle so he earned the the spot as king. With Oedipus, he takes the concept of being confident to a whole other level. He makes it seems as though being confident is something that should be thought about because it tears it whole world apart. So throughout Oedipus’ life he has been lied to and made and a fool of and mainly by himself. Oedipus’ problems are mainly because of his tragic flaws. His tragic flaws are the fact that he jumps to conclusions, he’s controlling, he has anger problems, and he’s too confident. Maybe some people may say that being confident is a good thing and that people should be confident but when you go to overboard and be outrageous with it, it just makes people hate you and try to make other people see that you are a horrible person and have a horrible personality.

Learning about Kickstarter for indie authors

Learning about Kickstarter for indie authors Kickstarter for Indie Authors - Talking to Maris Kreizman of Kickstarter Publishing Just like digital publishing, crowdfunding is something that makes being an indie creative totally feasible. Kickstarter  is basically synonymous with crowdfunding, and the first place anyone should look when they’re getting ready to raise.Kickstarter has a whole section of their site dedicated to publishing projects. This is both an awesome way of supporting the community of publishers, and also a great place to go find cool books by new authors!Maris Kreizman is Publishing Project Specialist at Kickstarter. We talked about what’s most important to running a successful Kickstarter campaign, how you set the budget for your campaign, and everything you need to think about before getting started. It’s a trove of advice for indie authors - enjoy!REEDSYWhat do authors need to keep in mind when they’re trying to get funding for a great publishing project?MARIS KREIZMAN There are three important parts to doing a Kickstarter. The first one is telling a good story. That includes having a wonderful video, and telling potential backers who you are and why you want to do the thing you’re trying to do.The second part is rewards - making sure that potential backers are able to share in the project in some meaningful way.The third part is having a relationship with your backers, which means doing a lot of updates, keeping the lines of communication open, and being really transparent about what you’re doing.REEDSY The relationship creators have with their backers sounds really cool. It’s more than just ‘goodies’ but an ongoing relationship.MARIS KREIZMAN One of the most common misperceptions about Kickstarter is people think you need to have a t-shirt or a tote bag. Certainly those are wonderful, but especially in book publishing projects most people want to get the book, the actual thing that’s being made. Experiential rewards are also really wonderful, whether it’s a Skype chat or a little QA with the author - anything that builds a relationship.REEDSY It seems like there’s two kinds of projects on Kickstarter. You get people coming in with their audience from somewhere else, like Leo Babauta of Zen Habits. And then you get people who are starting without that pre-existing community. Does this affect how creators should be planning to share their projects?MARIS KREIZMAN Regardless of who you are and what you’re trying to do, coming in with some sort of base audience is key. So even if you haven’t fully established yourself, have a base level of supporters. That’s maybe just people you know - sending out a link to your family and your friends who want to support you -or, it could go a little deeper, trying to be a part of the community that you’re writing about, posting to blogs, coming in with an email list, stuff like that. I think that Kickstarter is wonderful in helping you spread your message and making your audience bigger.REEDSY Even if it involves potato salad!MARIS KREIZMAN *laughing* If you look at it, he did a really lovely job in putting the project together! It was very simple, and maybe not the most exciting, innovating way to use Kickstarter, but he did a good job and he was really good at communicating with the people who though his idea was clever! I’ve read you elsewhere talking about ways Kickstarter isn’t just about raising funds to cover publishing costs for a single book - could you talk about that a little?MARIS KREIZMAN There are so many different cool ways to use Kickstarter in publishing. I’ve been talking to a lot of small literary presses and magazines about funding a season - â€Å"Help us do Spring 2015† and whatever that encompasses, whether that’s a couple of books or a couple of issues. Book tours for sure. Being able to do research is a huge deal. Think of Kickstarter like a grant - if you’re writing non-fiction and you have research to do it absolutely makes sense to raise money to do that, even if you’ve already figured out how you’re going to publish.REEDSY You were talking about creators telling their story on Kickstarter - what does that mean exactly?MARIS KREIZMAN I think one of the best experiences about Kickstarter is it allows people to follow the artists and creators that they admire. Telling the story can be simply ‘Who am I, why do I love this project, and why do I want to do it.’ Or, it can be more about ‘Here’s how I make the thing, here are the steps I need to take to actually do this.’ And of course ‘This is what the book is going to be.’REEDSY There seems to be a wide variety of budgets for publishing projects, both very high and very low. How should writers budget their projects for Kickstarter?MARIS KREIZMAN I think the most important thing is to go back and really plan out exactly how much money you’ll need to do the thing that you want to do in the way you want to do it, and ask for that amount. That way, if you don’t raise it you won’t have to worry about doing it half-heartedly. And then if you do go above and beyond you can worry about that whole other great kind of problem!REEDSY How important is it for writers to be investing in specialist help for things like producing an introductory video? Is something with extremely high production values essential?MARIS KREIZMAN This is a challenge for any publishing project on Kickstarter, basically. Kickstarter is a visual platform, and not every writer is going to be good at that kind of stuff. I’d say that it’s very important to give backers a feeling of what you’re trying to do, but also to allow the words to speak for you. If you’re not a video expert or an artist, it’s still OK.I’ve seen projects work with a video taken from a phone that really captures a mood, and I think that is enough. The video is important, but it doesn’t have to be really ‘well-produced’ or ‘beautiful looking’ - I think it’s really helpful to just give a sense of who you are and what the thing you’re making is.REEDSY What sort of things do you like to see in a project?MARIS KREIZMAN Particularly if you’re an individual, it’s very important to talk about how you plan to actually get the thing made.REEDSY What does that plan consist of?MARIS KREIZMAN That they’ve talked to publishers, that they have a price quote for how much it would cost to print x amount of books†¦ I often say that self-publishing is not something that you should really do on your own. The idea that you might have an editor or designer lined up, or that you yourself are already a wonderful designer and can show that to us.It’s about ‘Has this person thought through the practicalities of getting this book out?’ Backers are really skilled at picking out the projects that they think will succeed, and where they’ll end up with whatever reward they’ve put in for. Anything you can do to communicate to backers that you have a plan for this whole thing, and to get them the rewards that they want, is key.REEDSY Do you have any advice for authors on how to structure the rewards they’re offering?MARIS KREIZMAN I would say that rewards should have a few different tiers - like offering the digital version for $10 or so. Depending on whether you’re going to do the paperback or the hardback or both, do one for $20, one for $30. If you want to do a special edition that looks really pretty and fancy, charge an extra $20 for that. Signed copies are good. One of the things that I always tell people is â€Å"Make sure that the thing you’ll be working on is making the best project that you can,† and not so much â€Å"How will I ship out all of these rewards?†REEDSY Are there any resources authors can go check out, or somewhere the can send you questions?MARIS KREIZMAN If you want publishing specific advice, you can email publishing@kickstarter.com. That’s how you can reach me. I would recommend though looking on the Kickstarter site. There’s a creator handbook that really goes into some of the nitty gritty details of how to do a successful Kickstarter project.REEDSY Thanks for your time Maris.Have you ever tried crowdfunding for a book or a series? What have been your takeaways? Do join the discussion in the comments below!

