Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Reaction Paper on Finding Forrester - 814 Words

Finding Forrester. I’d never heard of this movie before that was why I had no idea of what it was all about. The word â€Å"Forrester† made me think of a native person living in the forest, so I thought the movie was all about finding that person. I became excited because I expected it to be some kind of action or speculative fiction movie, but I was wrong. When I played the movie, the first scene I saw was the rap part. I thought I was watching the wrong one, I even texted one of my blockmates to clarify but according to her, it was really the movie. I was surprised because it was not what I expected. A rap part really didn’t cross my mind, and it bothered me a little for I was trying to find some meanings why it was put as the introduction†¦show more content†¦I was touched at how their friendship had gone deep that Jamal chose to keep his promise instead of defending himself, and that Forrester stood for him and trusted him to continue the novel. I wa s also touched by the fact that friendship is regardless of age gap. Only then did I realize that it really is like that. I think it was my first time to see a kind of friendship like Jamal and Forrester’s. The part when Jamal knew that Forrester had cancer and that Forrester already died was heartbreaking. I almost wanted to cry whenever I thought of Forrester, who locked himself in his apartment for how many years, found a true friend even just before he died. I realized that a friend could never be with his friend forever, simply because each has his own life to take and will surely die sometime. Nevertheless, life should still go on, with the memories of that friend buried in the heart. After watching the movie, I was almost teary-eyed. Maybe, that was because I was really touched and inspired, but there was also a part of me that feels scared. I just realized that writing is a very delicate thing. One should always have originality and new ideas, or else he might be accu sed of plagiarism. But there is something that bothers me whenever plagiarism is being talked about. It is that there is a great possibility for two or more people to sometimes have the same idea. That is why I think that sometimes it’s just a matter of who was the first one to express orShow MoreRelatedProject Management Systems ( Pms )1556 Words   |  7 Pagesaccomplishment as projects on plan, of expense, and with expected usefulness. There are a few upgrades to the Standish Chaos reports. Effective Projects: 29% Drop tasks cost $55 Billion Annually? Tested Projects: 53% Standish software Project performance findings, 1994-2009 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2009 Succeeded 16% 27% 26% 28% 34% 29% 32% Failed 31% 40% 28% 23% 15% 18% 24% Challenged 53% 33% 46% 49% 51% 53% 44% An alternate study led in the United KingdomRead MoreIdentity Theft in Our Contemporary Society Essay example2834 Words   |  12 Pagesexpense. In many cases, a victims loss not only includes out-of-pocket financial losses, but substantial additional financial costs and time repairing and correcting credit histories and erroneous information. To assist with my research for this paper, I chose two books written from different perspectives. 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Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 LIMITED PHOTOCOPY LICENSE The Publisher grants to individual purchasers of this book nonassignable permission to reproduce the appendices of this book. This license is limited to you, the individual purchaserRead MoreWal-Mart Case Study – Rfid and Supply Chain Management7654 Words   |  31 PagesGillette, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson J ohnson, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft Foods, Nestle, Purina PetCare Company, Procter Gamble and Unilever. Kimberly-Clark Kimberly Clark is a manufacturer of paper goods products that include Kleenex, Huggies and Depend. In April 2004, Kimberly Clark tagged its Scott paper towels shipment with RFID tags to be shipped to Sanger, Texas. Kraft Foods Kraft Foods, the largest food company employs RFID system to improve handling of its bulk containers. Kraft has outsourcedRead MoreThe Rise of Social Media and Its Impact on Mainstream Journalism21031 Words   |  85 PagesWORKING PAPER e rise of social media and its impact on mainstream journalism: A study of how newspapers and broadcasters in the UK and US are responding to a wave of participatory social media, and a historic shi in control towards individual consumers. Nic Newman September 2009 Contents Executive summary and key conclusions 1. Framing the debate 2. Mainstream media motivations, doubts and dilemmas 2.1 Definitions and motivations 2.2 BBC 2.3 Guardian and Telegraph 2.4 New York Times

Monday, December 16, 2019

Women in the War Free Essays

1. In Britain in 1914 and before, women were thought of as second class citizens. Women had few privileges that men had; they were down upon by men. We will write a custom essay sample on Women in the War or any similar topic only for you Order Now Women’s employment opportunities were limited and their pay was considerably less than a man’s. All this was due to strong discrimination about women being of less importance and intelligence, the general view was traditional one which inferred that women should be housewives. Only one third of women were in paid employment. However there were differences between the jobs they did because of their class. Middle class and Working class women did very different jobs. Working class women worked in more manual, and labour intensive jobs. Whilst Middle class did more intellectual jobs. So we already know that there were clear distinctions between the jobs the women of different classes did. Working class women mostly did domestic services such as cleaning or being servants for the rich. They had to work in poor conditions and were subjected to long working hours. On top of this they received criticism, low wages and got little time off. A major employer was the textiles industry in which women could supervise, yet men often get these jobs. Women also made clothes and dresses, or jewellery or painted ornaments. Middle class women experienced better working conditions. These women were more likely to work as teachers, nurses, secretaries and shop assistants. Women had no political vote and were looked down on as inferior to men. Before 1914 jobs for women were limited and discouraged due to traditional beliefs about the role of women. Within this discrimination there was further discrimination between the classes of women. They were expected to manage the house. People were aware of this and a group called the Suffragettes voiced the opinion that equality should be imposed. This all changed when war broke out. 2. When war broke out the men went to war, this meant that they left their vacant jobs behind. The country was behind the war effort and all came together. Women were at first not allowed to fill the men’s jobs, they were only allowed to knit and fundraise. People, including Emmeline Pankhurst, a leading Suffragette realised that women could help more. Pankhurst in July 1915 organised a ‘Right to Serve’ march in which 60 000 women took part. There was also an increasing demand for shells due to shortages on the front line. Lloyd George, the Minister of Munitions had to negotiate with trade unions to let women work. They came to a deal known as the ‘Treasury Agreements’. Women began to work in industrial employment; they began manufacturing munitions and shells. The government backed Pankhurst further by giving them à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3000 to organise processions. Also the women war register was established; it contained all the names of women wanting to help. Also more jobs needed filling when, in early 1916 the government introduced conscription as they realised they were in for the long slog. The war wouldn’t be over any time soon. Vigorous campaigning ensued with extensive propaganda encouraging women to work instead of men in industry, farming and the armed services. As a result of increased levels of women working birth rates were falling, this was because women were worried about raising children during wartime. So to ease worries, the government increased the number of child welfare centres so that children and babies had a place where they could be cared for. Female employment levels rose massively due to encouragement, campaigning and thanks to the women’s will to help the country win the war. Another reason is because men had to go fight on the frontlines so in order to keep up the production of munitions and shells, the women had to fill in the men’s jobs. 3. Before the war women were limited to working in textiles even though they were paid at a fraction of the money that men were. Only a third of women were in paid employment. There were strict traditional rules in society which made it clear that some jobs were purely a certain gender. Women of a lower class had to generally work as domestic services for the rich and middle class women worked doing clerical work and teaching. Women were seen as 2nd class citizens. When the war broke out the men left to go to war meaning that there were vacant jobs that needed to be filled. At first the government were reluctant, but later they realised that women could make a big difference. Protests organised by the Suffragettes encouraged women to work. Women worked in industry, medical and many new areas of employment now. Women though were still treated badly, underpaid and overworked. Some men resented the women and say them as inferior. More positively though is that women became freer and some women over 30 could vote. After 4 years of war, it was over; the allies had won and the men returned home. Women were pressured to leave their jobs for the men and go back to their old jobs, mostly housekeeping. Women did leave work and female employment levels returned to what they were before 1914. The jobs that women worked in changed slightly though as more women worked in areas such as law and medicine, pay did also improve. In the short term it looked like not much had changed, things were back to normal. Women were still paid less and weren’t promoted above men. However in the long run World War 1 changed the role of women and had a massive impact as they earned the respect and privileges that they deserved for their contributions. It had been made clear that women were capable of many things that men could do and over time the mood changed regarding what women could and should do. How to cite Women in the War, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Amotivational Syndrome free essay sample

This paper covers the debate on whether or not smoking marijuana causes amotivational syndrome. It sets up standards for a case study to test the hypothesis. This paper looks at whether smoking marijuana causes amotivational syndrome, the term given to the tranquilizing of marijuana on its users, particularly adolescents. The author discusses the symptoms, such as apathy, an inability to carry out plans or concentrate, and impairment of speech and writing. The paper also discusses plans for a twelve-year study, and concludes that the research already conducted on amotivational syndrome is not influenced by the amount of marijuana one smokes. Amotivational Syndrome is a syndrome in which people are predisposed to. Smoking marijuana during adolescence can stunt an individuals psychological growth, but it does not necessarily lead to Amotivational Syndrome. There is no doubt that a correlation exists between marijuana use and Amotivational Syndrome, but the causal relationship is unclear. We will write a custom essay sample on Amotivational Syndrome or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page There is a substantial amount of information against marijuana being the cause of Amotivational Syndrome, but it is still considered to be a factor in perpetuating the syndrome further. It is common for people with other psychological disorders or learning disorders to have several of the symptoms of Amotivational Syndrome.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

March Madness Tips Off At This Tech Startup

It’s that time of year! That’s right, the time of year nobody at the office even cares about except for the two people that went to top basketball schools - one of which didn’t make the tournament, and the other isn’t even a Final Four pick for the alleged â€Å"I bleed Duke blue† supporter. This year, we are each putting in $15 and winner takes all (a few of us have been eyeing the Steph Curry jersey). How else do we create buy-in, right? Anyway, brackets are filled, stakes are high and games are starting. Let’s dive right into it. Introducing, the 2016 NCAA Brackets Overview: Lydia â€Å"Lids† Fayal’s knowledge on sports is as extensive as her familiarity on Fermet’s Last Theorem - close to none. As such, her bracket consists of diversified influence from â€Å"which school is preppiest,† her boyfriend’s also-close-to-none-knowledge on basketball, and fortune cookies from the Chinese restaurant down the street. Lids has UVA beating Villanova in the finals. Jamil â€Å"Silent Killa J† Al-Ghosein is an out-of-the-box thinker. Most people use a combination of season performance, playing style, team dynamics, coaching and intuition to map out their brackets, but Killa J uses none of that. He placed the mascots in an hypothetical cage match to the death and see who came out alive. He has UConn beating Pitt, and has UVA, UNC and Kansas out on first round. Thank you to the office comedians and their hilarious brackets, now let’s take a look at the real contenders: While most people may treat brackets as a leisurely activity, Drew â€Å"The Big D† Evans is all about â€Å"business before pleasure† - and brackets are pure business. Thus, he put aside his Michigan roots and has UNC beating Kansas in the finals with an all-around solid bracket. Similarly, Steph â€Å"Shyumai† Shyu bleeds blue and is religiously faithful to Duke. But she knows better. In spite of clutching onto a sliver of hope for a repeat championship, she knows that Duke doesn’t stand a chance this year. Shyumai has Michigan State beating Oklahoma in the finals - realistic, but, for some reason, has Duke making it all the way to the quarter finals. Allan â€Å"Mad Vibez† Buntoengsuk also has Michigan State beating Oklahoma in the finals. Honestly, he probably copied Steph’s brackets. His sole focus this month is on â€Å"designing dope sh*t.† Frances â€Å"Black Soul† Wong is a Georgetown alum and extremely bitter about the Hoyas not making it this year. Going against her upbringing of being righteous, building karma and paying it forward (she’s the do-gooder behind despite her nickname), her bracket is based strictly on a â€Å"payback for Georgetown† model. She has Michigan State beating Kansas for the win. Oakley â€Å"Lion Child† Purchase had zero interest in brackets, but as soon as he learned there was money involved, he became a bracketology and statistical analysis expert within a matter of minutes. Backed by Excel sheets and Conor McGregor motivational quotes, Lion Child’s prediction also has Michigan State beating Kansas on April 4th. Ed â€Å"Eazy-E† Ong is undoubtedly the biggest trash talker on and off the courts. He’s gone on record multiple times that he’s never lost a NCAA bracket pool. Will he finally succumb to his first loss this time around or achieve that fictional win he keeps talking about? We’ll find out. He also predicts Michigan State prevailing over Kansas in the finals. Ryan â€Å"Yarn† Kwok has Kansas beating UVA in the finals. He’s going to win. He should take everyone’s money right now. Save the trouble of speculation. Is it obvious I’m writing about myself in third-person? Jerry â€Å"Jer Bear† Huyghe looks human but is actually a calculated and high-functioning warlock. His methods are unconventional to the untrained eye but has constantly proven to be of success (read: proprietary algorithm). Jer Bear foretells Kansas beating UNC in the finals. Julia â€Å"Fairy Potion† Marsh didn’t create a bracket, but created the biggest upset already by not joining the pool. WHY JULIA, WHY!!!!!!! And finally, President Obama has Kansas beating UNC. President Obama if you’re reading this, please join our pool, that would be super cool. By the way, I already spotted your buy-in. Dont even trip, its on me. That’s all, folks! If you want more March Madness, check out our very own college traditions bracket.Keep an eye out for power rankings next week!

