Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Facilitating the Educational Approaches to Students with Special Needs Essay

Facilitating the Educational Approaches to Students with Special Needs - Essay Example Within the context of the classroom setting, the teacher is required to identify the most effective of the teaching strategies which may be deployed vis--vis the special needs students. Identification is done through either the problem solving or the special protocol approach (Teaching LD, 005). Ideally, the characteristics and needs of the students function as the primary determinant of the learning approach which will ultimately be selected. The problem-solving approach, as clarified in "Teaching LD"(2005) is comprised of four steps. These are problem identification, problem analysis, plan implementation, and problem evaluation. The first step is an observational one, whereby the teacher is required to observe students classroom behavior for identification of problem areas. The second step focuses on the analysis of the identified problem for the purpose of identifying the factors which incite them and how these problems may be addressed. This second step, in other words, involves an in-depth exploration of the identified problem for the purposes of formulating a corrective plan. The third step entails the implementation of the individual student plans which were formulated in the previous step.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Programme Schedule Essay Example for Free

Programme Schedule Essay It should be noted that although I have used Sky One as an example of a typical evenings viewing on Sky, this ignores the other channels available through the satellite broadcaster. But in doing so I am illustrating the channels provision in terms of target audience, rejection of a public service ethos (to educate, inform and entertain), and its ability to house hour after hour of populist programming on one channel (complimenting Sky One is a mass of channels providing a wide range of programming (see Sky World and Family Pack, appendix 2)). What is obvious from this comparison is that the public service broadcasters are providing a schedule which caters for the widest possible audience, within the structure of two channels (BBC1/BBC2/RTE1/N2). There is the argument that, instead of attempting to provide an output representative of the whole of its audience, which on the face of it seems impossible, it should specialise into more defined areas. Some complain that money being spent on paying comedians for programmes such as `Have I Got News For You` (Friday 21:00, BBC), could be better spent on this specialisation, however those arguments often come down to ones particular taste, rather than any informed argument. What is it that public service broadcasters provide, which are deemed in the `public interest`, that those without such a remit fail to provide? It can surely not, as outlined previously be choice. Diversity, a term often associated with public service broadcasters, is no longer solely applicable to the latter as diverseness is arguably a product of greater choice. It could be argued however that the choice and diversity available from terrestrial public service broadcasters is of a higher quality and is therefore of greater value to an interested audience. The pluralistic nature of public service broadcasting requires that they take into account the sociocultural segmentation of society, but this is often difficult because of the limited terrestrial channel space available. However, what it does do is provide a common domain, arguably important in the context of social interaction. The ability of the audience to discuss for example, the previous nights episode of Eastenders (BBC1) in the playground or at work should not be underestimated. It could be argued that a wider range of viewing could bring a greater level of social ideas and concepts, yet this ignores the `information rich/information poor` argument, and the resulting divide which has yet to be addressed. The digression by both RTE and the BBC into digital media does not, in the current climate, resolve the problem of catering for such a large audience on a limited broadcasting frequency, simply because digital television is not widespread enough at this time. The conundrum for both organisations therefore, is that in order that they become both more diverse and competitive, their energies must go into the creation and promotion of their digital services so as to have a foothold in the future of digital broadcasting. And here lies the rub, At the moment there does not exist a platform solely intended for the broadcast of the BBCs digital programmes. It is available through NTL, Sky and ITV Digital, and therefore, the BBC is indirectly promoting the formats that have reduced their audience share and contributed to calls for its privatisation. The argument hinges on how the PSBs intend to supply their digital services in the future. They may provide a set-top box through which their channels can be received, or fund their place on the current EPG (Electronic Programme Guide), available through SkyDigital. RTE will begin broadcasting on the SkyDigital platform from April 2002, which has emphasised its intention to fulfil its public service remit by extending its audience reach to as many parts of Ireland as possible. However both NTL and Chorus, (cable companies operating in Ireland) have complained that RTE paid a reported i 6 million for its inclusion on the SkyGuide EPG (Electronic Programme Guide), whereas RTE is hosted for free, and importantly, compulsorily by the two cable operators. If Chorus Digital were to pull the plug on RTE, the low subscription rate would not cause significant damage to the public service broadcaster. However, NTL, who have a much higher subscription, and therefore attract more advertising, offers a greater problem. If NTL removed RTE from its output, advertising revenues would fall dramatically, indeed, it has already fallen in 2001 by i 12 million; 15. 5 million less than projected for 2002 and RTE would inevitably become bankrupt. But in doing so, NTL would almost certainly have its licence revoked, which it would appear, provides the greatest chance of survival for RTE. As I have discussed earlier, the introduction of satellite broadcasting into the UK and Ireland has had a detrimental impact upon the public service broadcasters viewing figures. The information below illustrates the year-on-year increase and uptake of cable and satellite subscription, paralleled with a year-on-year decrease in the BBCs viewing figures. RTE has been grouped in the same category as cable and satellite, however RTE would represent only a fraction of the increase. (NB. Shares before 1996 have been rounded to nearest whole number)

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Aesthetics Should Never Take Precedence Over Function Essay -- Archite

Aesthetics Should Never Take Precedence Over Function From the early Greek temples of yesteryear, to the high-tech autonomous buildings of tomorrow, the question of whether the function of a building or its aesthetics qualities are more important has plagued the minds of architects around the world. Webster's II New College Dictionary (Please do not use the encyclopedia or the dictionary to open your essay--way too high school.) defines aesthetics as "The branch of philosophy that provides a theory of the beautiful and of the fine arts" (18). The definition of Functionalism is defined by Webster's as "The doctrine that the function of an object should determine its design and materials" (453). Now, if the function of an object decides the type of design and materials used how does one integrate aesthetics into design, and moreover, how important are aesthetics to an architect? Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest and most renowned architects of the 19th and 20th centuries, and while his buildings where lauded for displaying great artistic design, the issue of function was compromised by the blatant fact that his roofs leaked. This is because he let the aesthetics of his buildings become the focus of the structure, and neglected to adequately address the function of the building allowing for this problem to take root in his designs (Palermo, 4 Mar. 1999). As is apparent from Frank Lloyd Wright, there is a certain balance that has to be attained between aesthetics and functionalism in order for a structure to be appreciated as a successful building. Historically speaking, there have been many famous architects that have struggled with finding a ratio between aesthetics and functionalism. Le Corbusier is a good example ... ...ly overbearing, but at the same time remaining pleasing to the eye (Palermo, 6 Apr 1999). In conclusion, the debate between aesthetics and functionalism has been around for a long time. It becomes clear however, through research, that the first thing architects consider is function, and then aesthetics. It is because of this approach that aesthetics becomes somewhat of a by-product of the whole design process. By looking at examples of various buildings, it is apparent that aesthetics is important to structure and in many instances has been successfully coupled with function. But in no circumstance should aesthetics take precedence over the function and practicality of a building. It seems more likely that a happy medium between function and aesthetics can be reached, on a project by project basis, and then applied to the design process of creating the building.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Essay

