Behavioral trend- Adolescent rebellion

Throughout generations, adolescent behavioral trend has been a matter of concern for families and schools. Their rebellious attitude has drawn attention of many psychologists. Usual defiance includes mood swings, disobedience, anger, criticism, disagreement, and harmful habits like smoking, drugs.Socioeconomic status of the youth is a major factor. The urge to be accepted by their peers, leads to comparison for equality. Peer pressure is perhaps the most vital and unavoidable element in adolescence. Columbia University Teachers Suniya S. Luthar and Nadia S.Ansary wrote following: In a comparative study of middle school students at the two socioeconomic extremes, Becker and Luther (2004) found that â€Å"good students† enjoyed high peer status in both suburban and urban settings; by contrast, it was only the high income youth who admired peers seen as â€Å"bad students†. Society which does not view teenagers as adults restricts their freedom, believing it to be in their best interest. Parents often believe that adolescents cannot make good decisions. This restriction of freedom leads to rebellious behavior.However, â€Å"a Cornwell study from 2006 determined that teens are more likely to consider risk while making a decision, and for a longer period of time, than adults† (Cornell University, 2006, December 12). Psychologist Laurence Steinberg says that a large factor in teenage rebellion is the natural early development of the socioemotional network. (Cited in Temple University, 2007) References Luthar,S. S. & Ansary,N. S. (2005).Dimensions of adolescent rebellion. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 231-243. Steinberg,S (2007). Teenage rebellion and the socioemotional network. Science Daily. Retreived April 6, 2010 from www. sciencedaily. com

Annotations to Applied Linguistics books Essay

Annotations 1. Guy Cook (2003). Applied Linguistics.  This book explains applied linguistics in brief. It describes the popular and academic views of correctness. It also discusses the languages in the contemporary world. It presents English and its growth and the many Englishes used nowadays. It discusses some of the English language teaching techniques. It describes communication. It looks at the linguistic changes and second – language acquisition. 2. Guy Cook and Sarah North (2010). Applied Linguistics in Action. The book is divided into three parts. The first is about applied linguistics in theory. Itexplains the theory of practice. The second part is about English in the world, being a global language and TEFL. The third part is about applied linguistics in action in details. 3. Judit Sarosdy, Tamas Farczadi Bencze, Zoltan Poor and Marianna Vadnay (2006). Applied Linguistics 1. This book deals with applied linguistic more explicitly in a wider context. It discusses the traditional former methods in teaching English Vs. the communicative approach. It also discusses the learning process and classroom management. It stresses the culture’s effect on the language. 4. Michael McCarthy (2001). Issues in Applied Linguistics.   The book discusses languages and modeling language. It highlights the second language in speech and writing. It describes applied linguistics through a professional discourse. 5. Patricia A. Duff (2008). Case Study Research in Applied Linguistics. This book tackles case study research in applied linguistics. It defines, describes, and defends case study research, and gives examples to support. It then explains how to make a case study report. 6. Susan Hunston and David Oakey (2010). Introducing Applied Linguistics (Concepts and Skills). This book applies news stories to access the key concepts in applied linguistics and stresses the skills required for applied  linguistics. 7. Zoltan Dornyei (2007). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics (Quantative, Qualitative and Mixed Methodologies). This book is made up of five parts. Part one is mainly about the key issues in research methology. Part two presents data collection. Part three illustrates data analysis in details. Part four shows the structure of reporting research results in a quantitative report; a qualitative report; and a mixed method report. Part five sums up the book.

Marketing Plan for Harvey Norman Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Plan for Harvey Norman - Assignment Example Due to the high demand of electronic products both locally and internationally, Harvey Norman Company has opened different stores to cater for the different needs of their customers both locally and internationally. The market situation analysis for the company indicates that the company has increased its sales significantly over the last years despite the harsh trading conditions they have operated. However, their retail spending has been largely affected by debt they have accrued both internally and externally. This is negative to the grot of the company, since most customers have decided to shop online because of the readily available substitutes for the products produced by the company by other companies (Synnot & Fitzgerald, 2007). Harvey Norman Company faces stiff competition from other companies dealing in similar products because of its large scale production tendencies. There are many companies that form strong competitive force for Harvey Norman Company dealings. Theses are companies that also share similar market as Harvey Norman Company, therefore, are major competitors for the company as they also target similar customers like Norman Harvey Company. Most major competitors for the company originate from the United States. ... According to the PESTLE analysis, there are different factors affecting the operation of Harvey Norman Company. These factors range from political, economic, social and technological. Political factors affect the company’s operation in terms of regulations placed by the government to control various activities being conducted by the company. Harvey Norman Company is both affected by internal and external regulation. Despite some of these working towards the growth of the company, others create conflict within the company, therefore, making the company unable to achieve its goals and objectives. Harvey Norman Company is forced to take into considerations various clauses stipulated by the law so as not go against specific regulations set by the government in their course of operation within different countries. An example is the environmental clause which is there to protect the environment from toxic waste or substances produced by companies. Moreover, there are consumer laws a lso plays a significant role in determining the success of the company. This is because all companies dealing in the same or different line are always eager to achieve a competitive advantage of their competitors. Harvey Norman Company is forced to adopt different consumer laws in the different countries they sell their products in despite some of the laws being unfruitful to their profits. Harvey Norman Company has devoted its time in concentrating on the society and engaging in various ways that has played in improving people’s way of life. In its contribution to charitable organizations, the company has show to the world that it not only concerned about their profits, but to the welfare of all their stakeholders which forms the current Harvey Norman Company. In addition,

Balance sheet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Balance sheet - Essay Example It can also help managers to establish policies and strategies for the future. This paper provides information about the importance of balance sheet and its uses for investors and management. It also provides an insight into the ratio analysis that could be done on the basis of information obtained from balance sheet. The paper shows calculation and analysis of ratios from the balance sheet of Palaron Plc so as to understand the usefulness of information presented in the balance sheet for investors. Balance sheet plays a vital role in depicting the financial position of a company. It further shows whether an investor should invest in a particular company or not. A company's balance sheet also shows the strengths and weaknesses of a company. A company through its balance sheet portrays its financial position to the investors that it is a reliable company that possesses prosperous prospect and chances to grow. It also reflects whatever the goals have been set by the company will definitely be accomplished and delivered to the investors in the shape of cash or stock dividends. Birts also says that "the company must demonstrate its ability to trade for some time into future so that customers have confidence that it will be able to meet its commitments to them" (2001, p36). Investors would learn from the balance sheet a company's long-term investments, capital structure, liquidity and gearing position so as to analyse if the company would be able to remain in business for a longer p eriod of time. The balance sheet at the end of the year demonstrates the total assets and liabilities made by the company. There are two types of assets; current assets and fixed assets. Current assets include all the assets that are for less than one year i.e. cash, accounts receivable (with deduction of bad debts expenses), notes receivable, prepaid expenses incurred and merchandise inventory where as fixed assets include all those fixed assets which can transcend for more than one year i.e. machinery, equipment, land, building and plant assets etc. The depreciation and amortization are deducted from these fixed assets. Liabilities are also of two types; current liabilities and non current liabilities. Current liabilities include debt which is payable in year i.e. accounts payable, notes payable, accrued expenses and insurance premium etc while long term liabilities includes bonds payable etc. These are not enough because for a complete balance sheet it also includes owner's equity which include s total invested capital and retained earnings. The balance sheet is not only essential for the investors but also to large extent to the company itself. It gives the financial conditions of a company that where it stands at a particular time and show the real minus and plus points. In order to get the things on credit or need some credit to invest in the business to earn amplify potential gains, balance sheet items i.e. powerful fixed and current assets would help in getting the credit (Birts, 2001). With the help of balance sheet it becomes easier for a company to make decisions and prepare the plans for future and it can also know about the reason of being unsuccessful in the business, it further gives a complete outlook of the company progress which helps a company to get rid of barriers and obstacles in the way of

Goebbels George Bush , propaganda on the American media Essay

Goebbels George Bush , propaganda on the American media - Essay Example The government of the US has been portraying these military officers as experts in the field of war but little did the American public realize that these officers had liaised with the government. Most of them would be paid for their opinions. (Barstow, 2008a) It has also been revealed (New York Times, 2008) that there are certain personalities in the Bush administration specifically trained to deal with issues such propaganda. One such example is a certain lady called Victoria Clarke. She had a lot of prior experience in the public relations field and has been responsible for crusading about the war in Iraq. She came up with the idea of using journalists in the war live/. She argued that this was good fro democracy as it gave Americans first hand information about the goings on in Iraq. She formed a team that would assist in the process of implanting the propaganda and also hand picked some so-called ‘analysts’ to tell Americans about the war. (Barstow, 2008b) The pentagon made sure that the analyst chosen would appear frequently in media outlets this was especially common during the first phases of the war. News images were constantly splashed with the faces of these analysts (employed military men). Whenever there was a threat against the government concerning the war, the analysts would always meet Pentagon official and then counter the claims made by other military officers concerning the war. The Pentagon propaganda group decided to use military officers as their propaganda tool because they knew that most Americans respected expert opinion especially if those experts came from positions of authority. People in the United States trust groups or persons who seem independent thus getting a group of people who do not seem directly linked the White house is the best way to sway opinion. (Barstow, 2008b) The

Strategies for encouraging reading for leisure-a plan for middle years Assignment

