How would you create a healthy, holistic atmosphere for children that Research Paper

How would you create a healthy, holistic atmosphere for children that addresses their physical, cognitive, and socioemotional ne - Research Paper Example The teacher serves as a facilitator rather than an instructing boss, and this aids the students in better communicating with the teacher and with other members of the group, and in getting an improved understanding of complicated problems related to their curriculum. An ideal curriculum would have the students focus not only on the theoretical segment of the subject but also upon the practical objectives that can also be applied to â€Å"their personal and professional lives† (Adamson). A healthy, holistic atmosphere encourages the students to work in groups in an informal environment where teacher does not act as a boss or a dictator; rather, the students act as their own instructors. They discuss the topic among themselves; ask each other questions; and, try to come up with the best possible solutions. This way, they learn to better communicate with peers and get to know each other better along with achieving a clearer concept about the topic in hand. An ideal environment sh ould so much keep the student occupied with the topic that they want to stay in the class even after the class is over so that they can argue about the uncertain concepts with the teacher.

A social or cultural phenomenon or aspect of Chinese contemporary Research Paper

A social or cultural phenomenon or aspect of Chinese contemporary society (since 1949) - Research Paper Example My focus will remain largely on the effects and defects of these past and present trends urbanization and village-to-city migration defection. In this context, I will also give particular focus upon the relatively new research done on the position and plight of migrant women in the social structure of the modern, urbanized, industrial China, in broad reference to the central issue of migration. My topic will refer particularly to the works of contemporary urban and social theorists like Martin King Whyte, Wu Jieh-Min, Arianne M. Gaetano and Tamara Acka, among others. I will also consult authoritative government demographic reports and journals to expand the purview of my research and present a comprehensive analysis of the same. Urban-Rural Relations: A Brief Look into the Past The Maoist revolution of China, spanning the 1950s, led by the dynamic leader Mao Zedong, as well as the related economic reforms of 1966-78, had aimed to create a society of equals replacing a dense capitalis t system of greed, corruption and exploitation. One the iconic and historically significant socialist uprisings, it had ventured to establish a communist and ‘egalitarian social order’(Whyte 2010). There existed, however a large gap between theory and reality. Instead, of stabilizing and equalizing the various social strata by creating an economic and cultural balance of sorts, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution deepened the gulf between the social classes and created a kind of politicized ‘serfdom’ that kept China away from an ideal communist reconfiguration of the society. (Whyte 2010) Migration and Intra-social Disparities The post-Mao era saw an unprecedented influx of rural migrants to the rapidly developing cities and urban centers of flourishing business, creating a cheap labor force. This rural to urban defection of poor Chinese laborers, especially during the 1980s, can be cited as the most extensive labor flow in the history of the world (Z hao 1999) This proved to be both an economic blessing as well as an indicator of social upheaval. The Rural migration to the urban area of China has been the focus of several social, cultural as well as demographic and anthropological studies. In 1992, records indicate that a staggering 150,000 people were stranded in the railway stations of the Sichuan and Hunan provinces during the ‘Spring Festival Migration’. (Bakken 1998) Laborers from flooded and poverty-stricken rural regions also defected for shelter and jobs to Shanghai, Fujian or other wealthy cities. Under the strict social and political system of hukou or householder registration, they existed mainly as second-class citizens, even outcasts, as Wu Jieh-min pertinently points out in her essay â€Å"Rural Migrant Workers and China’s Differential Citizenship† (2010). Due to the government restriction on rural to urban migration, a deep economic disparity developed between the two. As a result, a tre nd of added incentives attracted rural migrants illegally to the large industrial cities. While the labor source was fully utilized by the greedy and profit driven industries, factories, conglomerates and corporations, however, the socio-cultural history as well as economic and political evidence suggest systematic marginalization. The differential system of perception is a sad reality in the lives of the Chinese migrant families. Case in point, the unequal system of hukou

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Essay Example for Free

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Essay Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens tells the story of several characters, all of who are developed continuously throughout the chapters. Several of the characters are greatly developed, some showing unpredictable sides to their personalities. Sydney Carton is a prime example of such a character, his delicate personality revealed when he declares his love for Lucie. He is not the only character in love with Lucie, however. Throughout Book Two, it is revealed that Stryver and Charles Darnay are also coveting Lucie. Darnay and Carton both announce their love for her, however Carton is the only one who goes directly to Lucie to tell her. In this passage, Carton is asking Lucie to not forget him and to remember that even when she is married and with kids, he will always be there for her to keep her happy. Carton’s declaration of his love for Lucie not only reveals his love and foreshadows his selfless, noble act in the later chapters, but in addition, Dickens’ use of language reveals that Sydney is no longer the â€Å"jackal,† but that he is in fact much more than that – a sensitive man with deep emotions. Dickens’ use of language in this passage brings to light the sincerity in Sydney Carton, changing the mood of the reader towards him, and the words that Dickens uses to make Carton express himself allows Carton to truly show his desire for Lucie. When Carton says, â€Å"for you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything,† Dickens is emphasizing the fact that Carton is dedicated to her. Throughout the passage, he continuously repeats phrases including the word you, such as when he states â€Å"I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you.† As a result of emphasizing Carton’s love for Lucie, Dickens creates an immense feeling of sympathy for the reader, as the dedication for Lucie is expressed so eloquently. The fact that Carton accepts this unrequited love by saying â€Å"I will relieve you of a visitor with whom I well know you have nothing in unison, and between whom and you there is an impassable space† creates even more comp assion for Carton because even though it is known that Lucie does not reciprocate his feelings, it is even more painful to watch as he simply walks away from the woman he loves. In addition to uncovering Carton’s true love for Lucie, Dickens uses irony to show the eloquent Carton that contrasts with the drunken Carton of the previous chapters. The chapter to which this passage belongs to is titled â€Å"The Fellow of No Delicacy,† which is ironic because although perhaps Carton was not delicate in the preceding chapters, in this passage he is nothing but eloquent and delicate. He remarks â€Å"try to hold me in your mind, at some quiet times, as ardent and sincere in this one thing,† a great example of his eloquence, which once again causes the reader to develop sympathy for him, since the language he is using so differs from his previous drunken language à ¯Ã‚ ¨203). Carton’s eloquence really shines through in this passage, even though it contrasts with the chapter title and Dickens creates sympathy and tenderness towards Sydney Carton. Because Sydney Carton is put down, not only by others but by himself as well, throughout the entire first half of the second book, when he declares his love for Lucie in such an unselfish and loving manner, it changes how Carton is viewed. Since Stryver takes all the credit for being successful even though Carton does all the work, it is written, â€Å"†¦although Sydney Carton would never be a lion, he was an amazingly good jackal† à ¯Ã‚ ¨116). Carton even describes himself to Darnay as â€Å"I am a disappointed drudge, sir I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me,† exhibiting Carton’s own self-pity and sadness for the world à ¯Ã‚ ¨113). However, with this passage, Sydney Carton causes any reader to fully disregard any judgments made for his character. Dickens previously portrayed him as this unfortunate man without anything to live for, but now it is revealed that Carton does indeed have someone to live for – Lucie and her happi ness. This passage causes all previous opinions about Sydney Carton to be discarded, as now Sydney Carton is no longer the jackal, but he has turned into the lion. In addition to revealing the compassionate and eloquent side of Sydney Carton, this passage is also a moment of foreshadowing for Carton’s noble and unselfish act of sacrificing himself for Lucie’s happiness. What may have seemed to be just talk about how much he loved Lucie turned out to be very, very real. In this passage, Carton declares to Lucie, â€Å"†¦think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you† à ¯Ã‚ ¨204). In his last moments, Carton visualizes Lucie feeling that â€Å"each was not more honoured and held sacred in the other’s soul, than I was in the souls of both,† referring to the respect and recognition that both Darnay and Lucie give to Carton à ¯Ã‚ ¨500). In this passage, Carton sets up his feelings for her, perhaps knowing that someday he would have the chance to occupy a special place in Lucie’s heart for a noble, heroic act. His â€Å"sacrifice for you and for thos e dear to you† embodies the Charles Dickens’ theme of love overpowering everything. With love, Carton was able to have the strength to sacrifice his life for the happiness of one person he cared about. With love, not jealousy, he was able to ask Darnay, â€Å"I wish we might be friends† à ¯Ã‚ ¨275). While Lucie does not reciprocate Carton’s love, she does defend him in front of Darnay, declaring â€Å"I would ask you†¦to be very generous with him always†¦I would ask you to believe that he has a heart he very, very seldom reveals, and that there are deep wounds in it† à ¯Ã‚ ¨278). By Carton declaring his love for Lucie and being wholly devoted to her, he is not only able to give Lucie a complete family, safe and protected in England, but he is also able to say that â€Å"it is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known,† clearly displaying that through his death, he is gaining all the love and admiration he never had before à ¯Ã‚ ¨500). Sydney Carton is my favorite character of the entire novel. His noble act despite the unrequited love between him and Lucie is such an honorable action, and the fact that he kept true to his word about giving his life â€Å"to keep a life you love beside you† makes him all the more noble à ¯Ã‚ ¨204). I thought that this passage was really a turning point for Sydney Carton’s character, since up to that point he had been very reserved and inarticulate, but when he went to speak to Lucie he became this eloquent speaker, driven by a strong love. From then on, we continue to see Carton’s character develop, creatively seeking out the apothecary for the substances in order for the plan to work. He acted without a moment’s hesitation, and that â€Å"[his face] was the peacefullest man’s face ever beheld there† shows that he had absolutely no regrets about his sacrifice à ¯Ã‚ ¨4à ¯Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¹). To be that calm when he is about to be the newest victim of the Guillotine is a daunting task in itself, but to have someone who would sacrifice his or her life just for someone else’s happiness is beyond imaginable. Therefore, this passage sets the stage for Carton’s ultimate sacrifice, making Carton no longer a â€Å"disappointed drudge,† but a noble hero who goes from being a friend to Darnay and the Manettes to becoming their savior. There is no greater sacrifice that Carton could have made, and for it all to be because he loved Lucie unconditionally is a pretty incredible thing.