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on Shakespeare Sonnet 60

Time They say that the only certainty in this life is change. Each day brings new order to unorganized chaos. Whether we like it or not, life’s unending train ride carries us to undiscovered destinations. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60 seems, likewise, seems to take us on a little journey through time stressing the many different facets that exist as we go through this thing we call life. I seem to get a vision through his lines that they create a link one to another, much as our life moves on from one experience to the next. The opening line of this sonnet begins with, â€Å"Like the waves make towards the pebbled shoreâ€Å" This must be a comparison of our time here on earth, only it is representative as waves that crash upon the shore of the beach. When I think of a pebbled beach, I think of how hard it is to walk on, as compared to a smooth, sandy beach. Perhaps this could compare to how life experiences are. We would all like to ease through life much as you can walk barefoot across a smoothly sandy beach. Yet, I think we all know that it is inevitable that we will once in awhile have to walk across many cracks and faults along the way. I reflect to the times I’ve seen the ocean, I always know that I will see the waves coming in and out, it’s constant, never changing. This could be a direct metaphor for time. Time is the one thing we can never change. We are always aware that when one wave crashes along the shore, yet another is just waiting to follow. Much like the waves crashing along the shore, â€Å"So do our minutes hasten to their end†. I think that is fairly self explanatory, our time here on earth continues to move forward, all the while, it seems to be gone in an instant. It’s interesting to me, when you’re young, it seems as though you will never be an adult. Yet, when you get to be an adult you’d almost give anything to be a kid again. Time seems to just race forward once you grow into maturity. The third li... Free Essays on Shakespeare Sonnet 60 Free Essays on Shakespeare Sonnet 60 Time They say that the only certainty in this life is change. Each day brings new order to unorganized chaos. Whether we like it or not, life’s unending train ride carries us to undiscovered destinations. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60 seems, likewise, seems to take us on a little journey through time stressing the many different facets that exist as we go through this thing we call life. I seem to get a vision through his lines that they create a link one to another, much as our life moves on from one experience to the next. The opening line of this sonnet begins with, â€Å"Like the waves make towards the pebbled shoreâ€Å" This must be a comparison of our time here on earth, only it is representative as waves that crash upon the shore of the beach. When I think of a pebbled beach, I think of how hard it is to walk on, as compared to a smooth, sandy beach. Perhaps this could compare to how life experiences are. We would all like to ease through life much as you can walk barefoot across a smoothly sandy beach. Yet, I think we all know that it is inevitable that we will once in awhile have to walk across many cracks and faults along the way. I reflect to the times I’ve seen the ocean, I always know that I will see the waves coming in and out, it’s constant, never changing. This could be a direct metaphor for time. Time is the one thing we can never change. We are always aware that when one wave crashes along the shore, yet another is just waiting to follow. Much like the waves crashing along the shore, â€Å"So do our minutes hasten to their end†. I think that is fairly self explanatory, our time here on earth continues to move forward, all the while, it seems to be gone in an instant. It’s interesting to me, when you’re young, it seems as though you will never be an adult. Yet, when you get to be an adult you’d almost give anything to be a kid again. Time seems to just race forward once you grow into maturity. The third li...

Friday, November 22, 2019

How To Double Your Facebook Reach With Rebekah Radice [Podcast]

How To Double Your Facebook Reach With Rebekah Radice [Podcast] Organic reach: How do you boost yours? It’s one of those things that you might find to be a mystery, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Today we’re talking to Rebekah Radice, a social media strategist and the Chief Marketing Officer of Post Planner. With her help and expertise, Post Planner managed to double their Facebook organic reach. Rebekah has one of the top 10 social media blogs for 2015 and 2016, according to Social Media Examiner. She’s the author of the e-book, Shine Online, and she has been featured on NBC, Social Media Today, Steam Feed, Maximize Social Business, and others. She’s also a keynote speaker and is passionate about educating entrepreneurs and future business leaders. Some of the topics that you’ll hear discussed today include: Some information about Post Planner, as well as details on what Rebekah’s position as CMO entails. The biggest challenge with Facebook that marketers struggle to resolve. How Post Planner has achieved such great success with Facebook, and why organic growth is their main focus. How having big, crazy goals and a narrow focus contributed to Post Planner’s success. The importance of visual marketing and letting your personality shine through in your content. Rebekah’s advice for marketers who want to improve their Facebook organic reach.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Business Strategy Evaluation and Proposal Essay

Business Strategy Evaluation and Proposal - Essay Example ("Thomson Financial Worldwide† 15) Currently the company has weathered the past years of financial instability in the markets and now needs a aggressively market itself with new trends and outcomes of this market. The sustainability trend is now a permanent component of any corporation and the NASDAQ-OMX Group now needs to align itself with that element. The NASDAQ-OMX Group had run a series of soft-sell ads that helped it enter into an environmentally friendly stance as well as associate it with the companies that have a green intitiatve and are also members of their exchange. The ad campaign was run in 2008 and consisted of several 15-second TV spots that aired on broadcast and Cable channels. While having the twin benefit of supporting the companies it does business with, the actual impact of the ads for either partner was minimal. The ads themselves were both short and somewhat esoteric so that the viewer may not only have missed the companies associated with it but completely misunderstood the message intended. They have also marketed the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index which is one of the more green initiatives in the stock markets at the moment. The campaign would have worked better with more direct association. During the past two years the economic crisis has been felt by all sectors, but especially in the financial reporting and indices markets. However, while 2008 was a critical year your company certainly held its own and showed less of a percentage downturn than most other reporting indices. The following graph illustrates a stable stock price from October 2008 to January 2010. This is the indication of an extremely stable company that had pulled in the reigns and was able to get through the storm. However, as you can see by the following chart showing net profit for the past four years, the boom in 2007 has tapered off to a holding pattern in 2008 and 2009. Samples of the

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Essentials of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Essentials of Management - Essay Example The primary problems with the delegation process are the loss of power, the chances of insubordination, loss of accountability and the chances the work may get delayed. These are the various problems of the delegation. Once the job has been delegated, the Manager may fear that the individual may not perform perfectly either due to the lack of resources, money or senses of responsibility. This may ultimately affect the KRA’s of the manager; the other issue may be the insecurity that is present among the managers. The individual who has been entrusted with the job may go on to outperform the Manager. Thereby, these are the problems faced in the delegation process. There are various steps that can be taken to overcome these problems. The main steps are the infusion of responsibility in the individuals to deliver the work on time, and not to have any amount of insubordination. This can be accomplished by the creation of a proper work culture wherein there is an intrinsic sense of responsibility among the individuals. Also, the individuals should be accountable to the work that is performed by them. Building trust in the virtual teams The process of building trust in virtual teams is a multifarious process with multiple layers involved. The steps that I would take to maintain trust are a lot of online meeting between the members so that they can come to know each other. This would mean that a lot of online transactions should be maintained in order to have the optimum level of trust to be maintained among these members. Another important aspect is the acceptance of the cultural differences between the members. Thee should be a lot telephone calls, online chats , video conferencing and common brain storming sessions over the internet. The other important factor is that the members have to complement each others abilities to build up the trust. Business Research Methods Research question- Should the performance bar of a company be constantly raised at the cost of rising levels of stress and attrition? Analysis-In order to survive the current market, the organization should always keep on evolving and changing that would basically mean that the structures are being organizes in such a manner that there is continuous growth in the organization. It should also ensure that the performance levels are always on the top. Given the current levels of the employee attrition and the stress levels, should such a strategy be actively followed within the company Methodology - Data sampling is of primary importance here, the main strategy that has to be adhered to is the population sampling strategy. The sampling frame has also to be fixed since we are dealing with extremely large sensitive amounts of data, the proper identification of each and every individual involved in the data set is extremely important. The type of sampling that has to be followed here is probability sampling. This is extremely important in the light of the data that is being inve stigated. The chances of the selection of each entity in the sample should be more than one. The subdivision of the sampling frame applies is the stratified sampling. The stratified sampling is used to divide the population into the necessary subsets for the analysis. The dependent variables are the frequency of the distribution randomness of the population set, the methodology segregation taken and the variability of the stratified data. The independent variables are the designation, the work level and responsibilities Understanding- The method of the data collection is

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Education Timeline Essay Example for Free