Strategies for encouraging reading for leisure-a plan for middle years of schooling age group - Assignment Example It shall also explain how each strategy will be implemented to the age group. The inclusion of each guideline or strategy shall be justified through evidence cited from course readings, professional lectures, and research. There are different factors affecting reading for leisure among middle-school age groups. These factors have to be considered before any plans can be formulated to engage students in reading for leisure. First and foremost, â€Å"an individual must possess the necessary reading skills and resources to comprehend the printed word† (University of Queensland, 2009). These basic reading skills will arm the student with knowledge in grammar and vocabulary in order to facilitate comprehension. Mental images can be easily drawn through printed words. The motivation to read will eventually contribute to each student’s engagement in the reading experience. Some students get easily engaged and can easily draw mental images of the things they read; however other students find it hard to imagine and picture images from what they read. They often prefer comic books or reading materials with illustrations where they do not need to imagine the events unfolding (University of Queensla nd, 2009). Another factor affecting reading for leisure among middle-school age groups is the fact that many of these students are already involved in other activities like sports, socialization, and school work. Many of them opine that they do not have to think when they watch television and therefore would rather watch TV rather than read for leisure. However, it is indeed undeniable how reading for leisure has benefitted those who apply it to their lives. They attest that they have gained more knowledge by reading, that they are more informed about the world and about the explanations behind concepts and natural events. Some authors bravely emphasize that

Logistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Logistics - Essay Example It, in a manufacturing enterprise, consists of raw materials, work in progress and finished products. While the transportation cost of inventory may not be significantly variant, there is a significant variation in the cost incurred in storage of inventory. While some of the costs involved in dealing in and management of inventory are accounted for in the benefits associated with having the inventory, some of the involved costs are considered as wastes. Inventory therefore has its advantages in the form of derived benefits while it is at the same time associated with a number of disadvantages that includes induced unnecessary costs. One of the disadvantages of inventory, and which induces costs is the processes that are involved in the flow of inventory in an organization. Goldsby and Martichenko for example explains the additional costs of managing inventory as a disadvantage that an organization has to endure in order to obtain a set of inventory and finally transfer them to their point of demand. Every set of inventory held by BMW will therefore induce an extra cost to an entity on top of the cost of the goods. The additional costs such as the costs incurred when the inventory is â€Å"received, housed, paid for, and insured† are examples of expenses that BMW is most likely to incur when dealing in inventory (Goldsby and Martichenko, 2005, p. 20). Such costs add up to operational costs, costs of sales and consequently reduce an organization’s profit margin. Maintain an appropriate level of inventory at a particular time is however associated with satisfaction of consumers’ immediate demand for commodities (Goldsby and Martichenko, 2005, p. 20). A stock of goods allows BMW to deliver commodities at customers demand instead of arranging for the commodities after an order is placed. Maintaining inventory is therefore associated with both advantages and disadvantages. Another advantage of inventory that may prompt for endurance of the involv ed costs of its maintenance is the security of continuous supply of commodities to BMW’s consumers. This is because suppliers are not expected to regularly avail commodities in the supply chain. Seasonality or disrupted operations may also cut off flow of commodities from a supplier. Similarly, disruption in supply chain activities such as transportation systems may limit access of commodities down the supply chain. Maintained inventory can therefore allow BMW to be able to absorb ‘short-term’ disruption in supply chain to ensure continuous supply of products down a supply chain. While it adds to the costs on an organization, it also facilitates customer utility by ensuring ready availability of commodities at consumers’ demand (Goldsby and Martichenko, 2005, p. 20). Inventory management through customer relation management and supplier relations management is another process that monitors and influences inventory decisions by establishing reliable links u pon which planning can be made for a continuous supply chain with minimum inventory costs. This ensures that BMW stocks inventory for immediate future needs of its commodities, by the consumers. Similarly, developed relations with both suppliers and consumers identifies needs for value addition and facilitates reduction of costs in distribution through eliminating unnecessary costs (Lambert, 2008, p. 295; Cope and Brown,

Ethnographic Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethnographic Research paper - Essay Example This has been made possible due to the rapid growth of industries and technological uses in the daily lives of people. Technology is a very important part of the lives of people around the world at this point of time. This also is due to the fact that the economic processes that take place in the world have a lot to do with the cooperation of people across the globe. For instance several parts of a machine that is to be assembled in a certain part of the world would come from different corners of the world and the entire process would not probably be completed at one place. The after sales services would probably be offered from a place different from all of these depending on a host of factors ranging from the availability of raw material to cheap labor to costs of transport. This paper shall seek to analyze conversations that were had with an Indian friend of mine, Amit Kumar (name changed). The differences of opinion and the misunderstandings that happened during these conversatio ns shall form a part of the analysis. The paper shall look at these conversations through the lens of a multicultural world where the cultures of different people have to be understood properly. They also have to be understood as products of globalization themselves where there may be a disconnect between a person and his or her own culture. Amit Kumar hails from Kerala, a state in the Southern part of India. The place is known for its high rates of literacy and the political awareness that people of this state possess. It is also a state that is very diverse in terms of the religions that people follow here and also the kind of dialects that people use, in different parts of the state. There is however, as a result of the process of modernization, a certain amount of a lack of awareness regarding the pre-colonial cultures and art forms that were a part of that culture. There is thus a rootlessness that the people of Kerala feel at this point of time. This can best be seen in the no vel Roots that was written by the very popular Malayali author Malayattoor Ramakrishnan which talks of the reclamation of the cultural roots of a person (Ramakrishnan, 2000). I talked to Amit Kumar regarding this aspect of the Malayali existence at this point of time. Me: How does it feel to go back home these days, Amit? Amit: It is quite disconcerting. The effects of modernity on the lives of people at home even at this point of time seems to be one that has been imposed without taking into concern the particular social conditions of Kerala. Me: why would you say so? Amit: The very basic elements of our culture are not present in the culture that is sought to be imposed upon us. They are then made to be a part of nothing more than attractions for tourists. Amit here may be referring to exactly what Arundhati Roy refers to her Booker Prize winning novel The God of Small Things. In this book, she talks of the marginalization of indigenous cultural forms and their resurfacing as mere elements of the past that cannot be integrated into modernity. Roy uses the trope of the kathakali dancers to make clear how certain symbols of the Malayali society and postcolonial societies in general have degenerated from being frameworks of signs through which a society used to store its memories to being nothing more than a form of attraction that is set up for tourists to watch and enjoy without realizing the importance that that form of art may have for

Interviewing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Interviewing - Essay Example The study will investigate numerous reasons behind the liking for the KFC. The interviews are one of the famous and reliable methods for the data collection. The interviews will allow exploring people’s perception about the KFC restaurant. It will help to study the motivation behind the likeness for the brand and it will try to look for the fact that makes them spend money on KFC food and other items. How? What is your method? When and where will you meet? How will you make contact? The data collection will be done through various sets of interviews. The customers will be interviewed by asking different questions which will allow exploring their different perceptions about the restaurant. Various interviews will be taken. All the customers will be asked same questions. The questions will be both, open and close ended in order to have a clear analysis of their perception. Mainly the questions will be designed to reveal why they prefer KFC Restaurant, the reason for their choosi ng the brand over other fast food brands etc Random sampling of the population will be done. The interviews will be taken from those samples which are easily available with ample time for the interviews. No criteria will be set for the interviewers. The reasons behind their fondness for the brand will be the ultimate reason for the research. Generally - what are the logistics? How are you going to record the interview? The interview date will be announced, the interested customers will be interviewed for the required research questions to be answered in the KFC restaurant. The interviews taken will be both written and recorded interviews. The interviewer will first write the questions on the paper and then the answers will be written and recorded with the help of the video camera. This will be done for the purpose of keeping a record and proof of this activity. Such recordings provide a useful source for comparison with a subsequent study which may be conducted in coming years. The interviewees will be mixed. The parents and the young lot of the society will be analyzed in order to look for dimensional and different perspective answers. Ethnicity of individuals will not be given importance. The participation of different customer will define the level of their fondness for the restaurant. The customers will be asked different set of questions about the restaurant. Their answers will be later analyzed and interpreted in order to find answers. Mixed aged groups will be allowed to participate in the interviews and answer the questions. The answers will provide benefit to the restaurant with a number of suggestions. It will allow the KFC owners to focus more on their strength points and