What Are The Concepts Of Geoengineering Environmental Sciences Essay

What Are The Concepts Of Geoengineering Environmental Sciences Essay Climate change is already affecting the inhabitants, economies, and environment of all regions of the world. Scientific evidence now clearly indicates that human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation have initiated significant climatic change. These anthropogenic activities produce greenhouse gases emissions into the atmosphere, which heat up the atmosphere causing global warming. The impacts of global warming, which are mostly linked with extreme climate events, are mostly dangerous and are expected to continue and intensify in the future. Today, climate policies for global warming are mostly focused on the mitigation of greenhouse gases emissions through regulation. Yet, concerns regarding the slow progress on achieving global emission reductions and uncertainties as to whether regulation can solve global warming, have led some of the worlds scientific and political groups to suggest the possibility of directly manipulating the Earths climatic feedback system (Ra lston, 2009). Such a deliberate, large-scale manipulation of the environment is called Geoengineering (Greencarcongress.com, 2009). The idea of geoengineering is to mitigate the effect of fossil fuel burning on the climate through high-efficiency technologies whether by removing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, or by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. The proposed projects include capturing carbon dioxide from ambient air, enhancing weather system, injecting sulphate aerosol into the stratosphere, locating sunshades on the Earths surface, and launching reflective materials into the atmosphere, just to name a few (The Royal Society, 2009). Despite the hopeful sound of these geoengineering proposals, scepticism about whether they are scientifically possible, politically feasible, and ethically justifiable remains. Although there still remain the potential of devastating risks, such as drought in Africa and Asia, ozone depletion, and other unexpected consequences, the deployment of geoengineering presents scientific, political, and ethical challenges to addressing climate change. One of the most significant challenges posed by geoengineering is the scientific issue. While not all scientists agree with the concept of geoengineering, there is the challenge as to whether developing and deploying geoengineering projects on a massive scale are scientifically practicable. Although there are some current technologies that allow these projects, most of them are technically unproven and potentially dangerous to the environment. Given such uncertainties, the scientific soundness of geoengineering has been brought into question. Its not only ethicists and policy makers who question its practicability but also scientists themselves dismiss this idea as infeasible and risky given the scale at which most projects must be instituted and the associated catastrophic consequences. Many still doubt its applicability. For example, the National Academy of Sciences committee on science, Engineering, and Public Policy commented that engineered countermeasures on climate change must first be evaluated before implementation and clear cut understanding on the direct effects and potential side effects, risks and ethical issues must be sought. Some scientists have argued that some of the effects of these technologies are short-term and may be turned-off but others may have long-term effects yet we still cant rely on our current range of scientific experience. Economists in various parts of the globe are working hard to develop least-cost and optimal paths in geoengineering development. Some of their attempts have minimal scientific interest with limited policy and practical value. The main reason for it is because today we have inadequate knowledge on geoengineering risks and costs. It transpires that outputs of cost modelling developed by economists end up being determined by uncertain input assumptions. There is limited cost-benefit climate impact assessment that is simple and economically focused that can provide results relevant to the current policies. Economic analysis on whether to do emissions mitigation or geoengineering is inappropriate (Barret, 2007). This clearly means that more economic research is required so that policy decisions on geoengineering can be made. It is estimated that costs of conventional mitigation may be 1% or 2% of the global GDP and this is almost 1 trillion annually. This is the amount of money that is re quired to avoid risks of current emissions approaching 10GtC/yr. the carbon price corresponding to this is $100 per tone. Costs of SRM (solar radiation management) methods require 1 trillion annually in order to be affordable. CDR (carbon dioxide removal) methods costs would be comparable to carbon mitigation costs of $100/tonne of carbon. Its difficult to establish estimates of costs for geoengineering technologies. There are only tentative estimates available for the methods to be applied (Robock, 2009). Greatest challenge in deployment of geoengineering methods is the political and legal issues associated with governance but rather not in technical and scientific issues. Pre-existing national mechanisms may be sufficient for some of the methods like ambient air capture. For others like ocean iron fertilisation current international mechanisms though relevant still require modification. Some of the methods requiring trans-boundary activity and have trans-boundary effects require nations to have new international mechanisms. One method requiring new international mechanisms is space-based mirrors and stratospheric aerosols. Before deployment of such methods such as solar radiation management and carbon dioxide removal, there must be appropriate governance mechanisms and this call for analysis to determine whether existing national, regional and international mechanisms are appropriate to manage geoengineering. Ethical considerations are a must even if we have to seek ways to minimize risks of global warming. There are debates whether geoengineering is warranted ethically and some arguments of this seek to extend moral concern towards nonhuman environment. For example, people have to conquer natural forces threatening their survival. Adaptation to effects of global warming like mega-storms and rising sea levels shows that nature is the victor in the man-nature struggle. Geoengineering projects apply technology to overcome nature and to convert natural environments to built environments. Some have argued that it is a moral imperative to conquer nature. There is an ethic of control requiring humans to manage natural environment while treating soils, fauna, atmosphere and flora as resources for use. Those who are for ethic of restraint however resist temptation of natural environment exploitation. Geoengineering methods are though to be aligned with an ethic of control but not merely that of r estraint. On ethical matters, there appears to be a conflict between the present and the future generations. Some of the projects favoured by current generations with idea that they will not affect the future generations are however not aligned with interests of these projects. There is insufficient scientific certainty that may prevent adoption of cost effective measures to evade causing harm to future generations and degradation of environment. Anthropogenic GHG emissions continue to rise since rich nations undertake projects without consent of poorer ones while the poorer nations with a right to development may initiate their projects. The debate remains on collective actions while the levels of emissions are still increasing (Robock, 2009). Geoengineering technologies may slow down the global hydrological cycle (Hoffman, 2010). Several studies have proposed geoengineering schemes that will reduce amount solar radiation that is absorbed by planet earth. From sunshade geoengineering schemes, it has been reported that global warming as a result of increasing concentration of carbon dioxide can be mitigated intentionally through manipulation of amount of sunlight absorbed through the climate system. Insolation reductions aimed at offsetting the global temperature increase usually lead to a decreased global average precipitation. This happens because solar forcing more effectively drives global mean evaporation changes compared to amount of carbon dioxide forcing which is of the same magnitude. Insolation changes come with larger changes in surface radiative fluxes and this is compensated by larger changes in sensible and latent heat fluxes. Hydrological cycle is so sensitive to temperature adjustment through the changes in insolation. This is a clear indication that geoengineering technologies through alteration of solar forcing offsets hydrological and temperature changes. Geoengineering technologies have serious effects on ecosystems. The mitigation effects are somehow ineffectual in reduction of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Coral reefs are one of the most sensitive ecosystems to climate change. They are two groupings of solar radiation; long-wave carbon dioxide removal and shortwave solar radiation management. Some of these techniques only reduce some of the effects but create other problems. They dont affect carbon dioxide levels and thus rarely address its side effects like ocean acidification that is important for coral reefs. Solar radiation is important for survival and growth of coral, therefore solar radiation management is not appropriate for coral reefs ecosystems (Royalsociety.org, 2009). Calcifying marine organisms like crustaceans, corals, and molluscs are adversely affected by these technologies. Marine life ahs millions of lives that can be destroyed through the current technologies aimed at checking the climate change. Thoug h they are good remedies to reduce effects on humans, marine life has been put at risk. Even iron filings that are used to enhance growth of phytoplankton are still not good to marine life 100%. Aerial spraying, aerosol emissions, chemtrails or the so called cirrus clouds have been created through geoengineering technologies. These chemicals have heavy metals that may cause dementia symptoms associated with Alzheimers disease. Chemtrails affect localized weather where a clear blue sky may be turned into a hazy overcast. Some of the chemicals from chemtrails have high concentrations of Lead (8.2 ppm) and Barium (6.8 ppm). There are traces of other elements such as selenium, cadmium, chromium and arsenic which are so toxic. Exposure to Barium can cause chest and stomach pains and weakening of the human immune system (Robock, 2009). Barium causes asthma and its a powerful suppressant of the immune system. This is weather modification that has also affected the water supplies and agricultural crops. Weather modification using geoengineering technologies may in the long run affect all ecosystems through reduction of water supplies, crop production, water availability and changing the agricultural crops production cycles. Due to the increasing effects of global warming and the greenhouse gases, use of geoengineering technologies is a great idea. This is because even if there are side effects we cant just ignore the new inventions by our scientists as we continue to suffer. Its one of the methods that we can apply in minimizing the high concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. We cannot however use it as a substitute but we need to have it as a preventive measure when the concentrations of carbon dioxide are so high in the atmosphere. We should use geoengineering when we have to reduce adverse effects of climate change. It is important that we use geoengineering in controlling greenhouse gases like harmful methane which is capable of staying in the atmosphere for a very long period of time. Reduction of such gases in the atmosphere is less painful than reduction of carbon dioxide. Technologies to perform such prevention measures are already in existence and are economically and politically ea sy to handle. Personally, I believe we need to have more research on this topic before we decide to use it on the large scale (Schwartz, 2009).

