Top 10 Percent Graduating Essays - Education In Texas,

Top 10 Percent Graduating Top Ten Percent Graduating top ten percent is a hard road filled with four years of all nighters, study sessions, and countless hours at the library. To graduate with this honor not only brings pride to ones' parents but it also gives the student a special privilege. The top ten percent rule passed in 1997 (House Bill 588) by the 75th legislator automatically accepts these students to any public Texas University. While this may seem like a noble idea on the surface, in retrospect this gives an unfair advantage to the rest of the graduating class. Texas government believes that the top ten percent rule will encourage students to work harder in high school and increase the amount of minorities accepted into a public Texas University. Instead, it works against other hard working students who did not achieve top ten percent status but have other outstanding achievements. I believe that this rule excludes many deserving students and cause parents as well as public school systems to do irrational things t o circumnavigate a well intentioned but poorly thought out bill. This rule should be abolished for the good of the future students. A great deal of hard working students who have made it their goal to attend the University of Texas at Austin are rejected solely on the basis that they are not in the top ten percent of their respected school. In the article ?Student Run Into to Ten Percent Law? published in the Houston Chronicle, a promising 17-year-old student who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps by attending the University of Texas was reject purely on the grounds that he was not in the top ten percent of his class. The rejection letter stated that his ?academic record did not meet the required competitive level?(Nissimov, 1a) but his accomplishments such as maintaining a 3.94 grade point average and scoring a 1240 on his SAT (180 points above the national average) clearly states otherwise. His only draw back was attending a very academically competitive high school. His grade point average would have easily placed him in the top ten percent in many other schools but at the high school he attended, it o nly managed to secure him a spot in the top 30 percent. The top ten percent rule has caused students, parents, and schools to do outrageous things to get students in the top ten percent of their class. In some instances, parents were forced to move out of their home and or illegally place their children into a less competitive and less challenging school by falsifying their address. In the article ?Dumbing Down of the Education Plaguing Texas and the Nation.? By Marc Levin, states that ?There have been reports of parents transferring their children to inferior high schools to give them a better chance of graduating it the top ten percent, thereby receiving automatic admission to UT and A&M. This outgrowth of the top ten percent rule provides a clear example of how leveling can bring an entire educational system down to the lowest common denominator.?(Levin, 2) These students may achieve the top ten percent status but in essence, they sacrifice the better education that they could have received. There have been cases in some schools that h ave squeezed extra student in the top ten percent. At Westlake High School, 63 of the 491 seniors were in the top ten percent, but the math clearly shows us that in actuality that would make it 12.8 percent. ?Ms. Faske, the school's college career counselor, concedes that the school did inflate some student's class rank.?Golden, 1) Another instance was at Lyndon Baines Johnson High School where 15 percent of the seniors managed to with the top ten percent status. The outcome of so many students accepted through the top ten percent automatic admission rule is that there is little room left for regular admission. As a result of this, many students end up in the provisional program offered here at UT Austin. The requirement for acceptance through the provisional program is that students are required to take 12 credit hours in the subjects of mathematics, science, social science, and English. They must pass all of their classes with no incompletes

Top 10 Percent Graduating Essays - Education In Texas,

Top 10 Percent Graduating Top Ten Percent Graduating top ten percent is a hard road filled with four years of all nighters, study sessions, and countless hours at the library. To graduate with this honor not only brings pride to ones' parents but it also gives the student a special privilege. The top ten percent rule passed in 1997 (House Bill 588) by the 75th legislator automatically accepts these students to any public Texas University. While this may seem like a noble idea on the surface, in retrospect this gives an unfair advantage to the rest of the graduating class. Texas government believes that the top ten percent rule will encourage students to work harder in high school and increase the amount of minorities accepted into a public Texas University. Instead, it works against other hard working students who did not achieve top ten percent status but have other outstanding achievements. I believe that this rule excludes many deserving students and cause parents as well as public school systems to do irrational things t o circumnavigate a well intentioned but poorly thought out bill. This rule should be abolished for the good of the future students. A great deal of hard working students who have made it their goal to attend the University of Texas at Austin are rejected solely on the basis that they are not in the top ten percent of their respected school. In the article ?Student Run Into to Ten Percent Law? published in the Houston Chronicle, a promising 17-year-old student who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps by attending the University of Texas was reject purely on the grounds that he was not in the top ten percent of his class. The rejection letter stated that his ?academic record did not meet the required competitive level?