Robert Browning Essay Example for Free

Robert Browning Essay The dramatic monologue form which is now widely used, allows the author to engage his reader more directly by placing him in the role of listener. Often they are to interpret about a dramatic event or experience they are reading about. This allows the reader to become more intimate with the writer and the characters while being able to understand the speakers changing thoughts and feelings. This is almost like being inside the mind of the speaker not the writer though. The speech is delivered by a character in a play allowing the imagination of the reader to remain open. Many poets have used some type of dramatic monologue forms in their poetry but none as much or as skilled as the Victorian poet Robert Browning. Even though some believe the works of Robert Browning in fact did not invent the dramatic monologue form and argue that dramatic monologue was used in poetry preceding Browning I believe he set the standard for the form. Robert Browning is considered the master of the dramatic monologue because Browning’s use of dramatic monologue changed post romantic poetry and the dramatic monologue technique. Browning’s dramatic monologue writings were the first to achieve its distinction. I think initially some believed that some dramatic lyrical poems took the form of dramatic monologue it was more of reading the views of the poet and putting the reader into the mind of the actual poet verses putting the reader into the mind of the character. They key to dramatic monologue is the poet is telling a story through the characters of the story and the views of the characters are not the same views the poet would have if it were written in a different form. It wasn’t until realizing that these other poems in fact did not follow the same techniques of Robert Browning’s work that Browning received the recognition for being the inventor of dramatic monologue poetic form. Browning is now considered the master of the dramatic monologue. One of his most recognized dramatic monologue form poems is My Last Duchess. His careful choice in words, skillful technique and ability to leave some information up to the reader to interpret gave him his distinction and effectively named him the master of the dramatic monologue form. The poem My Last Duchess is about a powerful Duke and his beautiful deceased wife. The poem is based during the Renaissance years, in Italy, and revolves around the Duke of Ferrara. The Duke has either a visitor or servant that he is talking to. It is believed that he is planning his next marriage and discussing this with his guest. They pass a portrait of his previous wife that is painted on the wall and he stops to reminisce. The Duke appeared to truly love his duchess and this was evident by having her memory displayed as a portrait on his wall for all to see. The poem begins with him mourning her loss and I believe ends with the justification of her death. The Duke felt she behaved in a manner that was unbecoming of a duchess. The Duke believed that she was a cheater and this caused him embarrassment and anger. He stated she was a kind hearted and a joyful woman, the same qualities that initially attracted the Duke to the Duchess. The Duke stated that her smiling and flirting with other men and the fact that she was not trying to hide what she was doing was unacceptable and shameful. These same qualities would eventually lead to her demise The Duke was furious and Browning’s use of dramatic monologue shows us it’s not exactly what the Duke says to the visitor about his Duchesses death but what he indirectly reveals by not telling the whole story and leaving it up to the reader to decide. The fact that there is a lot not said in this story I believe shows his fury, the way he spoke of her could lead one to believe that he either killed her or had her killed. It seems back in those days it was common for wives to be killed as divorce was not accepted. This is just one small sample of Browning’s work. Browning’s fame today rests mainly on his dramatic monologues, in which the words not only convey setting and action but also reveal the speaker’s character.

Change Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Change Rosabeth Moss Kanter Change Management Organisations Must Change and Change quickly INTRODUCTION Rosabeth Moss Kanter is the professor in business at Harvard Business School, where she holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship. She is known for her classic 1977 study of Tokenism. As a business leader and expert on strategy and leadership for change, she was nominated as the top ten on the list of the 50 most influential business thinkers in the world, and she is on the list of the 100 most important women in America and the 50 most powerful women in the world. Her main concepts include changing organisations, bureaucracy and characteristics of resistance to change. (drfd.hbs.edu, 2007) In 1989, she argues that: todays corporate elephants must learn how to dance as nimbly and speedily as mice. (Burnes, 2004) In other words, she points out that big organisations should change and change quickly to meet the changing environment. This report is going to analyse the key drivers for this statement and find out the reason behind change. This report contains three sections. Section 1 will give definitions to change management and the importance of change. Section 2 is discussions, which is divided into two sub-categories, first part is concerned with the models of change management, and part 2 goes on to show examples of how big organisations keep up with change and the possibilities of failure. This section contains examples of big organisations successfully changed to meet their goals and objectives, while some other organisations stay the same and fail to maintain their strong market position. Section 3 is conclusions. CHANGE MANAGEMENT Todays corporate elephants must learn how to dance as nimbly and speedily as mice if they are to survive in our increasingly competitive and rapidly changing world (Burnes, 2004) According to Paton McCalman (2004), managing change is about evaluating, planning, implementing, operational, tactical and strategic changes. As Siegal et al (1996) points out that rapid change is a pervasive part of our lives as human beings; it is no surprise that change is also a fact of life within human systems. Recent developments in the global economy have catapulted this fact to the forefront of management concerns as well. Therefore, even though Professor Kanters statement was mentioned about 18 years ago, it is still valued today. Additionally, Kanter (1989) mentioned that in order for organisations to change, it requires faster action, more flexibility and closer partnerships with employees and customers than typical in the traditional corporate bureaucracy. To quote from her, Corporate giants, in short, must learn how to dance. Therefore, the corporate elephants represents big companies while mice, on the other hand, represents small firms. To summarise her statement above, we could conclude that small firms are more flexible in changing compare with big organisations, because big organisations have more management levels and more bureaucracy; therefore, corporate giants should adapt this ability to change and change quickly. More over, the most important reason for organisations to change, is to keep pace with the ever changing business environment and give a good company image to the public that they are keep up dating themselves and stay competitive. DISCUSSION To cope with a changing world, an entity must develop the capacity of shifting and changing. It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change (Beitler, 2006) Corporate elephants with change Marks and Spencer is a well known British retailer, which was founded in 1884. It is one of the most iconic and widely recognised chain stores in the UK and it is the largest clothing retailer in the country. (wikipedia, 2007) Marks Spencer is one of the typical examples for change management, and as Rippin (2005) proposed in her research that when, in Autumn 2003 I needed a case study on organisational change, without too much deliberation I chose Marks and Spencer. This corporate giant has developed through its golden years, the crisis, its change in leadership and its recent change management attempts in its response to its changing environment. (Rippin, 2005) Kurt Lewins model of change In the early 20th Century, psychologist Kurt Lewin identified three stages of change that has come to be known as the unfreezing-change-refreeze model. (Nilakant Ramnarayan, 2006) The graph below shows more detail about this model: Unfreeze This is the first stage of this model that to make system receptive to change. (Nilakant Ramnarayan, 2006) People feel comfortable and safe about the current situation and it is hard for them to change. It takes long time to unfreeze the environment and the first thing to do at this stage is to make people aware of the change and let them know the reason and needs for change. Moreover, organisations should involve employees in the decision making process by asking them how would they feel about a certain matter and what do they thing is necessary to change. In 1998, Marks and Spencer became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over  £1 billion and this is the peak time in the companys history. (marksandspencer, 2007) Few years later, it plunged into a crisis which lasted for around several years. The problems Marks and Spencer faced were: The rising cost of using British suppliers Losing customer loyalty Increasing rival companies with cheap production to lower down their cost, therefore to lower down the price Refuse to accept the credit card As a large company with a long term history, Marks and Spencer has its weak side that the bureaucracy management system (Rippin, 2005) made it lose its touch with the real buyer and lost potential younger customers. In 1984, the companys priority is to provide high quality clothing to working class women. As time goes on, peoples taste changed that we no longer chase quality products but disposable clothes with a cheaper price. At that time, Marks and Spencer didnt realize this shortage until they found themselves struggling to compete in the changing environment as the fashion trend changes. As a result, the companys share price went down by more than two thirds and profit fell from  £1 billion in 1998 to  £145 million in 2001, which was only 10 per cent compare with its golden age. (wikipedia, 2007) As Rippin (2005) described in her research that Marks and Spencer is a sleeping beauty as the organisation is in suspension waiting for the right prince to come and reanimate the bo dy. Change The second stage of the model is change to achieve the desired results. At this stage the actual change happens which can be either to acquire desired behaviour or technological change. (Burnes, 2004) It is a hard journey that the organisation might go through several stages before it successes. This is the stage that the real changes take place and the organisation applies the plans to action in practise. At this stage, Marks Spencer conducted another model-Planned model of change (step change) that issues are dealt with stage-by-stage and built to transformation over time. (Cummings Worley, 2004) Marks and Spencers change management was implemented step by step over time. To quote form the Stuart Rose Chief Executive: We continue to improve our core business†¦We are ahead of our space growth target†¦We are stepping up our investment in the business†¦ In addition, the Board is announcing a step change in the investment this year. These decisions reflect our confidence in the strength and future prospects of the business. (finfacts, 2007) In order to successfully apply this Step change model, Marks and Spencer is constantly working on the progress. In 1999, the company launched online shopping and issued credit cards payments in store or online to make transactions simple and faster for customers. In order to lower down the costs and have more sales, the company decided to switch to overseas suppliers, open store on Sunday and added self-check outs to tills. (wikipedia, 2007) Secondly, it changed its business focus from quality fabric for working classing to the new sales of fashion clothes, and the company launched the Per Una clothing range, which recovered some market share to the younger consumer group. Additionally, it changed the womens bras to machine washable while there are many designer brands that still need to be hand washed. (Rippin, 2005) More over, the company realized its strength and weakness, therefore, it sold the financial service to HSBC Bank Plc and stopped the expanding of its simply food line of stores. As a result of those changes, by 2005, its share price went up and doubled from 319p to 766p as the highest in 2007. (Bloomberg, 2007) Refreeze The last step is to refreeze and make changes permanent that cement change into the organisational culture. To quote from Cameron Green (2004), for change to be effective, it needs to be implemented at all levels and embedded in the culture of the organisation. Change management should be merged with the organisational culture that all the changes should be developed according to its culture with shared objectives and common goals. At this stage, organisations meet their goals and objectives and waiting for new changes. (Paton McCalman, 2000) Marks and Spencer today, has 760 stores in more than 30 countries around the world. In 2007, it is growing again and rapidly increasing profitability with revenue of  £7.8 billion. In Nov, the company reported that the profit before tax rose 11.5 per cent, which is slightly ahead of analysts expectation. (finfacts, 2007) Corporate elephants dance speedily Flexible Elearn (2005) explains the four key processes for success when implementing change within an organisation, they are: Pressure for change A clear and shared vision Capacity for change Action To summary from Flexible Elearn (2005), organisations need the driving forces for change and a clear/shared vision. In order to successfully implementing change, organisations need to identify the resources that will be required and make sure they are provided. The last stage is action and implementing the planned changes. At this stage, organisations should keep checking and monitoring the process, and ensure the progress is operated well. Organisations like the benefit of change but they are afraid of failure. In order to successfully launch the change within organisations, Flexible Elearn (2005) suggest organisation to follow this stages, but on the other hand, changing could be difficult according to the change stages model as it is time consuming and costly. To quote from Saka (2003), one of the main boundaries for big organizations to change is the one which separates the model-builders from recipe-givers, the theoreticians from the practitioners. Organisations understood the need for change, but they dont seem to be able to respond quickly, especially for those big firms as they have many layers of management level that all the decisions need to run through the top to the bottom. It takes time to inform everyone in the organisation about the change and keep them up-dated with the progress. As Saka pointed out that there is a lack of interaction between decision and action. Organisational members, who are not onl y potential change-makers, are likely to be more questioning about the value of change. CONCLUSION Change management plays an important role in any organisations regardless its size. It means to make change in a planned and systemic way. (Cummings Worley, 2004) Moreover, it helps to lower risks associated with change, eliminate resources conflicts and redundancies. For Marks and Spencer, its problems include: business too complicated, competition, downsizing, and management system. The Marks and Spencer story shows that changes are essential for all the organisations regardless its size and reputation. Staying in the same place without considering the changing environment will leads to losing profit or failure. Moreover, Marks and Spencer went through three stages of change, which are: Unfreeze: feel the needs to change as the market share and profit was going down Change: going through changes with the planned model of change that allows the company to change step by step with continuously changing progress. Refreezing: met the goals and objectives that Marks and Spencer successfully changed itself from an old, transitional British retailer to a new look, fashionable icon. To sum up, small organisations are more flexible when they facing changes, while big organisations have bureaucracy management system and more layers of management level, hence, it is harder for them to response to the changing environment. Therefore, big organisations should adapt the ability to change and change quickly. REFERENCE Beitler. M, 2006., Strategic Organisational Change: A Practitioners Guide for Managers and Consultants, Practitioner Pr Intl. Burnes. B, 2004., Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organizational Dynamics (4th Ed), Pearson Education. Cameron. E Green. M, 2004., Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools Techniques of Organizational Change, Kogan Page. Cummings. T Worley. C, 2004., Organizational Development and Change, Thomson South-Western. Flexible. P Elearn. L, 2005., Change Management: Management Extra, Elsevier. Kanter. R, 1989., When Giants learn to Dance, Simon and Schuster. Nilakant. V Ramnarayan. V, 2006., Change Management: Altering Mindsets in a Global Content, Sage Publications. Paton. R McCalman. J, 2000., Change Management: An Guide to Effective Implementation,, Sage Publications Inc. Rippin. A, 2005., Marks and Spencer-Waiting for the Warrior: A Case Examination of the Genddered Nature of Change Management, Journal of Organizational Change Management,, Volume 18, p578-593 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0230090605.html [Accessed 17/11/07] Saka. A, 2003., Internal Change Agents View of the Management of Change Problem, Journal of Organizational Change Management,, Volume 16, p480-496 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0230160501.html [Accessed 22/11/07] Siegal. W et al, 1996., Understanding The Management of Change: An Overview of Managers Perspectives and Assumptions in the 1990s, Journal of Organizational Change Management,, Volume 9, p54-80 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0230090605.html [Accessed 20/11/07] http://drfd.hbs.edu/fit/public/facultyInfo.do?facInfo=biofacEmId=rkanter [Accessed 17/11/07] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marks__Spencer [Accessed 20/11/07] http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/6/62/figure/F1?highres=y [Accessed 20/11/07] http://www.marksandspencer.com/gp/node/n/46010031?ie=UTF8mnSBrand=core [Accessed 21/11/07] http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_1011718.shtml [Accessed 21/11/07] http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MKS:LN [Accessed 19/11/07]

