Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Abortion - Essay Example explores the Divine Command Theory and debates the moral aspects of this divisive issue before touching on the practical arguments surrounding abortion by investigating its use to control population in China. The life of a human, from the time of conception, should be considered equally as viable as any individual. Consequently, the right of life as well as the social definition regarding ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ types of deaths should apply to potential lives which possess a future value of life, the same as any living person. Denying a being their future is murder. Unnatural, premature deaths that are considered justifiable by society include those that occur during war-time in addition to those that result from ‘mercy killings’ and the death penalty. Outside of these instances, society generally acts to protect all life even animals that have at least a chance of future potential. This is demonstrated by the life-saving techniques employed without question or hesitation in the case of people who wanted to end their life. Society will not allow it because it is simply wrong by any standard to end a life with potential. ‘Pro Choice’ advocat es counter this seemingly universal truth by saying just because a person has great potential doesn’t mean that they will achieve greatness in life therefore a potential life is not yet a life. They also argue that because a fetus is unconscious disqualifies it for being considered a person. Of course, emergency medical treatment is administered to unconscious people in an effort to save their life. Society mourns the death of the young more so than the old. Taking the life of a potential person who possesses an inherent value of life and is of the very youngest of society is in opposition to this widely accepted societal value.1 Various studies through the years have proven that abortion is an abhorrent physical, psychological and moral option for all concerned yet the ‘right to choose’ still

Can Religion Be Studied Academically Essay Example for Free

Can Religion Be Studied Academically Essay The academic study of religion isn’t a means of just learning scriptures or passages from a sacred text like the Bible. It is a more complex process and can be considered multidisciplinary – it can include art, literature, linguistics, history, philosophy, psychology, sociology and much more. Religion can’t be studied without knowing what we are trying to study, and while some would argue it just doesn’t exist, the similarity among the diverse religious belief systems around the world are strong enough to justify a comprehensive field study encompassing the factors listed above, some of which fall into Livingstone’s ‘seven ways of studying religion’. However, to effectively study religion in an academic way, it is important to include critical analysis, which means it is important not to be biased towards your own beliefs. By doing this you can become more culturally aware of other faiths and beliefs, and thus obtain a greater understanding of religions. Literary criticism plays an important role in the academic study of religion. Religion in the theological way is all about the teachings of a particular sacred text. The Bible for Christianity, the Quran for Islam and Sutras for Buddhism, for example, all contain the teachings and laws of the respective religions, which is essentially how people can understand religion in the first place. Livingstone, in his theories on religion, says questions are the key to studying and understanding the meaning of sacred texts. Is it reliable; who was the author; when was it written and where; how has the work been received, interpreted and passed on? These are the questions that need to be answered before a true understanding of religion can be obtained, and who better to answer them than a literary critic, according to Livingstone. The relationship between religion and language also relates to this idea of literary criticism. Language in religion doesn’t often function like it does in everyday life – it is not found at the surface level of words or signs, according to Livingstone. Understanding language and how it is used in religion provides insight, but it also stretches to include the nature and function of language itself. Because of religion’s role in human cultures, it is impossible to comprehend the flow of history without some basic grounding in a variety of religious beliefs. Livingstone says it would appear obvious that the historical study of religion has to do with establishing what role religious experience and ideas play in the lives of individuals and communities. You only have to look at the Bible and see the Old Testament is dated in years ‘before Christ’. Livingstone gives an example of the Protestant Reformation. The causes of the Protestant Reformation have been a topic of contention among historians, and the debate illustrates both the importance of history in gaining a fuller understanding of that event in western history, and the difficulties in proposing a single casual explanation in history. But the notion of history and religion can be put a little more simply – religious traditions provide structure to the world and provides people with a sense of where they fit in, which in turn affects choices today, for example decisions about politics. The philosophical scrutiny of religion is one of the oldest and most instructive ways of examining religious experience and belief, according to Livingstone. In this century philosophy’s relation to religion is to analyse the uses of religious language and to test its logical status and meaning. It asks whether a religious expression is simply performing an action or evoking the emotions. Livingstone says philosophers believe much of the problems with religion stem from these confusing uses of language. Over the centuries and spanning different continents, the notion of philosophy has remained significant in several religious traditions, which emphasises the importance of it in an educational way – In India, philosophy has remained associated with historical developments in Hinduism and the same goes for Buddhism in Asia. The way in which religion interacts within a social dimension is also a significant element to studying religion. Sociologist, Max Weber, demonstrated that certain forms of social life and behaviour could deeply reflect the religious belief and practice of society. For example: Weber analysed how the new Protestant ethic, which came with the Reformation of the 16th century, proved to be decisive in shaping the spirit of modern capitalist society. All religions have a concept of what it means to be a member of a religious society, how it should function, how it should be organised, and how the society relates to the outside world. Therefore it is important to have an understanding of the sociology behind religion, especially in the instance that culture and religion become hard to distinguish between. It is understood that religions offer critiques of contemporary society based on concepts of an ideal society and must understand the connection between sacred and secular power and the political and religious institutions representing each. This is where a study of sociology and anthropology become important for religion. The relationship between religious and violent conflict is well known. It can be argued that religions are inclined to be absolutist, meaning they don’t allow for the validity of other religions. This discourages the discussions and negotiations and compromises needed to resolve differences of opinion peacefully, which can then have an effect on society itself. Without compromises, it can sometimes erupt into violence – so in terms of the importance of studying religion, it is ideal to know the interconnection between sociology and religion to understand why and how conflicts, for example, can sometimes occur. And then there’s the psychology behind the importance of studying religion. One of the early workers in this particular field was William James. He explored the psychological dimensions of phenomena as conversion, mysticism and saintliness. Livingstone says the connection between psychology and religion is perhaps the most closely associated with great figures in psychoanalysis. He also uses an example of Gordon Allport’s work, who studied the relationship between religion and prejudice. He says studies such as Allport’s show the value of psychological studies in revealing the potential effect of forms of religion on social relations and behaviours. Allport particularly discovered that there were different correlations between prejudice and types of being religious, what he referred to as extrinsic and intrinsic religions. This particular study into psychology and religion is significant because it can warn us against making too-simple correlation between prejudice and religion, according to Livingstone. In addition to Livingstone’s ideas behind studying religion, there are other factors that intertwine, like art, for example. No one can view art without noticing the influence of religion. Every religion provides ideas, tales, cultural symbols, and concepts vital to creating art. It can be argued that without the cultural resources available today that have been created by religions, some art would be impossible to create or even understand. It isn’t particularly essential for making art, but religion’s role culturally makes the connection stronger. In conclusion, it is difficult to seriously or substantively critique religion if it’s not understood. It is for this reason that an understanding language critique, sociology, history, psychology and philosophy, for example, is so important. Livingstone says the academic study of religion can help people to see religion as a whole. These scholarly views and disciplines can help people to see aspects of their own religions that they may be blind to, which in turn can help prosper more appreciation for various religious traditions.

B2B vs. B2C Marketing Differences Essay example -- Marketing Business

B2B vs. B2C Marketing Differences Once a decision is made to develop a business, whom the customer will be is the next decision to be made. Whom will the company target as a customer? Will it be a business? Or will it be a consumer? Business-to-business (B2B) marketing has differences from business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing practices. This paper will outline these differences between the two types of e-commerce business transactions. 'Traditional marketing in the business-to-business environment requires very different strategies from those campaigns directed towards the consumer market.' (ExtraVision, n.d., p. 1) 'Consumer competition can be a lot fiercer, with customer loyalty a constant battle.? (ExtraVision, n.d., p.1) Routes of marketing in business today include e-mail, pop up advertisement, television and banner advertising. This paper will primarily focus on e-mail marketing. E-mail marketing is different when marketing to a business versus a consumer. Debbie Weil (2002) lists five ways business-to-business marketing is different from business-to-consumer email marketing. Weil (2002) says these five ways are:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Distance from click to sale  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Permission  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Copyrighting Challenge  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lists  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  B2B: the more interesting option (p.1) When discussing the concept of the distance from the click to the sale, Weil (2002) explains business-to-business e-mails are primarily for lead generation. On the other hand, an e-mail campaign for a busin...