Education Timeline Essay Education Timeline Antiria Jenkins HIS324: History of American Education Instructor: Timothy Kilgore November 12, 2012 http://prezi. com/vcesi_y4xome/history-of-american-education-timeline/ Education in the United States has faced great changes toward development in the past hundreds of years. At the beginning, during the Colonial Era, the principles of education were mainly based on those already used by European nations at the time. However, the country began to adopt its own approaches toward teachings given different social, political and religious practices (Rippa 9). 1635The first Latin Grammar School (Boston Latin School): Founded on April 23, 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts, it is known as the first public school and oldest existing school in the United States. The Latin grammar curriculum was designed for boys 8 to 15, based on European Schools in a Puritan area. Schools were to prepare boys for college and the service of God. Protestantism believed that education was needed so that individuals could interpret the bible. 1751American Academy founded by Ben Franklin: The demand of skilled workers in the middle of the eighteenth century led Benjamin Franklin to start a new kind of secondary school, thus, the American Academy was established in Philadelphia. American high schools eventually replaced Latin grammar schools. Curriculum was geared to prepare students for employment. Academies eventually replaced the Latin Grammar Schools and some admitted Women. 783Introduction of Noah Webster’s Speller: Noah Webster published the A grammatical Institute of the English language, also known as, â€Å"the blue-back speller. † This was the most widely circulated of the early American textbooks and like Webster’s American Dictionary it strived to establish a national identity as well as the United States’ linguistic and cultural independence of England. As the first popular American textbo ok, the introduction of Noah Webster’s speller stands as a significant event in the history of American education. 817(April 15, 1817) Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons: The Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons opens. It is the first permanent school for the deaf in the U. S. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc are the schools co-founders. In 1864, Thomas Gallaudets son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, helps to start Gallaudet University, the first college specifically for deaf students. 824First State-Supported School Established: Originally named the Boston English Classical School and established in 1821, the school was renamed the English High School in 1824 and also, during that year, became the first-state supported common school. The adoption of the English High as a state-supported common school is a significant event in the history of American education as it was, essentially, the first public school. 1855Abolition of Segregation of Schools in Massachusetts: Following the case of Roberts v. Boston, the state of Massachusetts abolished segregation in their schools. The victory would be the first in a long battle lasting nearly an entire century. This was the first law to oppose segregated schools in the United States and is, therefore, a significant event in the history of American education. 1856The First Kindergarten: In the United States Margarethe Schurz founded the first kindergarten in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1856. Her German-language kindergarten impressed Elizabeth Peabody, who opened the first American English-language kindergarten in Boston in 1860. The kindergarten was much more influential in the United States and in the northern part of Europe which encouraged the National Education Association to begin a kindergarten department in 1874, and later, teachers founded the International Kindergarten Union in 1892. 1896The Laboratory School of the University of Chicago (First Progressive Laboratory):John Dewey, the father of the progressive education, established the first laboratory school for testing the progressive educational method. This would lead to a popular trend in education adopted by schools during the first half of the twentieth century. Progressive education emphasizes cultivation of problem solving and critical thinking skills through hands-on learning activities. 1905 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of Congress, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center. The Foundation encouraged the adoption of a standard system for equating seat time (the amount of time spent in a class) to high school credits which is still in use today. This system is known as the Carnegie Unit. 1939 The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (first called the Wechsler- Bellevue Intelligence Scale): This scale was developed by David Wechsler and is intended to measure human intelligence reflected in both verbal and performance abilities. It introduces the concept of the deviation IQ, which calculates IQ scores based on how far subjects scores differ (or deviate) from the average (mean) score of others wh o are the same age, rather than calculating them with the ratio (MA/CA multiplied by 100) system. Wechsler intelligence tests, particularly the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, are still widely used in U. S. schools to help identify students needing special education. 1944 The Servicemens Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill of Rights): Bill signed into law on June 22, 1944 by President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II. The GI Bill affords military veterans government funding to pursue or continue educational goals following their service. The GI Bill not only compensates veterans for their service, but has also been responsible for the growth of American colleges and universities. 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: On May 17, 1954, The U. S. Supreme court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate schools did not provide equal education to students and therefore banned the segregation of schools nationwide with a ruling of (9–0) decision stated that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and declared unconstitutional. 1958 Defense Education Act of 1958: The Defense Education Act of 1958 was signed into law on September 2, 1958 by the United States government during the cold war in reaction to the successful launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik. The Soviets’ scientific success motivated the U. S. government to fund the U. S. Office of Education’s establishment of scientifically and mathematically centered curriculum. The act contained ten titles designed to improve the nations schools. 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed on July 2, 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson banned discrimination in all federally funded programs and outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women. This law helped to further the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education as many schools had continued segregation. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 financially, â€Å"cut-off,† institutions, such as public schools, which promoted discrimination of any and all types and gave leverage to the movement. 1965 The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA): The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed on April 9, 1965 s a part of the War on Poverty. It emphasizes equal access to education and establishes high standards and accountability as well as provides federal funds to help low-income students, which results in the initiation of educational programs such as Title I and bilingual education. 965 The Higher Education Act: The Higher Education Act was signed on November 8, 1965 to strengthen the educational resources of colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education. It increased federal money given to universities, created scholarships, gave low-interest loans for students, and established a National Teachers Cor ps. 1965 Project Head Start: The Head Start program started in the summer of 1965 as an eight week summer program for children from low-income communities going into public school in the fall (Styfco and Zigler, 2003). The program provided preschool classes, medical care, dental care, and mental health services (Kagan, 2002). 1975Education for All Handicapped Children Act now known as The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): requires public schools to make available to all eligible children with disabilities a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their individual needs and requires public school systems to develop appropriate Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for each child which will reflect the individualized needs of each student. 002 The No Child Left Behind Act: On January 8, 2002, NCLB was signed into law. NCLB supports standards-based education reform based on the premise that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. States must give these assessments to all students at select grade levels in order to receive federal school funding. All students are required to meet the standards establish by NCLB at the accountability of educators. 2004 H. R. 350, The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEA 2004): reauthorizes and modifies IDEA. Changes, which take effect on July 1, 2005, include modifications in the IEP process and procedural safeguards, increased authority for school personnel in special education placement decisions, and alignment of IDEA with the No Child Left Behind Act. The 2004 reauthorization also requires school districts to use the Response to Intervention (RTI) approach as a means for the early identification of students at risk for specific learning disabilities. RTI provides a three-tiered model for screening, monitoring, and providing increasing degrees of intervention using â€Å"research-based instruction with the overall goal of reducing the need for special education services (Re-authorization, 2004). The history of education has been influenced multiple times over the past years. In some shape, form, or fashion, the many changes have affected many lives, especially those with disabilities. Going from segregation to desegregation, women involvement in education and fighting for equal education of those individuals with disabilities has not only marked historical events but has brought togetherness among all races and genders. Without these historical events in shaping education, the world would be at a standstill. References Dewey, John. 1938 (1963). Experience and Education. New York: Collier Books Kagan, J. (2002). Empowerment and education: Civil rights, expert-advocates, and parent politics in Head Start, 1964-1980. Teachers College Record, 104(3), 516-562. Re-authorization of the IDEA 2004. Retrieved November 5, 2012 from http://www. nj. gov/education/specialed/idea/reauth/ Rippa, Alexander. Education in a Free Society. Eighth Edition. New York: Longman, 1997. 3-107. Print. Styfco, S. , amp; Zigler, E. (2003). Early Childhood Programs for a New Century. Reynolds, A. , amp; Wang, M. (Eds. ) The federal commitment to preschool education: Lessons from and for Head Start (pp. 3-33). Washington, D. C. : Child Welfare League of America, Inc.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

20,000 Leagues under the Sea Review :: Jules Verne Twenty Thousand 20000

20,000 Leagues under the Sea Review â€Å"An enormous things, a long object, spindle shaped, occasionally phosphorescent, and infinitely larger and more rapid in its movements than a whale.† This novel has a setting. The story carries its protagonists across the surface of the globe to the South Pole and back, and far down into the depths of the oceans. The Nautilus itself is the true setting of the novel, it is the imaginative device that makes the action of the novel possible. Designed by Captain Nemo, the electrically powered Nautilus is two or three hundred feet long, capable of speeds far greater than surface ships of the day. Captain Nemo is one of the most fascinating characters in the novel. He’s a builder and engineer of the Nautilus submarine, another fascinating thing, he and his crew speak an unknown language. Professor Pierre Aronnax, assistant professor in Museum of Natural History in Paris, a cunning Frenchman narrating the story. And with the help of his servant, Mousier Counseil. 30 year old servant, â€Å"a true, devoted Flemish boy† who accompanied Aronnax in all his travels. And finally, Ned Land, a Canadian harpooner about 40 years old who joined Aronnax and Counseil on The Nautilus in search of the mysterious marine monster threatening the seas. The basic theme of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea is for people to understand how the unseen part of the world really is. Aronnax takes on the task of identifying and classifying every animal on the planet. Captain Nemo takes his strange submarine into places no man has ever been before, the depths of the ocean. Many life and death experiences made Ned Land feel uneasy about his new life aboard the Nautilus. He was determined to escape. Captain Nemo took them to many exquisite places. They experienced hunting and searching for pearls, VigLo Bay, a hollowed out volcano, and the underwater city of Atlantis. Captain Nemo took them to the