In her anthology Written by Herself, Jill Ker Conway discuses a central theme in black women’s autobiography that is fully shown in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) by Maya Angelou: â€Å"Because, from girlhood, these women faced the dual injustices of racial hostility and male exploitation, their life histories are told with no hint of romantic conventions. They describe, instead, a quest for physical and psychological survival† (3). Angelou’s illustration of her childhood and adolescence shows her frequent conflicts with racism, sexism, and injustice at the same time that the Maya describes her personal qualities, events, and the people that helped her to survive the destructive effects of her environment and served as positive role models for her. Despite the constant oppression she faced as a girl growing up lacking financial or other means of subsistence in the racially segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas, Angelou gives emphasis to the role models of her family members who sustained and raised her. These people contributed to Angelou’s development into a brave, independent young black woman. A Song of Transcendence: Maya Angelou Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was published at the end of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and it carries with itself the bitter and hard-won fruit of this historical period. Angelou knows the cruel realities of life in the raciest Deep South in the mid-twentieth century. As the critic Roger Rosenblatt (1974) has stated, â€Å"No black American author has ever felt the need to invent a nightmare to make [her] point† (174). As Maya Angelou describes her childhood: â€Å"High spots in Stamps were usually negative: droughts, floods, lynchings and deaths† (Conway 45). Touched by the harsh effects of these negative forces, Maya Angelou goes through her life with sense of self-importance and self-respect. She moves forward toward a goal of freedom with a sense of self-knowledge, an understanding of the political realities of black life in the racist South, and a realization of the responsibility that such an understanding involves. Significant Others Maya describes several Black women nurturing a young Black girl in a racist and sexist society. These Black women characters serve as positive role models for Maya. This autobiography illustrates how Black women love themselves and each other in spite of living in a world that does not love or respect them. Angelou’s work describes a positive character of Black women who support each other and still remain individuals, free to choose their own paths to self-sufficiency. Angelou writes: â€Å"if growing up is painful for the Southern black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult† (4). Her autobiography illustrates the painful double strikes of becoming Black and female adult. As a young girl, Maya Angelou has a strong desire to be white, to be a member of what she considers as the more favored and lucky race. The girl dreams to wake up out of her â€Å"ugly black dream† and instead become a white girl with beautiful long blond hair and blue eyes (2). She is aware, even as a little girl, that her â€Å"nappy black hair† and dark skin are not valued highly. The girl begins her difficult life with the painful feeling of not being â€Å"good enough,† since Maya could not find girls who were black in any literature or movies. From the age of three Maya Angelou is raised and nurtured by her devoutly religious grandmother that is severely correct in attention to rules and morality. The girl calls her grandmother â€Å"Momma. † Although Maya realizes that she is often perplexed by her grandmother’s manners, she definitely loves and respects her. This substitute mother-daughter relationship provides some state of being secure for the young Maya. Some feminist literature emphasizes the meaning of the mother-daughter relationship for young women’s psychological development (Iglesias and Cormier 259). Maya gives prominence to the important role of her grandmother (and later, her mother). Angelou’s account strategy bears witness to the strong impact these relationships had on her life, and in the end on her literary work. Maya Angelou places emphasis on the role of the black woman that has played in shaping her unique individual characteristics and destiny. Nancy Chodorow (1978) asserts that â€Å"because of their mothering by women, girls come to experience themselves as less separate than boys, as having more permeable ego boundaries. Girls come to define themselves more in relation to others† (93). In A Poetics of Women’s Autobiography, Sidonie Smith analyzes different theories of women’s autobiography and discusses among them â€Å"theories that distinguish women’s autobiographies by the way in which women seem to unfold their story through their relationship to a significant ‘other’† (18). Maya Angelou feels the pain of racism as she observes her dearly loved paternal grandmother endure embarrassment when white girls call her â€Å"Annie† instead of addressing her with respect as â€Å"Mrs. Henderson. † Being a teenager, Maya has a similar situation when she is â€Å"called out of her name† by a white female employer who calls her â€Å"Mary† (108). Momma Henderson’s painful experiences have prepared Maya Angelou for her own encounters with racist American society. The refusal of a white dentist, to whom Momma Henderson has provided loan, is another instance of the humiliation these two generations of Black women confront together. The dentist replied that he would â€Å"rather stick [his] hand in a dog’s mouth than in a nigger’s,† granddaughter and grandmother have to travel twenty-five miles to find the nearest Black dentist (189). The echo of Jim Crow, even so many years after slavery, places Black women at the very low position in a white patriarchal system. And yet despite the painful experience and examples of racism, Angelou’s autobiography is a story of victory and a praising of the strength and power of Black women. Maya portrays Momma Henderson as a strong, made by oneself, economically independent woman who has gained knowledge how operate and accomplish the goals in a world that believes women should be timid and dependent. Despite behavior conflicts with those who try to humiliate her, Momma Henderson is always the winner of any conflict because she never surrenders and retains her self-respect—and she teaches Maya Angelou to do the same. Vivian Baxter, Maya’s mother, is a woman of great ingenuity and has personal qualities like her own mother. She enjoys life, despite life’s troubles. From her mother, Maya learns the happiness of being a woman, delighting in the womanlike, and being proud of her Black female body. Mrs. Flowers, the â€Å"aristocrat† of Stamps, Arkansas, also encourages Maya to be â€Å"proud to be a Negro† (95). She helps Maya regain her self-confidence after the rape; she gives her lessons about the importance and beauty of language; she introduces to her great writers; and she gives her â€Å"lessons in living† so that Maya would learn to listen â€Å"carefully to what country people called mother wit †¦ couched in the collective wisdom of generations† (100). All of these black women teach Maya to love and respect herself, and to remember the generations of Black women who have come before her and helped pave a road of self-sufficiency in a strict world. Conclusion Maya Angelou played particular attention to the themes of motherhood within her autobiography. Angelou wrote a story in which both blackness and womanhood could be celebrated. What makes the work particularly powerful is her description of the vulnerable sexual positions in which black girls and women are placed. Readers see how Angelou presents black women among her family and friends and the significant role they play in providing the girl with security and love. Angelou describes black women as wise or trusted advisers in her intellectual development. Repeatedly Angelou expresses gratitude for the presence of these powerful and independent women in her life and credits them for the individual she becomes. Works Cited Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Bantam Books, 1969. Chodorow, N. The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978. Conway, Jill Ker ed. , Written by Herself: An Anthology, New York: Vintage Books, 1992. Iglesias, Elizabeth and Cormier, Sherry. â€Å"The Transformation of Girls to Women: Finding Voice and Developing Strategies for Liberation. † Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. Vol. : 30 (4), 2002. Rosenblatt, Roger. Black Fiction, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974. Smith, Sidonie. A Poetics of Women’s Autobiography. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Football as an Intramural Essay

Abstract Intramural sports present a fun way for students to spend their time at school, and provide an excellent opportunity to introduce themselves in the new world of college. Students get the chance to meet new people by playing against them in various sports such as softball, volleyball, and basketball. These sports are also co-ed, meaning that men and women can play on the same teams or against one another. Intramurals is also a great way to improve attendance or boost student’s motivation to improve their grades. However, there is only a select variety of options for sports. Most of the sports would fall under women’s sports, with their being softball over baseball and volleyball over football. There aren’t many options for men to get involved in intramurals with no men’s sports to play. Adding one sport that’s a men’s sport will give men more options in participating in intramurals. The addition of football may be what this school needs to get more people involved in intramural sports at Alexandria Technical and Community College (ATCC). With a chance for more men to participate, and more women to get involved in men’s sports, it’s a sport that cannot fail if the right conditions are met. Too much contact could be an issue, but if it were even touch football (2-hand touch), there wouldn’t be very many problems. Adding football to ATCC intramurals is what this school needs to not only offer more options for students, but to help attendance and boost student motivation to improve grades. It will be beneficial for the school, and fun for the students. 1. 0 Introduction Alexandria Technical and Community College is a great place to get to know other students. One of the ways to meet the students is by joining their intramural sports and getting on teams that compete against the other teams of the school. 1. 1 Problem With having intramural sports comes the privilege of choosing what you want to do with your time. However, there are not many options for intramural sports. There is softball and volleyball, just to name a couple, but not many options for the students. This may be why there are a lot of ATCC students not participating in intramurals. We believe that the addition of one particular sport will attract more students, and that sport is football. 2. 0 Discussion 2. 1 Benefits to ATCC One of the main focuses of ATCC is to get their students involved in the school and the community. One of the ways they stride for this goal is to encourage students to join in intramurals. Our idea is that if football is added to the intramural list, it may bring in more students to participate in intramural sports, and bring more students together. 2. 2 Benefits to Students According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Proposition 48, students who participate in school activities and sports must maintain a GPA of 2. 0 on a 4. 0 scale [ (Begnaud, 2007) ]. With that being said, this would prove that students who participate in extracurricular activities would have to motivate themselves and push themselves to maintain a high enough GPA to still participate. This motivation would be beneficial to students, and with more students wanting to play football, this would motivate more students to succeed in school. So now the question is, â€Å"How do you know football is a popular sport? † Well, according to studies done by many colleges such as MSU Moorhead, football has been ranked the number one popular sport in the United States [ (Walter) ]. This means that given the choice, football would be the top pick for the majority of the nation. With that being said, if football is added to intramurals then students would choose it for their intramural and would be motivated to do well in school to be able to participate in intramurals. Figure 1. 1 2. 3 Effects on Attendance As was stated in section 2. 1, students would be more likely to do good in school because they must maintain a GPA of at least a 2. 0 on a 4. 0 scale. If students are to good in school, they must attend school and do well. Attendance is important to do good in school, so intramurals must effect attendance, right? This can be proven if the rules of the NCAA Proposition 48 are followed. 2. 4 Effects on Grades Again, the NCAA Proposition 48 proves that sports do have a major impact on grades, but only because they have to. Students must do good in school if they want to participate in intramurals. Figure 1. 2 2. 5 Right to Give Students a Choice in Sports According to the Constitution, we all have the right to free speech (Amendment 1). If this is true, then it should also give us all the right to a vote. So shouldn’t students be able to vote on whether or not to include football in intramurals? In addition to that, students should also have the right to vote on whether or not to choose if they want to play football as their intramural if it is added to intramurals. The point to be made here is that we all have a right to vote, so we feel that there should be a vote at ATCC on whether or not to add football to the list of intramurals. Our voices should be heard if there is something that we truly believe will benefit the people and the school better. 2. 6 Comparison to Schools with Football as an Intramural Sport It is very difficult to compare ATCC with other schools with intramural sports, and especially since ATCC doesn’t have football as an intramural. However, according to the following website, these are the community colleges that do include football as a sport of choice: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_community_college_football_programs This website gives all of the schools that have football as a sport of choice. On this list, some of the schools are also listed on the list of the top community colleges in the US. ATCC ranked #8 on the list, while St. Paul College ranked #1, and they do have football as a sport [ (Washington Monthly, 2010) ]. So, could football actually help our students do better in school? It appears that it could, since 57% of all men in colleges played football [ (Heinlien, 2007) ]. 3. 0 Conclusion In conclusion, due to the facts given in the above sections, we believe that students should be able to participate in a vote for football as an intramural at ATCC. Also, whether the vote happens or not, football should be added to the intramural list to improve student participation, and to improve not only attendance, but grades too. 4. 0 Appendix 5. 0 Glossary Intramural-involving only students in the same school or college. That’s the only word we feel the need to define 6. 0. Works Cited Begnaud, B. (2007, February 15). The Effect of Athletic Involvement on GPA. Retrieved November 28, 2012, from Yahoo Answers: http://voices. yahoo. com/the-effect-athletic-involvement-gpa-benefits-201277. html? cat=25 Heinlien, E. (2007, October 28). The Benefits of Intramural Sports. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from Helium: http://www. helium. com/items/670511-the-benefits-of-intramural-sports Mueller, J. (2012, February 16). Do Sports Have an Affect on GPA. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from Stat Crunch: http://www. statcrunch. com/5. 0/viewreport. php? reportid=23966 Walter, T. (n. d. ). How Do Professional Sports in the US Rank in Popularity. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from Wiki Answers: http://wiki. answers. com/Q/How_do_professional_sports_in_the_US_rank_in_popularity Washington Monthly. (2010). College Guide. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from Washington Monthly: http://www. washingtonmonthly. com/college_guide/rankings_2010/community_colleges. php.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