4-Step Guide How to Study for the SAT in a Month

4-Step Guide How to Study for the SAT in a Month SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you've only got a month before test day, don't freak out! Although it's not a ton oftime to prepare for the SAT, it can be enough if you useyour time wisely. In this guide, we share with you our best advice on how to study for the SAT in a month. We'll begin by analyzing the feasibility of studying for the SAT in a month and then go overthe critical steps you must take in order to get your plan going. Finally, we’ll leave you with 12 high-impact tips you can use during your studies andon test day to help you get the SAT score you need for college! NOTE: This article largely assumes you’ll be conducting a self-guided study plan. Those who'd prefer ahelping hand should takeadvantage of our expert SAT tutors as well asour completely customizableSAT prep course! Is Studying for the SAT in a Month Doable? Let's start by addressing the crux of this article: is studying for the SAT in a month a feasible endeavor? The answer is yes; however,how doable a month-long study plan is depends greatly on what kind ofscore improvement you're hoping for. In terms of total point improvement on the SAT, here are the (approximate) numbers of hours you'll need to study: 0-30 point improvement: 10 hours 30-70 point improvement: 20 hours 70-130 point improvement: 40 hours 130-200 point improvement: 80 hours 200-330 point improvement: 150 hours+ As you can see, the higher the score improvement you want, the more hours you’ll have to dedicate to studyingfor the SAT. Because the SAT is such an important test for college, and because high school students are busy people, our usual recommendation is to set aside at least six months for SAT prep. This way you won't have to squeeze in too many study sessions each week, and you should still be able to hit the score you need- even a fairly lofty one requiringan increase of 200+ points. For those who'd like to improve their SAT scores by something closer to, say,100 points,three months should generally suffice. But not everyone has three or six months to committo studying for the SAT. So if you've only got a month to get started, don't worry; you can still increase your score. You just need to be willing toclock in the necessary amount of study time whenever possible. There are limitations to this, though.If you want to improve your SAT score by something close to 200 or 300points (150+ hours of study time), one month likely won't give you enough time todo so. For a plan like this to work, you'd have to study about 38 hours a week, or more than five hours a day! This is waytoo much time for anyone todedicate entirely to SAT prep. At this rate, you're guaranteed to burn out after a day or two! So to recap, studying for the SAT in a month is doable, as long as you: Are ready to create a regular study schedule and stick with it. Want toimprove your total SAT score by no more than 130-200 points (equivalent to about 80 study hours). Now, let's take a look at how to study for the SAT in a month using our simple four-step plan. How to Study for the SAT in a Month:4 Critical Steps for GettingStarted Gettingthe most out of your month-long SAT study plan means figuring out what your current SAT score is, what kind of scoreyou need for college, and how you intend to achieve that score. Ouressentialsteps below will teach youhow to prepare for the SAT in a month, so you can take the test with confidence. Step 1: Find Your Target Score In order to determine how many hours you'll need to study, you must first findyour SAT goal score. This is the score most likely to get you into all of the colleges you're applying to. The easiestway to find your SAT goal score is to search for average SAT scores (which are usually presented as score ranges) on your schools’ websites. Get onGoogle and look for â€Å"[College Name] average SAT† or â€Å"[College Name] 25th/75th percentile SAT.† You can also browseour SAT requirements database by searching for "[College Name] SAT requirements PrepScholar."Here is an example of USC's SAT requirements page. Your target score should match or exceedthe 75th-percentile score for your most competitive college.Gettingthis score will give youthe best shot at gaining admissioninto all of your colleges, even your most competitive ones. Step 2: Figure Out Your Baseline Score Once you’ve found your goal score, it’s time to figure outyour baseline score (where you’re currently scoring on the SAT). You will use this benchmark score to determinethe number of points neededto hit your goal score (as described in Step 1). To get your baseline score, take anofficial SAT practice test. Be sure yourecreate a realistic test-taking environment as closely as you can: take the test in a quiet room and timeyourself exactly as you'll be timed on the SAT. Once finished, use your test’s answer guide to calculate your individual Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) scores as well asyour total SAT score. This total scorewill serve as your baseline score. You can also use thispractice test to get a feel for which areas of the exam and which question typesare most challenging for you. Step 3: Create a Study Schedule The third step is to come up with a study schedule you'll be able to follow fairly rigidly over the course of a month. First, findthe difference between your baseline score and your target score to get the total number of points required toachieve your target score. Then, look for your difference using the following point ranges to determine how many total hours you'll need to study over the course of a month. As I mentioned previously, one month should give you enough time to study for up to 80 hours and attain, at a maximum, a200-point score increase: 0-30 point improvement: 10 hours 30-70 point improvement: 20 hours 70-130 point improvement: 40 hours 130-200 point improvement: 80 hours The second half of this step is to divide yourhours into a feasible weekly study plan. Below are various schedules you can try out depending on the score range you're aiming for on test day. Alwayschoose the best plan that will work for you personally.So if you loathe the idea of studying for the SAT on weekdays, stick to longer study sessions on the weekends. On the other hand, if studying for more than an hour straight isutterly torturous for you, opt for shorter, more frequent study sessions scattered throughout the week. Light: You Want to Improve Your SAT Score by 0-30 Points If your baseline score is within 30 points ofyour target score, congratulations! You havea very doable month-long study schedule. For this plan, your total prep time is about 10 hours, or a meretwo and a half hours a week. Your options for aweekly study schedule are as follows: 2 hours and 30 minutes, once a week 1 hour and 15 minutes, twice a week 30 minutes, five times a week Medium: You Want to Improve Your SAT Score by 30-70 Points In this scenario, your baseline score is slightly more removed fromyour target score - but not by much! For this medium-sized plan, you muststudy a total of 20 hours, or five hours a week on average. Idealstudy schedules for this plan include: 2 hours and 30 minutes, twice a week 1 hour and 15 minutes, four times a week 1 hour, five times a week Heavy: You Want to Improve Your SAT Score by 70-130 Points Now we get to the tougher plans. With this schedule,you'll have to really startbuckling down to reach your goal of70-130 points. To do so successfullywithin a month, you must study for a minimum of 40 hours, or about10 hours a week. Possible study schedules are: 3 hours and 20 minutes, three times a week 2 hours and 30 minutes, four times a week 2 hours, five times a week Heavier: You Want to Improve Your SAT Score by 130-200 Points This SAT prep plan, though technically feasible, requires a high amount of diligence, regularity, and commitment. To improve your baseline score by 130-200 points, you must study for a minimum of 80 hours, or 20 hours a week on average. Note that at this rate, each of your study sessions will befairly lengthy at three or more hourslong. Your best options for a foolproof study schedule are as follows: 5 hours, four times a week 4 hours, five times a week 3 hours and 20 minutes, six times a week Impossible? You Want to Improve Your SAT Score by 200-330 Points This certifiably insane plan would require a total of 150+ study hours in a month - that's 38 hours a week! Therefore, due to its impractical nature,I do not recommend attempting this plan. Instead, it'll be more helpful for you toaim for a slightly smaller point increase (see plan â€Å"Heavier† above) and then retake the SAT at a later date if you want toimprove your score even more. Just be sure you give yourself more than a month of study time on the second go-around - ideally, anywhere from three to six months. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! Step 4: Gather SAT Study Materials Now that you've gota foolproof study plan, it’s time to gather the SAT prep materials you’ll usefor content review and practice during your prep sessions. If you've already got a stash of SAT materials ready to use, awesome! If not, here is a convenient compilationof some of the best SAT resources currently available: The Ultimate SAT Study Guide for SAT Prep: This guide contains links to all of our most important and relevant SAT articles. Use this guide as a broad reference for information on both SAT study resources and test-taking strategies. You can also use it to answer any questions you may have concerning scoring and other SAT logistics. Complete Official SAT Practice Tests, Free Links:Go to this article to download all official SAT practice tests, answer keys, and answerexplanations.Be sure toprioritize newer practice tests(i.e., those based on theredesigned SAT) over older ones. Best SAT Prep Books 2017 (Updated for New SAT): Read this article for candidreviews of the best SAT prep books. All books on this list have been reviewed by a perfect SAT scorer, so you can rest assured they’re worth purchasing! The Best SAT Prep Websites You Should Be Using: Online study materials can be just as helpful as SAT prep books as long as you know where to find qualityresources! Use our guide to help you find the best online SAT resources, from practice questions and strategy guides to virtual prep courses. Khan Academy: A partner website of the College Board (the creators of the SAT), Khan Academy offers a plethora of realistic SAT practice questions and tutorial videos- all for free! Check out our comprehensive guide for tips on how toincorporate Khan Academy into your SAT study plan. As a bonus resource, our SAT blogoffers a vast amount of SAT information, from tips and strategies to testing logistics and more. So feel free to use this resource if you have any questions about the SAT or simply want toreview content using our free study guides! Once you've selecteda solid assortment of quality SAT resources, read on to see ourtoptipson how to study for the SAT in a month. How to Prepare for the SAT in a Month: 6 Surefire Tips A month isn't a particularly long time to study for the SAT, but with our six surefire tips, you're guaranteed to get the score you want on test day! #1: Familiarize Yourself With the SAT Format As is the case with any exam,knowing what to expect on test day can give you a big advantage, not to mention a little extraconfidence. Start your SAT prep byfamiliarizing yourself withhow the test is scored and what type of content it tests. Then, move on to the specifics of each SAT section by learning about what kinds of questions you'll encounter on the exam and what kinds of skills you'll need to master in order to get a high score. For an in-depth overview of each SAT section, refer to the following guides: What’s Actually Tested on the SAT Reading Section? SAT Reading Skills What’s Tested on the SAT Writing Section? Grammar and Questions What’s Tested on the SAT Math Section? Topics and Practice Knowing the SAT format inside and out will give you the upper hand on test day by ultimately eliminating the risk of surprises. #2: Take 2-3 Official Practice Tests to Measure Your Progress Once you've begun studying for the SAT, it's important you consistently check whetheryour SAT score is improving or not by takingofficial SAT practice tests. For a month-long study plan,two or three official practice tests should suffice.Takethe first test at the beginning of your study plan to get your baseline score (as described in Step 2 above). Then, take a second test abouthalfway through your study plan todeterminewhether your prep materials and study methods are actually helping you, and to see whether you have any glaring weaknesses you need to concentrate on more. Practice tests must be taken at the appropriate times to be most effective.So don't take a test too early (less than a week after you’ve started studying