Seperate Peace Summary Essay examples -- essays research papers

A Separate Peace Gene Forrester is a quiet, intellectual student at Devon School in New Hampshire. During the Summer Session of 1942, he becomes close friends with his daredevil roommate Finny, who has a talent for getting away with mischief through his sincere, disarming charisma. Finny prods Gene into making a dangerous jump out of a tree into a river, and the two start a secret society based on this ritual. Gene envies Finny's astonishing athletic abilities, and he begins to suspect that Finny envies his superior academic achievements and has been taking steps to distract him from his studies. His suspicions turn to hatred, but he makes sure to maintain an appearance of friendship so Finny will not suspect him. Gene realizes he was grievously mistaken about the existence of any rivalry between them one day when Finny expresses a sincere desire to see Gene succeed. He goes to the tree to jump with Finny while he is still in a state of shock from the force of his realization, and when Finny gets out to the edge of the branch, Gene shakes it, causing Finny to fall to the bank and shatter his leg. The doctor tells Gene that Finny's athletic days are over. Gene goes in to see Finny and begins to confess what he has done, but the doctor interrupts him and Finny is sent home before Gene gets another chance. The Summer Session ends, and Gene goes home for a brief vacation. On his way back to the school from his home in the South, Gene stops by Finny's house a... Seperate Peace Summary Essay examples -- essays research papers A Separate Peace Gene Forrester is a quiet, intellectual student at Devon School in New Hampshire. During the Summer Session of 1942, he becomes close friends with his daredevil roommate Finny, who has a talent for getting away with mischief through his sincere, disarming charisma. Finny prods Gene into making a dangerous jump out of a tree into a river, and the two start a secret society based on this ritual. Gene envies Finny's astonishing athletic abilities, and he begins to suspect that Finny envies his superior academic achievements and has been taking steps to distract him from his studies. His suspicions turn to hatred, but he makes sure to maintain an appearance of friendship so Finny will not suspect him. Gene realizes he was grievously mistaken about the existence of any rivalry between them one day when Finny expresses a sincere desire to see Gene succeed. He goes to the tree to jump with Finny while he is still in a state of shock from the force of his realization, and when Finny gets out to the edge of the branch, Gene shakes it, causing Finny to fall to the bank and shatter his leg. The doctor tells Gene that Finny's athletic days are over. Gene goes in to see Finny and begins to confess what he has done, but the doctor interrupts him and Finny is sent home before Gene gets another chance. The Summer Session ends, and Gene goes home for a brief vacation. On his way back to the school from his home in the South, Gene stops by Finny's house a...

Medieval Myths Essay -- essays research papers

Medieval Myths By: Norma Lorre Goodrich Published by: The Penguin Group, 1961   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2.) The Types of stories found in this book are Medieval Stories. They contain Kings, Queens, and Knights, wars and battles, dragons, and beautiful maidens.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3.) One of the myths that I enjoyed was the one about Beowulf, from Scandinavian Mythology, entitled: Beowulf And The Fiend Grendel. This story is about a Danish Kingdom that was ruled by a King, named Hrothgar. Hrothgar was a great King, admired by people everywhere. One day Hrothgar decided to build a hall to which no other was greater, and named this hall Heorot. Heorot was made of gold and fine jewels, and people from many kingdoms traveled to see it. Hrothgar and his Queen Wealhtheow would sit inside Heorot and give away gifts to the people that came to visit. The Noble Earls (Danish Warriors) would also sleep in the great hall at night. All was well until an Ogre named Grendel, a fiend from hell, and a Satan who ruled over the swamps, went inside Heorot and killed the earls while they slept. No one found them until morning and this happened many times afterward. Soon Heorot was seldom occupied, and no one came to visit, for everyone feared the ogre Grendel would devour them as he did the others. The news of Grendlel traveled to many kingdoms, and soon it reached the Geats from across the sea. King Hygelac, the king of the Geats, heard this news, and soon Beowulf heard it. Beowulf was the strongest, and boldest man in the Geat Kingdom. He was also the son of Ecgtheow, a great war hero. When he heard this news he was ready to help the Danes. At first Hygelac, and the wise eldermen didn’t want Beowulf to go, because they feared he wouldn’t return, but then yielded. Beowulf then chose 15 warriors, with the help of Hygelac and the wise eldermen, to go with him on his journey to defeat Grendel. Upon their arrival, the Geats were greeted by an earl of Hrothgar. The earl asked them who they were, why they were dressed for war, and if they knew the password, and then noticed Beowulf. He was in shock for he had never seen a warrior like this one, and was sure that he was a hero. When Beowulf explained who they were, and why they were there, the earl quickly asked them to follow him to Heorot Hall. When faced with the... ...ch about the world around him. He is in a way, very gullible, innocent, and will listen to whatever anyone tells him. For the main characters, I would cast Peredur, Kay, Owein, and King Arthur. The setting that I would use would be France instead of Wales, and I would have most of it take place e in the forest as it is in the original. It will start out in the spring and end in the fall, early winter. It would be more of a drama, because with it being in medieval times, there are a lot of people falling in love, and people dying. Another reason for it being a drama is because, Peredur is more on a quest to become a knight on Arthur’s court, and he has to fight certain battles, making it more of a serious matter, rather than comedy. The thing that would be most difficult about making this a production is the women in his life. In each story Peredur falls in love with another, or promises her his love. It would be hard to stick to the facts if you had to cut out all these women in his life just because he has made the same promise to each one. It would be very easy to do as a TV series though, because they have their characters fall in love with different people all the time.

The Female Entrepreneurial Role in James M Cains Mildred Pierce :: Mildred Pierce Essays

The Female Entrepreneurial Role in James M Cain's Mildred Pierce A woman's place in the post-depression era is usually one where a woman would commonly be known to have a role in the economy; only to be waiting in her kitchen to cook for the "money-making husband." It was often rare to encounter one woman who had the ability to take her inner interests and turn them into an entrepreneurial role in society. Yet, through this novel by James M. Cain, one will encounter Mildred Pierce, in which Mildred uses her inner talent, and cooking. To redeem the long lost woman's role in the economy and the workforce. This inner interest of cooking was not kept inside the household as it has with millions of other woman in the United States; it was instead expanded into a successful capitalistic venture for Mildred. Gorgeous legs, great cook, and friendly disposition. Mildred used these attributes to survive a divorce and poverty and to claw her way out of the lower middle class. Yet Mildred also had a weakness, one being that she has failed to Veda’s standards. Mildred Pierce tries her best in order to please her daughter. She charts the rise and fall of a woman who makes and markets pies. When her husband loses his livelihood as a result of the Wall Street crash, Mildred takes work "as a waitress"(Mildred Pierce) in a diner. "Recognizing that she can produce better pies than the business currently has to offer, she rapidly becomes its supplier."(1,dirks) Then she opens a restaurant of her own, which leads to openings of several others. Mildred, a mother of two daughters, was left alone because of her husband, Bert. Mildred, capable of cooking meals as to a fancy restaurant she decides to utilize these techniques in opening her Own restaurant. Wally, a friend of Mildred's husband helps in organizing a place to build the new restaurant." For the first time in her life, Mildred felt the quick excitement of a conspiratorial deal. She comprehended the credit aspect of it, once Wally explained it, and she didn't need to be told how perfect the place was for her purposes."(93,Cain) Mildred able to use the abandon Pierce Model home she renovates, and turns it into a restaurant. She decided on a name, "Mildred Pierce" in which she only serves chicken and waffles and pies on the side.