Monday, November 11, 2019

Night World : Secret Vampire Chapter 9

Poppy shifted on her bed. She was unhappy. It was a hot, restless unhappiness that seemed to swarm underneath her skin.Coming from her body instead of from her mind. Ifshe hadn't been so weak, she would have gotten upand tried to run the feeling off. But she had spaghetti for muscles now and she wasn't running anywhere. Her mind was simply cloudy. She didn't try tothink much anymore. She was happiest when shewas asleep. But tonight she couldn't sleep. She could still taste the wild cherry Popsicle in the corners of her mouth.She would have tried to wash the taste away, but the thought of water made her feel vaguely nauseated. Water's no good. Not what I need. Poppy turned over and pressed her face into the pillow. She didn't know what she needed, but sheknew she wasn't getting it. A soft sound came from the hallway. Footsteps. The footsteps of at least two people. It didn't soundlike her mother and Cliff, and anyway they'd goneto bed. There was the lightest of knocks at her door, thena fan of light opened on the floor as the door cracked.Phil whispered, â€Å"Poppy, you asleep? Can I come in?† To Poppy's slowly rising indignation, he was coming in, without waiting for an answer. And someone was with him. Not just someone.Theone. The one who had hurtPoppy worst of all. The betrayer. James. Anger gave Poppy the strength to sit up. â€Å"Go away!I'll hurt you!† The most primitive and basic ofwarning-off messages. An animal reaction. â€Å"Poppy, please let me talk to you,† James said. Andthen something amazing happened. Even Poppy, in herbefuddled state, recognized that it was amazing. Phil said, â€Å"Please do it, Poppy. Just listen to him.† Phil siding with James? Poppy was too confused to protest as James cameand knelt by her bedside. â€Å"Poppy, I know you're upset. And it's my fault; I made a mistake. I didn't want Phil to know whatwas really going on, and I told him I was just pretending to care for you. But it wasn't true.† Poppy frowned. â€Å"If you search your feelings, you'llknowit's nottrue. You're turning into a telepath, and I think youalready have enough power to read me.† Behind James, Phil stirred as if uneasy at the mention of telepathy. â€Å"I can tell you it's not true,† he said,causing both Poppy and James to look at him in surprise.†That's one thing I found out from talking to you,† headded, speaking to James without looking at him. â€Å"Youmay be some kind of monster, but you really do care about Poppy. You're not trying to hurt her.† â€Å"Nowyou finally get it? After causing all this-?†James broke off and shook his head, turning back toPoppy. â€Å"Poppy, concentrate. Feel what I'm feeling. Find the truth for yourself.† I won't and you can't make me, Poppy thought.But the part of her that wanted to find out the truthwas stronger than the irrational, angry part. Tentatively shereachedfor James-not with her hand, but with her mind. She couldn't have described to anyone how she did it. She just did it. And she found James's mind, diamond-bright andburning with intensity. It wasn't the same as beingone with him, the way she had been when theyshared blood. It was like looking at him from theoutside, sensing his emotions from a distance. But it was enough. The warmth and longing and protectiveness he had for her were all dear. So was theanguish: the pain he felt to know that she was hurting-,and that she hated him. Poppy's eyes filled. â€Å"You really do care,† she whispered. James's gray eyes met hers, and there was a lookin them Poppy couldn't remember seeing before.†There are two cardinal rules in the Night World,† he said steadily. â€Å"One is not to tell humans that it exists. The other is not to fall in love with a human. I've broken both of them.† Poppy was aware, vaguely, that Phillip was walkingout of the room. The fan of light contracted as hehalf-shut the door behind him. James's face waspartly in shadow. â€Å"I could never tell you how I felt about you,†James said. â€Å"I couldn't even admit it to myself. Because it puts you in terrible danger. You can't imagine what kind of danger.† â€Å"And you, too,† Poppy said. It was the first time she'd really thought about this. Now the ideaemerged from her muddled consciousness like a bubble in a pot of stew. â€Å"I mean,† she said slowly, puzzling it out, â€Å"if it'sagainstthe rules to tell a human or love a human, and you break the rules, then theremust be some punishment foryou†¦ .†Even as shesaid it, she sensed what the punishment was. More of James's face went into shadow. â€Å"Don't you worry about that,† he said in his old voice, hiscool-guy voice. Poppy never took advice, not even from James. Asurge of irritation and anger swept through her-ananimal surge, like the feverish restlessness. She could feel her eyes narrow and her fingers claw. â€Å"Don't you tell me what to worry about!† He frowned. â€Å"Don't you tell me not to tell you-â€Å"he began, and then broke off. â€Å"What am I doing? You're still sick with the change and I'm just sittinghere.† He rolled up a sleeve of his windbreaker and drew a fingernail along his wrist. Where the nail cut,blood welled up. It looked black in the darkness. But Poppy found her eyes fixing on its liquid beading in fascination.Her lips parted and her breath came faster. â€Å"Come on,† James said, and held his wrist in frontof her. The next second Poppy had pounced and fixed her mouth on it as if she were trying to savehim from a snakebite. It was so natural, so easy.Thisis what she'd neededwhen she was dispatching Phil to get Popsicles andcranberry juice. This sweet, heady stuff was the realthing and nothing else was like it. Poppy suckedavidly. It was all good: the closeness, therich,dark-red taste; the strength and vitality that flooded through her, warming her to her fingertips. But best, better than any mere sensation, was the touch of James'smind. It made her giddy with pleasure. How could she ever have mistrusted him?Itseemed ridiculous now that she couldfeel, directly, how he felt about her. She would never know anyone the way she knew James. I'm sorry, she thought to him, and felt her thoughtaccepted, forgiven, cherished. Held gently by the cradling of James's mind. It wasn't your fault,he told her. Poppy's mind seemed to be clearing with every second that went by. It was like waking up out of a deep and uncomfortable sleep.Idon't ever want thisto end,she thought, not really directing it at James, just thinking it. But she felt a reaction in him-and then felt himbury the reaction quickly. Not quickly enough. Poppyhad sensed it. Vampires don't do this to each other. Poppy was shocked. They would never have thisglory again after she changed? She wouldn't believethat; she refused. There must be away†¦. Again, she felt the beginning of a reaction inJames, but just as she was chasing it, he gently pulledhis wrist back. â€Å"You'd better not take any more tonight,† he said, and his real-world voice soundedstrange to Poppy's ears. It wasn't as muchJames ashis mental voice, and now she couldn't really feelhim properly. They were two separate beings. The isolation was awful. How could she survive if she could never touch hismind again? If she had to use words,which suddenlyseemed as clumsy as smoke signals for communication? If she could never feel him fully, his whole being open to her? It was cruel and unfair and all vampires must beidiots if they settled for anything less. Before she could open her mouth to begin theclumsy process of verbally explaining this to James, the door moved. Phillip looked around it. â€Å"Come on in,† James said. â€Å"We've got a lot totalk about.† Phil was staring at Poppy. â€Å"Are you. . .†Hestopped and swallowed before finishing in a husky whisper. â€Å"Better?† It didn't take telepathy to sense his disgust. Heglanced at her mouth, and then quickly away. Poppyrealized what he must be seeing. A stain as if she'dbeen eating berries. She rubbed at her lips with theback of her hand. What she wanted to say was, it isn't disgusting. It'spart of Nature. It's a way of giving life, pure life. It's secret and beautiful. It's all right. What she said was, â€Å"Don't knock it till you'vetried it.† Phillip's face convulsed in horror. And the weirdthing was that on this subject James was in perfectagreement with him. Poppy could sense it-Jamesthought sharing blood was dark and evil, too. He wasfilled with guilt. Poppy heaved a long, exasperated sigh, and added,†Boys. â€Å" â€Å"You're better,† Phil said, cracking a faint smile. â€Å"I guess I was pretty bizarre before,† Poppy said.†Sorry.† â€Å"Prettyis not the word.,, ‘qt wasn't her fault,† James said shortly to Phil.†She was dying-and hallucinating, sort of. Notenough blood to the brain.† Poppy shook her head. â€Å"I don't get it. You didn'ttake that much blood from me the last time. Howcould I not have enough blood to the brain?† â€Å"It's not that,† James said. â€Å"The two kinds of bloodreact against each other-they fight each other. Look,if you want a scientific explanation, it's somethinglike this. Vampire blood destroys the hemoglobinthe red cells-in human blood. Once it destroys enough of the red cells, you stop getting the oxygenyou need to think straight. And when it destroysmore, you don't have the oxygen you need to live.† â€Å"So vampire blood is like poison,† Phil said, in thetones of someone who knew it all along. James shrugged. He wasn't looking at either Poppyor Phil. â€Å"In some ways. But in other ways it's like auniversal cure. It makes wounds heal fast, makesflesh regenerate. Vampires can live on very little oxygen because their cells are so resilient. Vampire blooddoes everything-except carry oxygen.† A light went on in Poppy's brain. Dawning revelation-the mystery of Count Dracula explained. â€Å"Waita minute,† she said. â€Å"Is that why you need human blood?† â€Å"That's one of the reasons,† James said. â€Å"There aresome†¦some more mystical things human blooddoes for us, but keeping us alive is the most basicone. We take a little and that carries oxygen throughour system until our own blood destroys it. Then wetake a little more.† Poppy settled back. â€Å"So that's it. And it isnatural†¦.† â€Å"Nothing about this is natural,† Phil said, his disgust surfacing again. â€Å"Yes, it is; it's like whatdoyouca!lit, from biologylass. Symbiosis-â€Å" â€Å"It doesn'tmatterwhat it's like,† James said. â€Å"Wecan't sit here and talk about it. We've got to makeplans.† There was an abrupt silence as Poppy realized whatkind of plans he was talking about. She could tellPhil was realizing it, too. â€Å"You're not out of danger yet,† James said softly,his eyes holding Poppy's. â€Å"It's going to take one more exchangeof blood, and you should have it as soon as possible. Otherwise, you might relapse again. Butwe're going to have to plan the next exchangecarefully-â€Å" â€Å"Why?† Phil said, at his most deliberatelyobstructive. â€Å"Because it's going to kill me,† Poppy said flatly before James could answer. And when Phil flinched she went on ruthlessly, â€Å"That's what this is allabout,Phil. It's not some little game James and I are playing. We have to deal with the reality, and the reality isthat one way or another I'm going to die soon. And I'd rather die and wake up a vampire- than die andnot wake up at all.† There was another silence, during which James puthis hand on hers. It was only then that Poppy realized she was shaking. Phil looked up. Poppy could see that his face wasdrawn, his eyes dark. â€Å"We're twins. So how'd youget so much older than me?† he said in a mutedvoice. A little hush, and then James said, â€Å"I think tomorrow night would be a good time to do it. It's Friday-do you think you can get your mom and Cliff out ofthe house for the night?† Phil blinked. â€Å"I guess-if Poppy seems better, theymight go out for a little while. If I said I'd staywith her.† â€Å"Convince them they need a break. I don't want them around.† â€Å"Can't you just make them not notice anything? Like you did with that nurse at the hospital?†Poppy asked. â€Å"Not if I'm going to be concentrating onyou,†James said. â€Å"And there are certain people who can'tbe influenced by mind control at all-your brother,here, is one of them. Your mom could be another.† â€Å"All right; I'll get them to go out,† Phillip said. Hegulped, obviously uncomfortable and trying to hideit. â€Å"And once they're gone†¦then what?† James looked at him inscrutably. â€Å"Then Poppy andI do what we have to do. And then you and Iwatch TV.† â€Å"Watch TV,† Phil repeated, sounding numb. â€Å"I've got to be here when the doctor comes-andthe people from the funeral home.† Phil looked utterly horrified at the mention of thefuneral home. For that matter, Poppy didn't feel toocheerful about it herself. If it weren't for the rich,strange blood coursing inside her, calming her †¦ â€Å"Why?†Phillip was demanding of James. James shook his head, very slightly. His face wasexpressionless. â€Å"I just do,† he said. â€Å"You'll understand later. For now, just trust me.† Poppy derided not to pursue it. â€Å"So you guys are going to have to make up tomorrow,† she said. â€Å"In front of Mom and Cliff. Otherwiseit'll be too weird for you to hang out together.† â€Å"It'll be too weird no matter what,† Phil said underhis breath. â€Å"All right. Come over tomorrow afternoon and we'll make up. And I'll get them to leave us with Poppy.† James nodded. â€Å"I'd better go now.† He stood. Philstepped back to let him out the door, but James hesitated by Poppy. â€Å"You gonna be all right?† he asked in a low voice. Poppy nodded staunchly. â€Å"Tomorrow, then.† He touched her cheek with hisfingertips. The briefest contact, but it made Poppy'sheart leap and it turned her words into the truth.Shewouldbe all right. They looked at each other a moment, then Jamesturned away. Tomorrow, Poppy thought, watching the doorclose behind him. Tomorrow is the day I die. One thing about it, Poppy thought-not many people were privileged toknow exactly when they weregoing to die. So not many people had the chance tosay goodbye the way she planned to. It didn't matter that she wasn't reallydying. Whena caterpillar changes into a butterfly it loses its caterpillar life. No more shinnying up twigs, no moreeating leaves. No more El Camino High School, Poppy thought.No more sleeping in this bed. She was going to have to leave it all behind. Herfamily,her hometown. Her entire human life. Shewas starting out into a strange new future with noidea of what was ahead. All she could do was trustJames-and trust her own ability to adapt. It was like looking at a pale and curving roadstretching in front of her, and not being able to seewhere it went as it disappeared into the darkness. No more Rollerblading down the boardwalk atVenice Beach, Poppy thought. No more slap of wetfeet on concrete at the Tamashaw public pool. Nomore shopping at the Village. To say goodbye, she looked at every corner of herroom. Goodbye white-painted dresser. Goodbye deskwhere she had sat writing hundreds of letters-asproven by the stains where she'd dropped sealing wax on the wood. Goodbye bed, goodbye misty white bed curtains that had made her feel like anArabian princess in a fairy tale. Goodbye stereo. ouch,she thought. My stereo. And my CDs.I can'tleave them; I can't†¦. But of course she could. She would have to. It was probably just as well that she had to dealwith the stereo before she walked out of her room.It built her up to start dealing with the loss ofpeople. â€Å"Hi, Mom,† she said shakily, in the kitchen. â€Å"Poppy! I didn't know you were up.† She hugged her mother hard, in that one momentaware of so many little sensations: the kitchen tileunder her bare feet, the faint coconut smell thatdung to her mother's hair from her shampoo. Hermother's arms around her, and the warmth of hermother's body. â€Å"Are you hungry, sweetie? You look so much better.† Poppy couldn't stand to look into her mother'sanxiously hopeful face, and the thought of food madeher nauseated. She burrowed back into her mother's shoulder. â€Å"Just hold me a minute,† she said. It came to her, then, that she wasn't going to beable to say goodbye to everything after all. She couldn't tie up all the loose ends of her life in one afternoon. She might be privileged to know that this was her last day here, but she was going out just likeeveryone else-unprepared. â€Å"Just remember I love you,† she muttered into hermother's shoulder, blinking back tears. She let her mother put her back to bed, then. Shespent the rest of the day making phone calls. Trying to learna little bit about the life she was about toexit, the people she was supposed to know. Trying to appreciate it all, fast,before she had to leave it. â€Å"So, Elaine, I miss you,† she said into the mouthpiece, her eyes fixed on the sunlight coming in her window. â€Å"So, Brady, how's it going?† â€Å"So, Laura,thanks for the flowers.† â€Å"Poppy, are youokay?†they all said. â€Å"When arewe going tosee you again?† Poppy couldn't answer. She wished she could callher dad, but nobody knew where he was. She also wished she had actuallyreadthe play OurTownwhen she'd been assigned it last year, instead of using Cliff Notes and quick thinking to fake it. All shecould remember now was that it was about a dead girlwho got the chance to look at one ordinary day in herlife and really appreciate it. It might have helped hersort out her own feelings now-but it was too late. I wasted a lot of high school, Poppy realized. I usedmy brains to outsmart the teachers-and that reallywasn't very smart at all. She discovered in herself a new respect for Phil,who actually used his brain to learn things. Maybeher brother wasn't just a pitiful straitlaced grind afterall. Maybe-oh,God-he'dbeen right all along. I'm changing so much, Poppy thought, and sheshivered. Whether it was the strange alien blood in her orthe cancer itself or just part of growing up, she didn'tknow. But she was changing. The doorbell rang. Poppy knew who it was withoutleaving the room. She could sense James. He's here to start the play, Poppy thought, and looked at her dock. Incredible. It was almost four o'clock already. Time literally seemed to be flying by. Don't panic. You have hours yet, she told herself,and picked up the phone again. But it seemed onlyminutes later that her mother came knocking on thebedroom door. â€Å"Sweetie,Phil thinks we shouldgoout–andJames has come over-but I told him I don't thinkyou want to see him-and I don't really want to leave you at night†¦.† Her mother was uncharacteristically flustered. â€Å"No, I'm happy to see James. Really. And I thinkyoushould take a break. Really. â€Å"Well–I'm glad you and James have made up. ButI still don't know†¦.† It took time to convince her, to persuade her that Poppy was so much better, that Poppy had weeks or months ahead of her to live. That there was no reason to stick around on this particular Friday night. But at last Poppy's mother kissed her and agreed. And then there was nothing to do but say goodbyeto Cliff. Poppy got a hug from him and finally forgavehim for not being her dad. You did your best, she thought as she disengagedfrom his crisp dark suit and looked at his boyishlysquare jaw. And you're going to be the one to take care of Mom-afterward. So I forgive you. You're all right, really. And then Cliff and her mom were walking out,and it was the last time, the very last time to saygoodbye. Poppy called it after them and they both turned and smiled. When they were gone, James and Phil came into Poppy's room. Poppy looked at James. His gray eyeswere opaque, revealing nothing of his feelings. â€Å"Now?† she said, and her voice trembled slightly. â€Å"Now.†