(Nissimov, 1a) but his accomplishments such as maintaining a 3.94 grade point average and scoring a 1240 on his SAT (180 points above the national average) clearly states otherwise. His only draw back was attending a very academically competitive high school. His grade point average would have easily placed him in the top ten percent in many other schools but at the high school he attended, it o nly managed to secure him a spot in the top 30 percent. The top ten percent rule has caused students, parents, and schools to do outrageous things to get students in the top ten percent of their class. In some instances, parents were forced to move out of their home and or illegally place their children into a less competitive and less challenging school by falsifying their address. In the article ?Dumbing Down of the Education Plaguing Texas and the Nation.? By Marc Levin, states that ?There have been reports of parents transferring their children to inferior high schools to give them a better chance of graduating it the top ten percent, thereby receiving automatic admission to UT and A&M. This outgrowth of the top ten percent rule provides a clear example of how leveling can bring an entire educational system down to the lowest common denominator.?(Levin, 2) These students may achieve the top ten percent status but in essence, they sacrifice the better education that they could have received. There have been cases in some schools that h ave squeezed extra student in the top ten percent. At Westlake High School, 63 of the 491 seniors were in the top ten percent, but the math clearly shows us that in actuality that would make it 12.8 percent. ?Ms. Faske, the school's college career counselor, concedes that the school did inflate some student's class rank.?Golden, 1) Another instance was at Lyndon Baines Johnson High School where 15 percent of the seniors managed to with the top ten percent status. The outcome of so many students accepted through the top ten percent automatic admission rule is that there is little room left for regular admission. As a result of this, many students end up in the provisional program offered here at UT Austin. The requirement for acceptance through the provisional program is that students are required to take 12 credit hours in the subjects of mathematics, science, social science, and English. They must pass all of their classes with no incompletes

Sample Final Econ Essay Example

Sample Final Econ Essay Example Sample Final Econ Paper Sample Final Econ Paper A unapologetically competitive industry is characterized by a. NY firms, differentiated products, and barriers to entry. B. Many firms, differentiated products, and free entry. A few firms, identical products, and free entry. D. A few firms, differentiated products, and barriers to entry. 3. If the rent for apartments in New York City were fixed below the current price, then we would expect a. An increase in the number of people wanting to rent apartments in New York City. B. A decrease in the number of people wanting to rent apartments in New York City. C. An increase in the number of apartments available for rent in New York City. D. None of the above is correct. 4. If an increase in income results in a decrease in the quantity demanded off good, then for that good, the a. Cross-price elasticity of demand is negative. Price elasticity of demand is elastic. Income elasticity of demand is negative. Income elasticity of demand is positive. 5. If two goods are complements, their cross-price elasticity will be a. Positive. Negative. Equal to the difference between the income elasticity of demand for the two goods. 6. Which of these assumptions is often realistic for a firm in the short run? A. The firm can vary both the size of its factory and the number of workers it employs. The firm can vary the size of its factory but not the number of workers it employs. C. The firm can vary the number of workers it employs but not the size of its factory. D. The firm can vary neither the size of its factory nor the number of workers it employs. 7. A production function describes how a firm maximizes profits. How a firm turns inputs into output. The minimal cost of producing a given level of output. The relationship between cost and output. Table 13-1 Number of Workers Total Output Marginal Product 2 3 50 4 8. Refer to Table 13-1. What is total output when 1 worker is hired? . 120 160 9. On a 100-acre farm, a farmer is able to produce 3,000 bushels of wheat when he hires 2 workers. He is able to produce 4,400 bushels of wheat when he hires 3 workers. Which of the following possibilities is consistent with the property of diminishing marginal product? A. The farmer is able to produce 5,600 bushels of wheat when he hires 4 workers. B. The farmer is able to produce 5,800 bushels of wheat when he hires 4 workers. C. The farmer is able to produce 6,000 bushels of wheat when he hires 4 workers. D. Any of the above could be correct. Table 13-5 Number of Workers Output ,oho 2,000 2,700 3,200 5 3,500 6 3,600 1,000 units. 