How Long Should I Study for the SAT 6 Step Guide

How Long Should I Study for the SAT 6 Step Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In planning your SAT prep, you probably want to know how long you need to study. Is it weeks or months? Is it dozens of hours or hundreds? The answerto these questionsdepends on a variety of factors, including the scores you are hoping to get and how comfortable you already are with the test material from your general experiences in school and life. There’s no reason to torture yourself with endless SAT studying if your scores are already in the target range for your top choice schools. On the other hand, if you are still pretty far away from the scores you are looking for, you may have to work harder than you think. In this guide, I'll show you how to figure out how much you need to improve on the SAT, how many hours you need to spend to get there, and how you should build a study schedule before your next real test. Below are the six steps you need to follow to figure out your SAT study plan. #1: Figure Out Your SAT Target Score The easiest way to get a target score is to Google your top choice school and â€Å"average SAT scores†. You should find a 25th percentile score and a 75th percentile score for the school. The range between the two represents the scores of the middle 50 percent of admitted students.Aim for the 75th percentile score (e.g. a higher score than 75% of the school’s admitted students) as your target to make sure you have the best chance at being accepted! For more details about this, see our article on target scores.Remember, not everyone can or should have the same target score. It’s up to you to be realistic and assess your abilities while also challenging yourself. #2: Take a Practice SAT to Determine Your Starting Point It's important to know your abilities and weak spots before you begin studying. You can plan out your studying time based on how large of an improvement you need to make from your starting point to your target scores. Check out our guide to a set of official SAT practice tests available free online. You can also use your PSAT scores as a baseline for judging how much you will need to improve on the SAT if you've taken that test already. However, I would still recommend taking another practice test if you are in the latter half of your sophomore year and took the PSAT at the beginning of the year. (When I first took the PSAT in high school, I had no idea what was going on in the math section since I had just started my first geometry class. I was like "Shapes? Forget this!" and the proctor told me I had to stop disrupting the other students. Anyways, by the end of the year, everything was much less confusing.) Once you have your baseline scores, you can begin to see where you need to make improvements to reach your target. #3: Decide When You Will Take the Real Test We recommend taking the SAT for the first time during the fall of your Junior year(see the advice under "When Should I Take the SAT?"),but you may decide to take it earlier or later depending on your schedule and level of preparedness. In general, the early bird catches the worm (the metaphorical worm in this case being a higher SAT score).You will have more potential test dates available in the future and a better idea of where you stand if you start earlier. You will also run up against much less stress. You probably don’t want to be worrying about standardized tests while you're filling out college applications during the fall of your senior year. But what if you're in a scenario where you don't have your choice of test dates? Maybe you're planning a hot air balloon trip around the world that's happening at the same time as all the earlier dates. Maybe you'realready coming up on senior fall, and there's only one test date left. In this case, your test date is constrained, and you'll need to work hard to meet the suggested number of hours before your test. Whatever the case may be, you can still find a study plan that works for you. Sometimes you gotta miss the SAT to fulfill the dreams you and your beloved wife once shared. That's how life is. #4: Give It to Me Straight Doc, How Many Hours Do I Actually Have to Study? Based on your goals, you can figure out how many hours you will probably need to study. Follow this handy chart that shows the number of hours you should devote to poring over ancient tomes of SAT knowledge. Number of Points You Want to Improve By Approximate Hours You’ll Need to Study 0-30 Points 10 hours 30-70 Points 20 hours 70-130 Points 40 hours 130-200 Points 80 hours 200-330 Points 150+ hours This is a rough estimate, so itobviously isn't perfect. Each student has different levels of development in terms of study habits and test strategies. We'll go into more detail later about factors that might lead to score variations given the same amount of study time. But in our experience, this is roughly what it takes. If you want to improve by around 30 points, you'll be able to this with a light review, a single practice test, and retaking the official test. On the other hand,if you want to improve by 200 points or more, you'll need to make serious improvements in your understanding of fundamental content and skills.The SAT tests so much subject matterthat to improve by 200 points, you'll need to address deep content weaknesses. Tips and tricks aren't going to cut it. You also might not have this much time to devote to studying because of other commitments. That's why you should take these hourly estimates into consideration while still weighing everything on an individual basis to see what works for you. This brings us to... #5: Make a Study Plan Based on Your Time Constraints and Studying Style Ideally, you will still have at least six months or so before the test to formulate your study plan.As I've said, there is no one size fits all approach to this. You may not need to start studying six months in advance. Two months could be more than enough if you are already closer to your target score or prefer to study for longer chunks of time. Ask yourself how much of an improvement you want to make and then consider what is manageable in terms of time spent. Here are a couple of example scenarios: I Want to Improve by 70-130 Points, and I Have Many Other Commitments Try focused studying for an hour or two every week for however much time you have before the test.If you start at least a few months beforehand, you won’t be overwhelmed with yet another commitment. You'll gradually gain familiarity with questions and learn to avoid any silly mistakes that might cause you to lose points. If you can study for just two hours a week for two months, you should be able to boost your score by 100 points or so. I Want to Improve by Around 200 Points, and I Have the Summer to Study, but I’m not Sure Where to Start! Unstructured time is hard to manage, but this means you have your choice of when you are most comfortable and least distracted for studying times.If you schedule out a few hours each week where you will focus on studying, a couple months can be enough to improve your scores. The chart above recommends around 80 hours of studying for a 200 point improvement. If you have three months to study, that comes out to about five hours a week. Not so bad. If your parents invite their friends over for a barbecue, and they try to talk to you about your college plans in a desperate attempt to relate to you, you can use SAT studying as an excuse to avoid them. Everybody wins. I Want to Improve by 330 Points or More. Am I Crazy? No, you are (probably) perfectly sane!You should start studying earlier, but it’s doable if you are willing to put in some serious time and effort. Especially if your initial score is below average (typically less than 1000), you have a good chance of making a drastic improvement through studying. If you still have six months before the test, you should think about which day of the week you will be least stressed by other commitments and schoolwork and set that afternoon/evening aside for an SAT extravaganza. If you can block out fivehours a week for six months in advance of the test, you should start to see significant positive results. Also, if you happen to have the resources to hire a tutor, this is when you might consider doing so. Tutors have expertise and familiarity with the test material, so they can often help you see your weak spots when you might miss them. Since the SAT is very different from any test you might take in a regular class, it's hard to be a student who is new to the test and try to teach yourself question strategies that are alien to you. Learn from a wise mentor. #6: ConsiderFactors That Increase or Decrease Study Time You might have special circumstances that mean you need to customize your study plan more drastically. Some people should study for more or less time based on past experience and time management skills. You'll Need to Study Longer If: You've already studied a lot, and you haven't seen much improvement.This typically means you need to switch up your strategies in addition to studying more. Take a step back and look at how you have been approaching your study time so you can make productive changes. You're easily distracted.You might not get as much out of your blocks of study time if you are always being sidetracked by other things. Try scheduling out more time, and put your phone away while you're studying. It takes a while for you to learn from your mistakes.If you need to practice answering questions a few times before you understand your mistakes, you should consider studying for longer periods of time. You Might Improve in Less Time If: You are new to the SAT.If you are someone who has barely looked at the test before and just started studying, you are going to see larger score gains in a shorter amount of time. You are a super focused studier.What might take another person two hours to process will take you one, so consider dialing back your study time so you aren't overdoing it and getting test fatigue. You learn quickly from your mistakes.If you never make the same mistake twice, you also shouldn't overdo it with studying. You probably only have to get the wrong answer once before you can rely on yourself to get the right one in the future. Summary: How Long to Study for the SAT You can formulate your SAT study plan based on your goals and the statistics for your top choice schools.The key is starting early! Figure out your target score, take a few practice tests, and decide how much you need to improve.Then, assess your time constraints and be realistic about how much energy you can devote to studying. You’ve got this! What's Next? Check out our Complete Planfor when you should start studying for the SAT. This will give you a more comprehensive view of how to structure your time including what's tested, when you should take the test, and sample score goals for different levels of college selectivity. Also, take a look at our guide forhow to review missed questions on the SAT and ACT. If you can learn to effectively review missed questions, you will be a much more productive studier! Want to get a super high SAT score? Check out our perfect SAT score guide, written by a perfect scorer. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