Beckett’s Main Themes Essay

Samuel Beckett explores the purposelessness of life, lack of meaning and memory in Waiting for Godot. Aspects such as repetition, change, recognition, blind faith, silences and pauses illustrated the forgetfulness and purposelessness of the lives of Vladimir and Estragon. ‘Waiting’ is doing both something and nothing simultaneously; Vladimir and Estragon recognize this which is why they are in search for something to ‘do’. VLADIMIR: We are happy. ESTRAGON: We are happy. (Silence.) What do we do now, now that we are happy? VLADIMIR: Wait for Godot. (Estragon groans. Silence.) Things have changed here since yesterday. ESTRAGON: And if he doesn’t come? VLADIMIR: (after a moment of bewilderment). We’ll see when the time comes. (Pause.)†¦ Their words are as empty and futile as their actions. There is a silence after they say that they’re â€Å"happy† which makes it apparent that they are just forcing the emotion on to themselves. The silence allows the audience to inquire if they really are happy and if their happiness is of value. Being happy doesn’t provide a function in life; Estragon wants to ‘do’ something now that they were supposedly happy. To ‘do’ something constructive is important to pass the time; the closest they can get to a functional action is to talk to each other. Having a purpose in life is probable to come with the emotion of happiness, since Estragon and Vladimir have convinced themselves to believe they encompass a purpose in life, they require the emotion of happiness to validate it. Rather than just telling Vladimir to ‘do’ something as they were â€Å"happy†, he asks him which is a technique to create conversation. The characters have blind faith in Godot, they don’t know what would happen if he didn’t come. Vladimir is bewildered when he comes to the moment of reality of contemplating that this being true would make their wait purposeless. He doesn’t want to admit that if Godot didn’t come then their long wait would have been for nothing, instead he says â€Å"We’ll see when the time comes†. This is a meaningless statement because if Godot never does come then the time will never come. However, Vladimir shows indication of acknowledging this when he starts talking about ‘change’ which is not only changing the subject but also implying that change in something proves that time is passing and that time will soon come. Moreover, towards the end of the extract when Estragon asks â€Å"What do we do now?† and Vladimir replies â€Å"Wait for Godot†. He ends the sentence there because he doesn’t know what would happen after h e did come and where their lives would lead. They show no reason to wait for Godot which highlights again the purposelessness of their lives. As Vladimir and Estragon are waiting, it is vital for time to pass and the thing to establish this is for things to change. VLADIMIR:†¦I was saying that things have changed here since yesterday. ESTRAGON; Everything oozes. VLADIMIR: Look at the tree ESTRAGON: it’s never the same pus from one second to the next VLADIMIR: The tree, look at the tree. The characters do not really have a conversation which follows in a logical pattern; they often misinterpret each other. Although the two pass their time, they pass it in ‘useless banter’ which is meaningless and gives their life no purpose. Estragon occasionally drifts off with his own thoughts but Vladimir brings him back to his. They both have their own ideas on change, Vladimir refers to the tree to prove that things have â€Å"changed† while Estragon notices ‘pus’ changing, even though they’re in their own individual worlds they both perceive a significance in ‘change’. Change is essential to them because they want assurance they have passed the time, and the only way to do so is to see change in their surroundings; change would also initiate some form of purpose. However, their dialogue in general dwells on their past and present which suggests that they are trapped in their current situation. The tree in the landscape helps illustrate a purpose because it is changing, it has to be changing for a purpose; Vladimir sees it as a sign of hope. There is only one tree rather than lots, this makes the landscape seem dull and gives a boring imagery. It is a symbol of life and contrasts with the bleak lifeless environment it’s in. Recognition comes conjointly with memory which Estragon doesn’t have. Estragon doesn’t find that there is any point in recognizing things. He says â€Å"what is there to recognize?†. Estragon lacks memory which is why he gets frustrated. He distinguishes physical things which he receives like Lucky kicking him and Pozzo giving him a bone. These things make a difference to Estragon which is why he remembers it. He realizes that he had just â€Å"crawled about in the mud† all his life which entails that he only recognizes the purposelessness of his life and the meaning it lacks. It is a commonly established idea that one’s experiences define a person. Vladimir says â€Å"He’s forgotten everything!† with regards to Estragon. Memory is important to them because what they went through yesterday was an accomplishment for them, if they can’t remember it then it is worthless. If Estragon can’t remember then Vladimir has no one to reminisce their achievement with, however reminding Estragon and describing it to him gives them something to talk about and passes the time. Since they both lack memory of most of their experiences, their individuality is unclear. Vladimir tries to compare the difference of their current landscape to the â€Å"Macon country† but Estragon fails to remember it, and derides at the word and states that he spent all his life in their current location, the â€Å"Cackon country†. The sound of the word is harsh and he says it as if it is meaningless to him even though that is where he is ‘Wa iting for Godot’, the place where they are establishing their decided purpose of life. Silences and pauses are uses to transport the meaning to the audience or reader; during the short intervals they realize the meaningless conversation Vladimir and Estragon indulge in. The two begin describing â€Å"All the dead voices† which â€Å"murmur†, â€Å"rustle†, â€Å"whisper† and â€Å"make a noise like feathers†. The silences are disseminated and their dialogues after each of the silences are repetitive which is parallel to their nearly reiterated everyday routine and dialogues. The silent and empty stage is filled with the sound of the ‘dead voices’; viewers are made to imagine the voices as Vladimir and Estragon describe them using similes. The dead voices contribute to the tedious mood of their lives; they argue over trivial things which is parallel to their depressed condition because they are too weak to make it better. The voices reflect the situation of the two characters, they murmur, rustle, whisper in their actions while they wait for Godot. Repetition of the dialogues conveys the forgetfulness of Vladimir and Estragon and their pointless lives. The extract begins with the characters speaking in ‘useless banter’ but as it nears towards the end of the extract, Vladimir and Estragon’s speech lessens and becomes quieter as they run out of things to say. This illustrates their life cycle, the beginning is a bustle of activity as they were younger and searching for a purpose and meaning for life, they did things like â€Å"pick grapes for a man† and go to â€Å"the Macon country†; but as they grow older, energy and enthusiasm decreases as they discover no purpose. Vladimir panics after the â€Å"Long silence†, because he doesn’t want to think of the reality of their situation; talking and actions distract their attention from reflection. Vladimir tells Estragon to â€Å"Say anything at all!† in â€Å"anguish†, he suffers a mental despair or distress if nothing is said or done because then he will apprehend the reality of their meaningless wait. It is as if their terrible actuality is in his subconscious mind which he keeps on pushing away. Estragon further confirms that the reason for their ‘useless banter’ is so they won’t â€Å"think†; language is utilized to neglect silence. To further emphasise their reiterated life, when they run out of things to say, they remind themselves of their purpose of their existence and the reason behind their endless wait which is to â€Å"Wait for Godot†.

Act of kindness Essay

An Act of Kindness that I did for someone would be for my parents. What I did as kindness would be that I help my mom do chores at home without them telling me to help. I will see that they where always working hard and they will come home preatty late. So I kind of took care of home and my two brothers. and sometimes my dad too when he felt really bad, what I mean by bad would be that he had lukimia cancer. My mother work as a babysitter she will go to work mostly of the time at 6am and come back at 10pm and on weekends she would clean houses so she never had time to do chores at home or make dinner. My father worked in construction he was a hard worker too he will go to work a little later than my mom and come home earlier than her too. he was the one the took us to school when he could. Or one of my aunts would take us to school when he couldn’t. My dad also was battleing lukimia cancer for 10 years, he past away at age 41 september-29-2009. The Act Of Kindness that i did would be, first of all I would make breakfast for my brothers and dad so they could eat and so my dad can take his medication so ill help around with breakfast sometimes I will wake up later because i was tired I had to go to school and I was also young mother.By age 14 I had a baby too. And well my mom we didn’t really see in breackfast time because she would wake up eairlier she would even eat breackfast in the mornings. Sencondly I will come from school start cleaning the house wash dishes wash clothes clean the bathroom, and fix all the rooms my parents and brothers room vacume and mop . and if there was clothes to fold ill fold and put it away too. Then finally make dinner. so by the time by dad got home from work there will be dinner my dad would go to work sometimes right after he got out of his kimotheraphy he will go to work when he wasn’t soppost to. I will help my mom do all these chores because she worked alot barely had time to do it and ill see that she will come home tired. Act of Kindness Essay Today i will be telling you about one of my act of kindness, but before i do that i will be giving you hints as to what your about to read. It happen at a store that was one city over from me and was one of the best places to be be around because of the places near it. I was really young and it happen in the toy aisle because when your little and a boy it’s your favorite place. There was a young boy who was crying out for his mom. I was a worried alot when i was little and so i had my older sister help me look for the kids mother so he could smile. Those are my hints to what your about to read in my essay about my act of kindness. My act of kindness takes place at Kmart in Simi Valley, Califronia. I lived one city over from Simi and it was the only major shopping store close to us that was like a Walmart. I loved going to Kmart with my mom and sister because i would most likey get a toy for going with them. Once before when i went to Kmart with my mom i got lost from her and i t was the scariest thing a young boy can feel being lost from his mother. When i got lost there was someone there to help me get back to my mom, so i always felt that i should help someone else who was lost from someone they love. MY act of kindness happened in Kmart but to be more precise it happened in the toy aisle in Kmart. When your a young boy the toy aisle is like a candy shop and every toy is like a different flavor. I was six years old with my mom and sister and i would always go to the toys to look and see what i wanted for chrismas because chrismas was like a month and a half away. I saw a little boy in the toy aisle with me he had his hands on his face and i didnt know what he was doing. The little boy was three years old and his hands were over his face because he was crying and i did’nt know why he was crying i was thinking it was for a toy and he mom wouldnt let him get it. Then i hear him starting to cry mama mama where are you mama. I started to worry for the three year old boy even though i was only six years old i worried and to this day i still worry about stuff. When i went up to my mom i told her i think that boy is lost from his mom. I got to the point where i didnt want him to be sad anymore because i knew when i got lost from my mom someone helped me. I ask my sister if she would help me with looking from his mom, my sister was 12 so she was older than me and could do alot more than i could. We started to look around the toy aisle because that where the three year old boy was so we thought his mother would be close by. Then we started to look other places we went to the food  aisle and the young kids clothing aisle. We looked everywhere we were thinking his mom left Kmart and left her son in the toy aisle. We went to the cash register have an employee page that a little boy lost his mom, but right when we got there we heard the mom yell the three year old boy’s name and he yelled mommy and she thanked us for helping her son look for his mom and i was happy knowing he got back with his mom. That is one of my act of kindness but to me this is one of the biggest act of kindness i have done because i was six when i did this act of kindness. To some people it might not seem like a big act of kindness but even the littlest acts of kindness can help someone in the long run. So if i could say that someones act of kindness to me made me in turn help someone else. I hope what you get from this story is that you can help someone no matter the age or the place. These are my words of wisdom for someone who was helped and who in return helped someone else.

Describe and explain why the rainforest is being destroyed and what the effects of this are?

