Monday, August 24, 2020

Country Music Essay -- Entertainment

The discussion whether corporate greed has stripped blue grass music of its realness is one that requires further assessment into who eventually holds the force. The occasionally radical changes made in music leaves individuals scrutinizing the flavors of buyers when in certainty they are the observers of an overwhelming industry. Fans are individuals who purchase the collections, go to shows, and solicitation tunes on the radio, not the executives that showcase the music, but their assessments/tastes aren’t contemplated. Fans convey a ton of clout with respect to what they characterize as corporate greed turned out badly and adequate down home music. In spite of what may appear to be reasonable, the individuals who are monetarily put resources into its prosperity drive the commercialization of music. As indicated by The Nashville Sound, markers that incorporate â€Å"rural inceptions, adapted sets, apparently unconstrained execution, open entertainers, and genuine tunes can portray nation music’s authenticity† (13). The establishments of what blue grass music has started from are consolidated inside these markers and are utilized to isolate the genuine from the phony. Early blue grass music was a methods for adapting to an existence of work and stresses; it likewise brought networks of the ruined together in cooperation. The foundation of these markers looks into the way of life and real factors of numerous blue grass music specialists before their popularity. Take for example a family sitting clustered together on a yard on a cool summer evening tuning in to a relative play the banjo while another chimes in. Everybody is getting a charge out of and living at that time and all concerns are a long way from mind. Blue grass music caused individuals to feel calm and ag reeable, it took individuals back to their recollections of past times worth remembering. This is the way down home music sh... ...ue. Buyers shouldn’t need to settle with music rather they ought to appreciate it. So as to get the genuineness back inside popularized music it will possibly occur if individuals start to understand the force that they hold. When individuals begin to understand that then the music that is delivered, and sung will have a progressively huge effect on its audience members; music at that point can keep on being motivating. Quality music is and will consistently be loved more than mass-created popularized dissonance. Works Cited Jensen, Joli. The Nashville Sound: Authenticity, Commercialization, and Country Music. Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press/Country Music Foundation Press, 1998. Print Malone, Bill C. Down home Music, U.S.A. Texas: University of Texas Press, 1985. Print Marcus, Greil. Puzzle Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll. New York: Penguin Gathering, 1985. Print

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Best Jet airline Financials Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Best Jet carrier Financials - Essay Example The tempting bundles will give the understudy delegates inspiration to guarantee that the smaller than usual occasions on are ends of the week to guarantee high income assortment. It’s accepted that the expense of the flights won't prevent the understudies from utilizing the aircraft. It’s expected that the relationship with British aviation routes will rebrand the aircraft and pull in a greater amount of the understudies who are utilized to the British Airways. The administrations offered will be sufficient to continue a flood of understudies and that the studenst will make a trip on reliable footing to guarantee exceptional yields. The arrangements all over Europe will bait the understudies to guarantee that they can make a trip to territories they have not voyage expanding the quantity of voyaging people and higher income. The proposal of the carrier to give understudies employments will build the business volume since the understudies will sell the items among themselves. These motivating forces will draw in more understudies to come and utilize the aircraft consequently higher

Saturday, July 25, 2020

The Blockbuster Costs of Real Star Wars Spaceships and More!

The Blockbuster Costs of Real Star Wars Spaceships and More! The Blockbuster Costs of Real Star Wars Death Stars, Spaceships and More! The Blockbuster Costs of Real Star Wars Death Stars, Spaceships and More!We all know Star Wars earns at the box office, but what would some of those epic space toys cost in real life? OppLoans has scoured the galaxy for the bottom line on all your favorite Star Wars set pieces.As we eagerly await this week’s release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we’ve been thinking about how the way you watch a movieâ€"or entire movie franchiseâ€"can drastically change as you get older.As a kid, watching Star Wars was all about spaceships, grand adventures and using laser swords to battle an evil, asthmatic cyborg. But as an adult, you start noticing things in the films that may have breezed right past you before.No wonder Han Solo took the reward money at the end of A New Hope.For instance, you might wonder how anyone in these movies is able to afford the spaceships they’re constantly jetting around in. They make a lot of jokes about the Millennium Falcon being a piece of junk, which probab ly means that it costs a small fortune to maintain. No wonder Han Solo took the reward money at the end of A New Hope. That man’s got bills!And what about the Death Star, hmm? A space station that’s the size of a freaking moon? Emperor Palpatine had to become a shadowy dictator, because there is no way that project was making it through a Galactic Senate Budget Committee. So we wondered, if we were to try and build the Death Star today, how much would it actually cost?Lucky for us, we have this little thing called “the internet,” where no question is too weird to go unanswered. We did some snooping and found estimated costs for The Death Star, a Star Destroyer, an AT-AT, and even, yes, The Millennium Falcon. Enjoy!Death Star $852,000,000,000,000,000(via Centives)Yup. That’s right. 15 zeroes. It might come as a surprise, but building a space station the size of a moon plus a giant laser capable of blowing up a planet is an expensive endeavor. So expensive, in fact, that it would cost 852 quadrillion dollars, or over 7,000 times the yearly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the entire world!These calculations were made by the good folks at Centives, an economics blog started by students at Lehigh University, and their original post has some really fantastic insights. For instance, they calculate that the amount of iron found in the earth’s molten core would be enough to build 2 million Death Stars.However, the post also points out the fact that, based on the current rate of worldwide steel production, building a single Death Star would take over 800 thousand years. So if you’re planning on building one, pack some snacks. It’s going to be a long wait.Read the original post here.Star Destroyer â€" $636,000,000,000(via Quora)Aircraft carriers provide a really handy reference point when calculating the cost of a giant spaceship and/or Death Star. After all, aircraft carriers are already massive floating fortresses, so the basic amount of materials use d to build one can be easily scaled up to match the size of a much larger vessel.And wow is the Start Destroyer a much, much larger vessel. According to Quora contributor Kynan Eng (@kynan_eng), it would be approximately 44.4 the times of a Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier. Since those aircraft carriers cost around 10.44 billion each, a Star Destroyer would cost an estimated $464 billion.[1]And that’s the cost for Star Destroyers that can’t really do anything: no turbolasers, no engines, not even any electricity. It’s those extra costs that bump the total cost up to $636 billion.One thing those estimate don’t account for is the cost of actually getting the Star Destroyer into space. Warning: It ain’t cheap. Eng estimates that, using current technology for space travel, moving the Star Destroyer parts off-world would cost about 44.4 trillion. So yeah, start saving those pennies.Read the original post here.Millennium Falcon â€" $2,662,896,238This estimate comes courtesy of a spectacular infographic from Twizzle.And that’s all we’re going to say. Because we think you should check out the full infographic. Trust us. You’ll be happy you did.To see the infographic, click here.AT-AT â€" $196,000,000(via Quora)This estimate comes to us again from Kynan Eng. And while the price tag is still pretty astronomical, Eng also starts his post with some good news:“…the AT-AT is one of the few Star Wars vehicles that can be built using today’s technologies, creating jobs for working families today. It would also be completely useless from a military viewpoint, but that doesn’t matter because it is way cool and impressive.”We couldn’t agree more. Using AT-AT dimensions from Wookieepedia  (if you’re not familiar with that site, it’s exactly what you think it is) and comparing them to the cost of various heavy-duty vehicles, Eng estimates a total cost of $196 million for the AT-AT.This is actually achievable, people. Someone start a GoFundMe!R ead the original post here.So, there you have it, running a Galactic dictatorshipâ€"or rebelling against oneâ€"isn’t cheap. When you’re in the theater this weekend checking out the latest addition to the Star Wars saga, maybe you’ll have a new appreciation for the Empire. Sure, they’re undeniably the worst, but somewhere deep in their ranks  they’ve got an amazing finance department. Give those goons a raise!References:“List of Countries by Projected GDP.” Statistics Times. Retrieved December 14, 2016 from http://statisticstimes.com/economy/countries-by-projected-gdp.php