Monday, October 21, 2019

How to Make a DNA Model out of Candy

How to Make a DNA Model out of Candy There are many common materials you can use to form the double helix shape of DNA. Its easy to make a DNA model out of candy. Heres how a candy DNA molecule is constructed. Once youve completed the science project, you can eat your model as a snack. Key Takeaways: Candy DNA Model Candy is a fun and edible construction material that is perfect for making a model of DNA.The key ingredients are a rope-like candy to serve as the DNA backbone and gummy candies to act as the bases.A good DNA model shows base pair bonding (adenine to thymine; guanine to cytosine) and the double helix shape of the DNA molecule. Smaller candies may be used to add more detail to the model. The Structure of DNA In order to construct a model of DNA, you need to know what it looks like. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule shaped like a twisted ladder or double helix. The sides of the ladder are the DNA backbone, made up of repeating units of a pentose sugar (deoxyribose) bonded to a phosphate group. The rungs of the ladder are the bases or nucleotides adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The ladder is twisted slightly to make a helix shape. Candy DNA Model Materials You have several options here. Basically, you need 1-2 colors of rope-like candy for the backbone. Licorice is good, but you can find gum or fruit sold in strips, too. Use four different colors of soft candy for the bases. Good choices include colored marshmallows and gumdrops. Just be sure to choose a candy you can puncture using a toothpick. LicoriceSmall colored marshmallows or gummy candy (4 different colors)Toothpicks Construct the DNA Molecule Model Assign a base to a candy color. You need exactly four colors of candies, which will correspond to adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. If you have extra colors, you can eat them.Pair up the candies. Adenine binds to thymine. Guanine binds to cytosine. The bases do not bond to any others! For example, adenine never bonds to itself or to guanine or cytosine. Connect the candies by pushing a matched pair of them next to each other in the middle of a toothpick.Attach the pointy ends of the toothpicks to licorice strands, to form a ladder shape.If you like, you can twist the licorice to show how the ladder forms a double helix. Twist the ladder counterclockwise to make a helix like the one that occurs in living organisms. The candy helix will unravel unless you use toothpicks to hold the top and bottom of the ladder to cardboard or polystyrene foam. DNA Model Options If you like, you can cut pieces of red and black licorice to make a more detailed backbone. One color is the phosphate group, while the other is the pentose sugar. If you choose to use this method, cut the licorice into 3 pieces and alternate colors on a string or pipecleaner. The candy needs to be hollow, so licorice is the best choice for this variation of the model. Attach bases to the pentose sugar parts of the backbone. Its helpful to make a key to explain the parts of the model. Either draw and label the model on paper or attach candies to cardboard and label them. Quick DNA Facts DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) are nucleic acids, an important class of biological molecules.DNA is the blueprint or code for all of the proteins formed in an organism. For this reason, it is also called the genetic code.New DNA molecules are made by breaking the ladder shape of DNA down the middle and filling in the missing pieces to make 2 molecules. This process is called transcription.DNA makes proteins through a process called translation. In translation, the information from DNA is used to make RNA, which goes to the ribosomes of a cell to make amino acids, which are joined to make polypeptides and proteins. Making a DNA model isnt the only science project you can do using candy. Use extra materials to try other experiments!

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Primer, Manual and Handbook

Primer, Manual and Handbook Primer, Manual and Handbook Primer, Manual and Handbook By Maeve Maddox In American usage, the word primer has two pronunciations, according to whether it refers to a beginning reading book [PRIM-ur] or to an undercoat of paint [PRY-mur]. In British usage, it’s pronounced the same way for both [PRY-mur]. This post is about the word primer [PRIM-ur] as it applies to a source of elementary instruction. The first primers were devotionals or instructional manuals written for Christian church members. They contained prayers and explanations of doctrine. Because primers were often used for the secondary purpose of teaching children to read, later church primers contained a section with the ABCs. In 1545 primers intended specifically for children began to be published under the title The A.B.C. Primers. By 1600, the word primer referred chiefly to books intended for beginning reading instruction. When I was in grade school, I had a textbook that showed pages from The New England Primer, the first elementary textbook published in the American colonies. It contained the alphabet with a verse for each letter. One that springs to mind after all these years is the unforgettable verse for the letter X: Xerxes must die and so must I. The meaning of primer as a beginning reading textbook or a book of religious instruction has not entirely disappeared, as can be seen in these modern titles available at Amazon: A Gospel Primer for Christians Alpha-Phonics: A Primer for Beginning Readers The term has evolved to mean a small introductory book on any subject. For example: A Primer of Assyriology The Puppy Primer Loom Knitting Primer Cheese Primer The Pantry Primer C++ Primer Plus A Primer for the Mathematics of Financial Engineering In extended use, primer can include things other than books: Along the way, their work [that of the Coen brothers] has served as a primer of American history- their films are almost uniformly period pieces- especially as reflected onscreen. Fights with the enemy were a given, though as it turned out the Iraq War served as a primer for Afghanistan, where Scheuer was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in combat. Altogether, the [Barlow] campaign served as a primer in Catskills history. Originally, primers were quite small. Here are three other English words for books that contain basic information and are small enough to carry about: manual noun (classical Latin manualis, â€Å"held in the hand, of a size to fill the hand†): a book containing in concise form the principles, rules, and directions needed for the mastery of an art, science, or skill. Example: The acronym IAEFRTM stands for â€Å"If All Else Fails, Read the Manual.† handbook noun (literal English translation of Latin manualis): a concise reference book covering a particular subject or field of knowledge. Example: His favorite gift was A Handbook to Help Identify Hudson River Fish Larvae. vade mecum noun:  (Latin imperative: â€Å"Go with me!†): A vade mecum is a small book convenient for carrying about. Example: Dr. Thaddeus William Harris prepared a catalogue of insects that served as the vade mecum of the working entomologist in the northeastern part of the United States for at least fifty years. 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 Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Classes and Types of PhrasesPeople versus PersonsThe Difference Between "Un-" and "Dis-"

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Primary and secondary Data Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Primary and secondary Data - Essay Example With the transformation of the globe, various trends of globalization are paving the way for new business opportunities. The ease of getting access to information has significantly beefed up the level of competition that exists in the global markets. In order to gain advantage in this competition, it has become very necessary for the companies to undertake significant amount of research before the process of launching a new product or service in the market. The conduction of research helps in the process of estimating the needs as well as the demands of the market. About the company The company that has been considered in this case is California based Monster Energy Corporation. Talking about the company, it can be said that it is one of the leading marketer and distributor of various energy drinks and beverages. Some of the most popular brands under the product portfolio of the company are Monster Energy, Hansen’s, Peace Tea, Worx Energy, Blue Sky etc (Monster Energy Company, 2012). Talking about the market segmentation for the company’s products, the focus for the US markets mainly depends on the young audience. Also, the company’s products are segmented and targeted towards the masses of some of the foreign markets which are spread in the developing as well as the developed regions. In this case, it has been assumed that the company is trying to launch a new energy based drink for the US market. The speciality of the new product is that this energy drink is exclusively for the female audience. Hence, the audience that needs to be segmented in this case is mostly the young female population residing in the US. Different types of data and research methodology Market research is a very vast domain, which comprises different kinds of approaches, tools and techniques. While trying to conduct a market research, it needs to be highlighted that the data can be of two types. There can be primary or secondary data. Primary data are gathered by the researcher for the purpose of finding more relevant information for the project at hand (Burns and Bush, 2006, p. 146). On the contrary, secondary data are already available as some other researcher has actually collected or compiled the data for relevant usage in their respective project (Zikmund and Babin, 2007, p. 160). Now, while discussing the types of research methodology, it can be said that it can be either descriptive, exploratory or causal in nature. Descriptive research is conducted when the main objective is to describe market related characteristics. Exploratory research is done when the focus is to discover new insights in regards to the main research question. Causal research is done when the researcher wants to explore a particular cause and effect kind of a relationship (Malhotra and Dash, 2008, p. 81). 5 different types of secondary research The five different types of secondary research that are available to the researcher are: government publications, online dat abases, data from previous research available in various research papers and research magazines, published magazines, secondary data from syndicate organizations. Nature of Research required for the new product Taking into consideration the nature of the product, it can be appropriate to do a secondary research followed by a primary research to gauge the reaction of the consumers in regards to the

Friday, October 18, 2019

Biology Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biology Research - Essay Example Basal like tumors are most commonly found in Nigeria and Senegal. Research is on to find drugs to block the specific molecules that these tumors need to grow. Women with mutations in a gene called Brca1 tend to develop this kind of aggressive breast tumor. Patterns of genetic activity of these tumors are measured through special tests because what the biological tests reveal turn out to be quite different from what the human eyes perceive. Researchers used new techniques of molecular biology to determine the patterns of gene activity in the cancer cells and then to classify and sort the subtypes by race. Further research is on to find an alternative to chemotherapy. Women of race are advised to get counseling in preventive care well before 40 especially if it runs in their family. As the incidence of breast cancer and mortality due to breast cancer keeps increasing in the USA, researchers and oncologists have been intrigued trying to find the root cause of breast cancer. While various physiological reasons have been associated, recent findings suggest that environmental factors react with genetic and individual predisposing factors and cause malignant tumors to develop in breast tissue. A paper Breast cancer and environmental risks: where is the link? by Mitra et al., (2004) was published in Journal of Environmental Health. To asses the environmental agents, the authors have reviewed previous studies focusing on xenoestrogens, organochlorines, polychlorinated biphenyls, and other environmental agents. Results revealed that exogenous estrogens present in the environment increase the growth of breast cancer cells while hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and oral contraceptives also play a significant role in the development of breast cancer during adolescence. X enoestrogens may increase the risk of cancer among those who are