Essay --

There has been much said about the relationship between humans and dogs. Some believe that dogs are a man’s best friend, while others believe that dogs are meant only to be used to perform a certain job. Even though some see dogs only as a tool, dogs have been known to help humans in times of despair and need. Whether it be a dog helping a disabled person, or searching for a human amongst a pile of rubble, dogs can be a key factor when it comes to the well being of humans. In enormous tragedies, such as September 11th, dogs were a key element in piecing back together the parts of America that the terrorists had destroyed when they administered the attacks. Dogs are able to bring unity and support in times of tragedy. While both the working dogs and firemen contributed to the restoration of 9/11, the dogs that helped in the aftermath of the attacks were needed for much more than locating trapped victims; they were needed for support, unity, and comfort as well. There are many different types of service dogs. There are dogs that work with police and firemen, there are dogs that work with the military, there are guide dogs, and there are dogs that help people with a variety of disorders. In Debra McKinney’s online article â€Å"Service dogs provide barrier against anxiety† she researches the relationship between a woman named Sara and her service dog Hannah. Sara had a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder as well as severe depression and social anxiety. She had tried many different medications, different therapists, but her brain was still overwhelmed with constant thoughts of suicide. When it seemed like all was lost, Sara found Hannah. Hannah was a golden retriever Labrador trained specifically to help Sara with her multiple... ...ference between humans and dogs is that once a human gets over something traumatic, the dog will not leave. A dog is not going to run away only to be seen when the next tragedy strikes. A dog is one of the most loyal and loving creatures on the planet and will be available before and after tragedy strikes. The service dogs of September 11th not only did their job by finding survivors and victims of the attacks, but they were also a source of support, unity, and comfort. Not only for the firemen but the survivors as well. The urge to bond between humans and animals and the comfort and support that dogs can give to people came in handy in the aftermath of September 11th. Had it not been for the support, unity, and comfort that the working dogs of September 11th brought, the emotional toll that this already traumatic event placed on people may have been much worse.

Marlows Assessment of Africa in Conrads Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Marlow's Assessment of Africa in Heart of Darkness   Ã‚   Marlow's assessment of the African wilderness in the beginning of the story is like that of something that tempts him and his fellow explorers to Africa. When Marlow says, "And as I looked at the map of it in a shop-window, it fascinated me as a snake would a bird - silly little bird" (Conrad, Longman 2196). If we take note of the phrase "silly little bird" it may be noted that the Marlow is comparing Britain to that silly little bird. It could be that he felt Britain's occupancy of Africa was nothing more than his own country falling into a trap. It was not a designed trap but one of destiny. It was his countries destiny to fall prey to the allures of that Dark Continent. Millions would die in the attempt to make monetary gains while occupying Africa.    When Marlow mentions "the whited sepulcher" he could be referring again to his homeland, and when he makes this statement he may be referring to the fact that Britain has sent many of its people to be buried in that deep and mysterious place referred to as the Congo. According to YourDictionary .com, the word sepulcher means, "to bury" (YourDicitonary.com). In combination with the word white, referring to his Caucasian race, could Marlow be referring to the death of his fellow countrymen, or could he be referring to the death of a continent, Africa, at the hands of the white race invading her? These thoughts may both have validity when deciphering this text. When Marlow describes the, "Two women, one fat and the other slim, sat on straw-bottomed chairs, knitting black wool" he may be describing the future of two races combined in utter disarray in Africa. He may be using the "black wool" as something akin to insight into what future had in store for millions of people both black and white in the Congo (Longman 2197). The "black wool" may be referring to black shards for covering the dead. It may also be an idea of not human death but the death of an area such as the Congo. He may have been sensing that the influx of his own countrymen may be taking away the spirit of that wild and forbidden Congo. Marlow's utterance of, "guarding the door of Darkness, knitting black wool as for a warm pall, one introducing, introducing continuously to the unknown, the other scrutinizing the cherry foolish faces with unconcerned old eyes" could give more clues to Marlow's characterization of the African wilderness (Longman 2198).