Friday, May 22, 2020

Personal Development Plan Final Reflection Essay

Personal Development Plan Final Reflection Essay In my previous personal development plan, I had made several initiatives through which I hoped to achieve certain goals both in academics and in social life. In the previous personal development plan, I had embarked more on the process that I believe would help me to think about my own learning, performance and achievements as well as to plan my personal, educational, social and career development. Since I made the plan within the PDP, there are certain changes that I have witnessed happening in my career, social and learning areas. For example, I have noted that for the last one semester, I have improved in a number of areas that I had pointed in my last PDP. In academics, I have achieved a lot, as my average grades have improved from the previous B+ to an A. This is primarily because I was able to develop clear SWOT analysis, in which I recognized my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats not only in academics, but also in my social life, extra-curricular activities and any other activity I took. With this plan, I worked hard to perfect my strengths, correct the weaknesses and make them my strong points, utilize the opportunities placed within my abilities and finally recognize and avoid any negative effect that was posed by the threats in the SWOT analysis (Bolton 2010). From these considerations, I recognized that some of my strengths were the ability to work under strict deadlines, carry out extensive research, attend classes, and do personal studies and to submit all the papers and assignments at the right time. However, I also recognized that I actually had some weaknesses that caused my performance to dwindle in certain areas. For example, I realized that I had a problem relating with other students, tutors and friends. I did not attend discussion and group work, and seemed to ignore the strength of teamwork. I realized that I did not consult my tutors in academics; rather I attempted to do my own research. In co-curricular activities, I realized that I had done little in games and clubs within the university, despite having a number of athletic teams, training personnel as well as other facilities. I was not able to attend any of the activities before I made the last PDP, and even spent much time playing games on my personal computer rather tha n being involved in real athletics. In this plan, I set strict schedules to allow me attend my favorite games soccer and American football. Within this reflection, I had also recognized a number of opportunities that I should have utilized to perfect my skills in education and social life. For example, the university has a number of games, societies and clubs, all of which are equipped and staffed to help the students achieve their goals in academics and other activities important in social and personal life. In addition, the university encourages teamwork, from which students realize their weaknesses and strengths, and work to perfect their strengths and to improve their weak areas. These were opportunities that I ought to have utilized before, but which had been the priority in the previous personal reflection plan. I further realized that there were certain threats that challenged my performance. For example, I was running a risk of being lonely due to my weak approach to teamwo rk. In addition, it was possible that I would face academic failures in future because I was becoming possessed with video and computer games rather than being involved in real physical exercises. Several significant changes have resulted from the previous personal reflection plan. For example, apart from the increase in the academic grades, I have developed a good habit of relating with others in the university, and especially in my department. In addition, I have been involved in a number of discussion groups and even contributed to the development of general classroom discussion groups, in which students present their findings to the class during discussion time, while others try as much as possible to challenge the presenter. This has increased my confidence in academics, and I am more able to express myself than I would have done some few months ago before I embarked on self-reflection plan. Moreover, I am perfect in both soccer and football because I have dedicated enough time for these activities, and in fact, I have joined the university teams in both of these games. Moreover, I have joined the rangers association, a university society that is involved in environmental issues. I have realized that I am good in keeping and maintaining a good environment within our localities. During the last semester, we have taken part in national environmental programs, workshops and seminars, in which we have been taught the importance of maintaining good environment. In addition, we have organized a number of workshops for the community, where we teach elementary and high school students about the benefits of a good environment. In this way, I have realized that I have perfected my teaching, social and organizational management skills. From the personal development plan I created last semester, I have pointed out three main key learning areas that need much attention, and which have been very pivotal as far as the incline in my grades is concerned. First, I have realized that education is not all about understanding of what has been taught in class, and thereafter reproducing it in the examinations. It is a fact that education is not all about passing exams, rather it is a matter of understanding the courses, and how the classroom gained knowledge can be applied in the real life (Bolton 2010). Therefore, I have learned that one needs to do a lot of research and experiments to practice the classroom gained knowledge in the related fields, and to imply the information gained in books to the actual world. Secondly, I have learned that time management is the most critical tool towards achieving personal goals not only in education, but also in the other aspects of life. From the reflection, I have realized that the inc rease in my overall academic grades, as well as in extracurricular activities, is a result of proper time management, and the ability to work with strict time schedules. Lastly, I have learned that education required coordination of activities between personal efforts and the teamwork. I have observed that students perform better when they participate in class activities, work in groups and challenge each other (Jasper 2007). Moreover, it makes one obtain courage to conduct a research on vital topics, and have the pride to present it in front of the others. This is important for future researchers and scholars like me because at least, I am able to express ideas and ideologies to a number of people, and to meet the challenges they pose (Jasper 2007). Analysis of the Current Situation Currently, there is a number of issues that have to bbe improved as far as academics and other activities are concerned. I have achieved a lot in education, sports and social activities in general. Moreover, I have improved my communicative skills. However, I still have to target my main goal, which is to obtain straight A’s in all the courses I take each semester, and at the same time, achieve other goals in other activities apart from education. Currently, there are certain internal factors that are affecting me in a number of ways, both positively and negatively. For example, when I develop a personal SWOT analysis, I realize that I have internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to my education as well as other activities. Currently, my strengths in education are defined by my abilities to correct my past mistakes and improve weaknesses. I never ignore my weak points, though it is very common for a number of students in my faculty. In addition, I am able to learn from daily life experiences, especially from other people’s mistakes. Apart from these strengths, I have also realized that I am able to identify opportunities within my learning environment, and utilize them to increase my knowledge and skills in education and career. However, I have some weak points, which are currently affecting my performance. For instance, I do not possess even basic skills to lead other people in the class, groups and t he teams, which means that I may not become a good organizational leader unless I perfect my leading skills. I also do not have the courage to communicate with my tutors more. I have one more weak point I tend to believe that I can perfect my skills either on my own, or with the help of small groups of students. This is not quite good for my educational development, as I require help from my tutors in order to achieve best results. The main reason of my weak points is that I started using personal development and reflection plans only two semesters ago. Earlier, I did not consider such plans to be of great importance. But now, as I see a great progress in my personal development, and taking into account that the university provides a lot of resources for each student to master all the necessary skills, I will continue planning my self development. There are also some external factors that affect me in one way or the other, and which can be regarded as threats and opportunities. For instance, a number of opportunities are evident in my current situation. Other students in my class and the faculty have intensified their need to have personal reflection programs, and are in fact comparing their performances with the others in the class. This implies that we, as a class, have a chance to develop our skills together, as we have common goals in learning (Jasper 2007). Earlier, the students were allowed to participate only in 2 of the university clubs at once. Now we have the ability to participate in four of them, which will help me to gain much more experience. I will need to manage all my plans wisely, as apart from the extra-curricular activities, I need to perform well in the classroom too. Personal development plan I hope to come up with new ideas for my personal development, which will ensure success in both academic and social life. In regards of education, I want to try to approach my tutors for help in difficult situations, and to acquire skills needed for my future job. In addition, I must embark on increasing my grades from B+ to an A. Another desired outcome is to be a full time member of at least three clubs or societies, and to participate in all the events planned by these groups. I hope to achieve these goals within the next four months, which is till the end of this semester. References Bolton, G, 2010, â€Å"Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development†, SAGE Publications Ltd, Hoboken, NY. Jasper, M, 2007, â€Å"Professional development, reflection and decision-making†, Wiley-Blackwell, New York.