Conceptualization of Culture and Language in Post Colonial Literature Essay

Culture and Language are the major issues in the post colonial theory. My assignment will deal with these three factors in terms of colonial perspectives. The post colonialism mainly explores the ideas such as cultural diversity, geographical dimensions, Diasporas, race, ethnicity, marginality, hybridity, national identities, cultural transformation, changes and politics in language etc†¦ Considerations of hybridity run the range from existential to material, political to economic, yet this discussion will not be able to tease out the extensive implications of each consideration. Rather, this discussion aims to explore the notion of hybridity theoretically, synthesizing the vast body of literature to critique essentialist notions of identity as fixed and constant. According to my understanding of Hybridity, there are three ways in which hybridity might serve as a tool for deconstructing the rigid labels that maintain social inequities through exclusion in race, language and nation. By exploring how the hybrid rejects claims of bonds within race, language, and nation, I understood that cultural studies like these are imperative in considering the politics of representation. For the purposes of this discussion, the cultural hybridity refers to the integration of cultural bodies, signs, and practices from the colonizing and the colonized cultures. The contemporary cultural landscape is an amalgam of cross-cultural influences, blended, patch-worked, and layered upon one another. Unbound and fluid, culture is hybrid and interstitial, moving between spaces of meaning. The notion of cultural hybridity has existed far before it was popularized in postcolonial theory as culture arising out of interactions between â€Å"colonizers† and â€Å"the colonized†. However, in this time after imperialism, globalization has both expanded the reach of Western culture, as well as allowed a process by which the West constantly interacts with the East, appropriating cultures for its own means and continually shifting its own signifiers of dominant culture. This hybridity is woven into every corner of society, from trendy fusion cuisine to Caribbean rhythms in pop music to the hyphenated identities that signify ethnic Americans, illuminating the lived experience of ties to a dominant culture blending with the cultural codes of a Third World culture. Framing Cultural Hybridity in post colonial context; Among postcolonial theorists, there is a wide consensus that hybridity arose out of the culturally internalized interactions between â€Å"colonizers† and â€Å"the colonized† and the dichotomous formation of these identities. Considered by some the father of hybrid theory, Homi Bhabha argued that colonizers and the colonized are mutually dependent in constructing a shared culture. His text The Location of Culture (1994) suggested that there is a â€Å"Third Space of Enunciation† in which cultural systems are constructed. In this claim, he aimed to create a new language and mode of describing the identity of Selves and Others. Bhabha says: It becomes crucial to distinguish between the semblance and similitude of the symbols across diverse cultural experiences such as literature, art, music, Ritual, life, death and the social specificity of each of these productions of meaning as they circulate as signs within specific contextual locations and social systems of value. The transnational dimension of cultural transformation migration, diaspora, displacement, relocation makes the process of cultural translation a complex form of signification. The naturalized, unifying discourse of nation, peoples, or authentic folk tradition, those embedded myths of cultures particularity, cannot be readily referenced. The great, though unsettling, advantage of this position is that it makes you increasingly aware of the construction of culture and the invention of tradition. In using words like â€Å"diaspora, displacement, relocation,† Bhabha illustrates the dynamic nature of culture, and the flimsy consistency of the historical narratives that cultures rely upon to draw boundaries and define themselves. As a result, culture cannot be defined in and of it, but rather must be seen within the context of its construction. More significantly, Bhabha draws attention to the reliance of cultural narratives upon the other. In illuminating this mutual construction of culture, studies of hybridity can offer the opportunity for a counter-narrative, a means by which the dominated can reclaim shared ownership of a culture that relies upon them for meaning. This theoretical erspective will serve as the foundation for the considerations explored in this paper, employing hybridity as a powerful tool for liberation from the domination imposed by bounded definitions of race, language, and nation. RACE: Racial hybridity, or the integration of two races which are assumed to be distinct and separate entities, can be considered first in terms of the physical body. Historically, the corporeal hybrid was birthed from two symbolic poles, a bodily representation of colonizer and colonized. These mixed births, mestizo, mulatto, muwallad, were stigmatized as a physical representation of impure blood, and this racism long served as a tool of power that maintained that even in this blending of two bodies, just â€Å"one drop† of black blood would deem the body impure and alien, an abomination. Institutionalized racism created a perpetual state of ambiguity and placelessness for the hybrid body and prevented cultural inclusion via race. However, the expanse of immigration since colonialism and the spectrum of shades of visible difference point to an increasingly hybrid populace in which these classifications of black and white no longer carry the same power of representation, yet the old labels persist. This labeling is significant as it elucidates the continuing power of racial labels in a society set on fixing bodies in racial space by binding them to labels, which are understood to contain fixed truths. I argue that utilizing the conceptual tool of hybridity to deconstruct these labels allows a means by which hybrid individuals can come together in powerful solidarity, rather than allowing their ambiguous place in racial space to render them invisible. Harnessing racial hybridity to project the simultaneously unique but common experience of hybridity can be a means by which the individual subject can join to a marginal community through stories and partial memories. Furthermore, racial hybridity must harness the dualistic experience of passing, or being mistaken for a race other than one’s own. All identities involve passing to some extent, in that a subject’s self can never truly match its image, but racial passing implicitly deconstructs the boundaries of Black and White. In passing, hybridity might function not as a conflict or struggle between two racial identities, but instead as constant movement between spaces, passing through and between identity itself without origin or arrival. The freedom to move between identities carries its own power in defying the claims of essentialized racial identity. Furthermore, the bounded labels of race do not account for the historical and geographic narratives that lie behind each body and inform their identity. In â€Å"Black Africans and Native Americans†, Jack Forbes explores the disconnect between racial labels and the consciousness of the bodies behind them using Native Americans and Africans as examples by which â€Å"groups are forced into arbitrary categories render their ethnic heritage simple rather than complex†. As a result, hybridity calls into question the boundaries of racial consciousness as a hybrid consciousness defies the imposed limits of race. The management of these identities becomes its own sort of performance, as the body negotiates each consciousness in different spaces. Again, the ability to play multiple roles, to â€Å"pass† in different arenas, carries significant power. In embodying the inability to bind identities to race, racial hybridity both in the physical body and in consciousness offers a means of deconstructing the boundaries of dichotomous racial identities. In addition to race, language has long been bound in definitions as a symbol of nation and a mode of exclusion. As a means to connect with other social beings, communicating with language is a meaningful performance in that speaking requires two parties, one to perform language and an audience to observe and absorb language. During colonialism, as the colonizer’s language dominated national institutions, the sense of being outside and â€Å"othered† was instilled in the colonized as their language and means of communication was stripped away. Now in a time after colonialism, can the colonized ever reclaim a language long lost, or has the colonizer’s language become their own? Has ownership of the colonizer’s language expanded over time? Fanon’s theorizing addresses the power of language in the formation of identity as he says, â€Å"To speak . . . means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization,†. He suggests that speaking the language of the colonizer stands in as acceptance or coercion into accepting a role in culture. Yet in accepting a role, whether by choice or force, the meaning of the culture shifts and evolves. No longer does it â€Å"belong† to the colonizer, as it relies upon the colonized to give it shape. Similarly, with the introduction of a new set of users performing a language, the language no longer exists as it was; it has shifted in meaning. Beyond the thematic implications of language, hybridity has inspired an immense movement in literary discourse and understandings of the very way language is managed and owned. Herskovits developed the notion of syncretism, a theory attempting to explain why certain cultural forms are carried and others lost. Similarly, Claude Levi-Strauss developed the term bricolage to describe mixed forms within narratives. Creolization describes the linguistic blending of dominant and subdominant cultures. These examples illustrate the broad realm of studies that have developed simply around the use of hybridized language. In an analysis of the rise of the â€Å"hybrid genre† in postmodern literature, Kapchan and Strong say, â€Å"Hybridization has become one such analytic allegory, defining lines of interest and affiliation among scholars of popular and literary culture, perhaps quite unintentionally. The extent to which these authors use the metaphor of hybridity consciously and concisely differs. That they use it, however, qualifies hybridity as one of several tropes, or forms of metaphoric predication, that most epitomize the scholarship of the last decade,† . Not only does this observation imply that the body of hybridized literature is growing, harkening to the rising voices and representations of the hybrid, but that hybridity is becoming normalized as an accepted form of literature and the purist notion of genre is diminishing. Furthermore, the use of a colonizer’s language by the colonized to speak of the crimes of colonialism is its own transgression and act of resistance. In taking ownership of the language, changing the way that it is used, the boundaries of language as belonging to a specific place or race are dissolved. Jahan Ramazani’s Hybrid Muse is an analytical review of the poetry that has arisen from the hybridization of the English muse with the long-resident muses of Africa, India, the Caribbean, and other decolonizing territories of the British Empire (2001). A hybrid himself, Ramazani suggests that the use of indigenous metaphors, rhythms, creoles, and genres has allowed a new form of poetry that not only speaks of the violence and displacement of colonialism, but embodies it in its very form. These hybrid poetries can be viewed as a gateway to understanding those once deemed unfamiliar, and hybridity of language becomes a way by which to deconstruct borders and relate to collectives across cultural boundaries. Further, hybridity must interrogate the notion that nationality is essential zed in a distinct culture that geographic borders somehow embody inherent knowledge or truth about the people they contain. Mamdani asks, â€Å"How do you tell who is indigenous to the country and who is not? Given a history of migration, what is the dividing line between the indigenous and the nonindigenous? . He addresses the nationalist concern over entitlement to nation, and the indigenous wish to lay claim to culture. I understood that theories of hybridity, in clarifying the shifting and indefinite nature of culture, can serve as a tool that complicate the nationalist exclusionary practice of determining who does and does not have claim to a nation. From health care to immigration, h is arguments resonate loudly with current events. Similarly, we must consider the ways in which the â€Å"things† that give culture meaning are unfixed and variable, negating essentialist arguments about inherent meanings of culture. In The Predicament of Culture, James Clifford (1988) analyzes sites including anthropology, museums, and travel writing to take a critical ethnography of the West and its shifting relationships with other societies. He demonstrates how â€Å"other† national cultures are in fact fictions and mythical narratives, and we must ask the question of representation and who has the authority to speak for a group’s identity. In his article â€Å"Diasporas†, he suggests that â€Å"The old localizing strategies by bounded community, by organic culture, by region, by center and periphery may obscure as much as they reveal†. Diaspora is defined as a history of dispersal, myths/memories of the homeland, alienation in the host country, desire for eventual return, ongoing support of the homeland, and a collective identity importantly defined by this relationship. In this consideration of culture, we understand the vast connotations of displacement, from asking which history the diasporic should identify with to asking if it is even possible to return to a homeland one never knew or left long ago. Second, in the representation of culture, be it by petrifying culture in a museum or nailing it to an anthropological account, the risk lies in taking these subjective moments as truths or knowledge. Furthermore, the far-reaching diasporic symbols and narratives that snowball into this thing we call national culture suggest that culture is itself a traveler collecting artifacts from various locations along the way, and its walls are too insubstantial to be used as a means of exclusion. Third and perhaps most significant, hybridity in a postcolonial world muddles the very definitions of culture by which nations define themselves. Given that nationalism is founded upon a collective consciousness from shared loyalty to a culture, one would assume this culture is well-defined. Yet the â€Å"solid† roots of historical and cultural narratives that nations rely upon are diasporic, with mottled points of entry at various points in time. An investigation of the roots of cultural symbols like folk stories, religion, and music would reveal sources varied and wide-ranging. Furthermore, culture is defined in relationship to other cultures. Edward Said’s Orientalism (1979) offers a strong description of the system by which nations appropriate from others to define themselves. He suggests Orientalism â€Å"has helped to define Europe as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience†. Using a theoretical framework influenced by Gramsci’s notion of hegemonic culture and Foucault’s notion of discourse, Said draws significant attention to the intricate and complex process by which the West must use the East to construct itself, its culture, its meaning. In an illuminating excerpt describing the process of Orientalism, he writes: To formulate the Orient, to give it shape, identity, definition with full recognition of its place in memory, its importance to imperial strategy, and its ‘natural’ role as an appendage to Europe; to dignify all the knowledge collected during colonial occupation with the title ‘contribution to modern learning; when the natives had neither been consulted nor treated as anything except as pretexts for a text whose usefulness was not to the natives; to feel oneself as a European in command, almost at will, of Oriental history, time, and geography to make out of every observable detail a generalization and out of every generalization an immutable law about the Oriental nature, temperament, mentality, custom, or type; and, above all, to transmute living reality into the stuff of texts, to possess actuality mainly because nothing in the Orient seems to resist one’s powers. † In a st ream of fragments, Said shows the diverse processes by which dominant cultures are formed at the service of Others. Using words like â€Å"shape,† â€Å"definition,† and â€Å"transmute,† he describes the act of defining nation and the artificial nature of these boundaries. Said offers a theoretical means by which to reject nationalist divisions between an us and Them, a West and Other. This conceptualization of the ways in which nations determine not only their own national identities, but the identities of Other is powerful in revealing the inherently hybrid roots of national culture. Studies of national identity are thus essential in deconstructing xenophobic nationalist claims to nation and the resulting miscegenation of immigrant Others. CONCLUSION This discussion draws from the body of postcolonial literature to suggest that studies of cultural hybridity are powerful in probing the bounded labels of race, language, and nation that maintain social inequalities. By examining how the hybrid can deconstruct boundaries within race, language, and nation, I understood that hybridity has the ability to empower marginalized collectives and deconstruct bounded labels, which are used in the service of subordination. In essence, hybridity has the potential to allow once subjugated collectivities to reclaim a part of the cultural space in which they move. Hybridity can be seen not as a means of division or sorting out the various histories and diverse narratives to individualize identities, but rather a means of reimagining an interconnected collective. Like the skin on a living body, the collective body has a surface that also feels and â€Å"Borders materialize as an effect on intensifications of feeling and individual and collective bodies surface through the very orientations we take to objects and others,† In the description that Formations our orientations can be shifted, our feelings towards Others transformed, there is a possibility of redefining our exclusionary systems of labeling. Furthermore, breaking down immaterial borders through explorations of hybridity offers the possibility of more effective public policy, one that refers to the broad expanse of its diverse population. Frenkel and Shenhav did an illuminating study on the ways in which studies of hybridity have allowed management and organization studies to manage their longstanding western hegemonic practices and to incorporate postcolonial insights into the organizational literature revolving around the relationships between Orientalism and organizations. The willingness of institutions to reform their long held ideologies in light of a changing world, as well as to consider their work through alternative lenses, is an essential practice in deconstructing the bindings of narratives-as-knowledge. In the boundary-shifting process, there is power in the notion of deconstruction in the service of reconstruction, breaking down boundaries in order to form a more inclusive sense of the collectivity. Furthermore, hybridity asserts the notion that representations of collective identity must be analyzed contextually. When we examine a representation of culture, be it in a film, poem, or speech, we should ask: Who is doing the representing? What are the implications of the representation? Why are they engaging in the process of representation? What is the historical moment that informs the representation? How are they being represented? In addition to the questions explored in this paper, I would recommend applying theories of hybridity to a realm beyond race and nation, in order to consider alternative boundaries such as gender and sexuality. The work of hybrid theorists from Bhabha to Said suggests that there is a vast intellectual landscape for cultural inquiries like these. Our mission must be to continue this work and to delve deeper. Cultural studies have great potential to liberate us from the socially-given boundaries that so stubbornly limit our capacity for thought and discussion, but we must take time to join in a collective critique of the knowledge we ingest and disperse. After all, the greatest power lies in the heart of the collective.