00 units. 700 units. 500 units. Figure 13-10 1 1 . Refer to Figure 13-10. The three average total cost curves on the diagram labeled TACT , TACT, and TACT most likely correspond to three different a. Time horizons. Products. Firms. Factory sizes. Table 13-14 Listed in the table are the long-run total costs for three different firms. Quantity Firm A Firm B 200 Firm C 300 1,500 12. Refer to Table 13-14. Which firm is experiencing discomposes of scale? Firm A only Firm B only Firm C only Firm A and Firm B only 13. Suppose you make Jewelry. If the price of gold falls, then we would expect you to a. E willing and able to produce less Jewelry than before at each possible price. B. Be willing and able to produce more Jewelry than before at each possible price. C. Face a greater demand for your Jewelry. Face a weaker demand for your Jewelry. 14. Workers at a bicycle assembly plant currently earn the mandatory minimum wage. If the federal government increases the minimum wage by $1. 00 per hour, then it is likely that the a. Demand for bicycle assembly workers will increase. Supply of bicycles will shift to the right. Supply of bicycles will shift to the left. Rim must increase output to maintain profit levels. 5. A improvement in production technology will shift the supply curve to the right. Supply curve to the left. Demand curve to the right. Demand curve to the left. 16. If a good is inferior, then an increase in income will result in a. An increase in the demand for the good. A decrease in the demand for the good. A movement down and to the right along the demand curve for the good. D. A movement up and to the left along the demand curve for the good. 17. Suppose that a decrease in the price of good X results in fewer units of good Y being demanded. This implies that X and Y are a. Complementary goods. Aroma goods. Inferior goods. Substitute goods. 18. Suppose the American Medical Association announces that men who shave their heads are less likely to die of heart failure. We could expect the current demand for a. Hair gel to increase. Razors to increase. Combs to increase. Shampoo to increase. 19. You love peanut butter. You hear on the news that 50 percent of the peanut crop in the South has been wiped out by drought and that this will cause the price of peanuts to double by the end of the year. As a result, your demand for peanut butter a. Ill increase but not until the end of the year. Increases today. Shifts left today. 20. Ford Motor Company announces that next month it will offer $3,000 rebates on new Mustangs. As a result of this information, todays demand curve for Mustangs a. Shifts to the right. Shifts to the left. Shifts either to the right or to the left, but we cannot determine the direction of the shift from the given information. D. Will not shift; rather, the demand curve for Mustangs will shift to the right next month. Table 4-3 Price Berets Demanded Ermines Groves Scars $0. 00 20 16 8 $0. 50 18 12 $1. 00 14 10 $1. 50 2. 00 $2. 50 21. Refer to Table 4-3. If these are the only four buyers in the market, then the market quantity demanded at a price of $1 is a. 4 units. 7. 75 units. 14 units. 31 units. 22. Suppose that gasoline prices increase dramatically this month. Lola commutes 100 miles to work each weekday. Over the next few months, Lola drives less on the weekends to try to save money. Within the year, she sells her home and purchases one only 10 miles from her place of employment. These examples illustrate the importance of a. The availability of substitutes in determining the price elasticity of demand. B. Stickiest versus a luxury in determining the price elasticity of demand. C. The definition of a market in determining the price elasticity of demand. D. The time horizon in determining the price elasticity of demand. 23. Holding all other forces constant, if decreasing the price of a good leads to an increase in total revenue, then the demand for the good must be a. Unit elastic. Inelastic. Elastic. None of the above is correct because a price increase always leads to an increase in total revenue. 24. Which of the following statements about oligopolies is not correct? A. An oligopolies market has only a few sellers. The actions of any one seller can have a large impact on the profits of all other sellers. C. Oligopolies firms are interdependent in a way that competitive firms are not. D. Unlike monopolies and unapologetically competitive markets, oligopolies prices do not exceed their marginal revenues. 25. A group of firms that act in unison to maximize collective profits is called unapologetically competitive industry. Monopoly. Cartel. 26. A movie theater can increase its profits through price discrimination by charging a higher price to adults and a lower price to children if it a. N prevent children from buying the lower-priced tickets and selling them to adults. Has some degree of monopoly pricing power. Can easily distinguish between the two groups of customers. All of the above are correct. 27. A monopoly is an inefficient way to produce a product because a. It can earn both short-run and long-run profits. It faces a downward-sloping demand curve. The cost to the monopolist of producing one more unit exceeds the value of that unit to potential buyers. D. It produces a smaller level of output than would be produced in a competitive market.