Friday, May 8, 2020

Preventing Sleep Impaired Mental Function - 1817 Words

Everyone has done it before: putting off studying for that exam until the last minute, then pulling out the caffeine for an all-nighter to cram as much information into their heads as they can. Cramming is the act of taking in massive amount of information in a short period of time just before an examination.When we cram for exams, the causes are usually because we lose interest in studying, have another large pile of work to worry about, or plainly play around too much – not being serious. However, there are consequences for cramming late at night. Harvard Medical School associate professor Seung-Schik Yoo’s research suggests that â€Å"lack of sleep impairs mental function [and] leaves students vulnerable to long-term permanent damage†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦This happens because students are not realizing the importance of review, thereby succumbing to cramming and studying a lot longer than needed. The best way to not forget our facts is to keep the mem ory fresh regularly. We do so by implementing study habits and incorporating different techniques in order to retain learned material. One way to accomplish this is to know when the next exam is, and from there we spread out how much time we will commit to study leading up to the exam. Nate Kornell, an associate professor of cognitive psychology, stated that â€Å"learners would profit from taking advantage of the spacing effect, both in classrooms and during unsupervised learning†¦ because spacing does not take more time than massing, it simply involves a different distribution of time† (Kornell). Spacing involves wisely planning out our time earlier before the day of the exam. An example includes the strategy of looking over notes after class and studying for half an hour each day, which is better than having to actually start studying the day before the exam for hours. Distributing time to study is key, because we avoid the problem of overworking and agitating ourselv es by studying all of the information. In addition, we allow the information to be stored long-term, which is advantageous for retrieving information when we need it. Most of all, testing ourselves regularly is another crucial practice that can reduce cramming. Scientist Sean Kang’s

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Detecting Plagiarism Free Essays

The results of the paper, Lab Courses Go Virtual, came back with 98% similarity of plagiarism. This result defiantly exceeds the maximum amount allowed in regards to plagiarism. If I were the student, I couldn’t look my instructor in the eye or in this case respond to any correspondence with a clear honest and complete reason as to why I would have done something so deceitful as to copy some else’s work. We will write a custom essay sample on Detecting Plagiarism or any similar topic only for you Order Now My course of action toward the student would the following: I would like for you to understand that plagiarism reduces your self-confidence as a student. Clearly the paper that has been submitted was not your original work. Using some else’s work is not only fraudulent, but it promotes a lack of writing skills that is necessary in the workplace. Please review the universities guidelines on plagiarism. The guidelines are located: * Under the Library Tab * click Center of Writing Excellence located on the left hand side under * Writing Tools click Tutorials and Guides. * Under Plagiarism Tutorial click Plagiarism Guide. Keep in mind that I am here to assist you succeed in your journey. I encourage you to resubmit the assignment, within the four day time period from which it the assignment is due. At which time if you have not resubmitted the assignment in the time allotted, I will then assume that you have read the Plagiarism Guide and understand you will have failed the assignment and this course. There is also a possibility that you could be suspended from the university. I look forward to you resubmission of the assignment and if you have a questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at callingcb@email. phoenix. edu or call (509) 710-3537 anytime I will be happy to help. How to cite Detecting Plagiarism, Papers

Monday, April 27, 2020

Why Customer Service Should Be Pro9Mpt and Professional free essay sample

Why customer service should be pro9mpt and professional? 1 – Explain, in approximately 200 words, the reasons why customer service should be prompt and professional. Include three effects on the customer if it is not and three effects on the support organisation if it is not. R: Customer service should be prompt and professional, to create relationship advertising focuses on getting customers and keeping them in the longer term using a combination of marketing, be capable of help to retain customers, on the way to prevent any anger and frustration as well safeguarding reputation. To satisfy customers, as satisfied customers, they will recommend you to others, resulting in an increase in new business, improve profitability, help to attract further new customer over time. Three effects of the customer of not being prompt and professional are; * They may get complain. * Client possibly will lose money. * They may misplace contacts. Three effects on the support organisation if it is not are; * With Customer experiences poor service, they are more likely to tell other people of bad experience, which is not a good advertisement for the business. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Customer Service Should Be Pro9Mpt and Professional? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They may deter others from even trying the company server out and so we will not get the chance to impress them. * The organization may possibly go down profitability. 2 – Describe three different ways of providing technical support, including at least one remote method (other than technical helpdesk). * Phone, you can take phone support further by offering a remote-desktop feature to help customers right on their computer. * Email, start with email support. Simply publish an email address, and answer queries as they come in. * Social media, Support via social media has become so important that many large companies are far more responsive on Twitter than via traditional means. * Ticketing system, Ticketing systems make the process of providing support easier when multiple staff members are involved, because you can see whether a request is being responded to and who is working on it. * Real-time chat. Users might trust the product more if they know they can speak to a real person.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Free Essays on How Trasnportation Changed The U.S.

How Transportation Changed the U.S. The advent of transportation in the late 1800’s helped America progress as an industrialized nation. Not only had it helped the country with transportation, it had helped the country economically. Many forms of transportation had grown to different levels. Many of these forms included railroads, roads and canals. Canal routes built for commerce developed slowly in eastern Pennsylvania, and it was not until after the American Revolution that some thought was given to open the upper river regions to transportation canals. During this time the young country was growing into a powerful political and economic center, and until 1825 was growing to be one of the largest in on the western hemisphere. Transport of goods to markets there was critical to the development of the region's economy. Navigation was possible on the Delaware River as far north as Morrisville. The canals were most active during the 1830s to the 1860s. Use of canals slowly declined because of railroads, and portions were in operation until 1942. It was America's last and longest-operated use of transportation. The Delaware Canal ceased operation during the Great Depression and is today significant as the most intact, accessible, and watered canal in the nation. One hundred and sixty years later, much of the stonework of the canal's retaining walls and locks is still visible and the canal is capable of being fully watered. The first forms of road transport were horses or oxen carrying goods over dirt tracks that often followed game trails. As time went by the roads changed from dirt to gravel - courtesy of the farmers. Horseback, horse and buggy, and horse and wagon were the ways to get around in the early days. Our economic growth and lifestyles are directly linked to transportation achievements over the last century as country’s transportation system has gone from mud to macadam and beyond. As the country's economy changed... Free Essays on How Trasnportation Changed The U.S. Free Essays on How Trasnportation Changed The U.S. How Transportation Changed the U.S. The advent of transportation in the late 1800’s helped America progress as an industrialized nation. Not only had it helped the country with transportation, it had helped the country economically. Many forms of transportation had grown to different levels. Many of these forms included railroads, roads and canals. Canal routes built for commerce developed slowly in eastern Pennsylvania, and it was not until after the American Revolution that some thought was given to open the upper river regions to transportation canals. During this time the young country was growing into a powerful political and economic center, and until 1825 was growing to be one of the largest in on the western hemisphere. Transport of goods to markets there was critical to the development of the region's economy. Navigation was possible on the Delaware River as far north as Morrisville. The canals were most active during the 1830s to the 1860s. Use of canals slowly declined because of railroads, and portions were in operation until 1942. It was America's last and longest-operated use of transportation. The Delaware Canal ceased operation during the Great Depression and is today significant as the most intact, accessible, and watered canal in the nation. One hundred and sixty years later, much of the stonework of the canal's retaining walls and locks is still visible and the canal is capable of being fully watered. The first forms of road transport were horses or oxen carrying goods over dirt tracks that often followed game trails. As time went by the roads changed from dirt to gravel - courtesy of the farmers. Horseback, horse and buggy, and horse and wagon were the ways to get around in the early days. Our economic growth and lifestyles are directly linked to transportation achievements over the last century as country’s transportation system has gone from mud to macadam and beyond. As the country's economy changed...