Educational assessment and evaluation, Essay

The primary purpose of education is to enable learning The purpose of the assessment should be described and classified, whether formative or summative? whether student focused or program focused? For specific assessment, the following should be specified: Content Format Scoring, reporting and utilization of results ASSESSMENT – concerned with making judgments about the value, worth or quality of learning process Since evaluation involves judgments, it is important for educational managers to discuss and agree about the purpose of any evaluation activity and the criteria to be used in making judgments EVALUATION OF LEARNING OUTCOMES IN EDUCATION PURPOSE 1. Evaluation for accountability Several levels can be identified: national, local education( division or district),institutional,departmental School recognitions and accreditation Annual comparative data 2. Evaluation for improvement purposes School strive for better outcomes for their learners School need ways of evaluating how good the learning outcomes are How the outcomes may be sustained or improved Outcomes in Education 1. A well educated individual -complete with skills, knowledge and abilities a. Formative evaluation b. Summative evaluation c. 2. Achievements d. -refers to the achievement of the students in terms of examinations, tests, term papers and other scale national or international examinations such as: e. National Achievement Test (NAT) f. Career assessment g. Board examinations h. TIMSS 3. The added value of the school The whole-institutions quality and effectiveness measured by examination results brings added value to the school. 4. Learning skills Learning is a creative process in which the learner designs his own understandings and skills, imbibing new knowledge and experience while relating them to previous experiences. 5. Social and life skills Range of Intelligences and talents may broaden the range of educational aspirations such as creativity, cooperation, motivation and other interpersonal and social skills. Learning is done in social interactions. 6. Satisfaction Consultation from the stakeholders of the school Improvement of satisfaction is an important achievement of schools 7. Destination of Graduates Follow-up of graduates Employability is in terms of a. Waiting time b. Job fitness

Free Essays on Elizabeth Barrett Browing

Elizabeth Barrett Borrowing's personal life in her Poetry Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a great poet who has had a hard life. Barrett Browning was born in 1806 and was the oldest of twelve children. Her mother died, in 1828, when Barrett Browning was 16 years old, so that left her father to raise the children. Her father was over protective and did not want any of his children to marry. At the age of 15, Barrett Browning had a back injury and became very sick, and this kept her room bound for many years. During this time Barrett Browning started writing poems, and became the famous poet that we know today. One day, in 1844, she received a letter from another poet Robert Browning, about her poetry. At this time Barrett Browning was in her forty’s, and has been in her room for years, but she did respond. They continued writing back and forth, and eventually the letters lead into a meeting, and the two fell in love. And without Mr. Barrettes consent the two married. Sonnets for the Portuguese is a set of 44 famous love poems written by Barrett Browning about Robert. Many poems in this collection question the love he has for her, and the love that she has for him. They answer the questions of why or even how can one love the other. This love that she is experiencing is one that she has never felt before. Each poem shows how the relationship that these two lovers had developed. Each sonnet is fourteen lines and written in iambic pentameter. There are eight lines in each sonnet where Barrett Browning poses a question, and then the next six lines resolve her question. The rhyme scheme for these lines is abba, for the first eight, and then cde or cdc, for the next six. Sonnets XLIII is the first poem where she says I love you, and we see this in the first line â€Å"How do I love thee? Let me count the way... Free Essays on Elizabeth Barrett Browing Free Essays on Elizabeth Barrett Browing Elizabeth Barrett Borrowing's personal life in her Poetry Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a great poet who has had a hard life. Barrett Browning was born in 1806 and was the oldest of twelve children. Her mother died, in 1828, when Barrett Browning was 16 years old, so that left her father to raise the children. Her father was over protective and did not want any of his children to marry. At the age of 15, Barrett Browning had a back injury and became very sick, and this kept her room bound for many years. During this time Barrett Browning started writing poems, and became the famous poet that we know today. One day, in 1844, she received a letter from another poet Robert Browning, about her poetry. At this time Barrett Browning was in her forty’s, and has been in her room for years, but she did respond. They continued writing back and forth, and eventually the letters lead into a meeting, and the two fell in love. And without Mr. Barrettes consent the two married. Sonnets for the Portuguese is a set of 44 famous love poems written by Barrett Browning about Robert. Many poems in this collection question the love he has for her, and the love that she has for him. They answer the questions of why or even how can one love the other. This love that she is experiencing is one that she has never felt before. Each poem shows how the relationship that these two lovers had developed. Each sonnet is fourteen lines and written in iambic pentameter. There are eight lines in each sonnet where Barrett Browning poses a question, and then the next six lines resolve her question. The rhyme scheme for these lines is abba, for the first eight, and then cde or cdc, for the next six. Sonnets XLIII is the first poem where she says I love you, and we see this in the first line â€Å"How do I love thee? Let me count the way...