Clinical Care Extender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Clinical Care Extender - Essay Example First and foremost, a person who wishes to help care for the sick or the elderly must have a sense of empathy for these people. The ill already feel bad enough because of their ailments. They do not need people bossing them around and treating them like superfluous beings that they can do without. These people need a loving hug, a caring smile, and a healing touch. In other words, a person working in direct contact with patients needs to have a strong sense of empathy in order to help their patient heal. A care giver or medical professional must also know how to be patient to the point of sainthood because those who are ill tend to be irritable and angry. Any successful medical care professional should know that the patient's actions are not directed at him and therefore, should not be taken against the patient but rather, the situation that the patient is in. A helping hand a listening ear are sometimes enough to help a patient recover from any of the pain that he feels. More import antly a successful medical professional must know how to read the signs that the patient is indirectly giving as part of the medical treatment as this will help diagnose the patient properly. Anybody who can master those three aforementioned attributes will definitely become highly successful in their medical careers. As a clinical care extender, you will be expected to work independently at times. Do you consider yourself to be assertive and self sufficient? If so, explain why and give examples. Please write a well developed essay in one page. I am currently working a nurse covering the night shift. As such, I often find myself working with limited doctor supervision because most of the patients in my shift are oftentimes fast asleep until my shift ends in the morning. However, that does not mean that I do not watch my patients sans eagle eyes. On the contrary, being minimally supervised has prompted me to become more diligent during my work hours in order to insure that the patien ts under my watch do not fall prey to complications, or life threatening situations. Whenever it becomes necessary, I do not hesitate to become assertive in my quest to protect my patient from harm. Once I notice even the slightest negative change in my patient, I am on the horn, paging the doctor in charge and referring my observations to him regarding the patient status. I am assertive when it comes to my patient's right to be properly examined by the doctor assigned because I know that the slightest mistake can cost my patient dearly. Due to these characteristics of mine, I can safely say that I am indeed assertive and self sufficient whenever a situation arises that requires me to do exactly that. I do these things not because I want to paint the doctors in a bad light, but because there is always a possibility that a doctor can miss certain warning signals due to the number of patients that they have to diagnose. As the patient's nurse, I become more familiar with their status and what can be considered to be normal or abnormal for them. Most of the doctors I have worked with have commended these independent actions of mine because it helps saves live. They actually appreciate what I am doing for them, the hospital, and the patient over all. What would you most like to accomplish as a clinical care extender and how does the pipeline file your overall goals? By volunteering my services at your hospital as a

Company risk management analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Company risk management analysis - Assignment Example A year later in 1988 Vodafone was listed on the stock exchange. After three years in 1991, Vodafone separated from Racal Electronics and since that time, it was quoted as Vodafone in the stock exchange. In 1999, Vodafone merged with AirTouch Communication producing one company known as Vodafone Airtouch plc. The dawn of the twenty-first century saw greater developments for Vodafone Plc as it introduced Vodafone Live! in 2002 and went on to commercially launch its 3G services in Europe. A year later in 2005 the company launched a fixed mobile convergence product in Germany called Zuhause and acquired controlling interests on Hutchison