for the SAT) or else you likely won’t notice any significant changes. Similarly, don’t take a test too close to test day, as this will only drain your energy! #3: Review Core SAT Math Topics Your study plan would be incomplete if you don't spend any timereviewing the core concepts tested on SAT Math.Broadly, the three major SAT Math topics are algebra, advanced math, and problem solving and data analysis. Altogether, these three topics account for 90 percent of Math questions. But what exactly should you study?Startby mastering thebasics of integers. (You can also check out ouradvanced guide to integersfor detailson prime numbers, absolute values, exponents, and more!) Afterward, progress to the following critical SAT Math topics: For Algebra Linear functions, equations, and inequalities Single-variable equations Systems of linear equations For Advanced Math Quadratic and nonlinear functions and equations Exponential functions and equations Graphing functions Manipulatingpolynomials For Problem Solving and Data Analysis Statistics (mean, median, mode, etc.) Ratios and proportions (including percentages) Graphs, scatterplots, and tables We also offer individual Math strategy guides, which you can access throughour ultimate SAT math prep guide. #4: Learn Basic Math Strategies In addition to masteringcore SAT Math topics, it's imperative youlearn some of thebasic strategies for tackling SAT math. One key strategy you can use while studying is to re-solve math problems you’ve missed before looking at the answer explanations. Here's how it works: using high-quality math practice questions (those on the official SAT practice tests are always safe bets), you’ll answer various SAT Math questions and then check your answers one by one. As you do so, mark the ones you got wrong and then immediately attempt to solve them again, this timeusing the correct answer as a hint. Re-solving questions allowsyou to think more deeply about why you missed a question and what other ways you can use to approach it and come up with a solution. Additional Math strategies areplugging in answers and plugging in numbers. With these two strategies, you can attempt almost anymath problem, even if you’re clueless about how to solve it. These strategies work well if you don't knowhow to simplify algebraic expressions or how to use algebra to solve systems of equations and inequalities. #5: Review Core SAT Grammar Topics Switching gears now! For the SAT Writing and Language section, you must possess a working knowledge of written English conventions and then use this knowledge to correct and improve sentences in various passages. In short, you must understand all of the fundamental rules of English grammar and punctuation. Rules and conceptsmostcommonly tested on the SAT Writing section include: Commas, colons, and semicolons Apostrophes and possessives Subject-verb agreement Modifiers Homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings) Restrictive and non-restrictive clauses Redundancy Idiomatic phrases #6: Develop a Strategy for Reading SAT Passages Passages are abundant on both the Reading and Writing sections of the SAT; in fact, every question on these two sections is based on a passage! Therefore,it's important you cultivate the ability to interpret various types of passages both quickly and accurately. There are many methods for approaching SAT passages. Becausethe Reading and Writing sections pose different types of questions in regards to their respective passages, you may find it easier to develop separate reading strategies for each section. On the Reading section, test takers typically use one of the following strategiesfor reading passages: Skim the passage and then read the questions Skim the questions and then read or skim the passage Read the passage in its entirety and then answer the questions (not recommended) And on the Writing section, test takers tend to use one of these strategies: Answer questions as you read the passage paragraph by paragraph (highly recommended) Answer each underlined question in order as you read the passage Skim the passage and then answer the questions Read only the underlined sentences (not recommended) Ultimately, which passage-reading strategy you choose is up to you, and its success depends on how you read and digest information best. To help you determine which strategy works wellfor you, test out the different strategies listed above using the Reading and Writing sections onofficial SAT practice tests (make sure you time yourself for the same amount of time you’ll be given on the SAT). After you take the tests, compare your scores for each section. Any scores that are significantly higher on one test shouldpoint to a strategy that suits you. 6 Additional SAT Study Tips for the High Achiever The following six tips are geared toward those who are planning to spend at least40 total hourson studying for the SAT in a month and would like additional tactics for reaching their SAT goal scores. #7: Carefully Analyze Real Questions Your study sessions will likely feel pretty long, so spendsome of your time carefully analyzing real SAT questions. The best resources to use for this are official SAT practice tests. As you peruse thequestions on these tests, look for concrete clues to help you identify the type of questions you're encountering on each section. For example, can you differentiate thebig picture questions on the Reading section from the little picture questions? On the Math section, can you identify which problems fall under theHeart of Algebra category? The Data Analysis and Problem Solving category? How doNo Calculator questions differ from those on the Calculator section? Examining how various types of concepts are presented on the SAT will allowyou tobecome an expert on the SAT format. As a result, you'll start to spend lesstime trying to comprehend SAT questionsand more time trying tosolve them. #8: Master ALL Applicable Math Topics and Grammar Rules Test takers hoping for a staggering point increase must move beyond the basics of SAT Math and grammar and start delving into more advanced (albeit less commonly encountered) SAT topics. For the Math section, spend extra time mastering the final10 percent of topics (called â€Å"Additional Topics in Math†). This category primarily covers: Geometry, including triangles, circles, 3-D objects, lines and angles, and arc lengths Trigonometry Complex numbers Additionally, try tomemorizeall of the major SAT Math formulas. Although you’ll be given a list of formulas on the exam, these formulas revolve exclusively around geometry (a less commonly tested topic). Thus, it's imperative youmemorize other relevant formulas, such as those for algebra and trigonometry, that will not be given to you on the test. That being said, you should still memorize the ones on the test, too; doing this willsave you time on test day, as you won't need to repeatedly check the list of formulas for help. In regards to grammar, those with ample time on their hands should make it a goal to master all of the rules detailed in our complete SAT grammar guide. This guide goes over some of the more complex grammar topics, includingrelative pronouns, parallel structure, and fragments and run-on sentences, that you'll need to know for the SAT. #9: Hone Your Reading Comprehension Skills To become an expert at SAT Reading, you must not only know how to read the passages but also how to select the correct answer. And here'sthe trick: there is always only one answer that is 100-percent, unambiguously correct. What do I mean by this? All correct Reading answers are supported bydirect evidencein the passages. So of the four answer choices given to you for each question, only one will be clearly correct - all of the other choices willcontain some sort of clue to indicate they are clearly incorrect. Make sure you practice honing this trick withhigh-quality Reading questions.As you do so,think deeply aboutwhythe incorrect answer choices are incorrect. Dead giveaways for incorrect answersare thosethat: Are too broad Are too specific Are unrelated to the passage Say the opposite of what’s written in the passage Contain extra information that isn’t written in the passage Offer a slightly plausible interpretation thatisn’t directly supported by the passage Even asingle word can make an answer choice incorrect, so alwayskeep a sharp eye as you consider answer choices on the Reading section. #10: Study Vocabulary Although vocabulary no longer constitutes a major portion of theSAT, those trying toincrease their EBRW scoresshould cover all of theirbases by studying vocabulary words likely to appear on the SAT. Luckily, all of the vocabulary on the new SAT is only about medium difficulty; the challenging part, however, stems from having to know tertiary meanings of common terms. For quality vocabulary prep, check out our selection of 150 ACT vocabulary words andScholastic’s 100-word SAT/ACT vocabulary list. (Note that thevocabulary tested on the SAT is now extremely similar to that tested onthe ACT, so it's perfectly OK to useACT vocabulary resources for your SAT prep!) #: Strengthen Your Weaknesses Another tip for high achievers is to target your weaknesses by drilling challenging SAT topics and question types. Focusing on your most difficultareas will help youhone your test-taking skills, effectivelyraising your SAT score. Doing this will also teach youhow todetect patterns in the errors you make, so that you canavoid making them again in the future. The best way to combat your SAT weaknesses is to dedicate more time to both content review and hands-on practice. Use high-quality resources such as prep books for comprehensive content explanations. Then, look for realistic practice questions on your most difficult topics (official practice tests and prep books are solid resources for questions). Work through the questions one by one and check their answers to ensure you understand what mistakes you’re making and how you can alter your habits to answer the questions correctly on test day. #12: Practice Pacing Yourself Don’t assume that just because you’re familiar with the content of the SAT that you’ll be able to breeze on through it! Instead, taketime to develop an ideal pace. One of the worst things you can do on the SAT is leave dozens of questions unanswered, but being aware of how much time you spend on each question should greatly reduce this risk. On practice tests, time yourself and try to see whether certain question types take you longer to work through than others. Then, work on developing faster techniques and strategies for the types of questions that usually eat up your time. On the other hand, if you’re routinely finishing practice tests with tons of time to spare but not scoring where you want to score, you’re likely moving way too fast. In this case, devote more time to double-checking your answers and re-reading any ambiguous questions, sentences, or passages. The Final Word: How to Study for the SAT in a Month Studying for the SAT in a month, though challenging, can be a feasible option for certain test takers depending on the number of points by which you’d like to improve your baseline score. The more points you want, the more hours you’ll need to dedicate to studying - and thus the harder it’ll be to stick to your study plan. If you are trying to improve your score by a significant number of points - say, 200 or more - one month likely isn’t going to be enough time for you to be able to successfully do so. To study for the SAT in a month, you must first find your SAT target score based on your colleges’ average SAT scores and then take an official SAT practice test to get your baseline score. After you've gotten both of these scores, select a study schedule that corresponds to the total point improvement you want to make on the SAT. Once you’ve gathered your SAT prepmaterials, follow thesesix tips to get the most out of your month-long study plan: Familiarize yourself with the SAT format Take 2-3 official practice tests to track your progress Review core SAT math concepts Learn basic math strategies Review core SAT grammar topics Develop a strategy for reading SAT passages And for those with more hours to dedicate to studying, use your extra time to: Carefully analyze real questions Master all applicable math topics and grammar rules Hone your reading comprehension skills Study vocabulary Strengthen your weaknesses Practice pacing yourself With these tips in mind, you should have no trouble implementing a surefire month-long SAT study plan! What’s Next? Feel like you're running out of time?Stay calm! With ourexpert last-minute SAT tips and strategies, you can still get the SAT score you want - no matter how little time you've got left before test day. Need extra help studying for the SAT?Check out our top 21 SAT tipsand learn everything you need to know aboutacing the SAT! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