The rainforest in South America is a vital resource but it is being destroyed at a rate of 1/2 a million trees an hour. In this essay I aim to investigate why this is happening and the long term effects of it. Clearances for farming and ranching are being made but, without the knowledge that the natives have, they are being done in an unsustainable way. First, they remove the trees and burn them hoping to enhance the fertilization of the land. Secondly, grass seed is sown. In time the soil becomes infertile so the farmers either move or expand their land destroying even more forest. This continues in a circular pattern; neither forest nor farmer benefit. Underneath the rainforest many minerals are found. Mining companies start to mine for these, but when these run out the companies abandon the mine leaving a large, ugly scar in the rainforest. Commercial use of the river also destroys the rainforest. To provide energy for all the mines and farms etc. the river is dammed. In doing so it destroys millions of trees, killing animals which have made their homes in the vegetation and surrounding area. With the decomposing bodies of animals, the water soon becomes toxic and unsafe for human consumption. This directly affects the natives who use the water for drinking, washing and cleaning. Widespread rainforest clearance, mining of minerals and damming of rivers all affect the rainforest and most importantly the quality of soil. When trees are stripped away the soil's natural fertilization pattern is also destroyed: the soil becomes infertile very quickly. This means that rainforest that was once there can never be grown again. It is lost forever. The river water soon becomes polluted with toxins and also from the chemical waste from industries. The dam becomes clogged with sediment from the mines. Most of the wild life is killed when the trees are felled and the rivers dammed. The native people are pushed out of their homes by big businesses expanding the vast amounts of land they already have. A massive infrastructure project known as â€Å"Avanca Brasil† (Advance Brazil) threatens the very existence of the Amazon rainforest. The proposed project will upgrade and construct new roads into the interior of the Amazon basin; facilitating increased logging, mining and settlement. The project is likely to ensure final loss of the World's largest rainforest. Unchecked de-forestation and destruction of the Amazonian rainforest poses an ecological disaster both for Brazil and the rest of the world. With less rainforest to absorb CO2, there is a build up of CO2 in the atmosphere. This creates a â€Å"blanket† which traps more outgoing long-wave radiation causing the earth to warm up. This is known as â€Å"global warming†. Therefore de-forestation affects not only the natives but all of mankind. The issue of de-forestation is global in another context: capitalisation. For example, the cleared grassland may be used to raise cattle to supply beef for McDonalds. The impact of large capitalist, multi-national companies like McDonalds (also mineral and pharmaceutical industries) cannot be underestimated. Sustainability is a priority if we want to keep the rainforest. Sustainable farming methods, like those of the natives, should be used. Mining should be kept to a minimum and roads should be small and few. Logging should only be allowed in a sustainable way ensuring that new trees are planted to replace those which have been felled; the new trees must be planted within a certain amount of time before the fertilisation of the soil is lost. These simple steps should ensure that the small amount of existing rainforest remains.

Top 10 Questions NOT to Ask Yourself in a Job Search

Top 10 Questions NOT to Ask Yourself in a Job Search You Might Not Like the Answers I’m about to say something radical: If you are searching for a new job, the #1 most dangerous thing you can do is ask yourself questions about your job search. â€Å"What do you mean?† you may ask. â€Å"Are you crazy? All the job search guides tell me to answer questions like what my goals are and what my ideal job is. If I don’t ask myself questions, how will I get answers?† The problem with asking yourself questions is that it is really difficult to have a conversation with yourself. Asking yourself job search questions will get you only the answers that you can generate yourself. Those answers are necessarily limited. Your conversation might sound something like this: What do I want to do next?   Oh, I dont really want to think about that. Im confused. The economy sucks.   Maybe Ill never get a job again. I think I have to do the laundry. Wait, what was that question? Thankfully, theres an alternative to this mind chatter: Have someone ELSE – someone you trust – ask you the important job search questions. You might be surprised at the clarity you achieve when you bounce ideas off another human being. That person might be a job search coach or a relative or a friend. It MUST be someone who listens extremely well and asks good questions. 10 Job Search Questions Here are the top 10 questions to have someone ELSE ask you. Give this list to someone you trust and have him or her read it to you, one question at a time: What do you love about your current position (or last position)? What don’t you like about your current position (or last position)? What would be your ideal work schedule? Do you work best with people or alone? With a lot of supervision or little supervision? What size organization and corporate culture are the best matches for you? How much money do you want/need to make? Is there a job at your current company that you would want to do? And/or is there a way your current job could become your dream job? What’s your dream job? Who in your life can you talk to about what it’s like to do X job? What will you do to find out more about the day to day realities of X job? It doesn’t hurt to begin by answering these questions on your own. You might have some success in generating useful answers. But whatever you do, don’t stop there. I guarantee you that some new thought or clarity will come from having a conversation about these questions with someone other than yourself. If you have a conversation and have success, please report the results in the comments. I’d love to hear about your experiences! Category:Job SearchBy Brenda BernsteinApril 25, 2009 6 Comments Diane Kern says: September 6, 2010 at 10:59 pm What a great article with important and thought provoking questions. I imagine most people never consider half of them, especially #7. Log in to Reply Rosanne Dingli says: September 7, 2010 at 12:07 am It is possible to apply this strategy to other things apart from job seeking! A similar list of questions can be devised when deciding about pursuing a relationship with someone, starting to write a book, devising strategies when raising teenagers There are many varieties of situations where a list of questions like this, asked by another person, could weed out a number of hidden answers. Or answers you have the potential to make, but need to work on. Well done, Brenda! Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: September 7, 2010 at 9:26 am Thank you Diane and Rosanne! Rosanne, you are exactly right. Conversations with ourselves are rarely as productive or creative as the ones we have with other good listeners, no matter what the topic! Log in to Reply Paul Novak says: September 7, 2010 at 9:54 am Good article. What youve done is set up a way to provide a critical assessment without the pitfalls of personal bias and preconcieved beliefs. Its helpful because so many of us are unaware of just how often we torpedo our own efforts with credulous beliefs and incorrect assumptions. Its why science has been built upon a core set of reasoning principles designed to eliminate bias and unfounded beliefs. Im much more critical than average by personal choice. Critical thinking skills are easily learned, the hard part is accepting what you learn when you use them. Workarounds to critical thinking like this are valuable because they allow a way to get a more comprehensive and objective assessment done without having to educate about the entire process of critical thinking. Log in to Reply Chris Paulsen says: September 7, 2010 at 11:44 am Brenda, This is a great list for anyone in the job market to consider. Answering these 10 questions should clarify the objectives of the job seeker. Thanks for sharing! Best, Chris Paulsen Log in to Reply Laine D says: September 8, 2010 at 5:41 pm Brenda, What a great way to reassess your needs and objectives the whole process of job hunting (whether you are in a job or not) gets too clouded with emotion and other issues. Your list of well thought out questions provides a great brainstorming and analysis tool whether for use by a third party (or if you have to by yourself) and is a wonderful idea. Wish Id had that when I was looking. Laine D. https://www.ThoughtsFromABroad.net Log in to Reply

Attention and Attending is the First Preacademic Skill

Attention and Attending is the First Preacademic Skill Attending is the first skill young children with disabilities need to learn. It may be especially challenging for young children with developmental delays or autism spectrum disorders. To learn, they have to sit still. To learn, they have to be able to attend to the teacher, listening and responding when asked. Attending is a learned behavior. Often parents teach it. They teach it when they expect their children to sit at the table during dinner. They teach it if they take their children to church and ask them to sit for all or part of a worship service. They teach it by reading out loud to their children. Research has shown that the most effective way to teach reading is called the lap method. Children sit in their parents laps and listen to them read, following their eyes and following the text as the pages are turned. Children with disabilities often have trouble attending. At age two or three they may not be able to sit for 10 or 15 minutes. They may be easily distracted, or, if they are on the autism spectrum, they may not understand what they should attend to. They lack joint attention, where typically developing infants follow their parents eyes to find out where they are looking. Before you can expect a toddler with disabilities to sit through a twenty minute circle time, you need to start with the basic skills. Sitting in One Place All children are socially motivated by one of three things: attention, desired objects or escape. Children are also motivated by preferred activities, sensory input, or food. These last three are primary reinforcers because they are intrinsically reinforcing. The others-attention, desired objects, or escapeare conditioned or secondary reinforcers since they are learned and connected with things that occur in typical academic settings. To teach small children to learn to sit, use individual instructional time to sit with the child with a preferred activity or reinforcer. It may be as simple as sitting for five minutes and having the child imitate what you do: Touch your nose. Good Job! Do this. Good job! Tangible rewards might be used on an irregular schedule: every 3 to 5 correct responses, give the child a skittle or a piece of fruit. After a while, the teachers praise will be enough to reinforce the behaviors you wanted. Building that reinforcement schedule, pairing your praise and preferred item, you will be able to start reinforcing the childs participation in a group. Sitting in Group Little Jose may sit for individual sessions but may wander during group: of course, an aide should return them to their seat. When Jose is successful at sitting during individual sessions, he needs to be rewarded for sitting for continuously longer periods. A token board is an effective way to reinforce good sitting: for every four tokens moved, Jose will earn a preferred activity or perhaps a preferred item. It might be most effective to actually take Jose to another part of the classroom after he has earned his tokens (for his 10 or 15 minutes of the group.) Teaching Groups to Attend There are several key ways to build whole group attention by the way in which group activities are conducted: Keep circle time short to start. Circle time should not be any longer than 15 minutes when you start but should grow to 30 after three or four months.Mix it up. Circle time should not just be quiet activities such as storybooks, but should include motion songs, dancing and motion games, and give different children opportunities to lead the group.Maximize participation: If you are putting the date on the calendar, have one child find the number, another child place the number and a third child count the number.Praise, praise, praise: Use praise not only to reward good behavior but also to teach it. I like how Jamie is sitting! I like that Brie has both of her feet on the floor. Naming the behavior is powerful: it shows everyone what the behavior looks like, at the same time.Be consistent: Its impossible to call on all children equally, though it might on occasion be helpful to have your supervisor or one of your classroom aides chart who you call on: you might be surprised at what you find. We observed a teacher and found she 1) called on the boys twice as often as the girls, but used questions to keep the boys on task. 2) Permitted the girls to interrupt: she would answer their questions when they blurted them out.   Be sure everyone gets a chance to participate. Name the behavior you notice, as well. John, I want you to come do the weather because you are sitting so nicely.