Essar Limited in India. Since 2007, the company has been involved in a number of acquisitions and partnerships in Europe, Asia and Africa. Currently, Vodafone holds a market leadership position as the largest mobile carrier in terms of subscriber base. Vodafone’s Business Model Business models are very important for the existence of every business enterprise (Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Ricart 2011). Models give a business a sense of direction and purpose (Chesbrough 2010) and basically define what the business is all about, what it seeks to achieve and the steps it will take to achieve the outcomes (Osterwalder and Pigneur 2010). The business model of Vodafone Plc is quite simple; it consists of five steps with the shareholder in between. The first element in the model consists of Assets; these include networks, supplier relationships, distribution, people, and brand (Vodafone 2013). Vodafone aims to have a great mobile network in all of the markets in which it operates. This mainly involves providing their customers with far-reaching coverage, reliable mobile connections, and increasing speeds and data capacity. Figure 1: Vodafone’s Business Model (Source: Vodafone 2013) Vodafone plc indicates in its annual report (2013) that it combines ongoing high level of network investment with a commitment to securing the b est possible portfolio of the spectrum. The next asset for Vodafone is people; the company has a highly skilled, motivated and diverse workforce. Vodafone expects its employees to be key in advocating for its products and services. Distribution is the other asset owned by Vodafone; the company reaches its customers through the over 15 thousand stores it owns as well as through a broad network of exclusive distribution partners and third-party retailers. According to Vodafone (2013), the Internet is becoming an increasingly important channel for distribution. The fourth item is the brand; Vodafone is ranked as one of the first most valuable telecoms brands in the world being worth over US$27 billion. This brand strength is one of the major drivers of purchasing decisions for consumers and enterprise customers. The final asset listed by Vodafone is its supplier relationships, the company has a large-scale global reach and is a key strategic partner with a large number of suppliers wit h whom it works together to develop innovative services and offer many new innovations. The next element in Vodafone’s business model is it its customers. According to Vodafone (2013), the company boasts over 404 million customers globally making it one of the biggest mobile operators in the world. The ranges of its customer

Capitalism Subverts Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Capitalism Subverts Democracy - Essay Example As the discussion explores capitalism encourages inequality in the pursuit of wealth and property and undermines Democracy and its pursuit of equality and a voice for all people. Voters allow the government to hear their voice by voting on the issues and the candidate that best represents their view on the issues. However, a voter discouraged by the economy and the government has a tendency not to vote and their voice is not heard. Is the government really listening to the people anyway? Political Parties take money to finance campaigns from wealthy businesses with the promise to provide something for that wealthy constituent. Capitalism creates an inequality in the distribution of wealth and a class system forms. Capitalism’s inequality subverts Democracy. This paper declares that capitalism creates competition in society to obtain property and wealth, however, only a small percentage of citizens obtain wealth and prosperity. The uneven distribution of wealth and property created by capitalism causes the formation of a class system. The middle class is the majority of the democratic voice and the middle class voice should be the predominating voice in the democratic system. The wealthy finance the campaigns of the political parties or bribe them to gain a stronger voice in the government. This undermines democracies desire for equality and a voice for all citizens. The many decisions of the government effects what happens in the economy causing the free market to â€Å"imprison policymaking†.