The news of the engagement by Arnold Bennett, and Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver by Thomas Hardy Essay Example

The news of the engagement by Arnold Bennett, and Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver by Thomas Hardy Essay Example The news of the engagement by Arnold Bennett, and Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver by Thomas Hardy Paper The news of the engagement by Arnold Bennett, and Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver by Thomas Hardy Paper Essay Topic: Literature Hardy was the first major writer to focus on the countryside but when he wrote his stories, times were changing and the Industrial revolution affected the countryside population. Bennetts writing forms a contrast to Hardy; his story is centred in the five towns (the pottery towns) around Stoke on Trent. His story reflects the change of the young man returning home from London and the big city life. Philip Durance is returning home at Christmas time from London. He has come with news of his engagement and he did not want to just write a letter to his mum because he did not know what to write. Philips relationship with his mum was quite close because he writes to her every week telling her of most of his doings. When Philip visited his mum she was more excited than usual. Philip finds it difficult to talk to his mum about Agnes his fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½e and his engagement because his mum tells him first of her engagement. So Philip feels that he does not want to spoil his mothers news, because she is so happy and he does not want to take the spotlight away from her. Tony Kytes says things that are amusing they are; singing a song as if it was a hymn, he sweet talks the girls saying how could he refuse them a lift and saying he never noticed how pretty the girls are. The funniest thing that Tony does is get all the girls to hide in his wagon. It all started by Tony riding around town in his wagon when he is asked by the girls for a lift one at a time, and every time a new girl gets in the wagon the previous girl hides, so at one point he has got 3 girls in the wagon at once. All the 3 girls really like Tony and want to marry him, so they always suck up to him, although at the end all the girls went off him because he made them hide and they did this even though he was engaged. One of the girls even hears Tony say he loves another girl but she did nothing for some reason. At the end Unity one of the 3 girls rejects Tony straight after Hannah, probably to not seem desperate but secretly wanting him to ask her later on. So in the end Tony is left with the one girl he decided against. All in all the Arch deceiver is about a man who is split between which woman he wants to marry and just transports them all around town and in the end none of the women want him.

Art, the voice of individual Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Art, the voice of individual - Essay Example Governance supervises the activities of every member of the society including artists. In the past, oppressive governments discouraged the liberty in arts. This made artists become more determined in expressing their works through creative means. From history, politics have always been in constant conflict with the freedom of expression which, coincidentally, made the industry thrive. Through the criticisms of governments, arts have become so celebrated that today most media houses have a creative editorial on the state of governance, social welfare, and even politics within the societies they exist in. This coincidentally validates W. Benjamin’s claims that political values have led to the development of the modern day art (Arthur 66). Arts and craft are expressions of opinions. This simply implies that the two are authentic and do not require any approval from a third party to be accepted as being so. Freedom provides for the right to hold and express opinions on whichever topic rife within the community. Unfortunately, politics has been one of the most common topics within the society thereby attracting more opinions from the populace. Controversies lead to the development of more opinions from people most of which are negative. This explains why only controversial leaders have always been opposed to the growth and development of arts within their societies. A society, on the other hand, refers to a group of people living together in an organized community. This thus implies that the people in a society share certain aspects of life such as culture, norms, and practices. The order inferred to in the definition of society is instilled by politics. A political system entails a structured system of personalities charged with the governance of a country or a region. There are different types of political structures key among which include democracy. Democracy refers to a type of political system in which political leaders are fairly elected from

The Moral question of legallizing Marijuana Research Paper

The Moral question of legallizing Marijuana - Research Paper Example The rising numbers of people who are addicted to marijuana bring forth the severity of the problem. But, apart from these common but dubious modes, one of the positive but underrated ways in which Marijuana can be used is in the form of medicinal drugs to treat many health ailments, which cannot be optimally treated by other drugs. So, the moral question here is whether it right to overlook the negative effects of Marijuana, legalize it and use it for medicinal purposes. That is, although Marijuana has negative effects, it will be negative only if it is used in excessive and extreme manner. However, the other perspective is, using Marijuana aptly and positively will save many lives and eliminate their sufferings. So, this paper will focus on this contemporary problem, making a case that would be just to legalize Marijuana. Although legalizing Marijuana will bring financial advantages to the state coffers, the main crux based on which it should be legalized, is its use for medicinal purposes. So, this paper will argue for legalization and will justify such a measure by listing out how it can be used to treat many medical aliments, thereby providing a moral justification. Legalization of marijuana has been an issue of contention of late with some arguing that legalization is good and others opposing it completely. The sparkle to kick-off the debate was thrown when San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, instigated a legislation to legalize marijuana in California (Sabatini, 2009). This in turn has attracted diverse dimensions with some big names like California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, once a staunch opposer on the move, coming out publicly to accept that the time is now that lawmakers should exclusively debate the issue considering the economic aspect of marijuana trade as the downturn continues to bite (Sabatini, 2009). Over 500 economists including well known Friedman, Nobel Laureate

Social and Cultural Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Social and Cultural Philosophy - Essay Example The political stakes in the modern split between high and low art were never more clearly articulated than in the debate between Walter Benjamin and Theodor W. Adorno on popular culture. When Adorno described his defense ÃŽ ¿f autonomous art and Benjamin's apology for mass entertainment as torn halves ÃŽ ¿f one freedom, he located their dispute within a speculative tradition that invests aesthetic experience with emancipatory potential. The origins ÃŽ ¿f this discourse can be traced to Romanticism and its reflection on the role ÃŽ ¿f subjectivity in politics and art. Benjamin's dialogue with Adorno marked an important turning point in this narrative by unmasking its twin protagonists--the autonomous individual and its collective other--as phantasms, figments ÃŽ ¿f the Romantic imagination. By analyzing the Romantic phantasms that haunted Benjamin's dialogue with Adorno, the present essay suggests how critical subjectivity might be reconsidered in an age in which the virtual reality à Ž ¿f cyberspace has become second nature for many individuals. The debate on popular culture is primarily documented in two essays--one each by Benjamin on film and Adorno on jazz--published in successive issues ÃŽ ¿f the Zeitschrift fur Sozialforschung in 1936. (Wiggershaus 191-218) Both friends were living in exile--Benjamin in Paris and Adorno in Oxford--and the letters they exchanged provide additional clues to the positions they were elaborating. If the personal hardships f emigration influenced the tenor f their dispute, then contemporary events almost certainly contributed to its sense f urgency. Everywhere the new mass media seemed subject to manipulation: by totalitarian regimes in Italy, Germany, and the USSR, and monopolizing market forces in the USA. In the 1930s, questions f popular culture became political problems f the first order. Adorno's primary contribution to the debate, an essay titled "Uber Jazz," has a relatively uncomplicated textual history. Benjamin's contribution, "Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit," is another story. At Benjamin's request, the essay was published in the Zeitschrift fur Sozialforschung in French translation. This translation was based on a second, revised version f the essay. After the French translation was published, Benjamin completed a second and more radical revision f the German text, in the express hope that Bertolt Brecht would have it published in Moscow. As it turned out, none f the German versions appeared in print until Adorno and his wife Gretel included the third version f the essay in their two-volume edition f Benjamin's selected works, in 1955. This is the version that served as the basis for Harry Zohn's translation, "The Work f Art in the Age f Mechanical Reproduction," the only one available in English at this date. It is also the v ersion that continues to serve as the basis for most academic discussion f the essay, despite the fact that both earlier versions have been made available in recent decades. (Arendt 217-51) The result f all this is that there exists no one authoritative text f Benjamin's essay, but rather three distinct documents f a work in progress. The differences that distinguish the three texts provide as much insight into Benjamin's debate with Adorno as any one variant read in isolation. For this reason, all three versions will be considered in the discussion that follows. Adorno first identified the Romantic phantasms haunting his dialogue with Benjamin in a letter from 18 March 1936, written to critique an unpublished manuscript f Benjamin's essay. In an attempt to mediate between their divergent views, Adorno observed that autonomous art and popular film both bear the scars f capitalist exploitation, as well as elements f change. He did not, however, suggest that high art be privileged over low. Instead, he insisted that neither be sacrificed to the other, since this would mean losing the critical potential f both. Only if high and low art are