Communication Is A Two Way Flow Essay

Communication is a two way flow of conversation where something is achieved e.g information effective communication is important in health and social care because through communication which is listening and talking you can make a better relationship with client. effective communication can make you understand your client emotions and feelings for example if a nurse is having a conversion with a patient and the nurse seem friendly , have positive body languages and interacting well, the patient is likely to open up to the nurse and discuss any worry that he/she is facing, which lead to better relationship. when communicating you need to show that you’re interested in what the person is saying, the more you look interested the more the person is going to trust and open up you. In health and social care you communicate with patient, colleague and other professionals for example if you were a doctor and you want to refer a patient to a surgeon, you would have to talk to the surge on to sort the patient operation. Conjunction with colleague us important because if you have a good relationship colleagues it would make the work a better place and make patients feel comfortable because they can sense if staffs are getting along. There are different types of communication informal and formal. informal: this is used between family and friends. Different social groups use different informal language to communicate so it might be hard for other people to understand. formal: this is used in health and social care for example if you went to a service they would say ‘good morning, how IIvan I help’ thus us to show that they respect you. multi agency working. Working with other professional for example GP ,hospital service require formal communication. non verbal communication is communicating without speaking, like facial expressions, sign language, gestures, eye contact, posture and tone of voice, this kind of communication can sometimes speak louder than words. Written communication, This is central to the work of any person providing a service in a health and social care environment when keeping records and in writing reports. Different types of communication need different styles of writing but all require literacy skills. A more formal style of writing is needed when recording information about a patient. It would be unacceptable to use text message abbreviations, such as ‘l8er’. Effective communication, including active listening, can be hard work. People  who work in health or social care environments tend to enjoy learning about other people and their lives. Things can go wrong, however, if: †¢ the context is wrong, e.g. the surroundings are unsuitable due to lack of privacy †¢ the service provider and service user are mismatched. Sometimes communication breaks down because of factors such as age, education level, gender and ethnic background †¢ a person withholds information because they fear being judged, for example, they have taken illegal drugs †¢ a person fears that confidentiality will be broken, even though this should never happen, for example, about their sexual orientation †¢ the service user thinks that the advice given is too vague and has not asked for clarification †¢ the subject matter is embarrassing, such as talking about sex or intimate body parts †¢ a person fears they are going to hear bad news so avoids going to a service provider until it is too late to help. If health and social care workers do not develop good communication skills, the effectiveness of their work will be reduced and things can go wrong. This will not help service users to feel good about themselves and can lead to worse consequences. Remember, it is important to overcome problems such as those listed above, communicate effectively, including checking understanding, so that you get the best out of your interactions with colleagues and service users. Formal or Informal Group conversations are more formal, clear and straight forward, eye contact, listening to everyone, pronociation Informal is less formal, don’t have to speak loudly, back and forward talking, more personal Argyle’s theory of the communication cycle centre’s on six core concepts, or, a cycle. The cycle is as follows: 1. An idea occurs. For example, let us say that our idea is wanting to buy a  car. 2. Message coded. This would be us putting our desire of a car into whatever medium we wish to communicate with. This may be a language, pictures, writing, or any other medium you can think of. 3. Message sent. Here we have communicated our desire for wanting a car. 4. Message received. The person or perhaps target audience we wish to notify of our desire to have a car [perhaps a parental figure] has received our message. 5. Message decoded. They now must take what we have said and attempt to decode it. Now, â€Å"I want a car† is pretty straightforward, but remember, not everyone is as transparent as this, and this is the step where communication breakdown may occur as they may decode our message incorrectly. 6. Message understood. Hopefully the last step was effective and they understand what you were trying to communicate. Now the cycle can begin anew. Burnard and Morrison According to the Philip Burnard and Paul Morrison (1997), A lot of communication in care work involves building a relationship with the service user. This involves giving them emotional support which builds trust. They also argued that communication without caring for the person in some way would not be able to work. Service users that go through emotional issues i.e. A teenager being sexual abused by a youth worker, is often at first a difficult and sensitive issue to talk about has a social worker for example. Any difficult and sensitive issues should focus on the emotional needs of the service user rather than giving out advice and information that is not needed since it is not needed since the service user is already likely to be overwhelmed with grief. In health and social care setting, Professionals should always try be supportive within difficult situations since this will help would towards making effective communication start between the  professional and the service user. Tuckman The environment can affect how well a communication goes, if the environment is a distraction it can cause a conversation to not flow very well, however the environment could help create a cincerarion.

Seoul Urbanization

The population of the metropolis increases because people from rural areas and overseas migrate to the urban areas in large numbers, averaging 7. 6 per cent per year (United Nations Population Division, 2001). Increasing of population in many big cities may causes serious problems even in advanced countries. Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, which more than 11 millions of population, has grown rapidly into a metropolis since the end of Korean War (Kim, 2005). Over population in Seoul creates many problems such as traffic congestion and lack of housing.This essay will discuss about two issues caused by increasing number of population in the city. The first is traffic congestion in Seoul and policies to decline this problem and the second is lack of housing and solution by the government. Traffic congestion is one of the most serious problems in Seoul because of a large number of vehicles in the city (Asianinfo. org, 2000). The increasing number of population in an urban area pro duces a plentiful number of passenger cars on the road. Approximately amount of cars is 2. 8 million (Mok, 2007).In Seoul, the statistic shows that one out of three citizens has a car (Zhang, 2010). This situation brings a big pressure to the traffic in the city. The congestion issue causes a distress of travel to metropolitans. Due to this serious problem, the Seoul metropolitan government has created the key measures to solve the traffic congestion. The first measure is to reform the metropolitan transportation system. There are many kinds of transportation in Seoul such as bus, subway and taxi. Under the revolution and reform of transport system, the government has developed bus services according to route demands.In addition, the extension of subways and establishment of exclusive median bus lane make easier and cheaper for passengers to transfer between buses and subways (Jin, 2005). The other measures are policies and encouraging drivers to reduce traffic volume. For example, the government’s measure which encouraging drivers to avoid using of private vehicles for one day of the five-day working week and Seoul Car Free Day campaign which the parking lots of public organization are compulsory closed and drive people to use public transport (Mok, 2007).The government is also searching for a new measure to address the issue of traffic congestion and benefit the megacity’s residents (Cohen, 2009). Apart from traffic congestion, lack of housing is also an important issue caused by population growth in Seoul. Since the end of the Korean War, the nation has focused on increasing only the output within industry (Seoulsouthkorea. jimdo. com, n. d. ) This is the reason for encouraging many people to move into urban centers. A lack of housing for the majority of the new residents has been resulted by rapid urbanization.This is one product of rapid urban development. The influx of population increases need for housing infrastructure. For example, durin g the last few years there have been approximately twice as many households as houses. Those who can find no houses must become squatters and construct shanties and this cause emergence of slum areas in Seoul. The government has an urban development activity with the purpose to clear and relocate squatters from parks and green zones to the outskirts of the city.The measure of Seoul’s government is to allocate houses for the residents which named as Citizen Apartment Building Program (Lee, 2000). Under this program, the government constructs low-rise apartment buildings for squatters and low-income groups. The apartments are intended to be cheap to build and buy. In addition, the government produces low-interest loans that make buyers purchase more easily. In conclusion, urbanization in Seoul began at the end of war. With a rapid growth of the city, Seoul is one of the largest cities in the world with a large amount of population.It can be seen from above examples that increas ing number of population in Seoul causes serious problems such as traffic congestion and lack of housing. However, the government has attempted to address the problems with logical plans and policies.