Agriculture in the next 30 years Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Agriculture in the next 30 years - Assignment Example For quite a long time, researchers have ranked agriculture as the major source of income globally. In this regard, as the main economic activity and many countries’ economic backbone, speculations have always been made in fear of what might happen the next minute.A renowned scholar, Glen Hiemstra, of futurist.com once noted that any individual who does not emprise technology that comes along with agriculture remain a stumbling block to countries economic progress. In support to Hiemstra words, every individual’s effort towards agriculture helps to boost country’s GDP and per capita income.As an activity drawing scholarly interest, several definitions have been brought forth all inclined towards recognizing agriculture as farming or husbandry, a way of animal cultivation, plants and fungi production as well as production of foods and fiber all geared towards human life sustainability (Rosner, 2009). As a study majorly phrased as agricultural science refers to huma n activities. This paper gives an in-depth analysis of the future expectations of agriculture, drawing argument from past and present happenings. Agricultural activities date back thousands of years and it has developed tremendously due to different climates, cultures, and technology. Being the backbone of human life, agriculture had to be developed continuously to sustain the needs of the people in the world. In confirmation of the importance of the activity in generating income, most of the industries worldwide deal with agricultural product in their operations (Li, Liu, & Chen, 2011). Agriculture is thus a core activity to the world and people cannot live without it. The economy has to grow through the help of agriculture as the main activity. In general, as years go by, the need for foods, feed, fibers, biofuels, and fishing will increase significantly thus the need to develop and diversify agricultural sector. This will greatly be attributed by the desire to feed the constantly growing population, creation of employment activities to the citizens, need for a source of income and due to the fact that it is a source of foreign exchange. As such, every individual expects positive development of agriculture in the future. This is from the understanding of the impact it has to a county’s development. Agriculture is a very costly exercise in terms of cost and involvement, like for instance, buying of pesticides, nutrient runoff, excessive water usage and many more. Furthermore, pesticide poisoning, pollution of environment through chemicals emitted by agricultural activities are the major negative impacts by agriculture. Pollution of water by biofuels emitted from industries causes water scarcity hence increased the challenge of producing enough food for the growing population. Thus, the need to fulfill agricultural needs results to environmental degradation and negative implications on peoples lives in terms of high costs and their health and therefore the need for stern measures to be taken to counter the effects. It is expected therefore that in the future, having in mind the increasing living standards, the cost of all the above-mentioned will increase notably (Hiemstra, 2000). However, other scholars are for the opinion that better and cheaper means of farming might be initiated cutting down much of the expenses and hence bettering and increasing the production. The presently initiated biotechnological products will in the future, if not well handled expose human beings to dangerous infections such as cancer, diabetes, and heart attacks. People infected with such disease may even end up dying or developing lifetime complexities (Mundlak, 2000). The need to feed the growing population has called for swift development in crop production and pest control. In future, it is expected that technological advancements will be developed swiftly to curb food shortage and various pest control techniques. Disease prevalence in crops has ho wever remained constant despite all the

Thursday, October 17, 2019

2009 Stimulus Bill Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

2009 Stimulus Bill - Research Paper Example The day that President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he made a speech in Denver, which was city where he accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency. President Obama addressed the mayors regarding the stimulus plan and he highlighted the important aspects of the plan similar to his speech that he gave in Denver. President Obama had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada and took the opportunity, during the press conference to discuss the benefits of the stimulus plan. When Congress authorized the $787 billion economic stimulus package, not one House Republican voted for the stimulus plan. House Minority Leader John Boehner indicated that the plan would only make larger bureaucracies and not create jobs. Bill overview The American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill was the first essential step by the government to produce and preserve three to four million jobs, start up the economy, and start transforming the economy for the 21st c entury with $787.2 billion in economic improvement tax cuts and directed priority investments (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan allows for unparalleled supervision, responsibility, and clearness to make certain that taxpayer dollars are invested successfully and efficiently (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). ... The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan seeks to put individuals in employment to cut down America’s reliance on foreign oil by strengthening attempts aimed at increasing renewable energy manufacture and modernize public structures to make them more energy efficient.  (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). The plan will invest more than $30 billion to alter the country’s energy diffusion, delivery, and creation systems and investing $5 billion to weatherize middle class homes (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). The stimulus plan will invest $15 billion for science facilities, research, and instrumentation and $7.2 billion to expand broadband internet access in attempt to help companies compete in a global economy.  (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will invest $27.5 billion for highway construction, $16.5 billion to renew federal and other public infrastructure, $18.8 billion for clean water, flood control, and environmental restoration, and $17.7 billion for transportation initiatives to cut down traffic congestion and gas use (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). To facilitate children to be taught in 21st century schoolrooms, the stimulus plan will invest $26 billion in school districts, $53.6 billion in state fiscal aid to avoid cutbacks to vital services, and $15.6 billion to enlarge the Pell grant (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). In an effort to keep jobs, money, and lives, the stimulus plan will invest $19 billion for health information technology to avert medical errors, supply enhanced care to patients and establish cost-saving efficiencies and $2 billion to offer preventative care and to assess the most efficient healthcare treatments (Summary of Economic

Compare and Contrast the Great Depression with the Recent Great Essay

Compare and Contrast the Great Depression with the Recent Great Recession - Essay Example Depression affected the economic sustainability of many nations which led to a steep increase in the unemployment rates along with the frequencies of bankruptcy in financial as well as agricultural sectors. According to various economists, the major causes which led to the great depression related to the fluctuations of stock markets along with divestments in the agricultural sectors. It is worth mentioning that according to the perceptions of various researchers, the breakdown of stock market in the year 1929, popularly known as Black Thursday, is one of the significant causes of great depression. It caused countless side effects, such as increased rate of poverty, infringed living standard, declined real GDP, turbulent financial sector, and highly unstable political system. In addition, the export-import activities of the nations were also hampered that significantly reduced the revenue earned through foreign trade and thus resulted in a drought condition of the economies (Michl, T . R., â€Å"Macroeconomic Theory†). On the other hand, a great recession is the cause of economic decline. The major causes for recession can be identified as the imbalanced distribution of resources, relaxation in the mortgage standards, and distortions in real estate market. Moreover, due to inflation, the oil prices also increased to a large extent all over the world leading to recession (Michl, T. R., â€Å"Macroeconomic Theory†). The AS-AD model depicts the relationship between Aggregate Demand (AD) and Aggregate Supply (AS). In a general AS-AD model, the determinants are Short Run Aggregate Supply Curve (SRAS), Long Run Aggregate Supply Curve (LRAS) and real GDP. In this model, price level is described on the vertical axis and the real GDP on the horizontal axis with the intention to depict the changes occurring in the two aspects in relation to the changes of AS and AD (Michl, T. R., â€Å"Macroeconomic Theory†). Figure 1: AS-AD Model in General Terms Sou rce: (Michl, T. R., â€Å"Macroeconomic Theory†). During great depression, a simultaneous decrease of AD, LRAS and SRAS curves can be witnessed. When the stock market crashed in 1929, it resulted in decline of real GDP, price level as well as sharp movement of LRAS and SRAS curves. In the below figure, it is clearly shown that due to depression, LRAS0 shifts downward to LRAS1,similar to the SRAS0 and AD0. Consequently, the price level also shifts from original P0 to P1 and real GDP from Q0 to Q1. This reveals that every component tends to be downward slopping during great depression which creates a negative impact on the price level as well as on the real GDP (Michl, T. R., â€Å"Macroeconomic Theory†). Figure 2: AS-AD Curve during Great Depression Source: (Michl, T. R., â€Å"Macroeconomic Theory†) On the other hand, during great recession, Aggregate Demand (AD) curve slopes downward on the SRAS curve which tends to decrease the price level and real GDP, result ing in contractionary gap between LRAS and AD causing a recession in the economic environment. In the figure below, it can be witnessed that due to recession AD0 shifts to AD1 quite sharply. As a result, the real GDP also falls from Q0 to Q1 as well as the price level (P) that shifts from P0 to P1 causing the contractionary gap (Michl, T. R., â€Å"Macroeconomic Theory†). Figure 3: AS-AD Model in Great Recession Source: (Michl, T. R., â€Å"Macroeconomic Theory†) On the similar context, the federal fiscal policy was also