Childhood -LOTF essays

Childhood -LOTF essays Children all over the world hold many of the same characteristics. Most children are good at heart, but at times seem like little mischievous devils. Children enjoy having fun and causing trouble but under some supervision can be obedient little boys an d girls. Everybody, at one time in their lives, was a child and knows what it is like to have no worries at all. Children have their own interests and react to different things in peculiar and sometimes strange ways. For example, children are with Barney and his jolly, friendly appearance without realizing that he is actually a huge dinosaur. In the novel The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, one can see how children react to certain situations. Children, when given the opportunity, wo uld choose to play and have fun rather than to do boring, hard work. Also, when children have no other adults to look up to they turn to other children for leadership. Finally, children stray towards savagery when they are w! ithout adult authority. Therefore, Golding succeeds in effectively portraying the interests and attitudes of young children in this novel. When children are given the opportunity, they would rather envelop themselves in pleasure and play than in the stresses of work. The boys show enmity towards building the shelters, even though this work is important, to engage in trivial activities. Af ter one of the shelters collapses while only Simon and Ralph are building it, Ralph clamours, "All day I've been working with Simon. No one else. They're off bathing or eating, or playing." (55). Ralph and Simon, though only children, are more mature a nd adult like and stray to work on the shelters, while the other children aimlessly run off and play. The other boys avidly choose to play, eat, etc. than to continue to work with Ralph which is very boring and uninteresting. The boys act typically of m ost children their a...

Information About the Presidents Cabinet

Information About the Presidents Cabinet The presidents Cabinet includes the Vice President of the United States and the heads of the 15 executive departments  - the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General. At the option of the president, other officials typically holding Cabinet-rank, include the White House Chief of Staff; the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers; the Administrator of the Small Business Administration; and the U.S. Trade Representative. The president can also designate other senior White House staff members as members of the Cabinet, However, this is a symbolic status marker and does not, apart from attending Cabinet meetings, confer any additional powers. Why a Cabinet? The term cabinet comes from the Italian word cabinetto, meaning a small, private room. A good place to discuss important business without being interrupted. The first use of the term is attributed to  James Madison, who described the meetings as â€Å"the president’s cabinet.† Does the Constitution Establish the Cabinet? Not directly. Constitutional authority for the Cabinet comes from Article 2, Section 2, which says that the president ... may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. Similarly, the Constitution does not specify which or how many executive departments should be created. Just another indication that the Constitution is a flexible, living document, well capable of governing our country without stifling its growth.  Since it is not specifically established in the Constitution, the president’s Cabinet is one of the several examples of amending the Constitution by custom, rather than Congress.   Which President Established the Cabinet? President  George Washington  convened  the first cabinet meeting on  February 25, 1793. Present at the meeting were President Washington, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary or War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Then as now, that first Cabinet meeting featured tension when Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton butted heads on the question of centralizing the then widely fragmented U.S. banking system through the creation of a national bank. When the debate became particularly heated, Jefferson, who opposed a national bank, tried to calm the waters in the room by suggesting that the acrimonious tone of the debate had no impact on the achieving a sound governmental structure. â€Å"The pain was for Hamilton and myself but the public experienced no inconvenience,† stated Jefferson. How Are the Cabinet Secretaries Chosen? The Cabinet secretaries are appointed by the president of the United States but must be approved by a simple majority vote of the Senate. The only qualification is that a department secretary cannot be a current  member of Congress or hold any other elected office. How Much are the Cabinet Secretaries Paid? Cabinet-level officers are currently paid $210,700 per year. Their pay is set annual by Congress as part of its approval of the federal budget. How Long Do the Cabinet Secretaries Serve? Members of the Cabinet (except for the Vice President) serve at the pleasure of the president, who can dismiss them at will for no cause. All federal public officials, including Cabinet members, are also subject to  impeachment  by the House of Representatives and trial in the Senate for treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. Generally, Cabinet members  serve as long as the president who appointed them remains in office. Executive department secretaries answer only to the president and only the president can fire them. They are expected to resign when a new president takes office since most incoming presidents choose to replace them, anyway. Certainly not a stable career, but U.S. Secretary of State 1993-2001, would certainly look good on a resume. How Often Does the Presidents Cabinet Meet? There is no official schedule for Cabinet meetings, but presidents generally try to meet with their Cabinets on a weekly basis. Besides the president and department secretaries, Cabinet meetings are usually attended by the vice president, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and other top-level officials as determined by the president.

Overview of the U.S. Quasi-War With France

Overview of the U.S. Quasi-War With France An undeclared war between the United States and France, the Quasi-War was the result of disagreements over treaties and Americas status as a neutral in the Wars of the French Revolution. Fought entirely at sea, the Quasi-War was largely a success for the fledgling US Navy as its vessels captured numerous French privateers and warships, while only losing one of its vessels. By late 1800, attitudes in France shifted and hostilities were concluded by the Treaty of Mortefontaine. Dates The Quasi-War was officially fought from July 7, 1798, until the signing of the Treaty of Mortefontaine on September 30, 1800. French privateers had been preying on American shipping for several years prior to the beginning of the conflict. Causes Principle among the causes of the Quasi-War was the signing of the Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain in 1794. Largely designed by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the treaty sought to resolve outstanding issues between the United States and Great Britain some of which had roots in the 1783 Treaty of Paris that had ended the American Revolution. Among the treatys provisions was a call for British troops to depart from frontier forts in the Northwest Territory which had remained occupied when state courts in the United States interfered the repayment of debts to Great Britain. Additionally, the treaty called for the two nations to seek arbitration regarding arguments over other outstanding debts as well as the American-Canadian border. The Jay Treaty also provided the United States limited trading rights with British colonies in the Caribbean in exchange for restrictions on the American export of cotton.  Ã‚   While largely a commercial agreement, the French viewed the treaty as a violation of the 1778 Treaty of Alliance with the American colonists. This feeling was enhanced by the perception that the United States was favoring Britain, despite having declared neutrality in the ongoing conflict between the two nations. Shortly after the Jay Treaty took effect, the French began seizing American ships trading with Britain and, in 1796, refused to accept the new US minister in Paris. Another contributing factor was the United States refusing to continue repaying debts accrued during the American Revolution. This action was defended with the argument that the loans had been taken from the French monarchy and not the new French First Republic. As Louis XVI had been deposed and then executed in 1793, the United States argued that the loans were effectively null and void. The XYZ Affair Tensions heightened in April 1798, when President John Adams reported to Congress on the XYZ Affair. The previous year, in an attempt to prevent war, Adams sent a delegation consisting of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Elbridge Gerry, and John Marshall to Paris to negotiate peace between the two nations. Upon arriving in France, the delegation was told by three French agents, referred to in reports as X (Baron Jean-Conrad Hottinguer), Y (Pierre Bellamy), and Z (Lucien Hauteval), that in order to speak to Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, they would have to pay a large bribe, provide a loan for the French war effort, and Adams would have to apologize for anti-French statements. Though such demands were common in European diplomacy, the Americans found them offensive and refused to comply.  Informal communications continued but failed to alter the situation as the Americans refused to pay with Pinckney exclaiming  No, no, not a sixpence! Unable to further advance their cause, Pinckney and Marshall departed France in April 1798 while Gerry followed a short time later. Active Operations Begin Announcement of the XYZ Affair unleashed a wave of anti-French sentiment across the country. Though Adams had hoped to contain the response, he was soon faced with loud calls from the Federalists for a declaration of war. Across the aisle, the  Democratic-Republicans, led by Vice President Thomas Jefferson, who had generally favored closer relations with France, were left without an effective counter-argument. Though Adams resisted calls for war, he was authorized by Congress to expand the Navy as French privateers continued to capture American merchant ships. On July 7, 1798, Congress rescinded all treaties with France and the US Navy was ordered to seek out and destroy French warships and privateers operating against American commerce. Consisting of approximately thirty ships, the US Navy began patrols along the southern coast and throughout the Caribbean. Success came quickly, with USS Delaware (20 guns) capturing the privateer La Croyable (14) off New Jersey on July 7. The War at Sea As over 300 American merchantmen had been captured by the French in the previous two years, the US Navy protected convoys and searched for the French. Over the next two years, American vessels posted an incredible record against enemy privateers and warships. During the conflict, USS Enterprise (12) captured eight privateers and liberated eleven American merchant ships, while USS Experiment (12) had similar success. On May 11, 1800, Commodore Silas Talbot, aboard USS Constitution (44), ordered his men to cut out a privateer from Puerto Plata. Led by Lt. Isaac Hull, the sailors took the ship and spiked the guns in the fort.  That October, USS Boston (32) defeated and captured the corvette Berceau (22) off Guadeloupe.  Unknown to the ships commanders, the conflict had already ended.  Due to this fact, Berceau was later returned to the French. Truxtun the Frigate USS Constellation The two most noteworthy battles of the conflict involved the 38-gun frigate USS Constellation (38). Commanded by Thomas Truxtun, Constellation sighted the 36-gun French frigate LInsurgente (40) on February 9, 1799. The French ship closed to board, but Truxtun used Constellations superior speed to maneuver away, raking LInsurgente with fire. After a brief fight, Captain M. Barreaut surrendered his ship to Truxtun. Almost a year later, on February 2, 1800, Constellation encountered the 52-gun frigate, La Vengeance. Fighting a five-hour battle at night, the French ship was pummeled but was able to escape in the darkness. The One American Loss During the entire conflict, the US Navy only lost one warship to enemy action. This was the captured privateer schooner La Croyable which had been purchased into the service and renamed USS Retaliation. Sailing with USS Montezuma (20) and USS Norfolk (18), Retaliation was ordered to patrol the West Indies. On November 20, 1798, while its consorts were away on a chase, Retaliation was overtaken by the French frigates LInsurgente and Volontaire (40). Badly outgunned, the schooners commander, Lieutenant William Bainbridge, had no choice but to surrender. After being captured, Bainbridge aided in Montezuma and Norfolks escape by convincing  the enemy that the two American ships were too powerful for the French frigates. The ship was recaptured the following June by USS Merrimack (28). Peace In late 1800, the independent operations of the US Navy and the British Royal Navy were able to force a reduction in the activities of French privateers and warships. This coupled with changing attitudes in the French revolutionary government, opened the door for renewed negotiations. This soon saw Adams dispatch William Vans Murray, Oliver Ellsworth, and William Richardson Davie to France with orders to commence talks. Signed on September 30, 1800, the resulting Treaty of Mortefontaine ended hostilities between the US and France, as well as terminated all previous agreements and established trade ties between the nations. During the course of the fighting, the new US Navy captured 85 French privateers, while losing approximately 2,000 merchant vessels.