Case Study Analysis Of Jet Blue Tourism Essay Essay Example

Case Study Analysis Of Jet Blue Tourism Essay Essay Example Case Study Analysis Of Jet Blue Tourism Essay Essay Case Study Analysis Of Jet Blue Tourism Essay Essay We are a low-fare, low-priced rider air hose that provides high quality client service chiefly on point-to-point paths. We offer our clients a high quality merchandise, with new aircraft, roomy leather seats, free in-flight amusement, pre-assigned seating and dependable public presentation. We focus on functioning markets that have had high mean menus. We presently serve 50 finishs in 21 provinces, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Caribbean and run over 500 flights a twenty-four hours . www.jeblue.com Strengths and Weaknesses ( Internal ) The company commits to safety as the first precedence in all concern operations. The unwritten mission statement of Jet Blue Airways Corporation is reflected in its nucleus values and rules created and set by the company. In order to make so, the company adheres to regulations and ordinances implemented by regulative bureaus whenever is needed. Keeping high criterions in a consistent mode is the primary end of the company when it comes to safety affairs. Therefore, the company neer compromises safety of its crew members and clients during and after flights. The company besides takes societal duty for the benefit of the people in general and strives to be a function theoretical account in the concern community. The company cares for its employees and the clients in one manner or another. Jet Blue offers more travellers through its low-cost air hose tickets. The company is customer-centric and synergistic with their client playing trifle throughout the flight. As a consistent circular of Jet Blue and a frighten circular ; I enjoy the service of the staff by offering wholesome amusement, nutrient and drinks and most of all Television. The Television is one of the most cheering service Jet Blue offers ; clip flies by. Jet Blue offers more travellers through its low-cost air hose tickets. The company is customer-centric and interacts with their circulars. Jet Blue Airways Corporation reaches out to the populace by being active into community service. Jet Blue is committed to enriching the lives of kids and back uping the communities they serve through their nucleus values of lovingness, merriment and passion. In connexion, one of the best community services offered by the company is giving books to under privileged kids of in the intercity in the United States. hypertext transfer protocol: //EzineArticles.com/ ? expert=KL_Lopez Stockholder Information Stock Quote Top of Form JBLU ( Common Stock ) Exchange NASDAQ GS ( US Dollar ) Monetary value $ 7.11 Change ( % ) A A 0.03A ( 0.42 % ) Volume 558,236 Bottom of Form Failings Harmonizing to Jet Blue s website the ephemeral success of the air hoses ; has foremost identified that one cardinal issue is the changeless displacement of losing and deriving market portion. A Recently JetBlue has been losing market portion to the likes of companies like Southwest and Alaska. A Another issue identified is that JetBlue does nt hold strong trade name aˆ? JetBlue has non yet tried to raise money by selling bites during flights aˆ? It was established in twelvemonth 1999 comparatively new air hose company that the ground it still has non hold complete market keep on 50 provinces. aˆ? In twelvemonth 2005 it had faced Aircrafts jobs which reduced the net incomes. Opportunities ( internal ) One of the most outstanding strength is that Jet Blue offers low cost menus. A From the really beginning, JetBlue has strived in the air hose industry by offering 24 channels of telecasting for free which no air hose has done earlier. A JetBlue besides has a strong accent on developing a corporate civilization that breeds successful staff members. A A A aˆ? Airline is runing in 12 states aˆ? Live Television at every place with 100 channels. aˆ? Low cost operations aˆ? JetBlue continually engaging talented and experience people and besides retaining them. aˆ? JetBlue was named the figure one U.S. domestic air hose by Coned Nast Traveler magazine s Readers Choice Awards for the 6th twelvemonth in a row. Coinciding with the launch of the co-branded JetBlue/I LOVE NEW YORK hallmark, JetBlue is doing travel available for particular $ 49 menus or 5,000 TrueBlue points between New York/JFK and Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. In 2008, JetBlue opened its state-of-the-art 635,000-square-foot, 26-gate Terminal 5 at JFK, which offers a customer-friendly travel experience while easing efficient operations for the air hose at the same clip. JetBlue is the largest air hose operating at John F. Kennedy International Airport ( JFK ) and offers the most intra-New York State service from the New York City metropolitan country. Voted Most Eco-Friendly Airline by Zagat s Airline Survey in 2008 and 2009, New York-based JetBlue Airways has created a new air hose class based on value, service and manner. In 2010, the bearer besides ranked Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Low-Cost Carriers in North America by J.D. Power and Associates, a client satisfaction acknowledgment received for the 6th twelvemonth in a row. www.jetblue.com/promise. JetBlue serves 61 metropoliss with 650 day-to-day flights. New service to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC and to Bradley International Airport in Hartford, CT begins in November. The air hose besides intends to function Providenciales, Turks A ; Caicos Islands in February 2011. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all menus are one-way, and an nightlong stay is neer required. www.jetblue.com aˆ? The air hose industry growing is non up to the grade but still JetBlue net incomes are on higher side. aˆ? Increase the figure of flights. aˆ? Penetrate in US market. aˆ? Majority of international markets are untapped Menaces The ephemeral success was shortly halted with first the events of 9/11 and so the lifting cost of fuel and now an economic slack. A It seems with the alone nature of their service and the sum of awards they have won its odd to see that this company could be holding jobs. A The squad of executives have first identified that one cardinal issue JetBlue has along with all air hoses is the changeless displacement of losing and deriving market portion. A Recently JetBlue has been losing market portion to the likes of companies like Southwest and Alaska. A Another issue that they have identified is that JetBlue does nt hold strong trade name. The diminution in this industry with the steep competition makes this a hard industry to be successful in. The costs associated with come ining this industry are tremendous and with current fuel and labour costs many air hoses are holding are holding a tough adequate clip merely remaining afloat. A However, there have been a few air hoses that have been able to go on to be successful during these state of affairss and they seem to be low cost bearers. Jet Blue has faced: aˆ? The incident of 9/11 holding to increase the security menace aˆ? Recession in US take downing their grosss aˆ? The monetary value of fuel is unpredictable aˆ? JetBlue facing Strong competition in US and International market Recommendations Jet Blue has high criterions for their staff every bit good as their consumers. Part of a strategic program is to acquire feedback from their clients. While you have clients on board you have a confined audience. My recommendation is to hold them answer inquiries on their flight via the Television. Direct mail and polls, focal point groups are effectual holding the consumers on board reply inquiries, such as what can Jet Blue make better to do your flight more gratifying, would you flight Jet Blue once more and what makes Jet Blue better than the other air hoses you fly. The information collected during each flight would be a resourceful tool in be aftering for the hereafter. Incentive offered to the consumers could be by take parting you will have a $ 50 verifier for their following flight. Jet Blue needs to spread out to more finishs. Harmonizing to The New York Times Jet Blue is headed in the right way by adding more flight to the Caribbean and other finishs, more clients means mo re gross the bottom line is to increase the net incomes and more significantly satisfy the client for geting repetition concern!