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Modern Mobile Phones

———————– †¢ Indisputably, ever since the emergence of cell phones people can constantly keep in touch with their loved ones regardless of the distance. One can reach almost everywhere without any difficulty. Additionally, people can immediately get help in case of emergencies. Furthermore, through mobile phones people can lessen their boredom through listening to their favorite music or watching downloaded movies. †¢ Students can now get information faster through the cell phones. This has significantly affected education standards since most of the students use cell phones to cheat during exams. Have you got a mobile telephone? †¢ Chatting on mobile telephones will also lead us to form  a bad habit. We will like chatting. Gradually, we will spend more and more valuable time on chatting. We will leave our  studies aside and spend most of the time on chatting. Finally  we will have no goal except talking in t he phone! This is a long ­lasting bad effect. we don’t have mobile telephones, we can surely  save a lot of time fir more meaningful tasks. †¢ Do you like such a tense living environment? Why  don’t we turn the mobile telephone off an enjoy  a simpler  and more tranquil life? Everyday people die in car accidents because they use cell phones while driving. According to research cell phones are leading factors that cause accidents. †¢   Despite of a danger, people still use cell phones because they want to be always available and keep in touch with other people. †¢ Opponents say that cell phones are good because they give an opportunity to make a call in case of emergency. †¢ Mobile  phone has been the most important invention recent years. It changed our lives tremendously. Modern  mobile  phones can be very small and different shapes.At the beginning they were as big as brick and they weighed over 1kg. †¢ Additionally , due to GPS system able to check our position on the globe with a great accuracy. †¢ On the other hand mobile phones have many disadvantages. They produce magnetic waves which can be the cause of many illnesses. However the most important threat is possibility of addiction. Some teenagers simply can’t stop sending short messages called sms. It may lead to mental dysfunction or hand injuries. †¢ â€Å"I can’t live without my mobile phone! is what I often hear people say as they lament about how mobiles have become an indispensable part of their lives. †¢   I can send a text message or share photos and videos with friends who aren’t living in the same country. My phone calendar keeps my life organised, and even Facebook, Twitter, and instant messaging are now accessible from mobile devices! †¢ With the development of Chinese society and technology, more and more people have owned at least one cell phone. †¢ Every day I can see nearly everyone holds a cell phone in hand at my university or at street.And what do they do with their mobile phones? Most of them just bow their heads and play games or login QQ to kill time. Hence, I am wondering a very serious question: â€Å"is the mobile phone a blessing or a curse? † †¢ My point of view about this question is that the mobile phone can be either a blessing or a curse and it just depends on your choice about how to use it. †¢ Nowadays, the mobile phone combines many functions in one, especially the smartphone. If you have a mobile phone, it means you may have a digital camera, a carry-on library or even a cinema with you.   But the powerful functions of the cell phone are far more than these. It is much easier for us to communicate with our family members, friends or business partners, especially when we are far away from each other. What’s more, we can login the internet to grasp the up-to-date information. †¢ Also, we may use our mobile phones to do some studying. †¢ However, the mobile phone has some shortcomings despite of its merits. The most intuitive and most direct weakness of the mobile phone is the radiation, which does great harm to human beings. I remember vividly a video I’ve watched before.The main content of the video is that a man put four mobile phones together on a table with the shape of a cross and then he put some corn kernels in the center of the four mobile phones. After that, four people called these mobile phones at the same time. An amazing thing happened—-the radiation changed the corn kernels into the popcorns. How terrible the mobile phones’ radiation is! †¢ It is true that having a cell phone is very convenient and helpful most of the time such as emergencies, but not everyone knows of the potenial negative impacts theses phones have on our lives.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Frequent Tests as the Ways to Overcome Procrastination and Anxiety

Frequent Tests as the Ways to Overcome Procrastination and Anxiety Why do students often feel frustration after their final tests? Why are they dissatisfied by their achievements and results? The problem can depend not only on the level of the students’ knowledge but also on the degree of the tension and anxiety which are associated with the preparation and review of the material during the last days before the final examination.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Frequent Tests as the Ways to Overcome Procrastination and Anxiety specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In spite of the fact students can orient in the material well, the stressful situation can influence their test results. If there are no weekly or monthly tests during the whole course, students do not have the opportunity to improve their study skills, and the final examination can become the real challenge for them. In his essay â€Å"More Testing, More Learning†, Patrick O’Malley discusses all these cont roversial questions and provides the solution to the problem which is based on implementing more frequent tests during the course in order to control the students’ progress in studying, stimulate their motivation, and improve their study skills. The additional examinations, frequents tests, and quizzes during the course can be discussed as the effective organizational means to improve the students’ performance and the level of knowledge with accentuating the regular work and reducing the possible procrastination and anxiety connected with the final tests. The examinations which influence the final mark of the students for their performance during the definite courses are the main reasons of the students’ worrying at the end of the academic terms. Moreover, the stressful situation of the examination and the inadequate tension during the preparation period often influence the students’ achievements negatively. In addition to that, many students prefer to pr ocrastinate and not to study regularly and efficiently during the course. O’Malley states that â€Å"if professors gave additional brief exams at frequent intervals, students would learn more, study more regularly, worry less, and perform better on midterms, finals, and other papers and projects† (O’Malley 488). In spite of the fact I am not inclined to procrastinate, it is rather difficult for me to recollect all the necessary information during the last days before the examination because of the stressful situation, and the courses with many additional tests are more useful for me.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thus, brief examinations, additional tests, and quizzes provided by professors weekly or monthly can be considered as the good stimulating factors for the students’ effective performance and activity. These short examinations can be use d for developing students’ study habits and skills and for organizing the students’ academic activity. The necessity of the regular tests during the course depends on the basic principles of studying as the regular and continuous process. Thus, to achieve the best results in study, it is necessary not only to develop the learning skills and examine a lot of information but also to control the progress in learning regularly with the help of the definite tests and short examinations. From this point, final tests are not effective in organizing and controlling the students’ performance during whole course. O’Malley indicates the fact that final examinations and tests â€Å"don’t encourage frequent study, and they fail to inspire students’ best performance† (O’Malley 488). I agree with the point because the necessity of writing tests during the course helps me organize learning the material regularly because I can set definite smal l goals and achieve them while completing the tests effectively. To contribute to the students’ good performance, it is important to develop the system of lectures and discussions as well as tests for controlling the students’ short-term achievements in studying and understanding the material. Students study certain subjects and follow definite courses in order to develop their vision of this or that field, to expand their knowledge, and to improve their skills. However, to be successful in learning the definite material, students should also know how to learn it efficiently. In this case, it is important to work out the system in relation to which students could develop their learning skills. The control of the material’s understanding is the necessary part of this system. According to O’Malley, â€Å"frequent exams are key to developing good habits of study and learning† (O’Malley 489). Analyzing my academic performance, I can state that m otivation is the significant factor for me, and it helps concentrate on the task. Students are able to present the best results in their academic performance when they are highly motivated. The absence of the regular control can contribute to the development of the procrastination habits and to reducing the degree of the students’ involvement in the process of studying. Moreover, the risk of the anxiety during the preparation for the examination is directly connected with the students’ habits to cope with the regular tests during the course.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Frequent Tests as the Ways to Overcome Procrastination and Anxiety specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Students’ high academic performance and the good results in the final tests and examinations depend on many factors. Patrick O’Malley presents the arguments that the tradition of using significant examinations after the w hole course without concentrating on the short examinations, brief tests and quizzes during the course can be discussed as ineffective and reducing the students’ learning habits and skills. In spite of the fact many professors can consider such practice as time-consuming, it is one of the most effective methods to control the students’ achievements and their studying process in order to avoid procrastination and anxiety. The students’ learning process is effective not when they prepare only for the final examination at the end of the course because of the absence of certain tests, but when they have to organize the material, use their knowledge, and write tests regularly. That is why frequent tests are more useful for stimulating the students’ motivation and good results. Work Cited O’Malley, Patrick. â€Å"More Testing, More Learning†. Reading Critically, Writing Well: A Reader and Guide. Ed. Rise B. Axelrod, Charles R. Cooper, and Alison M . Warriner. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. 488-492. Print.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Analysis of the Case Study Situation