Hercules Essay

Adrianna Barnhart Mrs. Browning Blk. 6 English 10 9-19-12 The Story of Hercules [pic][pic][pic] Hercules, aka Herakles, was a buff god. He was the god of power. His father Zeus was the god of the skies, his mother a mortal, making Hercules a demigod. Alcmene, Hercules mother, wasn’t the wife of Zeus, Hera the goddess of earth was, and she was livid. In fact, Hera was so livid she threatened the baby’s life by sending in to Hercules crib two serpents. According to the legend, the serpents were sent in to strangle the baby, but Hercules just sat up wrapped his baby hands around their necks strangling them.His failure to die in this scenario would affect him for years to come. (Carr, Karen PhD) Hera was determined to make Hercules’ life hell for being born and killing her prized snakes, so when Hercules married and had two kids, she sought it a good time to make Hercules, literally, crazy. She summoned madness on him, causing him to lose his mind and kill his wife a nd children. When he came back to his normal state, he was upset to see his love along with his children lifeless in their home. He sent for Apollo to help him rid his woes.Apollo told him in order to liberate him from his sins, Hercules had to report to King Eurystheus and partake in 10 labors. Hercules, wanting be released from his depravities, walks to King Eurystheus’ palace, ready to perform his first task. (Carr, Karen PhD) His first mission was to kill The Nemean Lion, and bring King Eurystheus the hide. The Nemean Lion lived in Nemea, where he terrorized the hills and villages with the area. He hiked for a long time until he eventually stopped in a town known as Cleonae, where he stayed with a man named Molorchus.Under the company of Hercules, Molorchus proposed the suggestion of sacrificing an animal for a good hunt. Intrigued by the idea, Hercules recommended that they wait 30 days for Hercules to come back, where they would sacrifice the animal to Zeus; however, if Hercules didn’t return, Molorchus would sacrifice the animal to him, the man who died a hero. With the plan intact, Hercules left for Nemea. Hercules arrived in Nemea and located the lion. He soon found his arrows were pointless against the lion so he would need to find a better strategy.He followed the lion to a cave with two entrances; he blocked one with sticks and stones and went inside through the other. Without any hesitation, he threw his arms around the lion and strangled him. He then headed back to Cleonae and caught up to Molorchus on the 30th day, where they sacrificed to Zeus together. (The Nemean Lion) After the sacrifice, Hercules went back to Mycenae to deliver the lion to King Eurystheus. The king impressed and frightened Hercules completed the labor, built himself a little room made of bronze under his palace, so Hercules couldn’t reach him.He then banished Hercules from the city and started giving him tasks through a herald. (The Nemean Lion) His sec ond duty was a bit more challenging. Hercules was required to slay the Lernean Hydra. The hydra lived in the swamps of Lernea, where it enjoyed bullying the townspeople. A hydra is a poisonous serpent with eight mortal heads and one immortal head and when one head is chopped off two grow back in its place. Knowing the assignment was nearly impossible, he acquired help from his trusty nephew Iolaus. When they reached the monster, Hercules went straight up and bashed it in the head with his club.He discovered the hydra wouldn’t die from chopping its heads off, so he told Iolaus to torch the neck of the hydra after Hercules cut it off. They continued this strategy until the last head came off. When it came down to the immortal head, Hercules buried it in the ground then laid a boulder on top of the dirt. They then traveled back to Mycenae to tell the king, however, Eurystheus wouldn’t accept this labor because Hercules had help. (The Lernean Hydra) Disappointed, Hercules waited for his new orders. King Eurystheus wanted the Hind of Ceryneia.A hind is a female, red deer and this one had gold horns and bronze hooves. This hind was Diana’s prized possession, so killing the deer was not an option. Hercules hunted the deer for a year before finally receiving the opportunity to trap her. The deer stopped for a drink of water, and at the opportune moment, Hercules shot her. As he was taking the hind to Mycenae, he ran in to Apollo and Diana. Diana was upset that Hercules had shot her deer, but before she confiscated it, Hercules told her the truth, so she instead healed the deer’s wounds and sent Hercules on his way to King Eurystheus. The Hind of Ceryneia Diana’s Pet Deer) With the completion of the 3rd task, it was time for Hercules to complete his 4th. Hercules had to deliver King Eurystheus the Erymanthian Boar alive. The boar lived on a mountain Erymanthus that attacked men and animals all over the countryside destroying everythin g in its path. Just to clarify, the boar attacked the men and stuff, not the mountain. Anyway, Hercules, after witnessing his friend Chiron die, found the boar and chased it all around the mountain. He chased the boar until it ran into the undergrowth where the boar became trapped in the snow.Hercules stabbed the boar with his spear then carried it on his shoulders to Mycenae. The king scared once more, hid himself in his little bronze room under his palace. (The Erymanthian Boar) As Hercules accomplished things that no normal man could, King Eurystheus started hiding much more often. Wanting to not be scared for once, he assigned Hercules the responsibility of cleaning the Stables of Augeas. King Augeas had the most cattle in the country and the thought of someone cleaning the stables in one day was assumed to be impossible, that is until Hercules came along.Hercules, without talking to Eurystheus, made his way to King Augeas and told him he would clean his stables in one day if Au geas would pay him 1/10 of his cattle. King Augeas agreed, and Hercules got to work. He started by tearing a big hole in the in the cattle yard then ripping another in the opposite wall. Next, he dug two trenches that connected to two different rivers that flowed by. The water rushed in the hole of the cattle yard and out the other carrying out the stinky mess. He then plugged the holes and went to get his payment.However, King Augeas refused to give Hercules the reward and told him to take it to court. Hercules did and had Augeas’ son testify that he promised the reward, the court ruled Augeas to pay him. Flustered, King Augeas paid Hercules then banished Hercules and his son from the city. Hercules went back to Mycenae to tell King Eurystheus the good news, but was instead disappointed to find the king not validating the task because he was paid. (The Augean Stables Hercules Cleans Up) For the 6th labor, Hercules was told to shoo away the Stymphalian Birds that gathered at the lake of Stymphalos.It is undefined whether or not these birds were man-eating. Hercules not quite sure how to get rid of the birds is saved by Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war strategy, gave him a pair of bronze Krotala, which are noise making clappers. Hercules gladly accepted the gift and went on with his journey. Once he was near the lake of Stymphalos, he began climbing the adjacent mountain. At the top of the mountain, he clapped the Krotala then shot at the birds as they took off. He then returned to Mycenae for his next set of instructions. (The Stymphalian Birds) His 7th set of orders, bring the Cretan Bull.The Cretan bull was sent as a sacrifice from Poseidon to Minos, the king of Crete. In order to keep his throne, he promised Poseidon he would sacrifice any animal he sent him. Poseidon sent this bull however; Minos thought it was too beautiful to kill, so he sacrificed a different one. Outraged, Poseidon cursed Minos’ wife to fall in love with the bull, an d when she birthed a Minotaur, Minos concealed him in the Labyrinth. Hercules easily located the bull, wrestled it, and then brought it back to King Eurystheus. The king let it go where it wandered around and terrorized Greece for most of its life. The Cretan Bull) His 8th task came and Hercules once more had it completed. He was told to steal the man-eating horses of Diomedes. Determined to become one step closer to freedom, Hercules sailed with a posse of volunteers across the Augean sea to Bistonia. He and his companions took on those guarding the horses, easily defeating them; they attempted to steal the horses. At the sight of the thieves, a gang of Bistonian soldiers flanked the group, but their efforts were proven pointless when Hercules and the rest of the group fled for Mycenae along with the horses.Once Hercules delivered the horses, King Eurystheus let the mares free where they were eaten by wild beasts. (The Man-Eating Horses of Diomedes) For his 9th, Hercules was sent t o retrieve the belt of Hippolyte, the queen of the Amazons. The Amazons were a tribe of women soldiers named after the Greek word meaning â€Å"missing one breast. † They received this name when a soldier’s right breast got in the way of her spear. Queen Hippolyte’s belt was a leather one, worn for carrying her spear and sword, given to her by Ares. Eurystheus wanted the belt as a birthday present for his daughter.Hercules and friends sailed for the land of the Amazons, when they arrived, Hippolyte arrived to greet them. She and Hercules began talking and when he told her why he needed her belt she agreed to give it to him. However, Hera was on the island too. She told all the Amazons Hercules was here to kidnap the queen. When Hercules saw he was under attack, he drew his sword and killed the queen, then took her belt, killed the enemy, and set sail for Mycenae. (Hippolyte’s Belt Hercules Fights the Amazons) His final labor, his 10th, one of the most cha llenging labors Hercules was to perform, was the retrieval of the Cattle of Geryon.His final task was for Hercules to travel across the world to Erythia, an island near the boundary of Europe and Libya. Geryon was a monster who had three sets of legs (6 in total) and three heads. He kept a herd of cattle guarded by Orthus, a 2 headed hound, and the herdsman Eurytion. Once Hercules reached his destination, he built two mountains to symbolize the journey he took (these mountains would later be known as the Pillars of Hercules. ) He killed Orthus and then Geryon and left with the cattle. Two sons of Poseidon attempted to steal the cattle, so Hercules killed them.Later on the journey, one of the bulls escaped to Sicily, then made its way to the neighboring country Italy, which was named after the Greek word Italus meaning â€Å"bull. † Hercules left the herd to Hephaestus while he chased after the cow. Hercules found it in Eryx’s herd, so he wrestled him for it and won, th en returned it to the herd. Hera didn’t want Hercules to accomplish the labor, so she sent a gadfly to attack the cattle. The herd scattered everywhere, and Hercules once more had to retrieve them, when he gathered them all up, he went straight to the king.Once they were delivered to the king, Eurystheus sacrificed them to Hera, an interesting coincidence. (The Cattle of Geryon) Hercules now having completed his ten labors was caught by surprise when King Eurystheus told him he had two more labors because he didn’t count the Hydra or his cleaning of the stables. Eurystheus was hungry I guess, but nothing would satisfy him except for the golden apples of Hespirides. The garden was guarded by a 100 headed dragon, Ladon, and by nymphs who were daughters of Atlas, the titan who held the sky and earth on his soldiers.Hercules had a long journey fighting through Poseidon’s sons and killing the eagle that attacked Prometheus, that once he caught a break, he realized he wasn’t even sure of where to go. He saw Atlas on the side of the road just holding up the world. Hercules asked Atlas if he would go to the garden and get him some apples. Atlas agreed, so he gave the world to Hercules. Once he was back, Atlas asked if he could take the apples to Eurystheus. Hercules agreed, but asked to put on padding. Once the world was on Atlas so Hercules could put on his padding, Hercules grabbed he apples and ran off towards Mycenae.Athena came and confiscated and brought the apples back to the garden because they belonged to the gods. (The Apples of Hesperides) His final labor was to go to the underworld and steal the beast, Cerberus. The underworld was ruled by Hades and his wife Persephone and only the dead were allowed in. Hercules eventually found Hades, who promised to give Hercules the beast as long as he could defeat the beast weaponless. Hercules went to the entrance of the underworld and saw Cerberus. Without any hesitation, he threw his arms around the beast. Cerberus fell under the force of Hercules and left with him to king Eurystheus.Eventually, Cerberus was given back to Hades without a scratch on him, except his dignity. (Cerberus) After completing all of the labors, Hercules remarried to a woman, Deianira. She was kidnapped by a centaur, Nessus. Hercules got her back of course and killed Nessus, but in the process of his dying, he told Deianira that if she smeared his blood on Hercules, he would love her forever. For Hercules birthday, Deianira gave him a cloak covered in the centaur’s blood, but when he put it on, it ended up burning his skin. To get rid of the pain, he killed himself then traveled to Mt.Olympus to become a god. He widowed a woman and left four sons, Hyllus, Clesippus, Glenus, and Hodites alone. (Carr, Karen PhD) Hercules is a difficult god to classify. Being a demigod, he doesn’t really have a rank and not many powers except strength. He had the weakness of being immoral and greed y, but there was literally nothing he couldn’t do physically. Some of the allusions associated with Hercules is the â€Å"Hercules Piorot† a detective that always finds the murderer and wrestlers want to be named after him because he was strong. Other examples include wrestlers.Hercules is a very common name in the wrestling business because it would make the person appear stronger. The C-130 plane is a plane made of steel, which is sometimes referred to as Hercules because steel is strong and not easily broken. Works Cited 1. Carr, Karen. Hercules for Kids-Herakles in Ancient Greek Mythology-Ancient Greece for Kidiepie-History for Kids. 2012. http://www. historyforkids. org/learn/greeks/religion/myths/herakle. html 2. Hercules (also called Hercakles). 62695. Web. http://ballpoint. org/greekgods/hercules. html 3. The Nemean Lion. Perseus Project. Web. http://www. perseus. tufts. edu/herakles. /lion. html