The Black Codes and Why They Matter Today

The Black Codes and Why They Matter Today It’s hard to understand why African Americans are incarcerated at higher rates than other groups without knowing what the black codes were. These restrictive and discriminatory laws criminalized blacks after slavery and set the stage for Jim Crow. They are also directly linked to today’s prison industrial complex. Given this, a better grasp of the Black Codes and their relationship to the 13th Amendment provides a historical context for racial profiling, police brutality, and uneven criminal sentencing. For far too long, blacks have been dogged by the stereotype that they’re inherently prone to criminality. The institution of slavery and the Black Codes that followed reveal how the state essentially penalized African Americans just for existing. Slavery Ended, but Blacks Weren’t Truly Free During Reconstruction, the period that followed the Civil War, African Americans in the South continued to have work arrangements and living conditions nearly indistinguishable from those they had during slavery. Because the cost of cotton was so high at this time, planters decided to develop a labor system that mirrored servitude. According to America’s History to 1877, Vol. 1: â€Å"On paper, emancipation had cost the slave owners about $3 billion - the value of their capital investment in former slaves - a sum that equaled nearly three-fourths of the nation’s economic production in 1860. The real losses of planters, however, depended on whether they lost control of their former slaves. Planters attempted to reestablish that control and to substitute low wages for the food, clothing, and shelter that their slaves had previously received. They also refused to sell or rent land to blacks, hoping to force them to work for low wages.† The enactment of the 13th Amendment only amplified the challenges of African Americans during Reconstruction. Passed in 1865, this amendment ended the slave economy, but it also included a provision that would make it in the South’s best interest to arrest and imprison blacks. That’s because the amendment prohibited slavery and servitude, â€Å"except as a punishment for crime.† This provision gave way to the Black Codes, which replaced the Slave Codes, and were passed throughout the South the same year as the 13th Amendment. The codes heavily infringed on the rights of blacks and, like low wages, functioned to trap them in a slave-like existence. The codes were not the same in every state but overlapped in a number of ways. For one, they all mandated that blacks without jobs could be arrested for vagrancy. The Mississippi Black Codes in particular penalized blacks for being â€Å"wanton in conduct or speech, neglect[ing] job or family, handl[ing] money carelessly, and ...all other idle and disorderly persons.† How exactly does a police officer decide how well a person handles money or if he’s wanton in conduct? Clearly, many of the behaviors punishable under the Black Codes were completely subjective. But their subjective nature made it easier to arrest and round up African Americans. In fact, a variety of states concluded that there were certain crimes for which only blacks could be â€Å"duly convicted,† according to The Angela Y. Davis Reader. Therefore, the argument that the criminal justice system works differently for whites and blacks can be traced back to the 1860s. And before the Black Codes criminalized African Americans, the legal system deemed runaway slaves fugitives for stealing property - themselves!   Fines, Forced Labor, and the Black Codes Violating one of the Black Codes required offenders to pay fines. Since many African Americans were paid low wages during Reconstruction or denied employment at all, coming up with the money for these fees all too often proved impossible. Inability to pay meant that the county court could hire out African Americans to employers until they worked off their balances. Blacks who found themselves in this unfortunate predicament usually did such labor in a slavery-like environment. The state determined when offenders worked, for how long and what kind of work was performed. More often than not, African Americans were required to perform agricultural labor, just as they had during slavery. Because licenses were required for offenders to perform skilled labor, few did. With these restrictions, blacks had little chance to learn a trade and move up the economic ladder once their fines were settled. And they could not simply refuse to work off their debts, as that would lead to a vagrancy charge, resulting in more fees and forced labor. Under the Black Codes, all African Americans, convicts or not, were subject to curfews set by their local governments. Even their day-to-day movements were heavily dictated by the state. Black farm workers were required to carry passes from their employers, and meetings blacks took part in were overseen by local officials. This even applied to worship services. In addition, if a black person wanted to live in town, they had to have a white sponsor. Any African Americans who skirted the Black Codes would be subject to fines and labor. In short, in all areas of life, blacks lived as second class citizens. They were emancipated on paper but certainly not in real life. A civil rights bill passed by Congress in 1866 sought to give African Americans more rights. The bill, for example, permitted them to own or rent property, but it stopped short of giving blacks the right to vote. It did, however, allow them to make contracts and bring their cases before courts. It also enabled federal officials to sue those who violated the civil rights of African Americans. But blacks never reaped the benefits of the bill because President Andrew Johnson vetoed it.   While the president’s decision dashed the hopes of African Americans, their hopes were renewed when the 14th Amendment was enacted. This legislation gave blacks even more rights than the Civil Rights Act of 1966 did. It declared them and anyone born in the United States to be citizens. Although it did not guarantee blacks the right to vote, it  gave them â€Å"equal protection of the laws.† The 15th Amendment, passed in 1870, would give blacks suffrage. The End of the Black Codes By the end of the 1860s, many Southern states repealed the Black Codes and shifted their economic focus away from cotton farming and onto manufacturing. They built schools, hospitals, infrastructure and asylums for orphans and the mentally ill. Although the lives of African Americans were no longer dictated by the Black Codes, they lived separately from whites, with fewer resources for their schools and communities. They also faced intimidation by white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan when they exercised their right to vote. The economic woes blacks faced led to an increasing number of them to be incarcerated. That’s because more penitentiaries in the South were built along with all of the hospitals, roads, and schools. Strapped for cash and unable to get loans from banks, former slaves worked as sharecroppers or tenant farmers. This involved working other people’s farmland in exchange for a small cut of the value of the crops grown. Sharecroppers frequently fell prey to shopkeepers who offered them credit but charged exorbitant interest rates on farm supplies and other goods. Democrats at the time made matters worse by passing laws that allowed merchants to prosecute sharecroppers who couldn’t pay their debts. â€Å"Indebted African American farmers faced imprisonment and forced labor unless they toiled on the land according to the instructions of the merchant-creditor,† states America’s History. â€Å"Increasingly, merchants and landlords cooperated to maintain this lucrative system, and many landlords became merchants. The former slaves had become trapped in the vicious circle of debt peonage, which tied them to the land and robbed them of their earnings.† Angela Davis laments the fact that black leaders of the time, such as Frederick Douglass, did not campaign to end forced labor and debt peonage. Douglass primarily focused his energies on bringing an end to lynching. He also advocated for black suffrage. Davis asserts that he may not have considered forced labor a priority due to the widespread belief that incarcerated blacks must have deserved their punishments. But African Americans complained that they were frequently jailed for offenses for which whites were not. In fact, whites usually eluded prison for all but the most egregious crimes. This resulted in blacks jailed for petty offenses being incarcerated with dangerous white convicts. Black women and children were not spared from prison labor. Children as young as 6 years old were  forced to work, and incredibly women in such predicaments were not segregated from male inmates, making them vulnerable to sexual abuse and physical violence at the hands of both convicts and guards. After taking a trip to the South in 1888, Douglass witnessed firsthand the effects of forced labor on the African Americans there. It kept blacks â€Å"firmly bound in a strong, remorseless and deadly grasp, a grasp from which only death can free [them],† he noted. But by the time Douglass made this conclusion, peonage and convict leasing had been in effect for more than 20 years in certain places. And in a short stretch of time, the number of black prisoners grew rapidly. From 1874 to 1877, Alabama’s prison population tripled, for example. Ninety percent of new convicts were African American. Crimes formerly considered low-level offenses, such as cattle theft, were reclassified as felonies, ensuring that impoverished blacks found guilty of such crimes would be sentenced to longer prison terms. African American scholar W.E.B. DuBois was disturbed by these developments in the prison system. In his work, Black Reconstruction, he observed, â€Å"The whole criminal system came to be used as a method of keeping Negroes at work and intimidating them. Consequently there began to be a demand for jails and penitentiaries beyond the natural demand due to the rise of crime.† Legacy of the Black Codes Lives On Today a disproportionate amount of black men are behind bars. In 2016, the Washington Post reported that 7.7 percent of black men between the ages of 25 to 54 are institutionalized compared to 1.6 percent of white men. The newspaper also stated that the prison population has quintupled over the past four decades and that one out of nine black children has a parent in prison. Many ex-convicts can’t vote or get jobs after their release, increasing their chances of recidivism and trapping them in a cycle as relentless as debt peonage. A number of social ills have been blamed for the large numbers of blacks in prison - poverty, single-parent homes and gangs. While these issues may be factors, the Black Codes reveal that since slavery ended those in power have used the criminal justice system as a vehicle to strip African Americans of their liberty. This includes the glaring sentencing disparities between crack and cocaine, a higher police presence in black neighborhoods, and a bail system that requires those  arrested to pay for their release from jail or remain incarcerated if they’re unable to. From slavery onward, the criminal justice system has all too often created insurmountable hurdles for African Americans.

AnheuserBusch Companies, Inc. 2004 Case Analysis Essay

AnheuserBusch Companies, Inc. 2004 Case Analysis - Essay Example The aim of this analysis was to determine the standing of this company as of 2004. The company was found to be a leader in the market. It has sales exceeding double those of its close competitor in 2003. The profit margin of the company is large, despite the fact that the beer market in America is shrinking. The company was also found to have diversified its activities a great deal, and this is one of the reasons why it maintains such a profit margin. In addition to twelve breweries in the local market, the company also operates theme parks, packaging industries and real estate investment. Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc is one of the largest companies in America. It is also one of the leading breweries both in America and globally. It has its roots in St. Louis. On its conception, it was named Bavarian Brewery. This was back in 1852. Within the years, the company has grown in leaps and bounds, and along the way changed its name to the current one. For the past half a century, Anheuser-Busch has been the market leader in beer sales and production. In the year 2003, its position as the market leader was unaffected by various negative aspects that could have seen its sales decline. These included the declining of the stock market and corporate scandals that rocked it. There was also an increase in the amount of government regulation around this time. This was also the time that saw unprecedented levels of global instability, both economically and politically. Despite all these negative aspects, Anheuser-Busch continued to lead the market. A comparison between the numbers of barrel sales that Anheuser-Busch made in the year 1865 with those sold in 2003 will clearly indicate that the company has really come far. The sales have risen from 8,000 to 127.9 million. The company owned a single brewery at that time, but the number for 2003 was made with a capacity of twelve breweries. Anheuser-Busch has gone through a lot of transformation and other experiences since it was found. It was incorporated in the year 1919. It has become the leader around the world in the production of beer. It has also seen a great deal of technological advancement. This company was the first one that employed the use of

Corporate Finance Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate Finance Coursework - Essay Example It is a given business and finance objective to maximize shareholder value. It appears that there are also non-financial objectives of business hence the debate on shareholder value and stakeholder society rages on. The application of corporate finance theory will therefore will dwell in determining how real is the debate in relation to investment decisions in China under the new draft of Chinese employment contract law? Tirole, Jean (1996) dissected corporate governance on a debate between shareholder value and stakeholder society. He mentioned that corporate governance could be framed in terms of â€Å"shareholder value† using the economists assertion that â€Å"prices reflect the scarcity of resources that management should aim at maximizing shareholder wealth.† On the other hand, he narrated that stakeholder society would approximate the non-economist view of what may appear as â€Å"oblivious to redistributional issues† narrow-minded- or â€Å"out of touch with social realities† as consequences of limiting corporate governance to shareholders’ value maximization. To support the stakeholder society concept, he cited a prevalent view in politics and public opinion that â€Å"corporations should serve a larger purpose and â€Å"be responsible† that is they should reach out to other stakeholders not only to shareholders† (Tirole, 1996) (Paraphrasing made). In discussing therefore â€Å"The Corporate Social Responsibility View†, Tirole (1996) discussed ways under which an â€Å"economist would rephrase the position of the proponents of the stakeholder society† as could recommending â€Å"that management and directors internalize the externalities that their decision impose on various groups.† He thus cited examples of such externalities and concomitant duties toward stakeholders, according to the proponents of the stakeholder society. One is the duties toward employees where he argued that â€Å"firms should refrain from laying off workers when they make