This report is based on a case study of such a company which is going through a weak financial situation and the shareholders of the company want to sell out the company. This particular report analyzes the situation on the ethical ground. The situation of the company is analyzed based on the fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behavior. After the discussion, the conclusion is provided based on the findings and at the same time it is also mentioned in the conclusion that which step is ethically and legally suitable for the company for handling this particular situation.   According to the given case study, the company is suffering from such a situation in which the shareholders of the company want to sell out it but the managing director of the company wants to save the company by taking some illegal and unethical steps. The main problem of the company is its slow moving stocks, which are in the inventory for more than nine months. The stocks are already written down but in order to save the company and the employment of many employees, the managing director wants to save the company by selling stocks to the prospective buyers at an inflated stock value. The situation of the finance director is very critical in this situation. In one side, there are the lives of many employees and their families those are dependent on this company. However, on the other side, selling the stocks at an inflated rate and not recording their written down value in the yearend financial records is illegal. If this situation is analyzed on the basis of the fundamental principle of integrity, then it has to be said that the steps suggested by the managing director are not only illegal but also unethical. The principle of integrity suggests that the organizations must maintain the correctness and reliability at the time of preparing the financial records (Warhurst 2015). At the same time, it is also suggested by the principle of integrity that the employees of the organization are responsible for the recordkeeping. Di Pietra (2015) stated that integrity is the choice of the individual. The integrity within a human being et al. shows how much the person is ethical. Therefore, from the integrity point of view, if the written down value of the stocks are not recorded in the yearend record, then it will be unethical. At the same time, if the situation is analyzed with the help of the fundamental principle of objectivity, then also the suggestions of the managing director has to be considered as an unethical suggestion. The principle of objectivity suggests that the financial information and recording need to be independent and unbiased (Oraka and TO 2015). Like the principle of integrity, the principle of objectivity also suggests to maintain the reliable and relevant financial statements. Along with this, it also mentions that in order to identify the authenticity, the financial information of the company can be gathered from various sources. According to Himick et al. (2016), the principles of professional competence and due care suggest that the personnel must use their professional knowledge and skills at the time of providing their services. This principle also states that the professional needs to attain the professional competence and at the same time they need to maintain that also. At the same time, the professional must be careful about their activities because they are responsible to the activities done by them (Wachs 2015). Therefore, from this point of view, it can be said that the finance director of the company must use personal knowledge regarding the recording of stocks. The responsibility of the steps taken will be only on the shoulder of the finance director. Therefore, the finance director must be careful enough at the time of taking any final decision. On the other side, the fundamental principle of confidentiality suggests not to disclose any important information to the third party (who is not directly related to the main business) without having proper verification and appropriate authority (Cooper 2016). At the same time, this particular principle also suggests that any information related to the business should not be used for gaining any personal benefit. Therefore, as per the principle of confidentiality, it can be said that the finance director should not disclose the internal weak situation of the company to the external parties. However, at the same time the finance director must try to make the managing director understand that the suggestions given by he is unethical (Harrison and Van der Laan Smith 2015). Hence, it is the responsibility of the finance director to take ethical decision by maintaining the required confidentiality. The principle of professional behavior states that individuals must obey and act as per the legal or regulatory guidelines of the particular profession (Di Pietra et al. 2015). Along with that, the individuals must try to avoid any kind of action or behavior that shows the discredit in his or her profession (Harrison and Van der Laan Smith 2015). Therefore, if the particular situation is analyzed, then it must be said that the managing director of the company has not maintained the principle of professional behavior. However, the finance director of the company must act as per the principle of professional behavior. This will help to maintain the work ethics and at the same time this will save the finance director from any kind of legal issues.   In the above discussion, it has been identified that the internal financial situation of the particular retail company is not good. The stocks of the company remained unsold for several months and so it became a burden for the company. However, before few months, the company has written down the value of the old stocks. On the other side, by understanding the situation the shareholders of the company want to sale the business but the managing director wants to save the business anyhow.   The suggestions provided by the managing director to the finance director of the company cannot be undertaken as per the fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, professional behavior, confidentiality and professional confidentiality and due care. However, if the situation is analyzed from all the perspectives, then it must be said that if the company is sold out then many people those are the employee of the organization will be jobless. The families of the employees will face serious problem to survive. On the other side, if the finance director considers the suggestion of the managing director, then also the future of the company will be unsafe and at the same time, this will be a cheat with the shareholders and prospective customers of the company. Apart from these, if the finance director takes the suggestion of the managing director, then that will be also against the professional behavior and ethics. The whole responsibility of the situation will be on the shoulder of the finance director only. Therefore, in such a situation, the finance director of the company must conduct a meeting with the shareholders and managing director and must discuss about the situation in detail. The finance director must state each consequence those will take place if any of the two suggestions provided by managing director and shareholders is taken. If any better idea is not developed then the finance director must act according to the legal and ethical guidelines and in that case, the company must pay some amounts to its employees for the sudden close of the company.  Ã‚   Cooper, S., 2016. Faculty Review of Accounting Principles: A Business Perspective. Di Pietra, R., McLeay, S. and Ronen, J., 2015.  ACCOUNTING & REGULATION. Springer,. Harrison, J.S. and Van der Laan Smith, J., 2015. Responsible accounting for stakeholders.  Journal of Management Studies,  52(7), pp.935-960. Himick, D., Brivot, M. and Henri, J.F., 2016. An ethical perspective on accounting standard setting: Professional and lay-experts’ contribution to GASB’s Pension Project.  Critical Perspectives on Accounting,  36, pp.22-38. Oraka, A.O. and TO, O., 2015. The Impact of Professional Accounting Ethics in Quality Assurance in Audit.  International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences,  5(8), pp.64-78. Wachs, M., 2015. Professional Ethics in Planning.  Readings in Planning Theory, p.464. Warhurst, J., 2015. A Study of Ethics for Accounting Students at East Tennessee State University Welfel, E., 2015.  Ethics in counseling & psychotherapy. Cengage Learning.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Male and female psychology ( similarities and differencess between Essay

Male and female psychology ( similarities and differencess between them ) - Essay Example For example, it is often maintained that the females are more perceptive than males and they can understands social situations much better that what males can. Therefore, the psychological differences between men and women offer a significant area of analysis and understanding the various similarities and differences between male and female psychology can help one in developing successful relationship with the opposite sex. This paper makes a reflective exploration of the similarities and differences between male and female psychology in order determine some of the basic aspects in the psychological construction of each sex. Male and female psychology has various elements in common, although the differences between these gender identities are often stressed. Gender identity is fundamentally created by the difference between male and female psychology and biological aspects. In comparison with males, the females have a greater ability to pick up on social cues and they understand social situations better. An understanding of the communication styles of both the sexes reveals the difference between the emotional aspects of the two groups. â€Å"In course of socialization, communication and relationships become more important for women, as compared to men. Gender differences in the amount of communication and stronger orientation of women towards interpersonal communication have been described. Girls are reported to be more relaxed in their communication with boys than vice versa. Moreover, they communicate more passively, but tend to be more friendly and selective.† (Vasyura, 2008). Therefore, the emotional aspects of men and women differ greatly and the gender identity of each sex is determined also by these psychological differences. In conclusion, a reflective exploration of the similarities and differences between male and female psychology confirms that the differences result in the gender identity of each sex. An understanding of these similarities and

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Project Management - Essay Example We will look at two real projects that the mentioned have discussed in comparison to project management theories. Many of the world's famous events, structures and facilities have been completed with rigorous and scientific project management. No large scale project has ever been successfully delivered without the use of management tools and strategic planning. Project management therefore is a very essential field, not only in terms of carrying out world renown events such as the Olympics but in ushering technological developments that countries are so much in need of. The purpose of this paper is to move a notch higher from the classroom theories of project management into a look at and examination of real-world projects where we can dig valuable lessons in project management. How we go about this endeavor necessitates the minds of two management experts, Mr. Jon Smith and Mr. Terry Williams whose decades of expertise make them worthy of our inquiry. Particularly, we look at the projects that the two speakers have provided as an example. These projects are real world examples and therefore take into accounts variables that theories may have failed to account for. This makes the study more interesting, but down-to-earth. The main body is composed of the following: the background of the projects, the people (client/contractor, supporters, stakeholders) involved in the project, the selection of the project team, the stages within the project life cycle, the definition of the success of the projects, the planning phase, the problems met and how they were overcame, the project management tools and methodologies employed and lastly, the characteristics that made the projects different, exciting and challenging. The analysis also contains comparison and contrast of the two projects, particularly highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. In the end, I will discuss the three important learnings relating to project management. II. Main Body i. Project synopses (very brief overview of the projects) The first project discussed is the design of a telecom equipment when Jon Smith has worked for Teltrend in 1999 (Smith, 2010). To provide us a background of the products, "Teltrend Inc. designs, manufactures and markets products that interpret and translate translation signals. These products are used by telephone companies to provide voice and data services over the telephone network. The products can be categorized into high capacity products, channelized products and conversion products" (Business.com, Inc. , 2010). Smith worked as a technical director in which the primary roles are to take the technology forward and sort out the project management (Smith, 2010). The project was done in a small company of around 60 people. This particular projects is made possible by technology opportunity, especially with the advancement in communication. These projects were primarily carried out for business purposes. The second featured project is the Eurotunnel. The idea of this project can be traced to as early as 1802, when Albert Mathiue, a French mining engineer introduced

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The duty to accommodate the injured and the disabled employees Essay

The duty to accommodate the injured and the disabled employees - Essay Example Three steps processes used to determine if the employer has made conscientious efforts on accommodation of the less fortunate employee: first is to know if the employee can perform his or her existing job. If the employee cannot, then establish if he or she can perform his or her current job if modified, if still he or she cannot, then determine if he or she can perform any other job existing re-bundled or modified job (David Morton Rayside, 2007). Disability is something that hinders an individual in undertaking life important functions. It may mean mental, psychological, physical, or even habitual. Of all the most complicated, as many employers claim, is mental incapacitation especially when the employee has to get into contact with clients, and habitual disabilities like drug dependency and alcoholism. They tend to be tricky even more than other health complications (David Morton Rayside, 2007). The importance of Human Rights Legislation, as it relates to disability is to protect those who are perceive or actually materially impaired through illness. The said disabilities include physical conditions, congenital deformities, asthma, epilepsy, hypertension, speech impediments, alcoholism and drug dependency, obesity and AIDS or AIDS related complex and any other medical, psychological or physical condition. However the duty to accommodate does not imply a guaranteed job for unemployed disabled person. If a person cannot reaso nably perform the essential duties and requirements after employment, there will be no findings for discrimination (David Morton Rayside, 2007). Accommodation is now a deeply entrenched feature in Canadian labor law. It has been enthusiastically practiced since the start of this decade, but it is already spawning or accelerating three outstanding trends in the arbitration system that are changing the very face of labor adjudication in