Economic Issues: Is the war in Iraq good for the economy Essay

As most of the issues concerning nowadays deals more on the economic impacts of the actions of the government, there have been a lot of debates arguing if whether it would be beneficial to the US the ongoing war in Iraq. In an economic view point, it is clear that funding war really requires a lot of money to spend in order to sustain it which in turn involves high opportunity costs on the part of the American people. Last year, around $1 trillion was the expected spending of our government to fund the said war in Iraq (Wolk 1) while there are sectors in the government that lacks enough budgets to continue its functions to serve the American people. Like for instance, the Congress decided to cut the fund allotted for education to around $12. 7 billion. Due to the war in Iraq, the government have incurred tremendous amount of budget deficit, and in order to solve the said problem on the finances of the government they sacrificed the welfare and pass the burden to the students. Moreover, taxes rate were increased by the government due to the need of more funds. It was found out that most of the tax collection of the government entirely goes to transfer payments like the war in Iraq. Moreover, the funds being used for schools came from property taxes; funds for roads and bridges came from gas taxes while user fees funds airports, sewer and water systems (â€Å"Where Do Your Taxes Go? † 2). The government also uses the funds generated from IMF to perform its designated functions. In short, the government charges us taxes in order to fund the war in Iraq and not to give us infrastructures and services that are in the first place role of the government to its citizen. Although at some point in time prices of stocks rise by the start of the war, but it does not guarantee that it would remain at that level. Moreover, it was the result of the expectations of the investors and not because of the direct cause of the war (Glassman 1). It is still up to the investors how they will view the war in Iraq- beneficial or detrimental to stock market. If they see that the war would boost the economy in the future, then, they would improved the stock market. But if the investors think that it would be risky to invest by the time the war began, then, war is detrimental to the financial institutions of the economy. Moreover, the US Central Bank said last November 6 that â€Å"geopolitical uncertainty† is the reason behind the economic turmoil like the cutting of the interest rate to 1. 5%. this only tell us that war in Iraq puts no good in the economy. Deaths might weaken the labor force of the economy and this result to lower productivity and growth of the market (Schifferes 1). Wage rate pressured to go up and could negatively affect the profitability of the companies in the market. Moreover, there are rumors in the market that Iraq will cut their supply of the oil in the international market as a result of the war (Miller 1). With this, there is a possibility that prices of oil products to rise which plays a vital role in the production of final goods in the market. It was said that the price of oil increased from $35 to $40 at the start of the war and this greatly affects the level of the productivity of the economy. Actually, there is really no problem on the military intervention of US to Iraq economic-political situation if it only involved a short period of time (Stiglitz 1). But the current situation seems to be not the case since until now the war continuous to occur in the desserts of Iraq which as we have said imposed uncertainties to the stock market, undervalued the welfare of its citizens and the reputation of the government to the foreign investors. Short run impacts of the war can still be handled by the market system itself; but in the long run, there is already a need for the collaboration of all the sectors of the economy to put back again the economy into its equilibrium condition.

Founding Brothers Essay

The novel, Founding Brothers, written by Joseph Ellis is a thought provoking novel on the intertwined lives of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and Ben Franklin. Ellis calls the 1790’s the most decisive decade in our country. The author exemplifies three major points in our nation’s history: George Washington and his prominent legacy; the collaborative yet antagonistic relationship between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams; and the many problems of the young union during its revolutionary era. George Washington was a monumental character and played a vital role in the molding of our country. Although, his reputation was nearly impeccable, he was great in stature, standing at six foot four. The farewell address was a key element to Washington’s legacy. In this he displayed how grateful he was to have such a remarkable opportunity to serve his country, although this only was the beginning part of his speech. Secondly he decided to stress the importance of the union. But it started in 1776 when Washington was being described as â€Å"Father of our Country† prematurely. Even Ben Franklin acknowledged Washington’s supremacy. In the 1790’s Washington was well known, he was the presiding officer at the Constitutional Convention and the chief executive of the federal government. â€Å"Washington was the core of gravity that prevented the American Revolution from flying off into random orbits, the stable center around which the revolutionary energies formed† (Ellis 121). He impacted the government tremendously with his way of thinking and his attitude toward the need for national unity. He talked about independence from foreign nations; he devoted several paragraphs to this in his in his address. Washington always made the well- being of the country first. For example, when Continental Congress wanted help the French with an invasion of Canada, Washington opposed. He feared that that putting the France in possession of that capital that they would become greedy, and doubted that they would withdraw once they were ensconced in Canada. I think that he may have felt that also, America was young and still growing as a country. He was criticized for this decision. In closing on Washington’s legacy, I feel that there were many reasons why he retired. In short, he was just getting old and probably couldn’t take the political pressure. He was also going through a physical decline. Washington intended for his farewell address to be advice to his countrymen. He wanted them to sustain without, and without a king. Adams and Jefferson were indeed friends but had different agendas on how the country should be run. Their relationship was unique; they were great friends but even better competitors. The presidency drove them apart. Adams was a federalist, and Jefferson was a democratic republican so to speak. Through the Continental congress and diplomatic missions they became close friends. As they worked more together Adams developed more respect Jefferson, although he was less effusive. The low point of their relationship was definitely after the election in 1800. After this their relationship became more antagonistic. As politicians and colleagues they went through many phases. After the election they did not speak for a long 12 years. Adams felt that Jefferson had betrayed their friendship. After the death of Jefferson daughter, Abigail Adams began to exchange letters of condolences. Jefferson confused it as an invitation to reconcile with Adams family. The two disputed briefly, John didn’t find out until several months later. Finally in January of 1812, Adams sent a letter from Quincy to Monticello. â€Å"Why then, did Adams take the fateful step, which led to a fourteen year exchange of 158 letters, a correspondence that is generally regarded as the intellectual capstone to the revolutionary generation and the most impressive correspondence between prominent states in all of American history† (Ellis 223)? For the last 15 years of their lives they contacted each other through letters and rebuilt their friendship. On the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of the Independence, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other. They will never be forgotten for the inevitable and timely contributions to our young country. In the introduction Ellis describes the American Revolution perfectly with the statement â€Å"No event in American history which was so improbable at the time has seemed as inevitable in retrospect as the American Revolution†. America’s victory seemed beyond improbable seeing as how England had the greatest army of the Revolutionary era. The young colonists chose to seek out alliances with the French, Dutch, and Spanish due to their lack of monetary resources, experience or even the pure man power. British beforehand, even tried attacking the colonists politically which had their in leading to an inevitable rebellion. They initiated taxes, and other events such as the Boston Massacre took place that ignited the young colonists to take stand against Great Britain. Though faith, inspiration and prosperity the Americans shocked the world, defeated the odds and took the victory in 1783, securing their new independent world. This victory inspired countries worldwide to rebel against the tyrannical empires that were controlling them. This victory is evident in today’s society as America thrives as country that influences others and still is, independent. Founding Brothers truly exposes a much more personal point of view of our founding fathers and their irrefutable destiny. Joseph Ellis targets critical elements of their and what they thought was best for the young country of America. They molded something bigger than themselves during this revolutionary era. The author really brings to life the intricate detail of Washington’s legacy and the partnership between two great leaders Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Joseph Ellis’ statement was more than valid; it justifies American in a few short words.

Health Care Reform and Future Trend Personal Statement

Health Care Reform and Future Trend - Personal Statement Example I further propose that if health care was provided to these people, then financial suffering could have been prevented. These monetary problems prevent people from receiving essential treatment for illnesses. There is clearly a problem with the current Medicare program when people suffer from diseases simply because of their financial status. Other Medicare programs have to face many hardships while trying to apply a universal take over of every present health care system, which have generally led to extremely high prices, and a low quality of service. Therefore I believe that the whole nationalization of every presently used heath care service would not be necessary, nevertheless only a duel umbrella system which can incorporate uninsured Americans into the present health care system under new federal rules and regulations would be ideal for the Medicare program. I suggest the umbrella system as this umbrella system would let people who at present have an insurance plan to carry on their insurance plan. And those who are uninsured would be placed into a new nationalized health package which could be a HMO type system, which will reduce the costs. The lack of health insurance of a lot of people have a severe harmful consequences and economic costs not just for those who are uninsured but also for their family, the neighborhood they reside in, and the entire state. In my opinion, the primary problem is that health care considered to be a commodity which is marketed instead of a social service. A lot of people get tax-free health benefits from the company they work for, the companies pay insurers a portion of the premiums (Tooke 2003). However not every company provides these benefits. To my knowledge, it is strictly voluntary for employers. In the periodical "Employee Benefits," the problem for many workers is that not all employer-provided health insurance is equal, and many employers offer no coverage at all. Although 53 percent of private sector firms offer health coverage to their employees, and virtually all firms with 100 or more employees sponsor a health plan, small businesses are far less likely to do so (Cooper 2000), After reviewing the above mentioned problem it can be concluded firms which have a small number of employees most of them are uninsured thus I propose a single-payer system may be more affordable as it would minimize extra costs of administrative, profits and needless repetition. Moreover, it would allow the company of an overall budget and a reasonable and equal distribution of resources. Secondly, I propose that innovative technologies would be scarce under a single-payer system. Lastly, I believe that a single-payer system is the same as socialized medicine, even though a national program may be