Claim Response Letter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Claim Response Letter - Assignment Example We fail to understand because you arrived late for our services. It is indeed true that for the record, you came among the last people and favor was upon you when Mr. Ottawa, attended to you like among our first clients, which is not usually the case. In as much as you report Mr. Ottawa for been late, it is not justified. These are because you are the only one that wasted time, and so, even the first attendance was a favor. You claim to be paid back some cash. I bet we are not responsible for your misfortune. It has to our awareness of you claim, you as Mr. Carm, we deeply appreciate your raise of concern and how prompt you are. These have helped us keep track on all our employees and ensure they provide quality service at the required time to all our customers. We say these because we appreciate that without you, we lack work to do. These means that you are indeed our bosses and must put your interests first. From the time you came in packing to the time Doctor Ottawa attended to you, it is quite clear that one hour was indeed gone. And the fact that you got overcharged for the packing slot fee; it was truly not our fault as the hospital. We attend to our clients in a first come first serve basis. Those who arrive early are put first to be seen by our doctors, to our surprise, you came thirty-five minutes late and in turn, got lucky and served as among our first clients. Our big question to you is where were you by the time this half past the hour was clicking? And according to you, who is on the wrong side of the law? By these we mean, who could have made you pay these extra packing fees, is it the doctor’s fault or yours? The matter looks simple, but also our institution has a policy that must needs follow-up. First come first serve rule, and we fail to understand how you managed to cross the line before others and got the service among the first clients. It is, therefore, with humble request that we call upon you to

Reflecting on whether it is in the best interests of the business Essay

Reflecting on whether it is in the best interests of the business community for there to be constraints on a government's disc - Essay Example Nevertheless, this report looks at the nature of fiscal and monetary policy and implementation may affect business specifically with regard to investment. In the end, the report postulate that there is little effect resulting from expansionary fiscal policy and that it has little effect on demand, output, and employment. Also, the report notes the important role business community should play in fiscal and monetary policy making since they constitute the largest group that get affected by these policies. Governmental Discretion over Fiscal and/or Monetary Policy Introduction Business activities are affected by different factors macro and microenvironment operation environment. While microenvironment sometimes may be within the control of the organization, macro-environment –on the other hand involves external factors that affect the business, which in turn may define the success or the failure of the organization. For example, macro-environment spans politics, economics, socia l matters, technology, legislation, and eco-environment (Elearn Limited and Pergamon Flexible Learning 2005). Political environment particularly legislative environment constitutes specific set of external business environment that business communities in any given country have been forced to adhere to. For example, monetary and fiscal policy process in any country has affected business in the positive way or negative way given the nature of the particular legislation law. Therefore, the focus of this paper will dwell on investigating and finding out whether it is in the best interests of the business community for there to be constraints on government discretion over fiscal and monetary policy. Exploring the concept of fiscal and monetary policy Both fiscal and monetary policies are seen to be interrelated and key tools to the development of many countries especially the developing one. For instance, fiscal policy constitute all measures that are adopted in order to increase the ge neral welfare through the public control of resources by means of public spending, resource mobilization and price fixation in public and semi-public enterprises (Elearn Limited and Pergamon Flexible Learning 2005). Today, fiscal policy has been embraced as a toll of development strategy when analyzed in broadest sense it can be seen that it provides a set of instruments to pursue both the best use of resources in terms of efficiency and equity and their maximum possible use in terms of employment, price stability and satisfactory rate of growth (Mukherjee 2007). Exhibiting characteristics of monetary policy, fiscal policy performs a very critical and beneficial role in the economy and analysis has shown this kind of policy performs two important roles in the economy with regard to raising financial resources for development (Mukherjee 2007). First, fiscal policy constitutes a set of mechanisms that ensure the country’s employment level is maintained at its full capacity and as such, the aggregate capacity to save does not go down (Mukherjee 2007). Secondly, it helps to raise the marginal propensity to save of the community above the average propensity to the maximum extent possible without discouraging work effort or violating the law of equity (Mukherjee 2007). Fiscal, together with monetary policy, are seen to be two

Nursing Informatics Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nursing Informatics Theory - Research Paper Example This is in addition to their knowledge of the conceptual structure of nursing. Without doubt, it is crucial for nurses in nursing informatics to have knowledge about the different theories in this field and apply these in their nursing practice as a guide (Basavanthappa, 2007). Similarly, Baker (2007) notes that, for nursing informatics to be effective, the individuals involved must make use of both practical knowledge and the theoretical knowledge in this discipline. In nursing informatics, there are different theories which help to frame and inform this discipline. These include the â€Å"change theory, cybernetics theory, and the cognitive theory† (Baker, 2012, p. 153). All these theories support nursing informatics in different ways, and the nursing practitioners can combine the knowledge they acquire from these theories with what they obtain from their nursing practice to enhance their performance (Baker, 2012). Everett Rogers and Kurt Lewin, who had different approaches in the formulation of their theories, propagated the change theory. This essay will focus on the change theory and explain how this is relevant and applicable in the discipline of nursing informatics. In the change theories, it is considered that change is responsible for the computerization of information system. This is in comparison to the past centuries and the modern period, where nursing has evolved from a paper-based environment to one which is paperless; this is change. In addition, change that comes about in nursing can be planned or unplanned change, depending on the circumstances through which this change occurs. The two theorists of change, Rodgers and Lewin, addressed different types of change. While Rogers focused on both planned and unplanned change, Lewin addressed the planned change (Kaminski, 2011). Rogers named his theory of change as â€Å"diffusion of innovations† theory. Both Rogers’ theory and Lewin’s theory of change are categorized under behavioral theories. Everett Rodgers was a community health nurse and health educator who took considerable time studying and working on his theory. His theory is used to explain the process through which new information, concepts, and ideas are transferred from a different medium to another, and how these come to be incorporated into a belief system and become an adopted behavior in that system (Basavanthappa, 2007). According to Basavanthappa (2007), it is possible to use the term diffusion to refer to a kind of change which is spontaneous or unplanned, when a new idea is introduced in a belief system. However, Rogers used this term to refer to both the planned and unplanned change. â€Å"Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social system† (Basavanthappa, 2007, pp. 222). In his theory, Rogers considers an innovation as a new idea, object, or a new practice. Therefore, the process of diffusion is mainly concerned with new ideas and how innovation is adopted in the system to become part of the system (Basavanthappa, 2007). In his theory, Rogers noted that diffusion is a two-way process, and not a one-way process. This is because, new ideas, products, or social practices, spread from one society to another. However, if diffusion will happen or not depends on the nature of the innovation. This includes how complex the innovation is, how compatible it is with the society meant to adopt it, as well as the

Reflecting on whether it is in the best interests of the business Essay

Reflecting on whether it is in the best interests of the business community for there to be constraints on a government's disc - Essay Example Nevertheless, this report looks at the nature of fiscal and monetary policy and implementation may affect business specifically with regard to investment. In the end, the report postulate that there is little effect resulting from expansionary fiscal policy and that it has little effect on demand, output, and employment. Also, the report notes the important role business community should play in fiscal and monetary policy making since they constitute the largest group that get affected by these policies. Governmental Discretion over Fiscal and/or Monetary Policy Introduction Business activities are affected by different factors macro and microenvironment operation environment. While microenvironment sometimes may be within the control of the organization, macro-environment –on the other hand involves external factors that affect the business, which in turn may define the success or the failure of the organization. For example, macro-environment spans politics, economics, socia l matters, technology, legislation, and eco-environment (Elearn Limited and Pergamon Flexible Learning 2005). Political environment particularly legislative environment constitutes specific set of external business environment that business communities in any given country have been forced to adhere to. For example, monetary and fiscal policy process in any country has affected business in the positive way or negative way given the nature of the particular legislation law. Therefore, the focus of this paper will dwell on investigating and finding out whether it is in the best interests of the business community for there to be constraints on government discretion over fiscal and monetary policy. Exploring the concept of fiscal and monetary policy Both fiscal and monetary policies are seen to be interrelated and key tools to the development of many countries especially the developing one. For instance, fiscal policy constitute all measures that are adopted in order to increase the ge neral welfare through the public control of resources by means of public spending, resource mobilization and price fixation in public and semi-public enterprises (Elearn Limited and Pergamon Flexible Learning 2005). Today, fiscal policy has been embraced as a toll of development strategy when analyzed in broadest sense it can be seen that it provides a set of instruments to pursue both the best use of resources in terms of efficiency and equity and their maximum possible use in terms of employment, price stability and satisfactory rate of growth (Mukherjee 2007). Exhibiting characteristics of monetary policy, fiscal policy performs a very critical and beneficial role in the economy and analysis has shown this kind of policy performs two important roles in the economy with regard to raising financial resources for development (Mukherjee 2007). First, fiscal policy constitutes a set of mechanisms that ensure the country’s employment level is maintained at its full capacity and as such, the aggregate capacity to save does not go down (Mukherjee 2007). Secondly, it helps to raise the marginal propensity to save of the community above the average propensity to the maximum extent possible without discouraging work effort or violating the law of equity (Mukherjee 2007). Fiscal, together with monetary policy, are seen to be two