Sunday, October 27, 2019

OSIM International Ltd Analysis

OSIM International Ltd Analysis INTRODUCTION OSIM is a global leader in branded healthy lifestyle products such as massage chair, shoulder and neck massagers, foot massager and slim belt. The company is well-known in Malaysia. OSIM is a brand management and niche marketing company with a focus on the consumer. Today, OSIM Company operates a wide point-of-sales network with outlets is over 371 cities over 33 countries in Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, United Kingdom and North America.â€Å"Inspiring Life† is the motto of the OSIM Company. OSIM (M) Sdn Bhd is engaged in marketing, distributing and franchising of healthy lifestyle products. The Company operates in two segments that are retail and distribution. The retail segment is engaged in outlets and counters operated by it in selected shopping centers and departmental stores where the products are sold directly to end user customers. The distribution segment is engaged in products distributed by the Company and franchisees in overseas markets. Its subsidiaries include OSIM International Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, OSIM (M) Sdn Bhd, OSIM (HK) Company Limited, OSIM (Taiwan) Co., Ltd, Nutrition Focus (USA) Inc, Global Active Limited (GAL), OSIM (China) Co., Ltd, Nutri Active Pte Ltd, Victoria House Pte Ltd and VHE China Limited. OSIM (M) Sdn Bhd also the most trusted brand. They receive a title as International Safety Standards because harmony to worldwide health and safety regulations. The entire product designed with safety and appropriate to health and safety regulations. Furthermore, the company also good in quality performance because all their product has been approved from clinic research, medical certifications and scientific studies. Their health-care product also checked and studies scientifically by expertise and they awarded certification and recognition from independents bodies. In terms of innovation and technology, OSIM company are worldwide technology patents and have a design right and trademark rights. OSIM is always in the frontline of innovation and the development of the most exhaustive range of products to bring the good health benefit to customer. OSIM also receive Award-Winning Design. OSIM brand and product design awards garnered from Japan, Europe and Asia. OSIM product was awarded the Largest Health Check and Care Equipment Retail Chain by the Malaysian Book of Records and Asia Pacific Honesty Enterprise Keris Award 2002. OSIM has been recently awarded ASIA No 1 Brand in healthy lifestyle equipment by a prestigious International Survey, it is for international market research company to determine Asian most preferred brand of health-care products. Besides, OSIM has also been rated by AC Nielsen survey in 2005 as the Number One brand in seven attributes (High Quality Products, Advance Technology, Premium Brand, Innovative Design Features, Trustworthy Brand, Good Customer Service and Good Store Ambience). BACKGROUND AND HISTORY The origins of OSIM International Ltd business began in November 1980 when Dr Ron Sim Chye Hock commenced his sole proprietor business of retailing an array of household goods such as knives, knife-sharpeners and mobile drying rods under R. Sim Trading Co and it was originally established in Singapore. OSIM were subsequently incorporated in 1983 under the name ‘‘R.Sim Trading Co. Pte Ltd to take over the sole proprietorship. Operating from OSIM International Ltd company first premises is at a shop Peoples Park, OSIM were only selling 2 health-care related products, namely, hand-held massagers and foot reflexology rollers. By 1987, OSIM had created a distribution network of 10 outlets in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan marketing household goods and health-care related products. Dr Ron Sim Chye Hock is a founder of OSIM then felt that there was market potential for specialty home health care products in an increasingly affluent Asia. Early 1987, OSIM saw that the home health care products sector was dominated by a disparate group of equipment manufacturers with little or no emphasis on marketing and as a result there was a lack of brand consciousness among consumers. Hence, in 1989 their decided to bring together different home health-care products from different equipment manufacturers and market their product using specialty branding. For this purpose, OSIM created the brand ‘‘Health Check Care to build and exploit a niche market in home health-care products. OSIM business start grew rapidly and by 1994 we had approximately 60 point-of-sales outlets in Asia. In business strategy, they believe that marketing and strengthening of their brand equity is of vital importance. As ‘‘Health Check Care was a generic name and was difficult to be registered as a trademark in many countries, in 1996 the company officially launched ‘‘OSIM brand name which had been using since the early 1990s. ‘‘OSIM is a combination of the founders surname and the letter ‘‘O which symbolizes for vision to become a globally recognized brand. As at 31 May 2000, the company have registered the name ‘‘OSIM as a trademark in 26 countries spanning Asia (including Australia), Europe, North and South America, South Africa and Israel. There are also made trademark applications for ‘‘OSIM in 10 other countries. A major tenet of OSIM marketing strategy is to have an extensive point-of-sales network and geographical coverage in their markets. Presently, they have point-of-sales outlets in Singapore located in all major departmental stores and suburban shopping malls. The company began developing their overseas distribution network in 1986 when they ventured into Hong Kong and in the following year, into Taiwan. To ride on the rapid development of the Asian economies in the early 1990s, OSIM expanded their operations to Thailand in 1990, Malaysia in 1992, Indonesia and Beijing in 1993, and Shanghai in 1994 by opening point-of-sales outlets in these countries either directly or through their franchisees and distributors. Furthermore, OSIM expanded their markets to the United States in 1997 and Dubai in 1999 through the appointment of franchisees/licensees to market and sell their products in these countries. At present, OSIM have 10 franchisees/licensees, 3 subsidiaries, 6 are affiliated compan ies controlled by their Controlling Shareholders and the remaining 1 is an unrelated company. The company point-of-sales outlets in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia are operated by Company and subsidiaries. The rest of their point-of-sales outlets are franchised outlets with the exception of outlets in the PRC for which we have trademark and licensing agreements with the owners. This is OSIM business strategy that future expansion of their point-of-sales network will be substantially undertaken by franchising. OSIM company begun to gradually move away from being a retailer to being a franchisor and, in furtherance of this strategy, they have also entered into franchise agreements with their subsidiaries, OSIM (HK), OSIM (Taiwan) and OSIM (Msia). Further, franchising help them to expand and multiply their point-of-sales outlets to more geographical markets at a faster pace with significantly less capital exposure. Franchising is also less taxing on their managements time than operating self-owned outlets in penetrating new markets. To diversify their sources of revenue, in 1998 OSIM ventured into wholesale distribution of health-check and health-care products such as blood pressure monitors, thermometers and pulse massagers, in Singapore to hospitals like Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Kandang Kerbau Womens and Childrens Hospital, pharmacies like the Apex Pharmacy and the Guardian Pharmacy chains, and Chinese medical halls. While wholesale distribution is currently only carried out in Singapore which contributes between 1 and 2 per cent. to their turnover in Singapore, and then the company intend to develop this business and carry out wholesale distribution in all their principal markets eventually. As part of its business strategy to extend the control over of their business process and to exercise greater involvement and participation in the source of supply for their products, in 1995 the company entered into a joint venture with Daito Electric Machine Industry Company Limited (‘‘Daito), a Japanese supplier  to OSIM Group, to take up a 30 per cent interest in Daito-OSIM (Suzhou) with Daito taking up the remaining 70 per cent.. Presently, Daito-OSIM (Suzhou) has a plant in the Singapore-Suzhou Industrial Park in Jiangsu, PRC that manufactures products like hand-held massagers and foot reflexology rollers mainly for re-export and distribution to the markets in Japan and USA. Under the joint venture agreement, Daito has the right to appoint 3 directors of Daito-OSIM (Suzhou) while OSIM only have the right to appoint 2 directors as they are the minority shareholder. However, Daito-OSIM (Suzhou) shall not change the scope of its business activities from that as descr ibed in the foregoing, without the consent of Daito and OSIM. Any material financial commitment which is above US$100,000 or material contract to be entered by Daito-OSIM (Suzhou) also requires the consent of Daito and OSIM. The joint venture agreement is of unlimited duration but may be terminated with the consent of Daito and OSIM. Neither Daito nor OSIM can transfer an interest in the shares in Daito-OSIM (Suzhou) without first making an offer to sell the interest to the other shareholder. On 28 March 2000, the founder Dr Ron Sim Chye Hock was conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration by the Wisconsin International University in recognition of his prominent achievements in business. In July 2000, pursuant to the Subscription Agreement, Investor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, subscribed for 11,600,000 new Shares, representing approximately 5 per cent. of the post-Investor Subscription and post-Invitation enlarged share capital of the Company, at the price of $0.47 per Share, representing a discount of approximately 10 per cent. to the Offer Price. The company believes that the investment by Investor is a milestone in their corporate development and an endorsement of their Group. Investor has given an undertaking not to dispose of or transfer any part of its  respective shareholding for a period of 6 months commencing from the date of their admission to the Official List of the SGX-ST. Mr Khor Peng Soon, a nominee of Investor, was appointed as OSIM non-executive Director in June 2000. Ethics Ethics are common believes on whats right or wrong and good or bad based on individuals values and morals, plus a behaviours social context. Business ethics definition is ‘a normative undertaking, seeks to provide ethical insight and guidance to individuals in business, businesses as organizations, and to society. Although there is an overlap between corporate social responsibility and business ethics, they still can be distinguishing. Corporate social responsibility is about responsibility to all stakeholders and not just shareholders where as ethics is about morally correct behaviour. Not many business organisations directors will deny the essentialness of good, trusting relationships with customers, employees, suppliers and the community. All these are actually the elements of success that a company should rely on. Ethics in business is a very prominent issue nowadays especially in this high competitive business world. Organizations usually have a set of ethical as well as o perational or business values which they wished to see in operating their business. These values guide ideas of acceptable, desirable and responsible behavior, above and beyond compliance with laws and regulations. Ethics is formulated to enhance the standard of corporate governance and corporate behaviour. One should be ethical for motivation, good behaviour usually bring a reward. Think about it, if it were always in ones interest to be good, there would be no need for ethics. One can simply act selfishly and forget about obligation. People invented ethics precisely because it does not always coincide with self interest. Owners, employees, suppliers and customers were expected to have a good behaviour in their work place giving that issues of ethics will affect the business. Starting from the individual ethics, it is important since everyone has their own responsibilities in their work place. The very least a person can do is to be honest about what they do each day. Bribery should not be tolerated. There is so much poverty, so much hunger across the world. Greed for revenue and profits can only transform our world into an animal kingdom. Top management level of the company should have first practice good ethics themselves in order to show a good example to the employees and lead them to become more productive and efficient. Behaviour toward the employees, top management level of the company should practice fair policies such as adequate amount of time given to the employee to be notified if the company intend to conduct layoff exercise within the company and affected parties should be compensated accordingly. Other than that, the company is responsible for providing conducive environment which is clean and save for its employee to work in too. Employee salaries should be paid according to agreed amount based on their working hours and job classification. Privacy of employees must be respected too. Based on the information we gathered through our interview with OSIM, their company do have ethics practices. One of the examples is, employees who were stationed out of town for training were provided with decent accommodation. Every single employee has equal chances of being promoted. Outlet supervisors must also possess high accountability and responsibility in performing duties, without abusing power and position for self-gain or other interested parties. Employees are expected to always endeavour to improve knowledge, creativity and innovation as well as team spirit. Those who are in the sales position are required to be self-motivated to achieve great sales like theres no limit to it. Proper basic personal grooming and dress in clean, smart and decent clothing at work is a must and its considered basic manners for especially for those in sales  position working at the outlets. Strict basic grooming is required to reflect the professionalism of the employee. Furthermore, OSIM emphasised a lot on professionalism among its employees. Employees must always carry out duties efficiently, effectively and productively in order to produce excellent service. The managers are very strict on the employee, they must always on good behaviour and punctuality. The company will always provide in-house training for their employees. In addition, the company sales force undergoes trainings like product training, salesmanship training and on-the-job training. Other than that, OSIM organise talks by health-care professionals in their corporate headquarters for their sales staff. Periodically, they will also send senior management staff overseas to attend seminars and exhibitions. Therefore, employees are expected to improve knowledge and skills to produce efficient, prompt and accurate service as well as to possess characteristics of creativity, innovation, motivation and competitiveness This show that the company practices good ethics as their provide and g ive chances for them equip themselves. The product of OSIM International Ltd complies with Safety and Quality Standards of International Certification Boards. The company does not compromise its products quality lightly, and this is a good business ethics practice. OSIM have the quality controls namely product quality assurance for its products and service quality assurance to ensure the staff deliver their best. Last but not least, the company take honesty into account