Overview of the Development of Education in the UAE and the UK Essay

Overview of the Development of Education in the UAE and the UK - Essay Example Learning processes that use media and methodology have been found to benefit most from ICT use in education. Information Communication Technology is also useful in familirising learners with the installation and the use of IT equipment such as computers (Hsi, 2006). Furthermore, ICT is important for addressing technological ethical and social issues encountered in educational institutions (Bagley et al., 2010). Additionally, educational ICT instills multiple intelligences in learners by simulation, thus promoting learning by all senses (Andrews, 2004). This paper explores the educational ICT networking availability and circumstances in the UK and the UAE. For both countries, educational ICT is categorised as subject, tool/support for other subjects, administrative tool and as a medium for the exchange of knowledge and information (NAEYC, 2008). Educational ICT in the United Kingdom For a long time in the UK, ICT has not only been taught by individual schools as a subject but has also been part of the national curriculum. In fact, most UK students are free to study ICT at the GCSE level (Department of Education, 2011). Among the ICT initiatives that have promoted the growth of educational ICT networking in the UK was the Curriculum Online scheme which unfortunately closed in 2008 (Computer Aid International, 2009). The main purpose of this scheme was to accelerate the uptake of ICT in UK schools (Leask & Pachler, 1999). The agency mandated to oversee the development of educational ICT networking in the UK until April 2011 was Becta (Vanderlinde et al., 2010). In the execution of its mandate, Becta worked closely with the Joint Information Systems Committee to develop the necessary ICT strategies (Young, 2008). With the government cutting its spending on Becta, a major shake-up occurred in UK’s state schools’ ICT networking, with stakeholders giving divergent opinions on the future role and effects of ICT in the educational sector. As a result of th e spending cuts and the feeling that it had become redundant, Becta was abolished in April 2011 (Driscoll et al., 2011). Some stakeholders such as Bernadette Brooks of the Educational ICT Association asserted that the UK government lacked the emphasis that UK’s competitors laid on the need to invest on educational skills in its educational system. In fact, Brooks cited the policy statements of countries such as the United States, UAE and Hong Kong as those in which educational ICT has been identified as central for 21st century growth and development (Harlen &, James, 1996). Brooks also asserted that although it was a positive step for the government to promote ‘free’ schools and freedom for schools to invest in ICT, cutting funding and abolishing advisory agencies such as Becta created new types of challenges for the inclusion and growth of ICT in the education system. For example, it has been a big challenge to harness grants for ICT developments in UK schools since the abolition of Becta (Wray, 2005). Similarly, the abolition of the Building Schools for the Future programme has also considerably reduced the funds available for educational ICT (Fraline, 2011). Holding similar thoughts to Brooks is the National Association of Head Teachers which believes that the spending cuts impose long- and short-term limitations on UK schools’

Your vision of leadership (Double Weighted) Assignment

Your vision of leadership (Double Weighted) - Assignment Example Various theories of leadership have been developed, and various styles of leadership have been embraced. There are various theories and models of leadership that have been formulated. It has also been evidenced that individuals portray various leadership styles (Choosing the Right Approach for the Situation, 2015). In fact, great leaders are able to combine the various styles of leadership to achieve their objectives and set targets. Naturalist theory of leadership establishes that leaders are born (Leadership theories, leadership models and leadership principles, 2015). According to the theory, the traits of a great leader can be seen from the early years of development of a child. The children do not need to acquire any special form of training to make admirable leaders in the society. Going through the theory, memories of my childhood flash through my mind. I remember instances where I would allocate duties to my siblings who were older than me. I would mobilize friends and neighbors to do general clean-up activities in the homestead. I would like to be a transformational leader. Transformational leadership is mostly applicable to the business environment. The traits that put transformational leaders above others are their high level of integrity, empathy, and humility. Their problem-solving skills coupled with conflict resolution techniques highly boost the growth of the enterprises they work in. They set precise goals and are able to motivate other employees who share in his beliefs (Leadership Styles, 2015). Transformational leaders are immensely productive. Jack Welch, a retired Chief Executive Officer of General Electric, was a leader of great valor. He is a result-oriented individual, who through his zeal and effort caused the rapid growth of the firm. I get inspired by his stories of how he turned the company around. He inspires me be to be more and achieve greater results. The school of

Overview of the Development of Education in the UAE and the UK Essay

Overview of the Development of Education in the UAE and the UK - Essay Example Learning processes that use media and methodology have been found to benefit most from ICT use in education. Information Communication Technology is also useful in familirising learners with the installation and the use of IT equipment such as computers (Hsi, 2006). Furthermore, ICT is important for addressing technological ethical and social issues encountered in educational institutions (Bagley et al., 2010). Additionally, educational ICT instills multiple intelligences in learners by simulation, thus promoting learning by all senses (Andrews, 2004). This paper explores the educational ICT networking availability and circumstances in the UK and the UAE. For both countries, educational ICT is categorised as subject, tool/support for other subjects, administrative tool and as a medium for the exchange of knowledge and information (NAEYC, 2008). Educational ICT in the United Kingdom For a long time in the UK, ICT has not only been taught by individual schools as a subject but has also been part of the national curriculum. In fact, most UK students are free to study ICT at the GCSE level (Department of Education, 2011). Among the ICT initiatives that have promoted the growth of educational ICT networking in the UK was the Curriculum Online scheme which unfortunately closed in 2008 (Computer Aid International, 2009). The main purpose of this scheme was to accelerate the uptake of ICT in UK schools (Leask & Pachler, 1999). The agency mandated to oversee the development of educational ICT networking in the UK until April 2011 was Becta (Vanderlinde et al., 2010). In the execution of its mandate, Becta worked closely with the Joint Information Systems Committee to develop the necessary ICT strategies (Young, 2008). With the government cutting its spending on Becta, a major shake-up occurred in UK’s state schools’ ICT networking, with stakeholders giving divergent opinions on the future role and effects of ICT in the educational sector. As a result of th e spending cuts and the feeling that it had become redundant, Becta was abolished in April 2011 (Driscoll et al., 2011). Some stakeholders such as Bernadette Brooks of the Educational ICT Association asserted that the UK government lacked the emphasis that UK’s competitors laid on the need to invest on educational skills in its educational system. In fact, Brooks cited the policy statements of countries such as the United States, UAE and Hong Kong as those in which educational ICT has been identified as central for 21st century growth and development (Harlen &, James, 1996). Brooks also asserted that although it was a positive step for the government to promote ‘free’ schools and freedom for schools to invest in ICT, cutting funding and abolishing advisory agencies such as Becta created new types of challenges for the inclusion and growth of ICT in the education system. For example, it has been a big challenge to harness grants for ICT developments in UK schools since the abolition of Becta (Wray, 2005). Similarly, the abolition of the Building Schools for the Future programme has also considerably reduced the funds available for educational ICT (Fraline, 2011). Holding similar thoughts to Brooks is the National Association of Head Teachers which believes that the spending cuts impose long- and short-term limitations on UK schools’

HUM310 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HUM310 - Essay Example eparated from the Anglican Church and perceived the New Frontiers a place where they could put up their roots and established their own institutions of the same. Bradfords journal documented these sentiments through absorbing story telling techniques so that the reader could relate to the sense of community, the struggle of the early settlers, and the peaceful manners in which the Native Americans and the Pilgrims embraced each other. Had it not been for this peaceful integration with the Natives, specifically the Wampanoag tribe, later settlers from England would not have been able to establish towns and cities so easily. Indeed, through Bradford eyes, the challenge of "self-definition and establishment" (Parini 7), the origin of many of American traditions and culture such as Thanksgiving, could be seen to have emerged to shape the new nation. Moreover, "Of Plymouth Plantation" demonstrated the importance of compromise and peacemaking in the process of making a nation. Instead, of concentrating on "wealth and adventure" alone, Bradford encouraged understanding of the Natives and communication. He believed in embracing the value the locals had to offer to the new settlers through "sacred bonds and ties" of the "sweet communion" (Parini 10). At the same time one gets the sense of change during the 17th century. Bradford was saddened by the humiliation that the new generation brought with it by their violent behaviors and willful desecration of the locals. He believed the new colonists dissipated the foundations that were built by the early settlers particularly the Pilgrims of Plymouth that took years in the making. Although, Parini (10) sometimes believed Bradford to have veered from actual historical events, nevertheless one could relate to Bradfords experience at the time which were different from the narratives of the later colonists who were fiercer, resistant and against the Natives. Their dispositions resulted in bloody wars and waste of precious lives

Summer Essay Essay Example for Free

Summer Essay Essay On a hot summer day, a great place to go is to the beach. You would go out to the beach to enjoy the water, the sun, the activities that are happening, or just to be with family and friends. When youre at the beach, there are some very distinct smells. You can smell the salt from the water along with the heat from the sand. My most favourite smell of all is the sweet coconut smell of sun tanning lotion that people put on themselves while they lay into the sun to basically cook. If youre looking for a quiet day of relaxation at the beach, I dont think that will work out too well. The beach is always really loud throughout the day. You can hear the loud motors of the boats and the waves of the water as they come crashing through to shore. Youll definitely be able to hear the laughter and the excitement of the kids of all ages as they splash around, play games, and build sandcastles. While youre at the beach you can always get involved in some fun activities, if you arent able to relax. You can go fishing, if you like touching the slimy scales of the fish and the soft touch of the cold water. Just make sure you dont get the rough, coarse sand in your shorts because you wont like that too much. Overall the beach is lots of fun to go to, if you just want to get away from the busy everyday city life. If you are there early enough, you will be able to see a beautiful, bright sunrise and if you enjoy staying out on the beach until the evening, Im sure you can catch a calming and loving sunset. After the sun has gone down for the night, you can sit in the sand and stare up at the amazing dark blue sky and bright shining stars.