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

2009 Stimulus Bill Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

2009 Stimulus Bill - Research Paper Example The day that President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he made a speech in Denver, which was city where he accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency. President Obama addressed the mayors regarding the stimulus plan and he highlighted the important aspects of the plan similar to his speech that he gave in Denver. President Obama had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada and took the opportunity, during the press conference to discuss the benefits of the stimulus plan. When Congress authorized the $787 billion economic stimulus package, not one House Republican voted for the stimulus plan. House Minority Leader John Boehner indicated that the plan would only make larger bureaucracies and not create jobs. Bill overview The American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill was the first essential step by the government to produce and preserve three to four million jobs, start up the economy, and start transforming the economy for the 21st c entury with $787.2 billion in economic improvement tax cuts and directed priority investments (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan allows for unparalleled supervision, responsibility, and clearness to make certain that taxpayer dollars are invested successfully and efficiently (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). ... The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan seeks to put individuals in employment to cut down America’s reliance on foreign oil by strengthening attempts aimed at increasing renewable energy manufacture and modernize public structures to make them more energy efficient.  (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). The plan will invest more than $30 billion to alter the country’s energy diffusion, delivery, and creation systems and investing $5 billion to weatherize middle class homes (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). The stimulus plan will invest $15 billion for science facilities, research, and instrumentation and $7.2 billion to expand broadband internet access in attempt to help companies compete in a global economy.  (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will invest $27.5 billion for highway construction, $16.5 billion to renew federal and other public infrastructure, $18.8 billion for clean water, flood control, and environmental restoration, and $17.7 billion for transportation initiatives to cut down traffic congestion and gas use (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). To facilitate children to be taught in 21st century schoolrooms, the stimulus plan will invest $26 billion in school districts, $53.6 billion in state fiscal aid to avoid cutbacks to vital services, and $15.6 billion to enlarge the Pell grant (Summary of Economic Stimulus Bill, 2009). In an effort to keep jobs, money, and lives, the stimulus plan will invest $19 billion for health information technology to avert medical errors, supply enhanced care to patients and establish cost-saving efficiencies and $2 billion to offer preventative care and to assess the most efficient healthcare treatments (Summary of Economic

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Exam II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Exam II - Essay Example It is true that, the application of this agreement has helped to reduce the negative outcome of the war. In February 1848, the Mexican-American war was formally ended by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Over the next years, the tension between the United States and the Government of Mexico continued to rumble. The Gadsden Purchase treaty helped to settle the occurrence of dispute on Texas. The Gadsden Purchase included lands west of the Rio Grande and south of the Gila River. The purpose of the Treaty is for the construction of transcontinental railroad in United States along a southern road. The Gadsden Purchase is also linked to the settlement of the border issues. The key boundaries of the United States of American have been settled by the implementation of the Gadsden Purchase. The Mexican army was defeated by the Americans in a number of battles that forced Mexicans to surrender. The war was considered by the Massachusetts as a crime. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo helped to provide half-a-million square miles to United States (Tate, 2013). The line of the Gila River and the Rio Grande became international border. Moreover, the formally gave away of additional territory was not accepted by President Polk. On September 15, 1853, James Gadsden met with Santa Anna. A verbal instruction has been sent by President Pierce for Gadsden. An agent for United States investors, Christopher Ward was the one who took verbal instruction to Gadsden. The instructions gave negotiation option for Gadsden for a greater share of northern Mexico to 15 million dollars and Lower California for 50 million dollars. The instruction of the President Pierce to sell large portion of Mexico was refused by Santa Anna. Santa Anna wanted to gather money to reduce the ongoing reb ellions. This is the reason behind the application of treaty between Gadsden and Santa Anna. Mexican border was heavily raided by Americans. The Treaty was also

Monday, October 14, 2019

Against Space Program Funding Essay Example for Free

Against Space Program Funding Essay Opening Statement: The government uses approximately 17.6 billion dollars of the taxpayers money to fund NASA every year. We shouldn’t be funding NASA that money when our economy is the worst it’s been since the Great Depression; we need to focus and spend our money on the problems here on Earth. NASA hasn’t done anything significant in space in years. And it’s incredibly risky and dangerous going up there. Arguments: 1)Our economy is the worst it’s been since the Great Depression, why are we even considering funding NASA 17. 6 billion dollars when we have big problems here?! Barack Obama, our soon to be President, agrees. We elected him so he must be doing something right with the changes he wants to make. Millions of Americans die from preventable diseases all because they don’t have healthcare, and millions more go to bed hungry at night because they can’t afford to eat. If we took that 17 billion dollars and used to help people get health insurance at least our world would be a better place. Also, global warming issues like that are happening. If those NASA scientists used their knowledge to figure out a way to better help the earth instead of space, we’d be so much better off. 2)NASA hasn’t made any kind of discovery in recent years that’s been of any kind of use to us. Sure, finding out Pluto doesn’t really count as a planet is cool and all, but how does that help us in anyway?! It doesn’t make a difference if we know how many planets there are right now, what matters is that we use our money to help stop destroying the Earth try to fix the damage we’ve done. It’s great that we have the technology and skills to travel into space, but it’s becoming unaffordable and we have bigger expenses on our hands. 3)Its incredibly risky and dangerous traveling to space. Remember the space shuttle Columbia tragedy? Also, the radiation on Earth and Space is very different and the radiation in space can cause damage to human cells and possibly cancer. Osteoperosis is another risk. Because of microgravity, bones become brittle and a full recovery when arriving back on Earth may not occur. Space travel can also cause temporary and sometimes permanent hearing loss. And the biggest danger while in space? The debris that is constantly orbiting earth  travels at high speeds and can be deadly if collided with. Closing Statement: Before we continue any more exploration in space, we need to focus on exploring the ways we can help the Earth. We don’t need to spend 17 billion on NASA to find out facts that aren’t of great importance, to put the astronauts and people on the launch site in danger, and when we have so much work to do on Earth. The money will be better spent on fixing the economy and making the Earth a better place.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Developing MNEs Global Strategy