Issues of the Service Plan Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Issues of the Service Plan Development - Essay Example Therefore, Salama did not have much interest at first in development of the service plan. However, after much convincing she agreed to participate with me in the process of developing the service plan. The fact that she agreed to contribute to the making of the service plan together with her articulation and wise contribution makes me think that the process of making the service plan was effective. This is because the ideas and wishes of my client were encompassed in the service plan including identifying issues, setting goals, developing action plan, setting timelines, and estimating the outcomes. However, since Salama was a new migrant with no legal documents to work in Canada, we realized that we needed to look for the documents from the relevant authority before she could start working as we had planned. Thus, in future I would ensure that my client has the necessary documents to enable work according to the plans and therefore, avoid misses in meeting the timelines set. Further, because of the nature of my client having children and having no one to babysit them, we had to look for a babysitter first before she started looking for work. This was also an oversight in our planning because it delayed meeting certain goals and timelines and where we managed to meet timelines and outcomes were not as expected in our plan. Since I was the expert in the area of service planning, I made most of the suggestions that were included in the service plan. Salama on her part could only expound and seek clarification on what each goal implied in respect of her welfare. Nevertheless, her contribution was highly valued especially in the area of work and how she wanted to meet the goals that were set in the timelines. On my part, I believe that the goals that were set in the service plan are within reach of my client since they are all directed towards facilitating her

Fgm Human Rights Voilation Essay Example for Free

Fgm Human Rights Voilation Essay Practices are mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15, and occasionally on adult women. In Africa, about three million girls are at risk for FGM annually. An estimated 140 million girls and women worldwide are living with the consequences of FGM. In Africa, about 92 million girls age 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM. The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among migrants from these areas. FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an intense form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a persons rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death. The causes of female genital mutilation include a mix of cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities. Where FGM is a social convention, the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice. FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage. FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity. FGM is in many communities believed to reduce a womans libido and therefore believed to help her resist illicit sexual acts. When a vaginal opening is covered or narrowed (type 3 above), the fear of the pain of opening it, and the fear that this will be found out, is expected to further discourage illicit sexual intercourse among women with this type of FGM. FGM is associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are â€Å"clean† and beautiful after removal of body parts that are considered male or unclean. Though no religious scripts prescribe the practice, practitioners often believe the practice has religious support. Religious leaders take varying positions with regard to FGM: some promote it, some consider it irrelevant to religion, and others contribute to its elimination. Local structures of power and authority, such as community leaders, religious leaders, circumcisers, and even some medical personnel can contribute to upholding the practice. In most societies, FGM is considered a cultural tradition, which is often used as an argument for its continuation. In some societies, recent adoption of the practice is linked to copying the traditions of neighbouring groups. Sometimes it has started as part of a wider religious or traditional revival movement. In some societies, FGM is practised by new groups when they move into areas where the local population practice FGM. In 1997, WHO issued a joint statement with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) against the practice of FGM. A new statement, with wider United Nations support, was then issued in February 2008 to support increased advocacy for the abandonment of FGM. The 2008 statement documents evidence collected over the past decade about the practice. It highlights the increased recognition of the human rights and legal dimensions of the problem and provides data on the frequency and scope of FGM. It also summarizes research about why FGM continues, how to stop it, and its damaging effects on the health of women, girls and newborn babies. In 2010 WHO published a Global strategy to stop health care providers from performing female genital mutilation in collaboration with other key UN agencies and international organizations. Since 1997, great efforts have been made to counteract FGM, through research, work within communities, and changes in public policy. Progress at both international and local levels includes:wider international involvement to stop FGM;the development of international monitoring bodies and resolutions that condemn the practice;revised legal frameworks and growing political support to end FGM (this includes a law against FGM in 22 African countries, and in several states in two other countries, as well as 12 industrialized countries with migrant populations from FGM practicing countries);in most countries, the prevalence of FGM has decreased, and an increasing number of women and men in practising communities support ending its practice. Research shows that, if practising communities themselves decide to abandon FGM, the practice can be eliminated very rapidly. In 2008, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution (WHA61. 16) on the elimination of FGM, emphasizing the need for concerted action in all sectors health, education, finance, justice and womens affairs. WHO efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation focus on:advocacy: developing publications and advocacy tools for international, regional and local efforts to end FGM within a generation; research: generating knowledge about the causes and consequences of the practice, how to eliminate it, and how to care for those who have experienced FGM; guidance for health systems: developing training materials and guidelines for health professionals to help them treat and counsel women who have undergone procedures. WHO is particularly concerned about the increasing trend for medically trained personnel to perform FGM. WHO strongly urges health professionals not to perform such procedures.

Top Marks For The Best Employee Awards Management Essay

Top Marks For The Best Employee Awards Management Essay Nowadays an increasing number of organizations employ Best Employee Awards as a means to motivate their employees, and managers believe that best employee awards could encourage employees to reach their goals or accomplish their tasks in an efficient manner. In fact, as the saying every coin has two sides goes, top marks for the best employee awards has its own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore it is crucial for managers to make full use of the benefits of this kind of motivation while avoiding its negatives. This essay is separated into three parts. The first part shows the structure of the essay while the second part focuses on analyzing the benefits and problems of top marks for the best employee awards. At the same time, views from relevant literature and the examples from the case are used to support the points of the essay. The conclusion of this essay can be found in the last part where several useful suggestions are given for operation of organizations. 2. Analyses and Discussion 2. 1 The scheme of Top Marks for the best employee awards and the motivations of using it The Top Marks for the Best Employee Awards is a method of staff motivation and an annual performance evaluation method. It gives managers a chance to recognize the employees who produce the best-qualify work during month or year of evaluation. Usually organizations will evaluate the best employees according to their performances and then award them with bonus, trips, promotion and so on (Murray, 1982). The purpose is to encourage desirable behaviors by spotlighting role models, so that every employee could set a goal to be the best employee. Consequently, organizations could obtain augmentation in productivity and profitability by rewarding and keeping their top performances. 2.2 Advantages of using Best Employee Awards as staff motivators Different organizations set up different awards; however, these various methods will lead to different effects and results of staff motivation. Hence it is really important for organizations to make right use of staff motivators such as best employee awards. According to the literature reviewed and the case, the advantages of using this scheme are summarized as follows: First of all, best employee awards can generate fierce competition between individuals or teams of employees within an organization. While only a few employees could receive awards based on their individual performance, all the other employees usually would regard those awards owners as role models to inspire themselves and to work harder. (Lloyd, 2009). Needless to say, it is a strong staff motivator. As the case mentioned, Mr. Devine takes the best employee awards as a part of an overall strategy to identify who top performers are so that all the employees try their best to improve their performances. Without the competition, the organization will decrease its productivity and profitability. Secondly, intelligently designed incentives can be a boon to companies that seek to retain excellent employees for the long term. Lucrative awards, whether these are in the form of stock or bonuses, make it worthwhile for employees to stay at their firm, even if a salary offer from a competitor is more attractive (Grote, 2005). Incentives can also make employees feel as if their hard work is appreciated and recognized, thus reflecting well on their managers and the company as a whole. Those persons receiving the awards in the organization will become more loyal and respect the value of the organization. As a result, they will put all their energy into work to contribute the organization. Thirdly, by using positive reinforcement to motivate employees, a manager may build a good relationship with his employee, which fosters a sense of trust (Lindner, 1998). In a good manager-subordinate relationship, employees may feel respected and comfortable in their working environment. Providing rewards, both tangible and in the form of praise, can make employees happier. Happier employees often perform better at work. Just as the example of the case mentioned, Stephen Carella was a team leader at Kwik-Fit Financial Services and he set the best employee awards as a goal at the start of the year. He said the best employee awards was a great incentive and motivated him to do his best at work. According to him, when he was rewarded the great cash prize, it was the best moment of his life. Such rewards could make employees more royal to their organizations and they may regard the organizations as their homes, which, in turn, will benefit the organizations. 2.3 Disadvantages of using Best Employee Awards as staff motivators Although there are so many advantages of Best Employee Awards, we should see the other side of it, the disadvantages of it can be concluded as follows: First of all, employee resentment will be a serious problem in the organization. Because best employee awards can only be awarded to few persons, then some employees who think they work harder than award winners will feel unfair (Kerslake, 2002). In other words, in a perfect scenario, where the employees who work the hardest always reap the most rewards, incentives pose little problem. But no companies operate in an ideal world and thus incentives can breed resentment and discord among teams and employees. So like the example in the case mentioned: its very important that staff believe you have chosen the right person; its vital for the credibility of the scheme. It would be a disaster if the prize is awarded to the wrong people. At the same time, Best Employee Awards will lead to poor teamwork because individual incentive schemes by definition encourage individual rather than team effort (Clemmer, (2004). Some employee will focuses on their personal performance but pay less attentio n to the cooperation of team as well as the whole companys interest. Moreover, while its easy to quantify a salesmans performance, it is harder to quantify a staff writers contribution to the department, even if the writer is adding just as much value to the company. That can cause those under an incentive scheme to feel unappreciated as well as lead to the case of the recipients of unfair treatment. Therefore, using negative enforcement as a form of motivation could cause employees to become dissatisfied with their jobs. Unhappy workers typically produce less quality work, become sluggish or fail entirely to meet deadlines (Podmoroff, 2005). So how to make appropriate rewards troubles all the managers. Good rewards could encourage employees but inappropriate rewards may not. In the case, the salesman was awarded Best Employee but felt embarrassment because of the poor prize. As a result, the most excellent employee left the company. Thirdly, even though the organization executes the ideal scheme of rewards, for the best employee, applying too much motivation or offering too many rewards can also have a negative effect. Employees can become over-confident and they may feel that they are the bosses favorite workers, even if they start to slack off on their projects or test the limits of their working relationship with their supervisors (Messmer, 2001). Best Employee Awards may create reluctance to exert  the  expected level  of  effort: workers may believe that management will progressively increase  the  performance targets required to trigger  the  same bonus payment (Smith, 2004). They may therefore be reluctant to carry on at  the  incentives level  of  performance they have achieved, on  the  grounds that this will only result in higher targets that will make  the  bonus more difficult to obtain. 2.4 Recommendations The analysis of Best Employee Awards will help us to make full use of the staff motivation. As to how to deliver powerful praise and rewards in the organization rightly, there are three primary factors that determine  the  effectiveness of Best Employee Awards. The first one is right time.  Managers should deliver praise and awards at the right time, letting employees feel proud about the awards rather than feel ashamed. If award winners feel ashamed, then such awards would go the opposite way just as the two examples in the case. The second recommendation is right person. Managers are supposed to choose the most excellent employees to award (Bruce, 1998). Then, the right persons will be role models of the organization. If not, other employers will be unsatisfied with the awards so that the staff motivation would fail. The organization should give the prize which is what the employees really want. That way the employees will feel that they are valued by the company and will get motivated. The third one is right praise.  We all know that how you say something is as important as what you say.  The  same principle applies in staff motivation. Praising with energy and enthusiasm is more powerful than being stoical about it. In other words, managers should use high praise to reinforce staff motivation. For example, the general praise such as Good job! contributes very little to its effectiveness. The  more enthusiastically supervisors deliver their praise,  the  more impact it has. Regardless of the level of enthusiasm, it is critical that supervisors deliver  the  feedback sincerely. Managers should never leave their  employees  with the  possible notion that the praise is not sincere. 3. Conclusion This essay discusses the positives and negatives of Best Employee Awards, which is a popular method employed by managers to motivate their staff. It first outlines the basic scheme of Top Marks for the best employee awards and then look at the advantages of using Best Employee Awards as staff motivators in three ways. What Follows is the coins of such means of motivation. Finally three practical recommendations are given to avoid those possible drawbacks of using Best Employee Awards.