Young Drinkers Essay Example for Free

Young Drinkers Essay A lot of kids started drinking around 16 years old. As the years go by, drinking reaches younger and younger people. Its unfortunate. The average age when youth first try alcohol is 11 years for boys and 13 years for girls. By age 14, 41 percent of children have had least one drink. The average age at which Americans begin drinking regularly is 15.9 years old.Teens who begin drinking before age 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21. An early age of drinking onset is also associated with alcohol-related violence not only among persons under age 21 but among adults as well. It has been estimated that over three million teenagers are out-and-out alcoholics. Several million more have a serious drinking problem that they cannot manage on their own. Annually, more than 5,000 deaths of people under age 21 are linked to underage drinking. The three leading causes of death for 15- to 24-year-olds are automobile crashes, homicides and suicides alcohol is a leading factor in all three. Drinking alcoholic beverages beyond ones capacity to the point of intoxication is a risky behaviour in which most young people get involved at some time. In a survey conducted by the University of the Philippines in 1994, 60 per cent or 5.3 million Filipino youths are said to be drinking alcoholic beverages. About 4.2 million of them are males and 1.1 million are females. The study stated that most of the Filipino teenagers have tried cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. In fact, there are more alcoholic drinkers than smokers. On the average, Filipino youths start drinking alcohol at the age of 16 or 17. However, there are also many cases when children as young as 12 years old are already drinking alcoholic beverages. About 37 per cent of the respondents in the survey have continued the habit of drinking alcohol while 33 per cent said they only drink alcoholic beverages on special occasions. Some 17 per cent said they have already decided to stop the vice of drinking. The Philippines, drinking is more acceptable among girls than smoking. Nevertheless, it is still the case that it is considered more appropriate for men than for women to drink. Parents are more lax with boys, giving them more freedom to drink alcohol than their sisters. The teenagers said their family, friends, and the mass media have influenced them to experiment with drinking alcohol. Underscoring the critical role that the family plays in youth behaviours, young people seem to take their cue from their own parents attitudes and behaviour. Thus, a boy who grows up with an alcoholic father is more likely to become one himself. The study indicated that those who are more likely to drink are those: * who are not living with parents (for example, college students living in dormitories) * whose parents approve of drinking * who frequently attending social gatherings * who enjoy going out to parties, bars and discos * who do not take part in sports activities WHY DO SOME ADOLESCENTS DRINK? Young people try alcohol for many reasons. * They might be curious, or want to be one of the group. * Some young people drink because it makes them feel older, or because it gives them a certain image among friends. * Some people drink when they go to parties and nightclubs to enjoy themselves more. The alcohol might make them feel more relaxed. * Some people use alcohol to help them sleep or to forget things. * Some people need to drink every day just to get through the day because they are dependent on alcohol. As children move from adolescence to young adulthood, they encounter dramatic physical, emotional, and lifestyle changes. Developmental transitions, such as puberty and increasing independence, have been associated with alcohol use. So in a sense, just being an adolescent may be a key risk factor not only for starting to drink but also for drinking dangerously. Risk-Taking—Research shows the brain keeps developing well into the twenties, during which time it continues to establish important communication connections and further refines its function. Scientists believe that this lengthy developmental period may help explain some of the behavior which is characteristic of adolescence—such as their propensity to seek out new and potentially dangerous situations. For some teens, thrill-seeking might include experimenting with alcohol. Developmental changes also offer a possible physiological explanation for why teens act so impulsively, often not recognizing that their actions—such as drinking—have consequences. Expectancies—How people view alcohol and its effects also influences their drinking behavior, including whether they begin to drink and how much. An adolescent who expects drinking to be a pleasurable experience is more likely to drink than one who does not. An important area of alcohol research is focusing on how expectancy influences drinking patterns from childhood through adolescence and into young adulthood (11–14). Beliefs about alcohol are established very early in life, even before the child begins elementary school (15). Before age 9, children generally view alcohol negatively and see drinking as bad, with adverse effects. By about age 13, however, their expectancies shift, becoming more positive (11,16). As would be expected, adolescents who drink the most also place the greatest emphasis on the positive and arousing effects of alcohol. Sensitivity and Tolerance to Alcohol—Differences between the adult brain and the brain of the maturing adolescent also may help to explain why many young drinkers