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Hyphenating Prefixes

Hyphenating Prefixes Hyphenating Prefixes Hyphenating Prefixes By Maeve Maddox A reader who works with legal transcription has the following question: There seems to be a trend towards having the prefixes and suffixes separate from the modified noun instead of being attached or hyphenated.  What is proper?   Some examples are non negotiable, post surgery, post doctorate, age wise. The examples given present a variety of forms, not all of which represent a prefix+noun combination. The prefix non- is added to nouns of action, condition, or quality with the sense of â€Å"absence, lack of,† or simply â€Å"not.† for example, non-Catholic. Non- is affixed to adjectives to make them negative. Whether to add a hyphen depends upon whether American or British usage is being observed. The OED hyphenates many words that M-W shows written as one word. For example, M-W gives nonnegotiable, but OED has non-negotiable. When it comes to another word in the reader’s list, however, both the OED and M-W agree with postdoctorate, although both prefer postdoctoral. The prefix post- means, â€Å"after† or â€Å"behind.† It is added to adjectives without a hyphen: postcolonial, postsurgical. Post can be used on its own as a preposition meaning, â€Å"after†: â€Å"Your mouth will be extremely dry post surgery.† In this context post is a separate word. Added to a noun to create a descriptor, however, post would require a hyphen: â€Å"Post-surgery care is vitally important.† The suffix -wise means, â€Å"in the manner of† or â€Å"as regards,† as in clockwise, lengthwise, foodwise, etc. This combining form is never separated from the word it’s added to, either by a hyphen or by a space. It can have other meanings, of course. For example, a person is said to be â€Å"penny wise, but pound foolish.† In this context wise is a word that means â€Å"possessing wisdom†; it is not a suffix. Hyphenation is not an exact science. Authorities differ regarding the necessity of a hyphen, but I’m reasonably sure that all agree that suffixes aren’t free agents that can stand apart from the words they belong to. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Contronyms (Words with Contradictory Meanings)How to Punctuate Descriptions of Colors10 Tips for Clean, Clear Writing

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Has NAFTA proven beneficial to the American economy Explain Essay

Has NAFTA proven beneficial to the American economy Explain - Essay Example United States also made certain alteration in their international trade strategies. As because of NAFTA, Mexico’s export increased to a significant amount and Canada became huge market for America. It has been claimed that NAFTA has been a success for all the member countries, but reality is little different. It is true that there are certain significant economic improvements that have taken place due to NAFTA, but that is one side of the coin as also there are certain major disadvantages of NAFTA which include job losses, problems regarding environment, declining standards of safety and health etc. NAFTA’s major objective was to remove the trade barriers and increase free trade between its member countries. NAFTA, although, has improved the export growth of its member countries, but at the same time it has resulted into many critical economic as well as environmental problems for its member countries. Among various disadvantages of NAFTA, most important one is the loss of jobs in United States. Manufacturers in United States, because of NAFTA, got the freedom of outsourcing or moving jobs to Mexico. Mexican labors are available at a cost which is much lower than that of American labor. As a result of this manufacturers shifted their production unit to Mexico, and rules in NAFTA allowed them to do so legally. This resulted huge job losses in manufacturing industry in US. Manufacturers, who continued their operation in US, reduced the salary of US workers. Almost 879,280 jobs were lost in US during the time period of 1994 to 2002. There was actually significant increase in job creation from 1994 to 2000. But from 2001 unemployment started to increase and by October, 2003 almost 2.4 millions people lost their job. Apart from manufacturing industry, other industries which moved to Mexico include textiles, electrical appliances, computer etc. States which were badly affected include T exas, California, Michigan and New York. Apart form these job

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Ethics Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics Reflection - Essay Example Examples of stakeholders include Customers, suppliers and any person who is directly involved in the business activities. A responsible organization treats all stakeholders equally. Additionally, this helps the team identify and monitor any risk that have a potential of arising as well as find an alternative solution and everybody needs an opportunity to speak and give their idea. Moreover, members should be open when providing ideas and feedback as well as raise concerns and come up with new ideas. This should be conducted professionally where everybody is independent in providing views and ideas thus providing quality discussions that aid in the decision making process listening to their ideas keenly. Moreover, a friendly environment improves the relationship among members in an organization thus strengthening the process of strategic planning and resulting in better decision making. The team members should take a fair and truthful possible risk during the planning process. This le ads to the maintenance of the welfare of stakeholders that include the employees as well as the society (Ransome, 2009). The ethical perspective throughout the program links to the success of an individual or a company. An individual’s view of ethics keeps on developing depending on the knowledge and information one receives throughout their life experiences. This is the reason why individuals use their experiences to make decisions about what is right or wrong depending on the kind of situation they are facing. The evolvement of ethics comes from personal values that form a critical element of a person’s strategy influencing how they relate with others and how they behave in the society. In addition, ethics perspective has evolved from taking pride in what one does and how they do it. This makes them behave responsibly in judging and decision making by showing the highest

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Theory And Evidence Of Microfinance And Poverty Economics Essay