The Mississippi-Missouri-Jefferson River System

The Mississippi-Missouri-Jefferson River System The Jefferson-Mississippi-Missouri River system is the fourth largest river system in the world and serves transportation, industry, and recreation as the most important inland waterway in North America. Its drainage basin collects water from 41% of the contiguous United States, covering a total area of more than 1,245,000 square miles (3,224,535 square kilometers) and touching 31 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces in all. The Missouri River, the longest river in the United States, the Mississippi River, the second longest river in the United States, and Jefferson River combine to form this system at a total length of 3,979 miles (6,352 km). (The Mississippi-Missouri River combined is 3,709 miles or 5,969 km). The river system begins in Montana at the Red Rocks River, which quickly turns into the Jefferson River. The Jefferson then combines with the Madison and Gallatin Rivers at Three Forks, Montana to form the Missouri River. After winding through North Dakota and South Dakota, the Missouri River forms part of the boundary between South Dakota and Nebraska, and Nebraska and Iowa. Upon reaching Missouri state, the Missouri river joins up with the Mississippi River about 20 miles north of St. Louis. The Illinois River also joins with the Mississippi at this point. Later, in Cairo, Illinois, the Ohio River joins the Mississippi River. This connection separates the Upper Mississippi and the Lower Mississippi, and doubles the water capacity of the Mississippi. The Arkansas River flows in to the Mississippi River north of Greenville, Mississippi. The final junction with the Mississippi River is the Red River, north of Marksville, Louisiana. The Mississippi River eventually splits up in to a number of different channels, called distributaries, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at various points and forming a delta, a triangular shaped alluvial plain composed of silt. About 640,000 cubic feet (18,100 cubic meters) is emptied in to the Gulf every second. The system can easily be broken in to seven different basin regions based on the major tributaries of the Mississippi River: Missouri River Basin, Arkansas-White River Basin, Red River Basin, Ohio River Basin, Tennessee River Basin, Upper Mississippi River Basin, and Lower Mississippi River Basin. The Formation of The Mississippi River System More recently, about two million years ago, glaciers upwards of 6,500 feet thick repeatedly encroached upon and retreated from the land. When the last ice age ended approximately 15,000 years ago, massive quantities of water were left behind to form the lakes and rivers of North America. The Jefferson-Mississippi-Missouri River system is just one of the many water features that fill the giant swath of plain between the Appalachian Mountains of the east and the Rocky Mountains of the West. History of Transportation and Industry on the Mississippi River System Beginning in the early 1800s, steamboats took over as the dominant mode of transportation on the river ways of the system. Pioneers of business and exploration used the rivers as a means of getting around and shipping their products. Beginning in the 1930s, the government facilitated the navigation of the system’s waterways by building and maintaining several canals. Today, the Jefferson-Mississippi-Missouri River System is used primarily for industrial transportation, carrying agricultural and manufactured goods, iron, steel, and mine products from one end of the country to the other. The Mississippi River and the Missouri River, the two major stretches of the system, see 460 million short tons (420 million metric tons) and 3.25 million short tons (3.2 million metric tons) of freight transported every year. Large barges pushed by tugboats are the most common way of getting things around. The immense commerce that takes place along the system has fostered the growth of countless cities and communities. Some of the most important include Minneapolis, Minnesota; La Crosse, Wisconsin; St. Louis, Missouri; Columbus, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; and Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. Concerns Dams and levees are the most common guard against destructive floods. Important ones along the Missouri and Ohio Rivers limit the amount of water that enters the Mississippi. Dredging, the practice of removing sediment or other material from the bottom of the river, makes the rivers more navigable, but also increases the amount of water the river can hold – this poses a bigger risk for flooding. Pollution is another distress to the river system. Industry, while providing jobs and general wealth, also produces a large amount of waste that has no other outlet but in to the rivers. Insecticides and fertilizers are also washed away in to the rivers, disrupting ecosystems at the point of entry and further down stream as well. Government regulations have curbed these pollutants but pollutants still find their way in to the waters.

Reflection report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Reflection report - Essay Example The lifeline of an organization has a close link with the organizational ability and power to innovate and re-innovate in order to keep the competitive advantage valid in the long run. The companies have to ensure that they find fresh streams of revenue on a regular basis so that they can keep their sales volume steady and intact over the passage of time (Badelt & Weiss, 1990). The companies have to deal with traditional and conventional needs and wants of the customers in a new and inventive way. In the language of marketing, one can say that modern companies require fulfilling expectations of the customers by innovating in terms of finding new ways to satisfy them. The featured company did not innovate on an operational level, but they took their offering to a new level by making a tough and difficult decision of going global when the odds against them were simply overwhelming to say the least. The company made a bold strategic choice of performing international market development (Auger, Burke, Devinney, & Louviere, 2003). The choice was valid, but it was risky, and that helped the company regarding tapping into the latent sources of revenue worldwide (Baron & Tang, 2011). The research effort lifted various sort of data and information about the company through running internet search, and the net profit remained significant in the year of 2011. The abovementioned annual period was lucrative in nature because the company started to reap benefits and results of the decision that involved taking the business to the global level (Elenkov, Judge, & Wright, 2005). The domestic markets were not generating sufficient returns, and therefore, the company had to innovate with reference to establishment of international outlets. The company was manufacturing sports and excursion goods, but they were not able to crunch significant corporate success in the opening years. Besides, the company was operating since 1892, and they decided that they did not have

History of the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History of the United States - Essay Example His leadership during the Great Depression besides having utter joblessness natives won the confidence of his subjects. This is because he instituted the policy of banks’ closure that persisted for 100 days to shun the incidences of people losing their homes and enterprises. Studies especially those of Zinn contend that the uprising of democratization the fuelling emanated from the diversity in societal strata (Zinn 10-22). This entailed unequal treatment of the blacks and other races that formed the oppressed society by the whites who were the elites. Primarily, this was after the arrival of the Columbus in the N. America prior the importation of servitude meant to work in the plantations and factories. Hence, resulting to human and dignity degradation that prompted the oppressed to seek their emancipation via unions instituted then to relief the people. Oppression entailed low wages and even enslavement especially by the Southerners where even after the declaration regarding servitude abolition some slaveholders were too reluctant to consent. Additionally, the severity of factory oppression, plantations and mines continued to the 20Th C, which was the great awakening of the masses (Zinn 123). They desired equal treatment like the white; claiming the relation amid them was more of deprivation than that of safeguarding human dignity. This was mostly in the last quarter of the 20Th era where its actions almost characterize the Zinn’s argument even to the current. Upon becoming the president, FDR ordered heavily taxing on the wealthy so that the state would relief the underprivileged by gaining their economic stability. This marked the true source of democracy besides other events triggered later by civil rights’ agitators, for illustration, Malcolm X. Steps to full democratization emerged with the Americans and other natives starting to believe in themselves where they sought all possible ways of their emancipation. This entailed mind emanci pation prior resulting to the physical one, especially abolishing segregation that was evident amid the states. America prior the democratization era, it endured severe segregation where the Southerners compared to other citizens could not enjoy similar rights in public like their white counterparts. This yielded to severe and active retaliations by the segregated group, which entailed the use of diverse ways by the civil rights’ leaders. Southerners and numerous people who encountered segregation devised diverse rights’ movements meant to agitate for their privileges. According to Zinn were mainly farm workers who besides facing discrimination their wages were low, until civil activism came to their aid. This entailed even religious-based associations spearheaded by icons like Martin Luther King. His initial debut was during Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) where the incidence lasted for 382 days. The incidence emanated from Rose Parker declining to offer a seat to a whi te man, which brewed uproar that culminated to her arrest. Learning of this, Martin organized nonviolent demonstration where the blacks declined utilizing the public transport, which yielded to immense funds loss especially to the buses’ owners. Since then, Martin continued to advocate for peaceful disobedience to the harsh laws that segregated Negros and offered the