Concepts of the Holy Spirit

Concepts of the Holy Spirit Pneumatology I believe in the Holy Spirit, that He is the third Person of the Trinity, He is fully God, He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and He carries out the work of sustaining and empowering believers to live properly as children of God The Person of the Holy Spirit: I believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and, as such, is deity (Acts 5:3-4). He exists co-equally and co-eternally with the Father and the Son (2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Pet. 1:1-2). His divinity is shown in how He is presented as equal with the Father and the Son (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 12:4-6), by His names Spirit of God or Spirit of Christ (Gen. 1:2; Rom. 8:9), by His ability to give new life (John 6:63; Rom. 1:4; 8:2-11; 2 Cor. 3:6) and by His full knowledge of the thoughts of God (1 Cor. 2:10-11). He is personal in nature. He is said to understand the mind of God and to search out all things (1 Cor. 2:10-11) which emphasizes knowledge and intellect. He has a will and He chose to distribute spiritual gifts to the Church according to His will (1 Cor. 12:11). He commands believers to do certain tasks (Acts 8:29). He testifies of Jesus and bears witness that He is indeed from the Father and does so for those He indwells (Jn. 15:26-27). He teaches believers (Jn. 14:26) a nd guides them in all the truth of God (Jn. 16:13). He can be resisted (Acts 7:51), lied to (Acts 5:19), grieved (Eph. 4:30), and quenched (1 Thess. 5:19). The Work of the Holy Spirit: I believe that the Holy Spirit was active in creation (Gen. 1:2) and in empowering specific Old Testament people for particular acts of service (Num. 11:26-29; 24:2; Judg. 14:6). He was instrumental in the giving of prophesy and Scripture. Ezekiel said that the Spirit came into me causing him to speak the truth to Gods people (Ez. 2:2). The Holy Spirit was involved in the virgin birth of Christ (Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35), came upon Jesus at His baptism (Matt. 3:16-17), and strengthened Jesus throughout His earthly ministry (Matt. 4:1; 12:28). I believe that the Holy Spirit superintended the writing of the Scripture to ensure the precise results God wanted (2 Peter 1:20-21). The Spirit works in the lives of unbelievers convicting them of their sinful state before God and of the impending judgment (John 16:8). The Spirits work in believers heightened at Pentecost (Acts 2). The Spirit works in New Testament believers for the glory of Christ (John 16:13-14). He is responsible for regeneration (John 3:3, 5; Titus 3:5; 2 Thess. 2:13). He indwells every believer at conversion (Rom. 8:9) and is involved in incorporating believers into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). The Spirit seals believers until the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). He is the guarantee of future salvation (Eph. 1:13-14; Rom. 8:23). The Spirit empowers believers for daily living and for service (Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:16-25), provides assurance of salvation (Rom. 8: 16), is intricately involved in the sanctification and spiritual maturity of the believer as the Christians helper and comforter (Jn. 14:16), and leads believers to be holy (Rom. 8:13-15). Baptism in the Spirit is a one-time experience for each believer that happens at conversion (Acts 1:5; 2:38; 1 Cor. 12:13). From conversion on, each believer is to be strongly influenced by the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). The believer never receives more of the Spirit after conversion, but throughout the Christian life, the Spirit ought to influence the believer more and more as the believer responds rightly to the Spirits work through the Word. The Spirit promotes unity in the body of Christ through the various gifts (1 Cor. 12). Spiritual gifts include individuals specially given by Christ such as pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:11), as well as abilities endowed by the Spirit for the good of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:4-11; Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Pet. 4:10-11). Apostles and prophets formed a unique role in the formation of the church (Eph. 2:20) and still minister to the church today through the Scriptures they wrote. However, there are no apostles and prophets today. The Spirit gives gifts to individual believers as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11). The record of Scripture (Acts 2, 10, 19; Heb. 2:1-4) and church history suggest that several of the gifts such as healing, miracles, and tongues were confirmatory and temporal in nature, in that they confirmed Gods unique working through the apostles and the early church, but in a short while fell off the scene. What is most important is that love drives all use of the spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 13), that gifts are practiced in accordance with Scriptural guidelines (1 Cor. 14:40), and that believers focus on edifying others through their God-given abilities and gifts (1 Cor. 14:12, 26), rather than tearing others down and exalting themselves. Ecclesiology I believe that the church, of which Christ is the head, is one universal and spiritual body, gathered in local bodies, to whom has been committed the ordinances of believers baptism and the Lords Supper, with the corporate purpose of glorifying God through worship, the edification of the saints, and the communication of the gospel to the world. The Universal Church: I believe that all those who place their faith in Christ are baptized in the Holy Spirit and placed into the church (1 Cor. 12:12-13), which is one universal and spiritual body (Eph. 1:22-23; 2:21-22; 4:4-6). Christ is both the builder of the church (Matt. 16:18) and the head of the church, giving direction to the church and ruling over the church (Eph. 5:23; Col 1:18). Christ nourishes and cherishes the church (Eph. 5:29-30), adds numerically to the church (Acts 2:47), and causes spiritual growth within the church (Eph. 4:15-16). As the body of Christ, the church exists to bring glory to God (Eph. 3:20-21) and to represent Christ to the world (John 17:18; Eph. 1:22-23). The church brings glory to God through worship (John 4:23-24; Col. 3:16-17), through building itself up in the faith (Acts 2:41-42; Heb. 10:24-25), through submission to the Word (James 1:19-25; 1 Pet. 1:22-2:3), and through communicating the gospel to the world (Matt. 28:19-20). I believe that the church, as a united international body of Jewish and Gentile believers, is a mystery, not fully disclosed until this age (Eph. 3:3-6; Col. 1:25-27). The church is testified to by Jesus (Mat. 16:18-19; 18:15-17; Acts 1:5), began at Pentecost (Acts 2), but will not be fully completed until Christ comes to take up His bride (1 Thess. 4:13-18). While the church is a part of the people of God of all ages who have been saved by grace through faith (Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:29), the church is similar to, but distinct from, the nation Israel (Rom. 11:23-27; 1 Cor. 10:32), which still has a role in Gods purposes. The Local Church: I believe that the local church is the visible representation of the universal church, although believers may at times exist outside of a local church and false converts may at times be present in a local church (1 John 2:19). The local church gathers in organized (1 Cor. 14:40), local (Acts 11:22; Acts 13:1) assemblies for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-16), all to the glory of God. The local church is a fellowship of true followers of Jesus Christ who are individually priests before God (1 Pet. 2:5, 9) and is characterized by unity in diversity (1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12:4-8). Every believer ought to be accountable to (Matt. 18:15-17) and actively involved in a Bible-preaching local church, so that he or she may participate in the edification of the saints and be built up personally into the likeness of Christ (Heb. 10:23-25). I believe that the local church has been given apostles and prophets as foundational gifts and that the local church still benefits from these gifted people through the Scriptures (Eph. 4:11; 2:20). I believe that the local church has been given two primary offices for today: elders or overseers (often called pastors) (Eph. 4:11; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-2) and deacons (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:8-13). Elders and deacons must meet certain qualifications to serve in these capacities (Titus 1:5-9; 1 Tim. 3:1-13). The elders primary role in the body is to lead the flock spiritually through his own example, through prayer, and through feeding the flock through the preaching and teaching of the Word (1 Pet. 5:2; Acts 20:28). The deacons are those whose primary role is to serve the body in whatever way is needed. In the early church, women were actively involved in church ministry, both publicly and privately, in such capacities as teaching women (Titus 2:3-5), evangelizing and discipling believers (Acts 18:26; 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:14-15), laboring in gospel ministry (Rom. 16:3-4; Phil. 4:3), being a servant and patron of the church (Rom. 16:1-3), and praying and prophesying in public worship (1 Cor. 11:2-16). At the same time, though women play critical roles in the life of the church, both privately and publicly, the New Testament also upholds a distinction for the role of women in regard to the public ministry of proclaiming the Word (1 Tim. 2:11-15). Only men are to hold the office of overseer (1 Tim. 3:1-7) and to exercise authority in the church over men in the public teaching of the Word (1 Tim. 2:11-15). I believe that the local church has been given two ordinances: baptism (Matt. 28:19) and the Lords Supper (1 Cor. 11:23-32). Baptism is to be done soon after conversion and by immersion in water (Acts 2:41; 8:36-38; 10:47; 16:33). It is a public, external signification of the inward change that God has worked in the heart (Rom. 6:2-4). The believer has died to sin and has been raised to walk in the newness of life. The Lords Supper also functions as a symbolic reminder of the redemptive work of Christ (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:24-25). It is to be a time of unity, confession and forgiveness, and a time of looking forward to Christs return (1 Cor. 11:23-32). The ordinances point the believer back to the cross and Christs transforming work in our lives and in this way serve to strengthen believers and to encourage them to continue in the faith. I believe that the local church and its members are to be holy and unstained by the world (James 1:27; 1 John 2:15-17; 1 Pet. 1:13-16). In addition, the Scriptures clearly affirm that there will be many false teachers who try to lead the church away from Christ (2 Pet. 2:1-3; 2 Tim. 4:3-4). I believe that the local church and its members must beware of and repudiate false teaching (1 John 4:1; Rom. 16:17; 2 Cor. 6:14-17). I believe that the local church and its members are also to be separated from erring brothers (2 Thess. 3:6-15; 1 Cor. 5:9-11; Titus 3:10-11). This separation is to be practiced through the discipline of wandering members in the hopes of restoration (1 Cor. 5; 2 Thess. 3:15; Matt. 18:15-17; Gal. 6:1-2). This separation also ought to be practiced at an ecclesiastical level to preserve the truth of the gospel. It is our sharing in the gospel and in the Spirit that creates unity in the body of Christ (Eph. 4:1-6). If the clarity of the gospel is at stake, a firm stand must be made that clearly identifies the church and its members with the pure gospel of grace (Gal. 1:6-10; 2:11-14; Phil. 3:1-3). Eschatology I believe that Jesus is coming again as King and Judge to be united with His Bride, to inflict judgment on all those who have not obeyed the gospel, and to establish His kingdom in fulfillment of the promises of Scripture. The Eternal State: I believe that physical death involves the separation of the soul from the body (James 2:26; Phil. 1:22-24). For a believer, death means the immediate entrance of the spirit into the presence of the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). The spirit of the unrighteous enters hell, a place of torment and punishment (Luke 16:19-31; 2 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 20:13-14). This intermediate state is a conscious existence for all who die as they await their bodily resurrection the righteous unto imperishable, glorified bodies (Rom. 8:10-11; 1 Cor. 15:24-54) while the unrighteous unto eternal disgrace and corruption (Rev. 20:11-15; John 5:28-29). The righteous will be judged and will receive the rewards due them in accordance with their works (2 Cor. 5:9-10; Rom. 14:10-12); the unrighteous will stand condemned at the Great White Throne and be cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment and separation from God (2 Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:11-15). The punishment of the wicked will be conscious and eternal (Ma tt. 10:28; Luke 16:23-28) and will be worse for those who had been given greater privilege (Matt. 11:20-24; Rom. 2:5). The Heart of Eschatology: I believe that Jesus is coming again to be united with His bride (1 Thess. 4:13-18) to inflict vengeance on those who have not obeyed the gospel (2 Thess. 1:5-10), to crush His enemies, and to establish His worldwide kingdom (Acts 1:5-11; Rev. 19-22). Believers ought to wait with eager anticipation for the coming of the Lord (James 5:7-9). Unbelievers should repent while there is still time since God has appointed Jesus as Judge (Acts 17:30-31). For believers, the Lords return ought to inspire hope in the midst of suffering and holiness in practical life (Rom. 8:18-25; 2 Peter 3:11-13; 1 John 3:1-3). Eschatological Chronology: While I believe that the Scripture does point toward the chronology below, I also recognize that the Scriptures are not explicit in regard to prophetic chronology and that church history also points to a lack of consensus on this issue. With this said, I affirm the following view of prophetic chronology. I believe that Gods plan is to bring everything in the universe into subjection to Christ (Col. 1:19-20; Eph. 1:9-10). I believe that the next event in Gods prophetic plan is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His saints (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Those who have died in Christ will be instantly resurrected, and those still alive will be caught up together with them and be transformed into glorious new bodies (1 Cor. 15:51-53; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). Following the rapture, the seven year tribulation will commence (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15-31). During this time, there will be an outpouring of Gods wrath like none other in the history of the earth (Rev. 6:15-17; Is. 24; Jer. 30:7; Rev. 6-19). This will be a time in which Satan will persecute Israel with fierce destruction and deceive the nations with great success (Dan. 12:1-3; Jer. 30:7; 2 Thess. 2:3-12). I believe that at the end of the tribulation period Jesus will physically return (Acts 1:11) to the earth to defeat Antichrist and his forces (Rev. 19:11-21), to bind Satan and seal him in the abyss (Rev. 20:1-3), and to rule the world from Jerusalem for 1000 years (Mic. 4:1-4; Zech. 14:9-11; Rev. 20:4-6). These thousand years, known as the millennium, will be a time of peace, prosperity, blessing, and righteousness (Is. 11:6-10; 65:20-25), and will ultimately fulfill Gods covenant promises to Israel (Is. 9:6-7; Ezek. 37:21-28; Jer. 31:31-34; Rom. 11:25-26) as the Offspring of David rules the whole earth from His throne in Jerusalem (Is. 2:2-4; 11:1-5), along with His people (Dan. 7:21-22; Rev. 20:4). The millennium will be brought to an end with the final, brief release of Satan (Rev. 20:7). Satan will once more deceive and gather together the wicked against Christ and His saints at Jerusalem (Rev. 20:7-9). Christ will destroy them and cast Satan into the lake of fire. The wicked wi ll be resurrected bodily to be judged at the Great White Throne and then will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10-15) to suffer eternal punishment (Matt. 13:42; 25:41-46). I believe that these heavens and earth will be burned with intense heat (2 Pet. 3:10) and that God will create a new heaven and a new earth where believers will dwell eternally and joyfully in His presence, free from all sin and sorrow (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1-22:5).