Theory And Evidence Of Microfinance And Poverty Economics Essay 2.0 Introduction It is widely believed that, together with improvement in their geographical surroundings, micro finance is a powerful tool to alleviate poverty and empower women in their development. However these facilities are not restricted to women only. It is also extended to all those who are struggling to combat poverty or to indulge in their own entrepreneurship. Therefore, this chapter will review definitions in the field of microfinance and poverty. To enlighten further the study, empirical evidence are being analysed and discussed more appropriately below. 2.1 What Is Microfinance? image1.png The idea of microfinance started in Bangladesh around 1976 with Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank who has recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievement. Microfinance refers to the supply of loans, savings and other basic financial services to poor. With innovative means and development microfinance has been adopted and practiced in most developing countries where it has gained unbelievable success. Moreover, from December 1997 till December 2005 the number of microfinance institutions increased from 618 to 3,133. Supplementary evidences regarding its developments have been attached at Appendix I. However, different people have different views and opinions in respect of Microfinance. For instance, Otero (1999) classifies Microfinance as the provision of financial services to low income, poor and very poor self-employed people. Whilst Ledgerwood (1999) believes that it is a sustainable poverty solution and it includes savings, credit and other financial services such as insurance and payment services, on the other hand Schreiner and Colombet (2001) described it as an attempt to phase out poverty by improving the access to small deposits and loans for poor households who were being neglected by formal banks and financial institutions, mostly because of their poor credit worthiness. Generally speaking microfinance is becoming an imminent economic tool to politicians to up bring those people who are vulnerable or beyond the minimal level of income holders. It is a way to extract the arts, qualities and skills that these people possess in front of the society by upgrading their enterprise, image and standard levels. In some countries, during the financial crisis that hit the global economy, governments have emphasised heavily on these instruments to combat a way out of this turmoil. Such facilities, inclusive of small loans with low interest rates, counselling and bumper advertising campaign to promulgate the concept of microfinance were brought to the poorest, especially in rural areas. Microfinance involves short term savings and lending which are different to that of formal banks. Such facilities bear low interest rates and repayments facilities with the aim to cover the delivery costs only. The costs of capital are recouped upon maturity and whole administrative and transactions cost are ignored. Counselling is done through direct marketing where the cost involved in creation of awareness is low as these institutions target mostly low or no profit at all. Their main objective is to improve the living conditions of those being afflicted by the curse of poverty. 2.2 Historical Background on Poverty Poverty is a complex issue which has always existed at different levels of society and in various forms across the world. Poverty has always existed but the fundamental question what causes it. However, according to the western conception, poor people are themselves accountable for their precarious situation. As the source of poverty lies in the socioeconomic system, the solution also must be at the societal level. A brief sketch of povertys history is given in Appendix II. It is difficult to define poverty as there are various dimensions of poverty. Hulme and Mosley (1996) stated that microfinance is not a panacea for poverty alleviation and in some cases the poorest people were made worse off by microfinance institutions. On the other hand Rogaly (1996) argued that Microfinance Institutions had encouraged single sector approach to distribute resources to fight poverty. It did not prove to be beneficial to poor people as there was inadequate learning and change taking place. At times they even failed to reach the poor, the more so as they had a limited impact on income. They encouraged women to greater dependence on their husbands but were unable to provide additional services which were desperately required. Therefore, poverty is a growing concern for all governments. They have taken a multi-dimensional approach to reducing poverty, with efforts including: promotion of economic growth; delivery of public services to all; transfer of assets to poor people and introduction of a social protection system. Thus, the persistence of poverty and inequality is clearly a key concern for government policy. 2.2.1 Poverty Approaches The literature on poverty is divided into two categories namely the monetary approach supported by utilitarian, and the non-monetary approach supported by the non- utilitarian. This utilitarian approach places the conceptualization of welfare in the utility space where satisfaction determines the level of welfare. But since utility is not directly observable, resources .i.e. income has been used to measure welfare whereas the non-utilitarian view consists of the faith based, livelihood and capability approach. This is illustrated below. Figure 2.1: Poverty Approach Source: Adapted by International Development Research Centre From the above diagram, the monetary approach identifies poverty as a shortfall in consumption or income. An income below what is considered necessary to consume a minimum basket of basic goods would then be defined as the poverty line. The main assumption made by this approach is that consumers objective is to maximize their utility and that the ensuing welfare can be measured by their total consumption whereas the livelihood approaches emerged in the 1990s as a holistic framework for analyzing the factors that influence men and women in fulfilling their livelihoods, reflecting their perceptions of poverty and well-being. It also refers to the participatory approach of getting poor themselves to be able to understudy the root, causes and the victims of poverty. Poverty is not a modern day phenomenon. It has been around almost since the beginning of civilization from the time man was expelled from the Garden of Eden whereby he had had to start providing for himself. Poverty has always existed in human societies for thousands of years. This is all about the faith based approach of poverty. Moreover, the capability approach, pioneered by Sen in the 1980s and 1990s, argues that monetary poverty approach measures individuals well-being but fails to address the utility that individuals gain from others, their welfare. For Sen, capabilities are the abilities to satisfy certain crucial functioning up to certain minimally adequate levels. Thus according to him, poverty is the malfunction of some basic capability. The concept of poverty is universally regarded as a multidimensional one. There is no unique formulation but it may consist in any form of inequity, which is a source of social exclusion from the basic essentialities of human dignity. Thus, the Oxford Poverty Human Development Initiative (OPHI) uses an index namely the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)  [1]  index which complements a traditional focus on income to reflect the deprivations that a poor person faces with regard to education, health and living standard. It is the first international measure of its kind, and offers a valuable complement to income poverty measures because it measures deprivations directly. According to me, a multifaceted definition of poverty would be:- the lack of, and inability to afford, basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter; and the scarcity of opportunities that are important in improving human capital and facilitating social mobility. Thus, to address the dramatic effects resulting from poverty, various multilateral organizations such as the United Nations have left no stone unturned to combat this destitution. Moreover, different poverty reduction strategies and instruments have been developed in order to improve the poors standard of living and help them sever the vicious cycle of poverty. Moreover these approaches can be broken further. This can be shown in the following diagram. Figure 2.2: Factors Affecting the Poverty Approach Source: Adapted by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) The monetary approach includes all income in money metric and in practice omits social goods. Under this approach mainly income and consumption are affected. Whereas, the livelihood approach comprises the capabilities, assets and activities required for a means of living. It enhances livelihood opportunities and shows how they relate to one another. The faith-based approach consists of religious faith. Religious faith and humans have coexisted since the beginning of civilization and have played a very important role in human life. The religious attitude is always based on the belief that there exists an all embracing, transcendental, moral law and that we human beings are bound to submit to its commands. Moreover, capabilities included not only basic individual ones such as nourishment and health but also more complex social ones, such as taking part in the community and achieving self-respect. Health and education, for example, are both functioning achievements in themselves as well as capabilities that allow people to achieve other valued and crucial performance. For instance, a woman can have a monetary income but, because of gender discrimination, can be unable to buy food for her family: She lacks the capability to achieve a basic functioning for life. A capability seems to combine the concepts of ability and capacity. The main focus of the dissertation is based on this approach. 2.3 Conceptual Theory Since microfinance can make a contribution to eradicate poverty, to better understand its significance, each of the poverty approaches is considered below. 2.3.1 Link between Microfinance and Monetary Approach In terms of economic policy, it recommends the reduction of poverty by increasing labor productivity, through interventions of a general nature. Therefore, microfinance has evolved as an economic development approach intended to benefit low-income groups. These programs are an effective way to provide lowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ cost financial services to poor individuals and families as claimed by Miller and Martinez, (2006); Stephens and Tazi (2006). Once they benefit from microfinance services, they will be able to earn more, save more ultimately smooth consumption. In turn they will enjoy a good health conditions among family members. 2.3.2 Link between Microfinance and Non- Monetary Approach From the economic policy standpoint, the non-monetary approach usually proposes targeted interventions which have the advantage of reducing the selection bias in favor of the poor relative to general kinds of interventions. Each non monetary approach has been considered below. 2.3.2.1 Microfinance and faith based Poverty and prosperity were considered to be the will of God. Thus religion is defined as an all round movement in the light of faith in one God and a sense of responsibility for the formation of thought and belief, for the promotion of high principles of human morality for the establishment of good relations among members of the society and the elimination of every sort of undue discrimination and injustices including poverty. Thus with the help of microfinance, people are able to have a decent earning. 