very seriously. No one in the company should leak out the companys private and confidential information such as internal finance reports, marketing strategies and etcetera. Disciplinary action will be taken against those who leak out the information might face dismissal from the company. In conclusion, every business organisation has strict ethics to follow. The field and practice of business ethics is now well established. Often times senior individuals were hired in large companies and other organisations with dedicated teams to monitor that ethical standard and corporate responsibility (CR) commitments are understood and advocated. These commitments will be driven both by a set of ethical and business values set by the organisation itself, and by relevant legal and regulatory requirements that determine what acceptable conduct is. It is important to establish a standard or ethics of competence for corporate accountability which includes standards of professionalism and trustworthiness in order to uphold good corporate integrity. The experience within the country like Malaysia has exposed a critical need for the formulation of corporate accountability standards in order to establish an ethical corporate environment. It also ensures Malaysia is on the right track in turning into a first world country. Companies who are truly committed to uphold ethical conduct were found to be consistently outperforming companies who do not display ethical conduct according to research done by Does Business Ethics Pay? by The Institute of Business Ethics (IBE). If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you dont have integrity, nothing else matters. Alan K. Simpson INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USED â€Å"Information technology (IT) by definition is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications†. More recently it is the use of the computers and IT to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of businesses that has led to technological change. Due to technological changes is so rapid, there are important implications for businesses. A business can be affected by the following technological change in production, the provision of services and in the office IT act as an effective tool to aid businesses gain and make the best use of knowledge. Some of the systems can be very tedious to set up and time-consuming to maintain. About two decades ago, most businesses agreed that effective IT strategies needed to be embedded within the business strategy. Business executives needed to possess those IT strategies as well as the business strategie s in order to implement those business strategies successfully. Undeniably, IT has become an increasingly important business tool from small to big organisations, it is important for businesses to ensure that their business gets the most out of any system it introduces. In order to achieve this, you need to make sure that the IT system chosen supports the business and adds value to it. Databases organise information for easy access, managed and updated. For example, a business might have a database of customers storing their contact information, their orders and preferences. The database is one of the cornerstones of information technology, and its ability to organise, process and manage information in a structured and controlled manner is the key to many areas of modern business efficiency. As a business, the more we understand about our customers, suppliers and competitors, the better. Hence, the gathering, storing and processing of informationusing databases cangive businessesa distinct advantage. The advantages are such as cutting down the amount of time spent managing data. Allowing businesses personnel the ability to analyse data in a many of ways. It is also a way of promoting a disciplined approach to data management. In addition, databases technology turns different information into a valuable resource and improving the quality and consistency of informati on. Value of information in line with maintenance and production cost. Most companies produce information on demand to place a value to it. E-commerce is the ability of businesses to trade with the world via websites. With E-commerce, businesses are able to market and create awareness on their products a larger group of audience and business is now open 24 hours every day. This has created new opportunities for businesses that trade locally and may not trade internationally before to now expand the size of their market to worldwide. Amazon.com is one example of e-commerce as a worldwide book and CD sellers. Consumers can also make comparison on the products and search for best deals online. It allows entrepreneurs and or even individuals to sell directly to consumers. This is the opposite of conventional ways of selling at retail outlets. In other words, business transactions are now taking place online too. OSIM Directors believe that e-commerce is emerging as a very important marketing and distribution channel for businesses although the extent of the impact of e-commerce cannot be conclusively known today. OSIM have t he intention of tapping into the huge potential of e-commerce and other health-care retailers may also follow suit. Smartphone with internet access enabled and personal computers featured with office applications with office applications, save businesses time and travelling cost by enabling employees, customers, and suppliers to communicate from any location. This gives much convenience for the on-site and off-site employee to communication with each other. However, effective communication is very essential to most IT and e-commerce systems. Most of these technologies are invented to make communication between buyers and sellers faster and more reliable. On top of that, Computers can be used to process, analyse and store vast amounts of data to give the business more quality information. The Internet can also be useful for various purposes. One of it is to make business sales message to be send out to customers especially potential ones. To get sales message out to customers and potential customers, marketing by email and on the internet offers speed and cost benefits over traditional mail marketing. Company resources are put into better use as chances of reaching out potential customers are much greater. Other types of online marketing such as social media like Facebook also provide a cost-effective avenue for businesses in reaching customers. OSIM has registered their own website ‘‘www.osim.com to market themselves on the Internet to let more people know about the company and its products. It is important for a company to have a website especially for developing new products, offering new services and reaching new clients. Todays information age has leaded many people to use internet to search information and others. People can access to any website with just a few clicks. Although setting up a website might be costly, it is offset by reaching a large pool of potential customers and providing necessary information for existing customers too. OSIM is making use of the popular Facebook as a tool for them to promote their products and provide brief information and latest happenings in regard to their road shows. Job recruitment advertisement is also in their website, this will save the companys cost in advertising in other means such as the newspaper. Consumers can also sign up for the mailing list to receive spe cial offers, promotions and well-being tips from OSIM. Last but not least, OSIM made us of IT to provide its customers order tracking if they are not sure if their package has been delivered .The order tracking service will help you track it down. In conclusion, technological change can bring many benefits to a business. It reduces running costs, improve productivity, improved competitiveness, improved quality of service (e.g. speed of service) and reduce resources wastage. For companies who have yet to use IT to run their businesses should really consider it. Technology and business go hand in hand. Hence, technology is compulsory for business. 4P ANALYSIS DIAGRAM 1: The Marketing Mix Marketing mix is one of the most important aspects in marketing. The important of marketing mix are usually categories into four parts which are product, price, place, and promotion. The main purpose of this four Ps marketing is to help the company to achieving their target market. Customers are not the components of the marketing mix. However, the customer is the target of all the companys marketing. Product can be usually classified under two parts that is consumer product and producer products. Consumer product normally purchased for individuals used and these products are divided into three more categories that is convenience product, shopping product and specialty product. Secondly, the producer product, this product is purchased to use in running businesses. Beside that, physical of the product also become the main point to attract the customers for example the packaging and size of the product. Price is the price level that business wants to sell their product to consumer. There are many parts need to be consider first before the product were decides to be sell. The considerations such as objective of the business, the degree of competitor in the industry, channel of distribution and the business image. Furthermore, there are some strategies that can help a business in order to arrive at a selling of their product such as cost-plus pricing, mark-up pricing, predatory pricing, skimming pricing, penetration pricing, prestige pricing and demand-orientated pricing. Place is where the product put on the target market. This place refers to those points that are stores and the retail outlets where the product should be easily accessible by the customer. Next, is to the channel of distribution means the business uses to get their product from factory and make it available to consumers. Wholesaler, retailer and Distribution Company are example for channel of distribution. Promotion is the method of the company introducing and selling products and its one of the ways to attract consumers aware of their product. There are various ways of promotion such as advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, branding and packaging, direct email and loss leaders. Promotion is important of communication between the product and the customer in order to increase the sales. In conclusion, a marketing mix involves four Ps. In another word, the four Ps entire are related to each other in reaching target market. PRODUCT OSIM is a company that sells healthy lifestyle product. There are various type of health product that they sells such as massage chair, foot massagers, head massagers, back massagers, eye massagers, soothing gel pads, slim belts, pedometer, blood pressure monitor, personal hygiene and water purifiers. These products are help to maintain health and can give relaxing to the people. The latest product that OSIM launched is uDivine massage chair. The uDivine was designed by Japanese Master, Sato Tsuyoshi and he is expert of Japanese Chiropractic Massage. The uDivine is the world first Human-3D massage chair and this massage chair are combined with strategically position system airbags, realistic and human contour based, delivering the most humanized, pleasurable and effective full body massage. uDivine have multi-sensory pleasures from head to toe. The design of this massage chair are intelligent design with plenty to admire and it give more living space, seamless navigation, stereo sound build-in speakers, supreme comfort and family-friendly safety function. OSIM Company makes a consideration to the number of stage in development of new product. The first stage is the generation of ideas. The company thinks future whether the product that they create meet the objective of the business or not. Furthermore, they also make a question will the product contribute to the continued growth of their business and does the business have the spare capacity to produce the product. Secondly, is testing the new concept. OSIM want to know is there a sufficient market for the new product. This stage of the product development  process will involve carrying out extensive primary market research to test consumers reaction to the suggested product. Next, analyzing the cost or revenues. Based on cost of production, they will set the reasonable price of product to be selling. OSIM also caring of what will be the profitability of the new product and how many units of the product they want to produce. Furthermore, they make a considered of developing a prototype. The design, materials, quality and safety of the product will become paramount. A prototype of the product will be developed using the detail that the market research indicated that consumer wanted. It is essential to ensure that this stage of the development process is detailed ad extensive, since to make alterations and modification at a later date will be extremely expensive and time-consuming. Lastly, the goal of the company for their product is to make the customer easy to recognize its brand and provide customer satisfaction. If the product does not fit the customer needs or meet the standard, the company accepts the criticism and modifies their products until it is fulfilling the needs of their customer. PRICE OSIM (is one of the high-end brands that sells health-care product in the market. It stands by its own name, image, quality and safety. The good in pricing strategy of the company will affect the quantity of sell and the profit-margin received per unit. In order to achieve at selling price for its product, there are some method that can be use which is cost-plus pricing, mark-up pricing, predatory pricing, skimming pricing, penetration pricing, prestige pricing, demand-oriented pricing and competition-oriented pricing. The first procedure for setting price is to determine the objectives of pricing. Earning a profit is the main objective. OSIM Company has three strategies in setting the price of their product. OSIM used cost-plus pricing, where the total cost of producing each unit of product is calculated. After that, the percentage profit is added to this unit cost to arrive at the selling price. Next is skimming pricing, all of their products are innovative and high technology product. So the strategies for these products usually set at the high price because it required high cost to produce the product and it design to create an up-market. Nonetheless, another pricing strategy of OSIM Company is competition-oriented pricing. Competition-oriented pricing is the strategies to set a price for a product with comparison with the competitor. Some product of OSIM were pricing based on the price charge by the competitors. In conclusion, setting a price is not an easy job, it need certain method to set the product price. For the beginning, a listing price, varieties of discount and allowance should include when setting a price. PLACE MAP 1: MAP 2: OSIM has chosen the right place for selling their products. In Map 1 shown one of the places which OSIM outlet located, that is in Bintang Mega Mall, Miri, Sarawak. Our group got to visit this outlet to conduct interview about OSIM for this team project. Normally in business, without a good place to promote the company product will make harder to get successful in target market even the product have a reasonable price. In other words, to reach the target market, positioning is one of the important steps for placing. The location of the product should be easier for customer to purchases the product. If the customer hard to get the product, they might give advantage to other companies which they can get it easily. However, every customer has different needs with aspect of time and place. In order to attract more customers, the location of the product should fulfill the customers requirement. The company also can offer a delivery service in order to make