Environmental Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Environmental Management - Essay Example The city is mostly built on the hillsides and five of the rivers flow together near the city. Flooding grasped many parts of the city in the year of 2007 when River Don over flowed. The flood had devastating effects on the city which completely paralyzed the normal routine activities of the city. The businesses of the city were also affected because of which they could not operate. Many of the residents suffered from health hazards and electricity problems. Following the flood many of the organizations took part in the rehabilitation of the city. Deaths were also reported after the flood occurred but immediate services from the environmental agencies helped the city to revive its earlier grace. Environmental agencies played a great role in the rehabilitation of the city. But the effects of the flood are still felt in the city. Moreover efforts by these agencies have helped the city to a great extent to carry out the normal activities. This report would further revolve around the floo d that occurred in Sheffield in the summer of 2007 and would provide with different details about the disaster (Smith 207; Environment Agency 2010) The floods which were caused in United Kingdom were basically because of different reported rainfalls in the country. Summers in United Kingdom always witnessed heavy rainfalls but in the summer 2007 these rainfalls were record breaking. Two significant causes for the 2007 flood have been highlighted. Flash flooding is considered one of the basic causes which disturbed the normal level of water in rivers. Flash flooding occurs when heavy rainfall occurs in a very short time such that it raises the level of water in rivers but after some time the level gets normal again. It occurs when the ground does not have enough capability to hold water and urban landscapes usually do not have enough space to hold water. It was June 15th that heavy rainfall started in England which filled the rivers with

US healthcare system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

US healthcare system - Essay Example The government primarily provides for its employees health insurance. The Americans values and beliefs evidently define the healthcare system. These values and beliefs have for a very long time gone on record to have stalled attempts of health care reforms. This is caused by conflict of values that are deeply rooted. The ideological clash should be solved so that pragmatic changes can be achieved. These values include freedom to choose, fairness, and the responsibility for everybody in health care. A survey showed that the Americans come to the debate about the healthcare with mixed feelings and a small base of the exact knowledge. However, the Americans hold some core values that determine their responses to the proposal made to the national change. We witness many speeches by political leaders and a lot of money being spent on advertisements by interested groups so as to persuade the public to accept their views on which direction should be taken by the Americans in the health care . Experts design messages to rally Americans oppose or support the proposed health care reforms (Shi, et al. 2010). Medicare is a program by the federal health insurance for the individuals that are aged 65 years that have paid and worked into the system, younger people that have disabilities, and those suffering from End-stage Renal Diseases. Medicaid is for individuals and families with limited resources and low incomes. It is a program for social health care. It is a program designed for everybody who has a low income and cannot afford for health care regardless of the age. Both programs are federal healthcare programs, but they also have differences between the two. This includes who is in charge of their running, who qualifies to benefit from them, and the services offered and the amount charged (Smith, D. G. 2002). Medicaid is administered by the

American Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

American Government - Essay Example The so called representatives of the peoples that are chosen only serve to represent themselves and their interests. Their aims are to make themselves popular in the world over and to create fear among nations (Roger, 2004). The people have no power to make decisions of national governance as it would be in true democracy. The system ensures important decisions to be made by few people who create inefficiency in the whole process of decision making and execution. There concentration of power on top level has seen stagnation of economy among other bad decisions that have continued to plague the tax payer. This form of the government represents their wealthy clients at best often ignoring the have-nots who are the people who have elected it. Therefore the party in power is not the problem facing American but the social contract structure whereby decision making process is left for the wealthy few instead of being distributed to the people. The only solution would be to redesign the Ame rican government and that would be through constitutional amendment to restore the power to run the country back to the people to ensure the system get efficient since the elected representatives will become directly responsible to their actions and answerable to the people. Furthermore, decision making will be decentralized. Social contract comprises the philosophical therories describing agreements between the ruled and the rulers among the members of an organized society and the philosophies defined the duties of each party, limitations, and rights (Stuart, 2007). A contract in normal cases comes with specific obligations and therefore in political scenario a contract between the citizens and the sovereign power grounds the nature of obligation on each party. Under the social contract the legitimate authority is drawn from the consent of the people. Members of the society are bound by the social contract to respect the ruling government

Therapeutic management of stroke to prevent secondary events in Literature review

Therapeutic management of stroke to prevent secondary events in patients who have experienced an ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) - Literature review Example ever posited that duration of manifestation of symptoms is a major issue in ITA as in ITA, the symptoms are only kindly to be the same as what is seen in stroke in the first 24 hours or less. Writing specifically on the pathophysiology of ITA and its clinical manifestation, Iadecola and Gorelick (2012) stressed that the primary pathophysiology of the disease is the underlying heart or blood vessel disease, which manifests in several forms, including atherosclerotic vascular disease. Atherosclerotic vascular diseases have been associated with ischaemic stroke and actually considered a major cause of ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (ITA) (Rothwell, 2011). This is because the onset of atherosclerotic vascular diseases has actually been linked with the occurrence of occlusive lesions which take place in major intracranial and extracranial arteries. Meanwhile, any form of inhabitation of supply of blood to the heart could be associated with possible breakdown in the active functioning of the brain (Adams et al., 2008). Rashid, Leonardi-Bee and Bath (2013) noted that with the onset of atherosclerotic vascular disease which is the primary pathophysiology of both stroke and ITA, the damage to lesions resulting from occlusive lesions bring about further secondary manifestations, necessary for diagnosis. As this occlusive lesions, which is a form of severely stenotic lesions occur at the major intracranial and extracranial arteries, they lead to the narrowing of small penetrating arteries of the brain and thus the cause or onset of secondary events in patients with TIA (Fayad, 2006). In relation to the current research problem, Bornstein, Silvestrelli, Caso and Parnetti (2012) found that where there pathophysiology and clinical manifestation shows clear possibility of ITA, it is very important that immediate management steps are taken to avert further secondary events, leading to stroke. This is because there is only a thin line from the transition point from

Small business in nigeria (management subject) Essay

Small business in nigeria (management subject) - Essay Example Entrepreneurs have a desire to be the master of themselves and have a high degree of commitment. Thus, instead of working for someone else, they choose to start up a small-business of their own. (Longnecker, Moore, Petty J. and Palich, 2005). When it comes to small-business, there is no set definition since different experts tend to define a small business differently. There are many factors through which small businesses are defined, including factors like size of the company, revenue, profits, operations, etc. The Bolton committee for instance has devised a definition of a small business called the economic definition. The economic definition is a more qualitative definition that emphasizes that a firm is called small when it has a relatively smaller chunk of the total market share of the industry, it is managed by owners in an informal and highly personalized environment and does not have a formal structure and that it is not a part of any large concern or a corporation and operates independently. (Corman, and Lussier, 2008). On the other hand, the European Commission defines a small business quantitatively. They coined a term Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) to refer to a small business. According to the European Commission, a business is a micro-enterprise if it has 0 to 9 employees, it is a small-enterprise if it has 10 to 99 employees and it is a medium-enterprise if it has 100 to 499 employees working under its umbrella. Organizations with employees 500 and above are hence called large-enterprises. Thus, a small business, in its true essence, is basically any firm that has a relatively smaller number of employed workers, has a small concern in the market, has a very informal organizational structure etc., however, at the end of the day, the exact measurement of any business as â€Å"small† is still a very vague concept and experts and analysts have thus been interpreting it differently according to the given situation and the circumstances.

Raising Individual Financial Awareness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Raising Individual Financial Awareness - Essay Example One type of personal pension is a defined contribution pension, also known as money purchase scheme, which is bought by contributions made by the employer and the employee. Defined benefit pension, also known as final salary schemes, is another type of pension scheme wherein the benefits are paid based on the scheme rules such as time and changing salary levels and mortality rates, etc. The best way to differentiate between the above mentioned 2 schemes is by identifying the riskholder. Employer is the risk holder as he underwrites the vast majority of costs attached with defined benefit schemes. Employee or the scheme member is the risk holder as contributions are paid back at fixed levels, therefore if the contribution rates are not increased when the returns are poor, the retirement benefits will also be lower than they had planned for (TSSA). Bill Murray, in case of , defined contribution scheme, can increase his contribution if he feels it is necessary to increase his pension. T herefore in case he wants to have ?18,000 as his annual retirement he needs to increase his pension pot to ?284,000, assuming ?100,000 pension pot fetches on average ?6341 to a healthy 65 year old male (Annuity). In case of, defined benefit pension he will know roughly how much he will get, as the amount will depend on the length of time he has worked and his final salary. Therefore, if the scheme is based on 60ths i.e. Bill will get 1/60th of his final salary for his pension each year, and assuming he has been working for 42 years, his final salary should be ?25,714. This should be easily achievable because the average salary in 2010 for marketing was ?37500 (ITJobsWatch). Bill Murray should choose the defined benefit scheme because it gives him certain amount irrespective of the state of the economy. The scheme will also pay him more if his salary is anywhere close to the average salary if not more. Government has proposed to s include an option for a flat rate State Pension of ar ound ?140 a week for a single person and change in the limit of state pension age (DirectGov, State pension Reforms). The reason behind is the need to meet the needs of future pensioners, who are saving lesser, and with people living longer, the burden of pension also increases on the Government. Part B Houses bought to be rented out should have a buy to let mortgage, which is often interest only. The full amount that was borrowed is repaid at the end of the mortgage. Buy to let mortgages often require the rental for the property to be a set percentage above the mortgage repayment (Mortgages). HSBC’s tracker rate mortgage is suitable for Annie. It has a repayment rate of 3.99% plus base rate and costs ?1499 to set up (HSBC). Table 1 below estimates if buying a flat and renting out is a worthwhile investment. The below estimates are based on an assumption the flat is occupied by tenants for all 12 months. Table 1: Estimates of renting the flat (all figures in ?) Rental Income (?1500*12) 18000 Commission (15% of ?18000) (2700) Insurance (assumed) (1000) Interest (based on HSBC rate) (5850) Maintenance (assumed) (1500) Other costs (assumed) (500) Profit/(Loss) 10550 As per the estimates above, Annie would make about ?10,550 annually. Interest payments are low merely because the deposit of ?70,000 which Annie has provided. When Annie intends to sell