2.3.2.2 Microfinance and Livelihood Microfinance can help to establish or expand family enterprises, potentially making the difference between grinding poverty and economically secure life. Furthermore, these programs increase access to healthcare, making preventative healthcare measures more affordable to the poor. Alternatively, more children are sent to school and stay enrolled for longer periods. 2.3.2.3 Microfinance and Capability Approach Given that microfinance services are primarily focused on women, it is argued that women were empowered, through opportunities to take on leadership roles and responsibilities, breaking down of gender inequalities. Small loans can transform lives, especially those of women and children. The poor can become empowered instead of disenfranchised. Homes can be built, jobs can be created, businesses can be launched, and individuals can feel a sense of worth again. Woman are able to participate in the society, they are recognised for their help in their families. This in turn increases the monthly income for the family which ultimately increases standard of living. Generally, the most important crisis and the main reason for failure to repay loans by poor families is illness. However, households of microfinance clients appear to have better nutrition, health practices, and health outcomes than comparable non-client households. Larger and more stable incomes generally lead to better nutrition, living conditions, and preventive health care. Increased earnings and financial management options also allow clients to treat health problems promptly rather than waiting for conditions to deteriorate. Along with financial services, some microfinance institutions also provide health education, usually in the form of short, simple preventive care messages on immunization, safe drinking water, and pre-natal and post-natal care while other programs provide credit products for water, sanitation, and housing. A growing number of microfinance institutions have forged partnerships with insurance providers to offer health insurance to clients. Moreover, another use of the microfinance services among the poor people is to invest in childrens education. Children of microfinance clients are more likely to go to school and study longer ultimately student drop-out rates are much lower. Hence there is no disparity in education. Thus, it is clear that what microfinance can do for the poor depends on the poors ability to utilize what micro-finance offers them. In many countries, micro-finance provides a window of opportunity for the poor to access a borrowing. These facilities also provide organizational help, training, safety nets, empowerment, and financial and other help during crises. Once they benefit from these services, they will be able to make decisions that are better informed, smooth the consumption pattern, increase the expenditure on medical, education and other social occasions. 2.4 Empirical Evidence Most of these studies were carried out in least developed countries and developing countries where poverty is really a root problem for the country. These findings are the clearest evidence that micro finance is working in the way intended to bring sustained aid to those suffering from hardship cases. Thus the following sub sections are empirical studies performed in least developed country, developing countries and small island economies. They are classified by their corresponding approach of poverty namely the monetary and capability. 2.4.1 Developing Countries 2.4.1.1 Monetary Approach Joy M Kiiru, John Mburu, Klaus Flohberg (2007) attempted to measure the impact of microfinance on household incomes. They used a pooled data set collected from the south western part of Makueni district in Kenya to study the households access to microfinance credit and how the credit affects their incomes as Cross sectional analysis fails to show any significant positive impact of microfinance on poverty reduction. They found a weak positive significance of microfinance on household incomes, education and household head. Furthermore, in the research of Gertler et al. (2003), he found more positive conclusions in terms of the ability of micro finance to reduce vulnerability who find access to micro finance that helps households to smooth consumption despite declines in health of adult family members. These authors have tried to find a relation between access to a financial institution and consumption shortfalls associated with ill health. They used geographic distance as a measure of access and find that for households in an area with a BRI branch; health shocks have no effect on consumption. 2.4.1.2 Capability Approach K. Rajendran and R.P. Raya (2010) study the impact of microfinance on the empowerment in psychological, economic and social aspects and managerial skills of leaders of SHGs and their attitude in Vellore district. They surveyed 90 leaders and 90 animators of SHGs. Using the OLS they found that microfinance and SHGs are effective in reducing poverty, empowering women, creating awareness and ensure sustainability of environment which finally result in sustainable development of the nation. But age and education does not have any influence on empowerment among the rural women. Moreover, the case study carried out in 2007 by Eduardo C. Jimenez and Pia Bernadette Roman in Philippines found on average 96.2% of the people who borrow in groups pay back their loans on time. More than 160 microfinance institutions have adopted the principle of no collateral but weekly repayment of loans with lending at commercial rates so that they can cover their costs; and they were allowed to make a profit. During that period, they have been able to target 436, 000 clients, 98% being women. The loan repayment rates of 96.2% were far higher than that recovered by most commercial banks. Luckily the project had increased the clients income by more than 28%. Their spending was mostly on school and food. So, for Philippines, this had an impact on its economy, thereby enhancing the life span, the literacy rate and also improving the standard of living of those people. 2.4.2 Least Developed Countries 2.4.2.1 Monetary Approach Khandker (2005) reported the direct effects of microfinance programs on poverty. He examined 1,638 households that participated in two waves of the BIDS World Bank 1991/92 and 1998/99 surveys in Bangladesh and found that moderate poverty in the sample villages declined by 17% between the two waves of the survey, and extreme poverty declined by 13%. Among those households that participated in the microfinance programs, the poverty rate declined by 20% in the same period, with more than half of the nearly 3% annual moderate poverty decline among participants attributed to the microfinance programs alone. He further found that access to microfinance programs contributed to the reduction of both moderate and extreme poverty of individuals particularly women as well as for the village as a whole where inflow of microfinance funds to rural areas impacted the local economy and raised per capita household consumption for both participants and nonparticipants. Morduch (1998) attempted to look specifically at the role microfinance plays in helping the poor, and reported mixed results, including some positive and some negative impacts of microfinance in alleviating poverty and helping the poor. He used survey data collected in 1991/92 by the Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies, in collaboration with the World Bank, covering 87 villages and nearly 1800 households. Survey data was collected at three points during the collection period to capture seasonal variations in household circumstances and found that the microfinance programs benefited the moderately poor more than the destitute. Further, he found that households that are eligible to borrow and have access to the programs do not have notably higher consumption levels that control households. Additionally, he found that households eligible for programs have substantially lower variation in consumption and labour supply across seasons. Thus the most important potential impacts of microfinance programs are with reducing ones financial vulnerability, and not necessarily poverty. 2.4.2.2 Capability Approach Morris and Barnes (2005) attempted to provide an overall assessment of the impact of microfinance, and examined the impacts of three microfinance programs in Uganda. Baseline data was first collected in the winter of 1997 following a survey via random sample in respect of three program areas from programs clients and nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ clients. To assess the impact thereof, the survey was repeated in the winter of 1999. The researchers found that microfinance programs did not help to alleviate poverty in program areas, though results from these impact studies indicated positive impacts on participants entrepreneurial business endeavours and within their own households. The authors further found that microfinance programs help to reduce financial vulnerability of poor individuals through the diversification of available income sources and the accumulation of assets. 2.4.3 Small Island Developing State (SIDS) 2.4.3.1 Livelihood Approach Paul B McGuire (1996) has provided an assessment of microfinance in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) namely Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Western Samoa. Thus, he concluded that these people faced a number of constraints to sustainable microfinance, including low and highly dispersed populations, the lack of transport and communications infrastructure in many areas, and the continuing importance of the non-monetised subsistence economy in many countries. Apparently, the stylised fact is less than clear. Despite the huge number of studies on microfinance and poverty alleviation in the developing countries, there exists little studies for small island economies. Thus this study attempts to fill the gaps by analyzing the impact microfinance on poverty and the welfare of households in Mauritius. As argued above, the facts and findings that were used have clearly indicated that microfinance is becoming a phenomenal contribution in building those economies that were previously struck by wars, natural calamities and turmoil. 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Copestake, J. Bhalotra, S. and S. Johnson, 2001. Assessing the impact of micro-credit: A Zambian case study, Journal of Development Studies, 37(4), pp. 81-100. Dean Karlan, Martin Valdivia, 2010. Teaching Entrepreneurship: Impact of Business Training on Microfinance Clients and Institutions, pp. 1-45 Essentials, 1999. Microfinance, a synthesis of lessons learned. Gertler, Paul, Levine, David I., Moretti, Enrico, 2002. Do Microfinance Programs Help Families Insure Consumption against Illness?, California Center for population research online working paper series. Guush Berhane and Cornelis Gardebroek, 2009. Does microfinance reduce rural poverty? Evidence based on a household panel data from Northern Ethiopia, International association of Agricultural economists Conference, Beijing, China, 16-22 August 2009. J.T.O Oke, R. Adeyemo and M.U Agbonlahor, 2007. An empirical analysis of microcredit repayment in South-western Nigeria, Humanities and Social Sciences Journal, 2(1), pp. 63- 73. 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Friday, January 17, 2020