Ambiguities Explored in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essays

Ambiguities Explored in Heart of Darkness   Ã‚  Ã‚   Literature is never interpreted in exactly the same way by two different readers. A prime example of a work of literature that is very ambiguous is Joseph Conrad's, "Heart of Darkness". The Ambiguities that exist in this book are Marlow's relationship to colonialism, Marlow's changing feelings toward Kurtz, and Marlow's lie to the Intended at the end of the story.    One interpretation of Marlow's relationship to colonialism is that he does not support it. Conrad writes, "They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now,-nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom" (p. 27-28). Marlow says this and is stressing that the so-called "savages", or Africans, are being treated and punished like they are criminals or enemies when in fact they never did anything. He observes the slow torture of these people and is disgusted with it. Marlow feels sympathy for the black people being slaved around by the Europeans but doesn't do anything to change it because that is the way things are. One can see the sympathy by the way that he gives a starving black man one of his biscuits. "To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe" (p. 54). This statement by Marlow conveys th at he doesn't believe that the Europeans have a right to be stripping Africa of its riches. He views the Jungles of Africa as almost it's own living, breathing monster.    It is evident that Marlow is one of the few white men on the journey that questions the belief at the time that the natives of Africa are "inhu... ...ch open up the readers mind. Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", raises many questions about society and the human potential for evil.    Works Cited and Consulted:       Conrad, Joseph.   Heart of Darkness 3rd Ed.   Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York:   Norton Critical, 1988.    Edward W. Said, The World, the Text, and the Critic. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1983) 13.    Hillman, James. "Notes on White Supremacy: Essaying an Archetypal Account of Historical Events," Spring (1986): 29-57.    McLynn, Frank. Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa. New York: Carol & Gey, 1992.    Meyers, Jeffrey.   Joseph Conrad.   New York:   Charles Scribner's Sons, 1991.    Patrick Brantlinger, "Heart of Darkness: Anti-Imperialism, Racism, or Impressionism?" Criticism (Fall, 1985) 364.     

Essay --

Technology is becoming an increasingly bigger part of each of our lives. Everything seems to involve some form of technology whether it is a clock, a phone or a car. However, the specific area of technology I am going to be focusing on for my Individual Research is Digital Technology. I have chosen this question because technology plays a big part of my life; I utilize it everyday, whether it is for school, entertainment or current events. However, the more and more I use my computer the more I wonder do the benefits of technology outweigh the disadvantages. Thus, from this query it stemmed into the question for my individual research Do the benefits of Digital Technology Outweigh the Disadvantages? And, through my research, I will be able to gain knowledge on how technology is useful Globally, Nationally and personally, and how it could be more helpful than not. Throughout my individual research the main topic I will cover will be Technology and Economic Divide. However, more specif ically I could also focus on Social Networking, Robotics, and Communication and transportation. If the world were to continuing advancing in terms of technology at the rate that it was today, we could possibly see a major expansion of Robots in our culture. Robots could potentially free us from continuing to do repetitive and tedious jobs. Although it may be true that we require the â€Å"training† from those types of jobs, the discipline and patience. Yet, history has proven that most of these tedious jobs have been allocated to the lower and middle classes and compensation for those jobs is rarely consistent to the desirability of work. With our current advancements in technology continuing to the not-too-distant future, robots will soon be able to take... ...that if governments around the world continue to set up campaigns like â€Å"Be Net-wise† it could reduce the potential chance of abuse online and make people around the world more confident to browse the web without fear from abuse and use it for the greater good in finding information. And also if the rest of the world follows the EU’s example of investing in technology to increase innovation and development, the economies of the world will all benefit through the competition of businesses and will most likely experience an increase in economic growth. Finally, I truly believe that if the world continues on this path, I believe that through the development of technology we could ultimately make my scenario a very real possibility, and we could reduce the gaps between the social classes, and could ultimately benefit in the future through having more freedom and choice.