Accounting theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Accounting theory - Essay Example The money is the only and ultimate source of exchange in the world, and therefore, the companies have to acquire human and other resources by paying the suppliers money. The theory of Resource Dependence argues that organizations cannot survive without receiving social support from the relevant societies. However, the companies need to create success in order to gift their investors with the construct of trust that forms a cornerstone of any kind of human relation one can think of. The organizations have to serve the needs and wants of the investors and shareholders as well. The financial recordkeeping is far reaching in terms of sustaining a relationship with the stakeholders. The accounting systems might have the flaws, but despite that, one cannot possibly give up on them because they form an integral part of the business. The field of accounting is filled with corruption and dishonesty, but it does not mean that the system is wrongful in nature. However, those who are running it might be doing corruption (Cecchetti, 2006). In this way, the accountant becomes corrupt and dishonest with his or her profession. The field of accounting has become a flashpoint of corruption in recent years because of unveiling fraudulent activities in the departments of the leading companies. The conceptual framework behind the art and science of accounting has a design to pass entries in order to depict the exact situation of the business. The experts use the term creative accounting in order to refer to the practices that accountants apply to manipulate the stakeholders. The accountants create attractive level of working capital so that the financial outlook of their companies can appear attractive in the eyes of the stakeholders. The issues in the field began to intensify after the application of Generally Acceptable Accounting Practices (GAAP). The accountants apply the

Describe Operating Systems that are common on the internet Research Paper

Describe Operating Systems that are common on the internet - Research Paper Example The family of Microsoft operating systems available on the Internet includes Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 97, Microsoft Windows 2000, and Microsoft Windows ME. The most common operating system among these is the Microsoft Windows XP because of its gamming industry. In the contemporary computers’ market, two power houses because of which people purchase new computers are the latest games, and people’s attempts to keep up with Joneses. â€Å"The reason that the gaming industry is the biggest power house is every person that buys a computer will buy some type of game for that computer and with the gamming industry pushing the envelope of processors and video cards consumers want the most realistic games they can find† (Healy, 2003, p. 1). Web operating systems provide the users with a wonderful way to access their data sitting anywhere across the globe. All that is required by the users is a computer, an Internet connection, and a br owser. Web operating systems prove quite handy particularly if the user has many computers, and the user travels frequently and wants all of the data to be compiled in one place instead of many. Five of the most well-known web operating systems are eyeOS, Jolicloud, G.ho.st, Glide OS, and icloud. They are described as follows: eyeOS eyeOS is the web desktop of the open source cloud computing. Individual users and organizations both can use this operating system. eyeOS can be either downloaded from the Internet and run on the server or its account can be created to use it. eyeOS plays the role of a platform for web applications with the help of the eyeOS Toolkit. eyeOS has a Desktop environment which consists of system utilities and 67 other applications that include but are not limited to the address book, word processor, PDF reader, and numerous applications created by the community. Jolicloud Netbooks developed an Internet based operating system with the name Jolicloud. It is a Ne t focused operating system that supports different kinds of connectivity hardware including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 3G modems. Users of the social media particularly find Jolicloud very convenient to use as it provides them with easy access to such social media websites as Twitter and Facebook. Other features included in Jolicloud include Google Reader, Skype, VLC, Meebo, and Gmail. Jolicloud provides the online users with the facility to live-synch updates from their netbooks using the Jolicloud homebase. The users can read, edit, and write documents, and develop presentations and spreadsheets using the Zoho apps. â€Å"By connecting to the apps and services you already use and love, Jolicloud Me automatically streamlines all the things you create, like or receive into your very own personal library† (jolicloud, n.d.). Jolicloud has compatibility with AIR, Windows, Linux, and other applications which support Gears and Flash for the offline web. G.ho.st G.ho.st is another web o perating system. It is an abbreviation for Global hosted operating system. It is a kind of virtual computer with almost all of the features of a physical computer that include but are not limited to file storage, desktop, and apps. G.ho.st has two versions; G.ho.st Lite and G.ho.st VC. G.ho.st Lite provides access from old computers that have

Supply Network Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Supply Network Strategy - Essay Example It also improves the relationship of each link in the chain and improves the benefits of all partners in the supply chain. Finally, a three dimensional network model of a supply chain can better show that dynamic nature of the behaviors and way of information, services, and materials. A network view guides those who are responsible for strategy design, implementation, and execution to see the difficult relationships of a typical supply chain into the future. This also helps in field of "economies of scope" between the business enterprises. According to above, Supply chain management is represented as a dynamic not as static. This view of Supply chain management has its crucial point on the logical and global attitude of business and its relationships. Information technologies are the facilitators. In which there is not least absence of performance. The theory of supply chain management has commands over the products or services that are beneficial for the company. It is also involved the procedure that is faster then the cost. The term management in Supply chain management has a conservative view of its managerial dimensions, these dimensions can be planning, organizing or controlling the over all activities but there is a very little knowledge about the management of service supply.

Chapter 6 and ch 9 Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chapter 6 and ch 9 - Article Example The case study has rightly highlighted the plea of an 80-year-old woman, who could not handle the hot coffee properly, resulting in her splitting same on her ankles. The judge has passed the right decision. However, there cannot be any hard rules that can specify the ethical responsibilities to be matched with the product quality, as each individual case is different. This is a case of â€Å"might is right†. The bigger companies with huge funds for market promotion use â€Å"slotting fees† phenomenon as a method to increase their sales volume. However, this keeps the smaller and medium manufacturers out of the competition. On the other hand, the customers who are satisfied with lesser-known brands may not be able to find these products on the shelves of a store. The market economy does not require that bigger sharks eat away the smaller fishes. Instead, it allows the fair competition to grow in a healthy manner. In addition, the established companies may not even try to improve their product quality as they ensure their increased sales through such

PTSD Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

PTSD - Research Paper Example The victims become hopeless and if the shock does not subside the victims get disturbed by painful memories. They feel that their normal status cannot be restored. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder usually occurs with battle scared military officers who go through a win or die battle. Many soldiers suffer from the disorder situations when they are fighting a losing battle. Traumatizing incidences such as bombast makes them scared. The soldiers get maimed while some die. The incidences and aftermath of the war have been the leading cause of the mental disorder. The disease is also prevalent in emergency care workers. Most of the emergency care workers who suffer the disorder are those who take care of the victims whose life is in danger. The death of the victims leaves shocking memories that they cannot forget. The medical officers who treat and take care of the victims of emergency events are also at risk of suffering from the disorder. Children are less likely to develop the disease than adults. They have weak memories, and they are less engaged in life-threatening events. The primary cause of Post-Traumatic Disorder among children is bullying. Bullying also affects adults. Individuals facing domestic violence are predisposed to the disorder. Disasters such as earthquakes and Tsunami results to the massive destruction. The victims of the disaster are traumatized. For many years terrorist attacks has been threatening peoples life. The effects of the attacks are unbearable and terrible. The disorder is prevalent among the people held hostages by terrorists. The torture the in the cells leaves the freed culprits traumatized. Drug abuse especially alcohol also co-occur with the mental disorder. Intake of narcotics hinders the recovery of the PTSD by medication. Alcohol abuse worsens the PSTD conditions (Krippner, 2012). Childhood neglect, kidnapping and sudden death of loved ones also put individuals at risk of gettin g the disorder. The police

The US Presidential Electoral System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The US Presidential Electoral System - Essay Example After the election, the delegates cast their electoral vote and the winner is decided. This system was necessitated at the birth of the nation when counting a national popular vote was impractical. In addition, it protected the government offices from being decided by an ill-informed electorate. Though it is generally an adequate reflection of the voters' preference, it has several weaknesses. One weakness in the electoral college, that a popular vote system would rectify, is the unequal distribution of voter power. Under the current system, the number of electoral votes is equal to the number of House members plus two. Since the number of House members is based on population, this gives an advantage to the smaller states (Bennett 3). Voters in the least populated states have more power with their individual votes than the voters in the larger states do. In addition, since the apportionment of electoral votes is based on the census, it is always out of date, sometimes by as much as 1 0 years (Edwards 2). A popular vote system would alleviate both of these problems and accurately reflect the population on an equal basis. Individual voter power is further hampered when the minority (loser) in the large states are awarded no electoral delegates at all. Leib and Mark state that, "Minority voters in large non-swing states—say Republicans today in California or New York, as well as Democrats in Texas—have the most reason to be upset with the current method of awarding electoral votes" (106). Uneven apportionment, out of date census data, and no minority voice creates an unjust system of voter unfairness. One of the purposes of an electoral system is to facilitate and encourage voter participation. When voters feel like their vote is of little or no value, they will be discouraged from participating in the process. As an example, Indiana has traditionally voted overwhelmingly for the Republican presidential candidate in the last several elections. Though Democrats make up as much as 40 percent of the vote, their votes have not been counted for years. For all practical purposes, they have no reason to vote for a candidate that can not carry the state. "These disincentives essentially take the form of reducing the perceived benefits of voting for a Presidential candidate by restricting the power of votes to state jurisdictions rather than allowing all votes equal value (power) in a national election determined strictly by a popular vote" (Cebula and Murphy 188). Reforming the electoral college to reflect a more equitable system of voter power would encourage greater voter participation. Moving to a popular vote system would not only more fairly represent the voters, it would also reduce the special favor spending projects that are awarded