Rehabilitation Of Adolescent Sexual Offenders

Juvenile delinquency is increasingly becoming a major concern in society. The involvement of the youth in criminal activities has taken its toll as they get more exposure to violence through the media and peer influence. An emerging trend in this category is adolescent sexual offences among teenagers (Hardill, et al, 2001, 59). However, addressing this issue calls for a comprehensive approach that takes into account the various forms of sexual offences and the wide range of contributing factors.The paper explores the application of the Cycle of Abuse Theory in working with adolescent sexual offenders. The Cycle of Abuse is a social theory formulated by Lenore Walker in 1970 to explain the inherent patterns observed in an abusive relationship (Walker, 2000, 204). The theory of The Cycle of Abuse stipulates that abusive relationships are often cyclic, i. e. they take place in a recurring pattern. The theory identifies three stages or phases of abuse. While these phases do not necessari ly follow a linear and definite predictable pattern, they more or less exhibit the following phenomenology:Phase one- normalcy. At first, everything seems to be fine. This is normally during the initial stages of a relationship, when both parties show genuine commitment to the relationship. In fact, the stage is also referred to as ‘the honeymoon period. ’ However, as time goes by, one partner, especially the abuser, adopts a negative attitude. In some cases, an undesirable character trait previously restrained, such being short tempered or a predilection to violence begins to emerge. Phase two- Tension building.The atmosphere in the relationship tends to be strained, making mutual interaction between both parties characteristically cold, constrained and generally ineffective. Signs of tension include poor communication, verbal abuse and shifting blames for minor mistakes. The situation is so delicate such that it requires only a slight provocation for the abuserâ€℠¢s emotions to snap. Phase three- explosion. This is the point at which the actual abuse takes place. The abuser’s violent flares are triggered by flimsy excuses, such as the victim being late in preparing dinner (in cases of spouse abuse).However, one limitation of Lenor’s theory is its emphasis on physical abuse. While physical violence is the common form of abuse, recent studies have indicated that psychological and emotional torture could affect victims even more than the bruises they suffer in physical confrontations. Phase four- reconciliation. After the climax of actual abuse, the abuser takes a reconciliatory stance and apologizes for his/her actions. It is characterized by promises that it will not be repeated, and they might go an extra mile to please the victim- buying them gifts or taking them out.As the last phase of the cyclic phenomenon, the apologetic and the friendly mood displayed by the abuser persuades the victim to forget the abuse and consequently , the relationship returns to a state of normalcy. An adolescent sexual offender is defined as â€Å"a youth, from puberty to the legal age of majority, who commits any sexual act with a person of any age, against the victims will, without consent, or in an aggressive, exploitive or threatening manner† (Tolan and Cohler, 1993, 115). However, dealing with cases of juvenile offenders is complicated due to popular ideologies that make young offenders victims of circumstances.For instance, rape in some cases is rationalized on the precipice that â€Å"‘boys-will-be-boys’ and punished by a slap on the hand and admonitions to ‘behave,’ while cases of teens sexually molesting children are euphemized as â€Å"‘curiosity’ or ‘experimentation,’ and many sexual offenses termed as ‘adolescent adjustment reactions’† (Ryan et al, 1987). Consequently, the failure to clearly identify a juvenile as a sex offender has led to a tendency to ignore early warning symptoms and the â€Å"deviant nature of sexual assaults by teenagers† (Ryan, et al, 1987).Nonetheless, adolescent sexual offences continue to rise and its effects are plainly as far-reaching as those perpetrated by adults are. This has led to increasing concerns on teenage behaviors in relation to sexual crimes. What is not lost to both sides of the argument, however, is the fact that behavioral tendencies exhibited in childhood will continue into adulthood if no intervention measures are taken to change these habits. In working with adolescent sexual offenders towards their rehabilitation, intervention measures aims to achieve behavioral change and minimizing situations that could lead to abuse.At the same time, rehabilitation attempts to cut the cyclic pattern to avoid repetition of the same offences. In this regard, the Abuse Cycle Theory’s relevance is in its recognition of the recurrent nature of abuse. Research studies have shown that â€Å"for the victims of abuse, the abuse may produce either a learned helplessness or a repetitive aggressiveness† (Ryan et al, 1987). In addition, the theory identifies the various factors that promote abuse such as attitude, as well as the various forms the abuse could take.In the case of sexual offenses, abuse is not limited to actual acts of forced sex alone, but includes other forms such as fondling of the victim’s private parts. APPLICATION OF THE ABUSE CYCLE THEORY Adolescent sexual offences assume a cyclic pattern. It begins in early childhood among boys â€Å"with voyeuristic behaviors from ages five to seven, including attempts to their grandmother and mother using the bathroom or taking showers† (Sandy, 1987). The unusualness of this behavior is because the minors’ interest in nudity underlies sexual motives or desires.The report in The International Journal on adolescent sexual offenders says that it could be only normal if they i nvolve â€Å"the curiosity of an 18 to 30-month-old who is interested in learning how adults do everything from baking cookies to driving the car, and including use of the bathroom† (Ryan et al 1987). However, the habits should subside at age five, for by then the child has learned bathroom manners. The gravitation toward sexual violence among young boys begins at this stage, when their consciousness could direct their behaviors with some ulterior motives.In the context of the Cycle of Abuse Theory, this could be a calm stage, but there is a building up of tension- the sexual desires exhibited by the minor’s obsession to see nude females. In a case study on juvenile sexual offences, one respondent, a minor on a rehabilitation program, confessed that it started with â€Å"observing the babysitter having sex with her boyfriend, and it was followed with a habit of assaulting girls in the school grounds, with a motivation to actually frighten, control, and degrade themâ⠂¬  (Huttenlocker, 2007). The next phase in a minor’s progression towards sexual violence sets in even as early as nine years.Very conscious that what they are doing is inappropriate, they make their acts to look like accidental incidences. A teenage boy under a juvenile program said that his first intrusive behaviors began with a desire to touch female private parts when playing in crowds, and secretly watching out for girls. It marked the beginning of his conscious motives to stalk girls, leading to his cyclic sexual violence. It soon developed into an aggressive form of harassment, at age 11, which involved â€Å"grabbing the chests and butts of female classmates, threatening them with sexual acts† (Ryan, et al, 1987).By the time he was 12, he had identified four girls whom he would continually harass by touching their genitalia. The Cycle of Abuse Theory’s explanation of the different forms that an abuse could take reflects the minor’s habit to send obscene messages and making calls to his victims. In this regard, a comprehensive treatment therapy for young sexual offenders should take an approach that addresses the various stages of the abuse cycle. Since the abuse itself takes different forms, the treatment therapy should be multifaceted in its approach, addressing the following issues.Sex Education: The initial stages of sexually offensive behaviors are characterized with an aspect of ignorance. In this light, it is vital to equip minors with information about sexual behaviors, which could ‘slip off’ into violent, abusive habits. A research study by the National Clearinghouse on Sexual Violence reports that lack of knowledge and appropriate information regarding sexual behaviors contributes greatly to sexual offenses. Accordingly, there is need to â€Å"provide education courses in school with a focus on positive sexuality, addressing the issues of consent, equality and coercion† (Kaplan et al, 1988, 190) .It should also include teaching sexual assault victims ways of resolving their feelings concerning the abuse, in order to minimize their chances of becoming future offenders. The motive for revenge is identified in the Cycle of Abuse Theory as one factor that compels abusers to mistreat their victims. Likewise, sexually assaulted children are likely to find an emotional outlet by violating others. Abuse of Trust and Power: As noted before, sexually abused children could avenge their experiences on others.To avoid such