RBC Analysis Essay

Executive Summary In today’s demanding market, it is essential to know how to make good investments. The following is an in depth qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Royal Bank of Canada. First, RBC and its subsidiaries will be introduced including information about its history and current situation. The qualitative analysis will consist of RBC’s general information, history, business segments, and corporate social responsibility. Secondly, ratios and other quantitative information pertaining to RBC’s investment situation will be analyzed. Finally, with respect to the qualitative and quantitative data, an investment recommendation will be made Investment Criteria A company’s ethics and proper management are just as important for their success as their financial data. In order to decide whether or not to invest in a company one must research the company inside and out starting with where the company has come from all the way to their current situation. A company’s history is of the utmost importance because it reveals management trends and past ethical decision making that could reoccur. Another important aspect of a company’s history is their international expansion and the companies they have done past business with. The industries companies choose to merge with are a good indicator of where they will invest their money in the future. More specific to the banking industry, sustainability has become one of the most important criteria for investment. Especially after the financial collapse of 2008, banks with strong sustainability stood out and gained ground on the high-risk high reward banks. From a quantitative perspective, data trends can help predict if a company is on a small skid or headed toward future collapse. Ratios can help determine how quickly a company can pay back their liabilities as well as how efficient they are being with their shareholder’s money. A company’s stock may rise or fall depending on their current situation and how the market is fairing overall. The amount of assets and acquisitions a company makes can lead a potential investor to believe they are expanding. Usually good financial data investment criteria are a current ratio >2:1 and an ROA >5%. Company Introduction The Royal Bank of Canada is Canada’s largest bank by assets and market capitalization. The bank has offices in Canada, United States and 49 other countries. Currently, there are 80,000 full and part time employees at RBC with close to 15 million clients worldwide. The company has a good balance between retail and wholesale banking with over two-thirds of their revenue coming from Canada. The other main geographical markets include U. S. (16%), while all other revenue is distributed internationally (17%). (See Appendix A) Qualitative Analysis History The history of a company, industry it is present in, and prior success are some of the main factors when considering investing in a company. RBC has been a leading Canadian bank since June 22, 1864 when it was incorporated as the Merchants Bank of Halifax. Its name was changed to The Royal Bank of Canada in 1901. Twenty-four year later it merged with the Union Bank of Canada on the basis of 1 share of Royal Bank stock for two shares of Union Bank stock. Since then, RBC has taken advantage of many international joint ventures and foreign acquisitions. Most notably in Cuba, Britain, and West Germany. Post-1980, the bank created joint ventures in China with China International Trust & Investment Corp. and began acquiring financial companies in North America. All of the sudden, RBC found themselves competing with large new international banks. During this time, the bank also made a larger commitment to their corporate social responsibility as their charitable donations reached 25. 5 million in 1999. Most recently, RBC has been striving to become a more broad-based financial services group rather than a traditional commercial bank. Although RBC wanted to keep with it’s main goal of being the #1 banker in Canada, they also wanted to build a stronger overall North American identity. Technology based products took the lead in the bank’s new American market strategy. In going along with this strategy, RBC acquired the world’s first Internet bank in order to take advantage of e-banking services. Finally, the bank has developed a new global brand strategy in response to their growing North American presence, which requires the RBC financial group banner to each business platform and operating subsidiary. Business Segments The Royal Bank of Canada has five main business segments. The largest of these segments is their personal and commercial banking segment, which makes up 56% of their earnings. RBC was named the largest and most profitable retail banking in Canada as well as the 2nd largest bank by assets in English Caribbean (†Corporate Profile†). The bank provides cross-border banking for Canadian clients and U. S. wealth management clients. Their second largest business segment is their capital markets sector. Their capital markets department deals with corporate and investment banking, equity and debt distribution as well as trading. This segment is recognized as the 10th largest global investment bank by net revenue and was also named the best investment bank in Canada across equity, debt, and M&A five years in a row (â€Å"Corporate Profile†). The third business segment of RBC, which makes up 11% of their earnings, is their wealth management division. Investment, trust, credit, and other wealth management and asset management solutions are all included in wealth management. The division was named top six global wealth mangers by assets as well as ranked #1 in Canada in both retail and asset management (â€Å"Corporate Profile†). Finally, their insurance and investor & treasury services make up the last 11% of the bank’s total earnings. The insurance segment deals with life, health, home, auto, travel, and wealth accumulation solutions. Achievements of the insurance segment include receiving high marks for â€Å"Likelihood to Recommend† and â€Å"Ease of Doing Business† (â€Å"Corporate Profile†). Their investor & treasury services provide global custody, fund administration, and asset servicing to institutional investors. (See Appendix B) SWOT Analysis Strengths: Leading Market Position: RBC is Canada’s largest bank measured by assets and market capitalization. Leading market position in Canada enables the bank to gain economic economies of scale. Significant Presence in the US and UK RBC is the sixth largest full-service brokerage firm in the US and operates in a network of 42 states. In the UK, RBC is considered a Gilt-edged market maker and actively trades in either conventional or index-linked gilts (â€Å"Welcome to ALADIN†). Strong Balance Sheet RBC has a strong capital ratio and common ratio that are much greater than those required under Canadian standards. Also, the bank’s operating leverage declined between the years 2008 and 2010 showing potential from raising new capital (â€Å"Welcome to ALADIN†). Weaknesses: Asset Quality Deterioration RBC’s asset quality has been deteriorating since 2007. More specifically their gross impaired loans to total loans and acceptances ratio has grown between the years 2008 to 2010. Growth and profitability concerns at US operations Although RBC realized an overall growth in revenue in 2009, they also experienced a loss of net income. The US is RBC’s second largest market and can deeply impact the companies overall growth as a whole. Opportunities: International Expansion RBC has a rich history of international acquisitions over the past 30 years. Continuing with this aggressive strategy paves the way potential increases in revenue and profit expansion. Canada’s Promising Economic Prospects Canadian GDP has shown positive growth within the past two years. Attributing to this growth has been an increasing demand for commodities and improving global financial market conditions. Threats: Increasing Interest Rates As Canadian interest rates rise, so does the potential for a decrease in demand for financial services. High Taxation Banks in Canada are taxed at a much higher rate than other countries. In addition to Canada’s high taxation, the bank also faces high tax rates in the US; it’s second largest market (â€Å"Welcome to ALADIN†). Corporate Social Responsibility RBC has a clearly defined community and sustainability mission as they have been contributing to building a better future since 1864. Emphasis is put mainly on investing in the future by delivering quality products, protecting the environment, and sustaining a productive workplace. In respect to the community, RBC invests millions of dollars in health, sports, and the arts. More specifically they created RBC Play Hockey, which provides hockey gear to under privileged children. RBC believes that the game of hockey can bring a community together and provide a fun, competitive atmosphere among kids. Twenty grants, each of which was $25,000, will be awarded across North America (â€Å"Corporate Profile†). In respect to the environment, climate change, biodiversity, and water are weighed heavily upon. The RBC Blue Water Project helps educate people about the importance of preserving clean water in order to have enough fresh water for the future. The main component of the program is a ten-year, $50 million donations program, which supports not-for-profit organizations that protect watersheds and ensure access to clean drinking water (â€Å"Corporate Profile†). In RBC’s workplace is built upon the notion of shared values, and a sense of responsibility toward others. They look to provide a safe and flexible working environment with career growth opportunities. Also, the bank provides short and long term savings and wealth accumulation programs for their employees. Quantitative Analysis (See Appendix C) Balance Sheet: RBC has realized a 14% increase in assets over the last three years. This growth in assets is an indicator for an increase in stock returns. However, many times a growth in assets leads to sluggish returns as too many assets weigh down the bank (â€Å"Welcome to ALADIN†). Basic accounting procedures require all financial information on the balance sheet to even out. Therefore since RBC’s assets grew by 14%, so did they liabilities and shareholders equity. This increase in the bank’s liabilities can be attributed to inventory being purchased, issuing bonds payable at a discount, retirement costs for current employees etc. Paid-in capital, the year’s net profits, or a new share offering can increase shareholder’s equity. Shareholder’s equity is especially important for banks such as RBC because of the amount of capital they are given to invest. Cash Flow: Net investments cash flow represents the gain or loss in cash flow from investments made in the financial market and operating subsidiaries. In 2009, RBC had a positive cash flow indicating they were not investing heavily at the time. However, in the next two years, huge investments were made which made their net investments cash flow to go far below zero. Having a negative overall cash flow is not necessarily a bad thing, but instead may be a result of heavy investments. Nevertheless, RBC has maintained sustainability and kept their overall cash flow positive despite their large investments. Income Statement/Retained Earnings: RBC’s total revenue has decreased by 5% over the last three years. However looking deeper will reveal a huge increase in the company’s revenue over the past five years. In 2007 and 2008 the total revenue was $22,462 and $21,582 respectively (â€Å"Welcome to ALADIN†). This data revels an overall increase in revenue of 22% between 2007 and 2011, which any company would be proud of. In addition, RBC shows their continued effort toward sustainability as their retained earnings increased by almost 20% in the past three years (â€Å"Welcome to ALADIN†). In effect, this increase shows that a healthy profit exists even after dividends are given out to the shareholders.