Developing MNEs Global Strategy How can leaders in today’s MNE formulate and implement  effective global strategy? Mengdi LIU Introduction Multinational enterprises (MNE) are organizations that provide or control goods or services inside and outside the home country. For example, â€Å"when a company has operations in more than one country or is registered in more than one country, it may be assigned as MNE†[1]. Usually, a multinational enterprise is a great corporation which produces or sells goods and services in various countries. Usually, companies are faced with different types of very important strategic decision, when they engage in international marketing operation. First of all, leaders need to make decisions in principle to submit the corporate to a certain extent of internationalization. More and more companies will realize that if they have a strong global logic requires, they must purse the global marketing for several competitive reasons. Once committed, the enterprise will have to determine where to go, and whether it is specific countries or geographic regions. Global strategy defined in business terms is the plans designed and developed by a corporation or an organization to target its sales’ growth on a worldwide scale. In other words, it is the long-term strategy of multinational entreprises that aims to obtain development and its long-term survival in today’s changing international business environment. Academic research on global strategy appeared in the age of 1980s, the work of Michael Porter and Christopher Bartlett Sumantra Ghoshal are most significant. The forces that are perceived to bring the globalization of competition were convergences in technological change and economic systems, particularly in information technology. All of these factors have facilitated and demanded the coordination of an international firms strategy worldwide. In this article, firstly, I will briefly introduce the goals of MNEs’ global strategy. Then why is global strategy important. Finally, I will apply the knowledge we learned in class to analyze how to formulate and implement an effective global strategy. The goal of MNEs’ global strategy The trend of world economy’s globalization has encouraged many organizations, especially these MNEs with abundant resources, to rethink the way they are competing in this ongoing expanding market. Products, markets, and interdependent financial work are growing at different paces towards a globalized system. The objective of the global strategy is to take the allocation of corporate resources into consideration in the increasingly complex global environment, to improve competitiveness, to enhance their competitive position and to maximize the overall benefits. Multinational enterprise will arrange its facilities in the most favorable countries, and will coordinate and link their activities in different countries. Global strategies help the MNEs to timely transfer achievements in technology development to management innovations, in order to enhance the companys core competitiveness. Why global strategy is important for MNEs From a company perspective, international expansion can provide potential opportunities for new sales and profits. For example, because of low profitability in the Chinese domestic market, TCL the Chinese consumer electronics company, decided on a strategy of going global. Lately, it implemented new offices abroad, new plants and acquisitions to expand its market position in United States and the European Union the two main consumer electronics markets. In addition to new sales opportunities, there are other reasons for expansion outside the home market. For instance, some companies going global in order to take advantage of low labor costs in some countries, which is called efficiency seeking. While sometimes the acquisition of foreign companies can be used to enhance the company’s market position versus competitors, which is called strategic asset seeking. From a customer perspective, international trade should lead to lower prices for services and goods due to the economies of scale and scope, which can derive from a greater global base. In addition, some customers like to own products and services that represent a global image. For example, ‘Manchester United’ branded soccer shirts or Disney cartoon characters. How MNEs formulate and implement the global strategy First of all, multinational enterprises have to figure out what its role is in international arena, what their core competencies are, whether international talents are available, and where the target market is, so that it could avoid the detours in the process of formulating and implementing the global strategy. Enterprises must have a clear strategy plan, and then combine their own characteristics to international environment to choose the right way. As a beginning point, it’s better to some basic international data to analyze different countries. Before entering a new market, it’s necessary to collect adequate data about this market, and then choose the best path based on strategic priorities and their own ability. New York Fries is a good example. â€Å"New York Fries Company was founded in 1983. And now in 2011, there were more than 190 NYF stores in six countries, with sales in excess of $64 million. Fifteen of the NYF stores were owned by the Company, the rest by franchisees. The biggest advantage of NYF is their product. NYF fries were made from real, not reconstituted, potatoes. They were hand-cut and fried in non-hydrogenated, trans fat-free, sunflower oil.†[2] Obviously, China could be a huge market for an American fast food restaurant, but NYF hesitate to expand into mainland China. So the company’s president, Jay Gould, chose Hong Kong to open their franchisees. At the time of the requests, Gould had never been to Hong Kong; his first visit was to select the new Hong Kong partners and scout locations for the franchise. Within five years, the pace of expansion in Hong Kong and Macau was slower than expected. Gould recognized that opening a location in China would probably take a great deal of time and effort from his head office staff. If NYF expand directly into mainland instead of locating in Hong Kong at first, maybe they would experience the failure as they did in South Korea. The next step is then to discover and identify the company’s resources and advantages for international expansion. For example, the company may have unique brand or some special patents that can be made use of in international expansion. A company could set its international and global objectives after this. Some people may feel surprising of this point of view, while they believe a company should begin by setting out what it really needs to achieve internationally. Why we leave the objective-setting until now? The reason is that our objectives need to be set in the realistic environment of what resources the company has for its international expansion and what opportunities exist in the market place. A simple example: in the year of 2009, the time of US economy recession, the US car market was under heavy pressure, so there would be little point for a car company in setting a target for major expansion. Equally, a small computer services company may not have enough resources for a global product launch. It is better to set its objectives more realistically. How to build an international talents team is a big problem. In a survey conducted by McKinsey, the three-quarters of respondents believe that the talent shortage is the biggest obstacle to its global expansion plans. To respond to this problem, at first, MNEs should make the enterprise localization, and develop a clear strategy to attract international talent with the multiple resources. And leaders should have an awareness of the cross-cultural issue and enhance communication with international talents. Huawei, for instance, has more than 10,000 overseas employees, and is still in a rapid growth. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, is a Chinese telecommunications equipment and multinational networking and services company, whose headquarter is located in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Huawei is the largest telecommunications equipment maker all over the world. It has overtaken Ericsson in 2012. Huawei uses a localized business strategy on a global scale. In order to be more closely adapted to the customer’s needs, listening to customer’s needs and respond quickly; Huawei has established 20 regional overseas departments, more than 100 branches. Huawei set up 12 RD centers in the US, India, Sweden, Russia and other places. Each R D centers not only focus on different research direction, but also gathers the advanced technologies, experience and talent to carry out product research. So when Huaweis products enter into the market, its technology is up to date. Huawei also set up 28 overse as regional training centers for local technical personnel. Another example is Trend Micro Inc., a global security software company, was founded in 1988 in Los Angeles. Headquarters were moved to Taipei by its founders, shortly after establishing the company, Now Trend Micro is already the worlds leading anti-virus software company, with 30 branch offices all over the world. It adopts a multi-mode operation headquarters financial centers in Japan, marketing centers in the US, R D camp in Taiwan, global customer service centers in the Philippines and the administrative center in Ireland. It has an excellent international management team. The core management team is made up of only 13 people, from China, Japan, India, the United States, Germany, and Argentina. There exist simultaneously diversity and a strong cohesion in its corporate culture. All branches around the world share the same corporate culture and values. There is another important aspect we shouldn’t ignore innovation and learning. In the era of globalization, enterprise innovation cycles are getting shorter. Essentially, globalization is a new form of competing. The one who consistently stand at the forefront of innovators in this game is the ultimate winner. So in my opinion, MNEs ought to build an environment which is conducive to innovation, knowledge creation and sharing. For example, by changing the design of office space, make the office a place for the staff to exchange information and knowledge, a place where different ideas stir. Meanwhile, let employees and customers become an important source of product ideas. A typical case is 3M Company. The 3M Company is an American multinational conglomerate corporation, being known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company at the first stage. 3M headquarters are in the St. Paul suburb of Maplewood, Minnesota. This company is known for providing innovative environment. It regards the innovation as a way of business growth and the products as its enterprise life. 3M Company develop more than 200 kinds of new products a year. The goal is to obtain 30% of annual sales from the new products which were developed in the past four years. One of the secrets of 3M innovation management is to create an enabling innovative internal environment. For example, â€Å"technical forums provided opportunities to share technology, best practices and procedures; the European Management Action Team (EMATs) Forum regularly brought together relevant personnel from the United States and European subsidiaries to share information and make decisions. Lecture and proble m-solving discussions were also held during the forum. These meetings enabled subsidiaries to present their thoughts and facilitated cooperation and accelerated pace in markets in which there were significant growth opportunities.†[3] The company allows all employees put up to 15% of the time on their professional interest, and failures are accepted. Its slogan is: you only kissed a lot of frogs before they can find a prince. In the era of globalization, cooperating with competitors is an important strategy of multinational companies. A delicate relationship that competitions and cooperation are often maintained between enterprises. Business leaders need to think about not only competition and profitability, but also how to embrace a more open business environment. For example, the consumer product giant PG has launched a program called Connect Developed, spending nearly $ 2 billion to look for its scientists, so that the company can get new technologies from outside suppliers. If RD can be solved through collaboration and outsourcing, what areas cannot? Another example, Japanese multinational enterprise Sony formed several strategic alliances with smaller firms who have complementary competences, which would help it to penetrate new markets. So leaders should increase the openness of the enterprise, in order to attract more dynamic ideas and human resource outside the enterprise. Using strategic cooperative manner to deal with the non-core business allows enterprises to quickly grasp the opportunities during the process of globalization. Haier Group is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company, whose headquarter is located in Qingdao, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells home appliance, such as air conditioners, mobile phones, refrigerators, computers, washing machines, and televisions. In 2002, Haier cooperated with the largest appliance manufacturer in Taiwan Taiwans Sampo Group. Their cooperation covers selling each other’s home appliances, and expanding parts procurement and technology sharing. Alliance with Sampo paves the way for Haier to enter the Taiwan market. This strategy, based on trust between partners, requires leaders of MNEs to focus on the long-term benefits, rather than short-term gains. Conclusion In this paper, we discuss how can leaders in today’s MNE formulate and implement effective global strategy. Before entering a new market, it’s necessary to collect adequate data about this market, so that leaders can choose the best path for their companies. The next step is to identify the company’s resources and advantages for international expansion. During this process, an essential element is the use of talents. In addition, both innovation and cooperation are often used by leaders in today’s MNEs. Today’s MNEs use a great diversity of global strategies. In order to acquire the competitive position on today’s global market over a long term, companies have to continually adapt to market conditions, to identify the resources and advantages, and then thus use them efficiently. Therefore they have to come up with the best strategy and redirect it depending on the economic backdrop at the time. A successful strategy is based on the way it makes a difference, on the added value it brings, on the attractiveness of the industry and on the market maturity stage, so that it helps the enterprise achieve a competitive and profitable position. Reference [1] Chya-Yi Liaw, 3M Taiwan: product innovation in the subsidiary. (2012) [2] Ruth Mortimer, â€Å"Customer Innovation: Inspirational Customers,† Brand Strategy, London, July 12, 2005, p.24. [3] Palich, L. E., Gomez-Mejia, L. R. (1999). A theory of global strategy and firm efficiencies: Considering the effects of cultural diversity. Journal of management, 25(4), 587-606. [4] Sharda Prashad, Developing an international growth strategy at New York Fries. (2011 ) [5] Corina Dumitrescu, Francesco Scalera. Strategies of Multinational Enterprises. International Journal of Business and Commerce, Mar 2012(12-26) [6] Sassen, S. (1998). Globalization and its discontents. New York: New Press. [7] How do you build a global strategy? http://www.global-strategy.net/how-do-you-build-a-global-strategy/ [8] Wikipedia 3M http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3M [9] History of the Cellular (Cell/Mobile) Phone Companies Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. http://www.historyofthecellphone.com/companies/huawei-technologies.php [10] Wikipedia Trend Micro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trend_Micro_Incorporated [12] Wikipedia Haier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haier [13] Wikipedia Multination Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation [14] Wikipedia Global Strategy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_strategy [15] What is global strategy? And why is it important? http://www.global-strategy.net/what-is-global-strategy/ [16] Beck, U. (2000). What is globalization?. [17] à ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¦Ã‚ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¦Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ ¦Ã… ¾Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ µÃ‚ ·Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ °Ã¢â‚¬ Ãƒ ©Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¢Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ½Ãƒ ©Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ ¥Ã…’-à ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‹Å"à §Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ¥Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã…  Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ·Ã‚ ±Ãƒ ¥Ã…’-. à ¥Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ ¦Ã… ¾-à §Ã…“ Ãƒ §Ã‚ »Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ µÃ… ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ ²Ãƒ ©Ã†â€™Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ §Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ §Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ©Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¦Ã…  Ã‚ ¥. April,2002, p.66-68 [18] à ©Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¥Ã‚ Ã… ½Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ºÃƒ §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ §Ã‚ Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¥Ã…’-à ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‹Å"à §Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ¥. à ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ±Ã… ¸Online. http://cn.ckgsb.com/Article/Detail.aspx?ColumnId=404ArticleId=5853 1 [1] From Wikipedia Multinational Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation [2] Sharda Prashad, Developing an international growth strategy at New York Fries. (2011 ) [3] Chya-Yi Liaw, 3M Taiwan: product innovation in the subsidiary. (2012)

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Symbols of Oppression in the First and Final Passages of Chopin’s The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening Essays