occurrences, it calls for exemplary behaviors on the part of adults who relate and interact with young children. When adults, especially pedophiles, abuse their power and the trust of children to exploit them sexually, they sow seeds of hatred, rejection and a desire to ‘hit out’ at others. Such perpetrators often try to â€Å"escape accountability for exploiting their relationship of trust with a child or adolescent on flimsy excuses such as ‘I wa s drunk when I did it’ or ‘It is normal for children to be sexual- I was teaching her about sex’† (Duncan, 14).Abuse of children by adults could also shape their mentality as a way of expressing their dominance. This poses the danger of conditioning their notions about sex as a way to â€Å"accomplish masculinity and overcome experiences of powerlessness† (Ritcher, et al, 2004, 104). Joint work and Relapse Prevention: This is the most crucial part as it involves helping the ex-abusers to be assimilated into a normal social life as well as preventing them from slipping back to their offensive behaviors.It includes various therapies such as â€Å"young mentoring, in-home family therapy, human sexuality education, parent support groups and ‘safe-out of home’ placement in the community† (Marsh and Fristad, 330). It helps the recovering patients to develop coping skills and relapse-prevention mechanisms to enable them assume normal liv es. Previous research studies which sought to find out the motivational drive of sexually aggressive behaviors in men, have established a tendency of being compelled by the urge to meet sexual desires (Lenn, 1994).Snell et al (1992) reported sexual compulsivity, similar to a research by Exner et al (1992), which noted lack of sexual control as the major cause of uncontrolled sexual activity. In this regard, it is therefore imperative to educate ex-offenders on ways to overcome their sexual drives, which nearly always culminates in rape and other sexual offences (Erooga and Masson, 1999, 27). In Understanding and Diagnosing Sex Addiction, John Schneider identifies compulsive sexual behaviors as addictive disorders like those of drug abuse (Schneider 2004 198).This insight helps in singling out incidences of juvenile sexual offences that result as the abuser’s inability to resist psychological and physical sex drives. It is important to distinguish victims of circumstances and situation from out-right perpetrators, to design appropriate treatment therapies. Nonetheless, a very crucial aspect of rehabilitating juvenile sexual offenders is widening the scope of treatment to include other factors, which could be directly related to sexual violence. Some studies have shown that there is a correlation between drug use and juvenile sexual offences (O’Reilly, 2004, 81).In fact, Schneider considers the path to sexual addiction to be similar to that of a drug addict: habit developing into a behavior and finally addiction. In light of the tenets of the Cycle of Abuse Theory, this suggests that sometimes individuals could not control their behaviors. Circumstances and the environment could trigger impulsive behaviors that are sexually offensive. For instance, playing in crowded grounds offers an opportunity for budding offenders to touch their victims’ private parts.This is similar to abuses in relationships, where the abuser’s temper gets trigg ered by minor incidences such as disagreements. In working with adolescent sexual offenders, it therefore calls for placement programs that remove the abuser from environments that encourage his sexual behaviors. In conclusion, the significance of the Cycle of Abuse in relation to working with adolescent sexual offenders lies in its emphasis on the gradual progression towards violent actions, its cyclic nature as well as its varied forms.First, it highlights the importance of identifying juvenile sexual offences in their budding stages to avoid their development into ‘high tension’ stages where the offender is vulnerable to acting out their sexual desires. It also avoids further offensive behaviors and helps to ‘bring them back’ into the community. The theory’s reference to the recurrent nature of abuse indicates that juvenile offenders are likely to ‘re-offend,’ hence the need for relapse-prevention measures. The socio-cultural environm ent within which adolescent sexual offenders operate could also encourage their behaviors.This observation stems from the theory’s tension and explosion stages, which indicate that an external triggering factor is necessary to push the abuser towards actual confrontation. In this light, it is necessary to evaluate sexual offenses in the context of family environment and the impact it could have had in the formative aspects of the offender’s personal development (Marshall, 1998, 360). Behavior alone should not be the standard of labeling a person, but it should as well include factors that influence character development.Equally, cultures that promote male sexual aggressiveness as a desirable quality for men should be discouraged. Secondly, sexual offenses are not limited to actual cases of rape or molestation, but could take various forms such as verbal harassment, voyeurism and exposure of one’s private parts. Nonetheless, as in physical and psychological abuse witnessed in relationships, all forms of sexual offenses are significantly harmful to the victim. This is because they have far-reaching effects on the victim, such as fearing the opposite sex even in adulthood, low self-esteem and negative attitude towards relationships.Lastly, relapse-prevention measures should be designed to achieve long-term goals of permanently changing the offender’s sexual behavior. Since sexual offenses by adolescent could be an overt manifestation of character traits, rehabilitation measures ought to extend beyond short-term therapies designed to treat immediate symptoms. To this end, then, working with adolescent sexual offenders is not only a correction of behavior, but a re-creation of character as well. Reference List Crinson, I. 2009. Health Policy: A Critical. SAGE Publications Ltd, New York. Duncan, K. A.2004. Healing from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse: the journey for women. Greenwood Publishing Group, New York. Erooga M. , Masson, H. C. 1999. Children and young people who sexually abuse others: challenges and responses. Routledge, New York Hardill I. , et al. 2001. Human geography of the UK: An introduction. Routledge, New York Huttenlocker, M. 29 July 2007. â€Å"Adolescent Sex Offenders. † Adolescent Sex Offenders. † EzineArticles. com. 6 May. 2010 Kaplan, M. S. , Becker, J. V. , Cunningham-Rathner J.1988. â€Å"Characteristics of Parents of Adolescent Incest Perpetrators: Preliminary Findings,† Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 189-90. Marsh D. T. , Fristad, M. A. 2002. Handbook of serious emotional disturbance in children and adolescents. John Wiley and Sons, New York Marshall, W. L. 1998. Sourcebook of treatment programs for sexual offenders. Springer, New York O’Reilly, G. 2004. The handbook of clinical intervention with young people who sexually abuse Psychology Press, New York. Ritcher, L. , et al. 2004. Sexual abuse of young children in southern Africa.HSRC Pres s, London. Ryan G. , Lane S. , Davis, J. , et al. (1987). S. â€Å"Juvenile sex offenders: Development and correction. † The International Journal, 11: (3), Pages 385-395. . Schneider, J. , P. 2004. Understanding and diagnosing sex addiction: Handbook of addictive disorders: a practical guide to diagnosis and treatment. John Wiley and Sons, New York’ Tolan P. H. , Cohler, P. J. 1993. Handbook of clinical research and practice with adolescents. ohn Wiley and Sons, New York. Walker, L. 2001. The battered woman syndrome. Springer Publishing Company, New York. .

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Ingredients in Coke and Their Function

You probably know that once upon a time Coca-Cola or Coke contained cocaine. What you might not know is that the beverage is still flavored with an extract from the coca leaf and that the cocaine which is extracted from the leaves is sold for medicinal use. The Stepan Company extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which is sold to Mallinckrodt, the only US company that is licensed to purify cocaine. So... what are the other ingredients in Coke and what do they do? Coke contains a fairly short list of ingredients: Carbonated waterSugar (which can be sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup)CaffeinePhosphoric acid v. caramel (E150d)Natural flavorings (which include coca leaf extract) The purpose of the carbonated water and sugar is obvious, but you may be unaware caramel coloring is also an important flavoring agent... well, unless you ever tried the clear versions of Coke or Pepsi. Theres a good reason those never became popular. Caramel color is a soluble food coloring that is prepared by heat treating carbohydrates. The golden or brown liquid retains a bitter taste and burnt sugar odor. The caffeine is a stimulant, but also contributes a characteristic bitter flavor to the cola. The secret formula of the additional flavorings is known to two executives at Coca-Cola. The original copy of the formula is kept in Atlanta in the SunTrust Banks vault.