Analytical Essay :: Analytical Essays

The construction last year of a shopping mall in downtown Oak City was a mistake. Since the mall has opened, a number of local businesses have closed, and the downtown area suffers from an acute parking shortage. Arrests for crime and vagrancy have increased in nearby Oak City Park. Elm City should pay attention to the example of the Oak City Mall and deny the application to build a shopping mall in Elm City. Analyzing this argument brings up a lot of questions to whether this is a relevant argument or not. A lot of assumptions are made without enough facts to support them. It can be said that the mall could have directly or indirectly been a part of the problems. The problems are: Increase in crime and vagrancy, businesses closing, and a parking shortage. It is not logical to say that it is sole cause of the situation. This argument states that the building of the mall is the reason that some businesses have went out of business. To say that the mall and the closes of the businesses go hand in hand is not totally accurate. There are a number of reasons that could have led to the closing of the businesses. For one example, you could say that a change in the economy might have led to the closures. If this occurred after the holidays, it could say that people spent most of their money during this time and it could have hurt some businesses beyond the point of repair. Also, this argument doesn?t state what kinds of businesses had troubles. If it was something as in a grocery store, the mall could not be the cause because the mall doesn?t interfere directly with the food industry. Also, a majority of small businesses succumb to larger ones. This area is not exempt to the possibilities that this is what could have happened. This argument does not state if mergers of smaller companies related to the statement. The argument tries to tie together that a parking shortage was caused by the Oak City Mall. While in turn the mall would bring increased foot traffic, it would also bring along more commerce to the city, thus businesses should not have struggled as previously mentioned. A number of factors could have added to the parking shortage. With most communities now, population increases every year.

Only Yesterday Essay

The â€Å"Roaring Twenties† as they’re called, was the period of ten years in the Untied States, which saw the biggest change in society, the boom in the economy, and later the downfall of the nation. This time in America was a time of economic prosperity for the most part; a great social revolution took place and saw the formation of a modern America. All this is the subject, Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the Nineteen-Twenties, written by Fredrick Lewis Allen. Allen writes a very informative book of what happened throughout this great decade, but from the aspect of an ordinary individual. He writes of the social history of the 1920s, with little to mention of major politics and economics. From presidents to fashion, Allen covers it all. It’s an effective look at people in the 1920s, and what life was like. Only Yesterday begins in May 1919, and ends with a brief look at 1930 and 1931. The book begins out with a prologue more or less, in which Allen writes of a fictitious couple, the Smith’s, in the year 1919. Allen, through this prelude, tells the reader of the accomplishments up until 1919, and what is to come in the coming decade. This 14-page introduction lets reader get an idea of what is to come, within the book. It begins with a look at the wartime economy and slow down from it. The period of the so-called â€Å"Red Scare† is written in detail in this book. Allen writes of the terror during this time, from everything like Attorney-General Mitchell Palmer’s raids on radicals, labor strikes and anarchism, and the intolerance of the early 1920s. The Ku Klux Klan also played a major part in this period. The early 1920s was a great time of mass hysteria, and intolerance for anything â€Å"un-American†. In one such story Allen writes about, how a black boy is stoned to death in a lake by whites on the shore, in the summer of 1919. Even though this existed, the 1920s brought great change. The first radio broadcast was in November 2, 1920. Allen talks about the social times changing during this time as well. Everything from sports to makeup was becoming an obsession, like baseball and tennis for the guys, and bathing suits and makeup for the women. During this time new games such as Mah Jong from China and crossword puzzles, and new songs, all which captured the  American spirit, as well as many other things, which thrilled Americans. As Allen writes, â€Å"A few weeks later there was new national thrill as the news of the finding of the tomb of King Tut-Ankh-Amen, cabled all the way from Egypt, overshadowed the news of Radical trials and the K.K.K.† This new time was the social revolution for the people. Ladies began smoking and drinking in public, skirts became shorter, the use of makeup, and the quest for slenderness began. The twenties was also a time of relaxed spirituality. Many looked at society as more important than religion. Celebrities replaced religion in some cases. The younger gernartion searched for things such as passion and thrills, and were much more open with their sexuality. Charles Lindbergh and his trans-Atlantic flight threw him to stardom. Impressing others became the â€Å"thing to do†, and sexual appeal was big. Also during this time of social revolution, prohibition was in full swing, while the 18th amendment was passed, and did reduce drinking in the country, it wasn’t very effective for a number of reasons. The mob and Al Capone ran â€Å"bootlegging† of alcohol. Racketeering was introduced during this time, many people looking for the get rich quick schemes, brought them into illegal activities such as bootlegging and such. People were just discovering themselves during this time and speak-easies and social clubs became the rage. Women would openly drink and smoke to show their independence. Allen talks of the Harding Presidency and the scandals that surrounded it. The return to normalcy as it was called; he returned the presidency to the people. His scandals, which range from sneaking to secret bars in this time of prohibition, to appointing friends and family to the cabinet, and many others. Allen also writes of the Coolidge presidency and the prosperity along with it. The stock market was in a boom, and the economy pumping. The automobile industry fueled the economy and radios brought the people closer to each other. Under the Coolidge prosperity the â€Å"Big Bull Market† was formed. The stock market grew and grew. The economy grew and couldn’t be stopped, the stocks grew dangerously high, but like all good things, it came to an end. The end of an era came about in 1929 on September 3, after that prices crashed and continued to fall until October 24, when the market began to steady again. Yet, the market fell even more, after that and into 1930  the m arket would be at an all time low. Allen attributes this to a list of seven things ranging from overproduction to the psyche of the American public, all which led to the Great Depression. This is the last thing Allen writes, and he asks the question, â€Å"What was to come in the nineteen-thirties?† With the fall of the market, came the fall of individualism, as Allen writes, â€Å"As the stock prices fell so did the lengths of the dresses†Ã‚ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  These are the things, which defined the decade of the 1920s: oily scandals, non-spirituality, the â€Å"good old days†, and the revolution, which, fell just as soon as was started. The 1920s was nothing like America had seen before. It was returned to the people, people weren’t afraid to speak out, or try something new. What was to come in the 1930s? A new decade, which people needed to survive the depression rather than socialize, and it would dismantle everything, which was made in the 1920s. Only Yesterday, was a very good look at the 1920s. It effectively shows what people went through in this crazy time. This book focuses around the social history of the â€Å"ËÅ"20s, from women’s skirts to the economy of 1929. Allen balances this with the politics of the three presidents, which defined this era. The book is very easy to read, and spares the reader with his simple clear and simplistic style of writing. The book was immensely enjoying, and grabs the attention of the reader immediately. He refers back to the New York Times, on numerous occasions, which seems to be one of his primary sources. He uses many details to back up the stories in which he writes about. While he is not very specific in his writing, he incorporates a lot of information in the book. He told everything from the good, to the bad and even to the ugly, which exposed America’s true sense. Only Yesterday: a great book for anyone looking at the social history of the 1920s: where individuali sm ran wild and â€Å"normalcy† had returned.