Symbols of Oppression in the First and Final Passages of Chopin’s The Awakening The presence of birds in the first passage of The Awakening seems to foreshadow some of the characteristics of the protagonist. It is rather interesting that the parrot is outdoors, while the mockingbird is inside. Perhaps this would represent the presence of opposites in this novel. The parrot seems to be provoking the mockingbird in order to get some sort of response. This seems to point to the presence of loneliness which the protagonist feels. However he is being rather anti social by stating â€Å"Allez vous-en! Alez Vous! Saprisit! That’s all right!† I may be wrong, but I believe that means â€Å"Go Away! Go Away! Damn it† in French. This altercation between the parrot and the mockingbird could point to the presence of a jealous conflict within the characters. On the surface it seems that the parrot is rather agitated that the mockingbird, a bird that is generally found outdoors, is inside while the parrot, a domesticated pet is kept outside. Ironically tho ugh both birds are actually trapped with the parrot being held in the cage and the mockingbird being trapped indoors. The cage symbolizes being trapped whether literally or figuratively. Also the presence of characters that are not understood by their surroundings might shed some light on the inner conflict of the novel. It is also useful to point out that the parrot, a bird which mimics it’s surroundings is being mimicked by a bird which also mimics, such as a mockingbird. The may point to the possible presence of a theme of mimicry in this novel. The final passage possesses symbols which represent freedom and terror. The tone of this passage is one of personal closure for the protagonist. The is an emphasis upon voices throughout this passage, especially with the presence of the voices of her father and sister. It is hard to tell if the protagonist felt any true regret as she sank. It seems more like she is relieved. It is also possible that she felt as though no one could possibly understand her. There is an emphasis upon with masculinity and femininity in this passage. The â€Å"spurs of the calvary officer† clanging across the porch symbolize the strong masculine presence in the novel. It is possible that this strong masculine presence was what oppressed the protagonist, driving her to suicide. Directly after the strong masculine line is a very feminine one, â€Å"There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air†.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Isaac’s Storm

Isaac’s Storm Isaac Cline dealt with perils that no one should have ever had to endure. Erik Larson was very good at describing what he thought and saw, but a little too much. His descriptions were too lengthy and the subject didn’t catch my attention until much later in the book. The book was written very well it excluded the too familiar he said she saids. The language flows with clarity and precision. His recount of the storm’s destruction sucks you into the dramatic effects as the storm takes over the town. Some of my favorite parts of the book are in the beginning I love the metaphors and similes. The beginning catches you by taking you across the world to Africa, â€Å"It began as all things must, with an awakening of molecules. The sun rose over the African highlands east of Cameroon and warm grasslands, forests, lakes, and rivers, and the men and creatures that moved and breathed among them; it warmed their exhalations and caused these to rise upward as a great plume of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen, the earth’s soul. † That creates such a beautiful picture of all elements working together I love it. I also think that the fact that it’s true is amazing. Over 10, 000 people dead from one hurricane. Technology has advanced so much even since then. I can’t imagine what Hurricane Katrina would have done if no one had been warned. It’s so important for education to progress and expand. Isaac took on a tremendous responsibility when he didn’t realize what was coming; I don’t think it was his fault though. He thought he was prepared and nothing could have prepared him, or anyone for the tragedy that the hurricane brought. It’s very interesting learning about the politics of the weather bureaus and how everything works. I never knew how much the weatherman did. The things that they measure and predict are really incredible. The most interesting part of the book was when the storm actually hit. The way Erik Larson describes the events happening to Isaac makes you feel like you’re watching them through Isaac’s eyes. It makes me really appreciate living in the mountains where tropical storms and tornados don’t destruct our beautiful valley. Another one of my favorite paragraph’s was, â€Å"the air cooled rapidly as it pierced colder and colder layers of atmosphere and encountered lower and lower pressure. The lower the pressure, the more the air expanded. As it expanded it cooled. It continued to rise but less than a mile above the earth crossed a threshold, and a phase change occurred. The air got so cold, it could no longer retain the water it carried. The vapor condensed en masse, as if at the tap of a conductor’s baton. The resulting droplets were so tiny they remained suspended in the rising air. † It’s fun reading about the facts when he relates them to familiar things. It lightens the book and catches your attention again. I definitely leaned a lot in this book. Before I didn’t really know anything about weather, especially all of the tools to measure the wind pressure and how to watch the tides and so on. I enjoyed learning about all of these things even though I learned more than I care for about how precise the weather is. I also learned much more about Texas and Galveston. It would be nice if Erikson would have included a dictionary like Ella Minnow Pea, so that you didn’t have to go back and forth throughout the book to double check. Overall the book wasn’t too bad. I liked how he makes the whole story come to life, but in doing so he seems to drag on in details.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Legal and ethical management

The future of any organization depends on its employees. It has been observed that organizations with intelligent, efficient and devoting employees progress more than those which compromise with workforce efficiency. These days several tests like cognitive abilities, motor and physical abilities, personality & interests, and achievement tests have come up. By conducting these tests on applicants his/or her abilities can be properly judged and hence a proper selection of employees can be made. (King, 2006, 45)Cognitive abilities testIn cognitive abilities test the aptitude of an applicant to work intelligently and efficiently in unfavorable situations or under pressure or in distracting and competing situations is tested.   The speed with which an applicant focuses his attention on any issue, understands it, encodes and categorizes it is observed. His ability to analyze and implement comprehensive instructions accurately, his versatility to respond properly to two or more different issues of concern at a time, his ability to recognize the importance and urgency of some issues and making specific response to those issues, his ability to maintain speed with perfection is tested.The potential of a person in maintaining steady and precise responses during unremitting and recurring activities is observed. The ability of a person to formulate programs and recall and put them into action efficiently and accurately is observed. In cognitive abilities test individual's capability of identifying and analyzing perceptual information, discriminating the information and processing the information to derive solutions for the problems is also tested. (King, 2006, 97)Personality & interests testsPersonality and interests test measure applicant’s interests, choices, emotional makeup, personal characteristics and stability.   This test can help in assessing the applicant’s talents and skills and hence jobs can be allotted based on their interests. Personality te st is a kind of psychological test and is conducted to determine applicant’s personality, interests, values and skills. By this test managements can have a better idea of what kind of person the applicant is and what are his capabilities.Achievement testsAchievement tests are the test of the applicant’s performance. Unlike the Cognitive abilities test this test is a kind of practical test. In this test the applicant is made to face the real working conditions of the organization, so that the actual performance of the candidate can be properly judged. These tests are very beneficial for both the candidate and the management. The candidate becomes acquainted of the original working condition of the organization and the management of the organization can get an idea of the capability of the applicant. (Lamb, 2004, 228)Motor and physical abilities testIn motor and physical abilities test applicant’s physical fitness and strength is tested. There is a popular saying that a healthy body can only have a healthy mind. An employee, who is physically fit, can work with all his heart and sole.   In every company there are certain types of jobs for which physically fit and strong employees are needed. Thus physical abilities test is must. Motor ability test is an individual's ability to perform motor skills is tested. The applicant should have fine motor control. The applicant must have the aptitude to control motor movements accurately. So that making incorrect responses can be avoided and more motor speed can be obtained.Advantages and disadvantages of the above testing systemsThere are several advantages and disadvantages of the above testing systems. Cognitive abilities, Achievement tests and Physical abilities testing systems are the most legitimate testing systems. Cognitive abilities tests are highly reliable. The method of numerical tests, aptitude tests and verbal reasoning has high validity, which increases with complexity of job. This tes t can be conducted with several candidates at a time. Thus have higher validities. Results can be generated through computerized equipments. Thus this test saves both time and money and is advantageous than personality tests.Physical abilities test help in identifying candidates who are physically unfit for any specific job. This tests decrease company’s costs on insurances, medical and disability claims and workers compensations. It also decreases non-attendance among workers due to medical reasons. Achievement tests are very beneficial for both the candidate and the management. The candidate becomes acquainted of the original working condition of the organization and the management of the organization can get an idea of the capability of the applicant.Personality & interest tests have more negative ethical and legal consequences than the Cognitive abilities, Achievement tests and Physical abilities testing system.   There are no proper answers to personality tests.   Th us scoring of the test can be questioned. Assessment of applicant’s personal behavior is practically not possible. The applicant may hide his original nature during selection. Evidences supporting personal behavior of the candidate may not be available. Any applicant might have interest in any job, but this does not prove he is good in it. Personality of an applicant has lesser impact on his job performance than his education and experience. Again this method of testing is very costly. (King, 2006, 117-9)Contribution of modern technology in staff selection processAdvancements in technology have helped to make the applicant testing and selection process more efficient. The previous hand scoring method of testing where marks were calculated by adding number of correct answers given by the candidate is an erroneous process. Now days with use of computers computer-based scoring and optical scanning systems have come up. Tests are scored with the help of a computer and software de signed test scoring. On-site systems produce test scores and as well provide interpretive reports. Mail-in and fax scoring system completed answer sheets are scanned and faxed or mailed to test publisher. He checks the papers, calculates the scores and sends reports to the employer. (King, 2006, 15)It is very important to make a proper choice while appointing employees in the organization. Assessment of applicant’s interests, personality, and skills aptitude and physical fitness help in determining which kind of job will be appropriate for the candidate.References:King, H; (2006); Management Today: Ethical and Legal Concepts; HBT & Brooks Ltd.Lamb, Davis; (2004); Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; National Book Trust.