are able to consume much larger amounts of alcohol than adults (17) before experiencing the negative consequences of drinking, such as drowsiness, lack of coordination, and withdrawal/hangover effects (18,19). This unusual tolerance may help to explain the high rates of binge drinking among young adults. At the same time, adolescents appear to be particularly sensitive to the positive effects of drinking, such as feeling more at ease in social situations, and young people may drink more than adults because of these positive social experiences (18,19). Personality Characteristics and Psychiatric Comorbidity—Children who begin to drink at a very early age (before age 12) often share similar personality characteristics that may make them more likely to start drinking. Young people who are disruptive, hyperactive, and aggressive—often referred to as having conduct problems or being antisocial—as well as those who are depressed, withdrawn, or anxious, may be at greatest risk for alcohol problems (20). Other behavior problems associated with alcohol use include rebelliousness (21), difficulty avoiding harm or harmful situations (22), and a host of other traits seen in young people who act out without regard for rules or the feelings of others (i.e., disinhibition) (23–25). Hereditary Factors—Some of the behavioral and physiological factors that converge to increase or decrease a person’s risk for alcohol problems, including tolerance to alcohol’s effects, may be directly linked to genetics. For example, being a child of an alcoholic or having several alcoholic family members places a person at greater risk for alcohol problems. Children of alcoholics (COAs) are between 4 and 10 times more likely to become alcoholics themselves than are children who have no close relatives with alcoholism. COAs also are more likely to begin drinking at a young age and to progress to drinking problems more quickly. Research shows that COAs may have subtle brain differences which could be markers for developing later alcohol problems. For example, using high-tech brain-imaging techniques, scientists have found that COAs have a distinctive feature in one brainwave pattern (called a P300 response) that could be a marker for later alcoholism risk. Researchers also are investigating other brainwave differences in COAs that may be present long before they begin to drink, including brainwave activity recorded during sleep as well as changes in brain structure and function. Some studies suggest that these brain differences may be particularly evident in people who also have certain behavioral traits, such as signs of conduct disorder, antisocial personality disorder, sensation-seeking or poor impulse control. Studying how the brain’s structure and function translates to behavior will help researchers to better understand how predrinking risk factors shape later alcohol use. For example, does a person who is depressed drink to alleviate his or her depression, or does drinking lead to changes in his brain that result in feelings of depression? Other hereditary factors likely will become evident as scientists work to identify the actual genes involved in addiction. By analyzing the genetic makeup of people and families with alcohol dependence, researchers have found specific regions on chromosomes that correlate with a risk for alcoholism. Candidate genes for alcoholism risk also have been associated with those regions. The goal now is to further refine regions for which a specific gene has not yet been identified and then determine how those genes interact with other genes and gene products as well as with the environment to result in alcohol dependence. Further research also should shed light on the extent to which the same or different genes contribute to alcohol problems, both in adults and in adolescents. Environmental Aspects—Pinpointing a genetic contribution will not tell the whole story, however, as drinking behavior reflects a complex interplay between inherited and environmental factors, the implications of which are only beginning to be explored in adolescents. And what influences drinking at one age may not have the same impact at another. As Rose and colleagues show, genetic factors appear to have more influence on adolescent drinking behavior in late adolescence than in mid-adolescence. Environmental factors, such as the influence of parents and peers, also play a role in alcohol use. For example, parents who drink more and who view drinking favorably may have children who drink more, and an adolescent girl with an older or adult boyfriend is more likely to use alcohol and other drugs and to engage in delinquent behaviors. Researchers are examining other environmental influences as well, such as the impact of the media. Today alcohol is widely available and aggressively promoted through television, radio, billboards, and the Internet. Researchers are studying how young people react to these advertisements. In a study of 3rd, 6th, and 9th graders, those who found alcohol ads desirable were more likely to view drinking positively and to want to purchase products with alcohol logos (46). Research is mixed, however, on whether these positive views of alcohol actually lead to underage drinking. Complex behaviors, such as the decision to begin drinking or to continue using alcohol, are the result of a dynamic interplay between genes and environment. For example, biological and physiological changes that occur during adolescence may promote risk-taking behavior, leading to early experimentation with alcohol. This behavior then shapes the child’s environment, as he or she chooses friends and situations that support further drinking. Continued drinking may lead to physiological reactions, such as depression or anxiety disorders, triggering even greater alcohol use or dependence. In this way, youthful patterns of alcohol use can mark the start of a developmental pathway that may lead to abuse and dependence. Then again, not all young people who travel this pathway experience the same outcomes. Perhaps the best way to understand and prevent underage alcohol use is to view drinking as it relates to development. This â€Å"whole system† approach to underage drinking takes into account a particular adolescent’s unique risk and protective factors—from genetics and personality characteristics to social and environmental factors. Viewed in this way, development includes not only the adolescent’s inherent risk and resilience but also the current conditions that help to shape his or her behavior Children mature at different rates. Developmental research takes this into account, recognizing that during adolescence there are periods of rapid growth and reorganization, alternating with periods of slower growth and integration of body systems. Periods of rapid transitions, when social or cultural factors most strongly influence the biology and behavior of the adolescent may be the best time to target delivery of interventions. Interventions that focus on these critical development periods could alter the life course of the child, perhaps placing him or her on a path to avoid problems with alcohol. To date, researchers have been unable to identify a single track that predicts the course of alcohol use for all or even most young people. Instead, findings provide strong evidence for wide developmental variation in drinking patterns within this special population. Withdrawal Someone who is physically dependent on alcohol will experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop drinking or substantially reduce their intake. Symptoms usually commence 6-24 hours after the last drink, last for about five days and include: * tremor * nausea/vomiting * anxiety/agitation * depression * sweating * headache * difficulty sleeping (may last several weeks). Alcohol withdrawal can be very dangerous. People drinking more than eight standard drinks a day are advised to discuss a decision to stop drinking with a doctor as medical treatment may be required to prevent complications. - Binge drinking Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is the modern epithet for drinking alcoholicbeverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time.] It is a kind of purposeful drinking style that is popular in several countries worldwide, and overlaps somewhat with social drinking since it is often done in groups. The degree of intoxication, however, varies between and within various cultures that engage in this practice. A binge on alcohol can occur over hours or last up to several days. Due to the long-term effects of alcohol misuse, binge drinking is considered to be a major public health issue. Binge drinking is associated with a profound social harm, economic costs as well as increased disease burden. Binge drinking is more common in males, during adolescence and young adulthood. Most binge drinkers are not familiar with the risks associated with binge drinking. Heavy regular binge drinking is associated with adverse effects onneurologic, cardiac, gastrointestinal, hematologic, immune, musculoskeletal organ systems as well as increasing the risk of alcohol induced psychiatric disorders. A US-based review of the literature found that up to one third of adolescents binge drink, with six percent reaching the threshold of having an alcohol-related substance use disorder. Approximately one in twenty five women binge drink during pregnancy, which can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Binge drinking during adolescence is associated with traffic accidents and other types of accidents, violent behavior as well as suicide. The more often a child or adolescent binge drinks and the younger they are the more likely that they will develop an alcohol use disorder including alcoholism. A large number of adolescents who binge drink also consume other psychotropic substances. Binge drinking has the propensity to result in brain damage faster as well as more severely than chronic non stop drinking (alcoholism), due to the neurotoxic effects of the repeated rebound withdrawal effects. The tolerance that occurs during chronic (non-stop) drinking delays alcohol-related brain damage compared to binge drinking which induces immediate and repeated insults to the brain. The neurotoxic insults to the brain are due to very large amounts of glutamate being released on a repeated basis which over-stimulates the brain after each binge finishes, resulting in excitotoxicity. The developing adolescent brain is thought to be particularly susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of binge drinking, with some evidence of brain damage occurring from drinking more than 4 or 5 drinks once or twice per month.

The O.J. Simpson Trial Essays -- Trial O.J. Simpson Essays

The O.J. Simpson Trial The O.J. Simpson trial was one of the most recognizable cases in American history. It went on for nine months. There were 11 lawyers representing the O.J. and 25 working around the clock for the largest prosecutor's office in the country. The opinion of the Jury was for the defense, not guilty. I agree with them. It would have been crazy if O.J. was convicted because the evidence was not properly handled or accounted for, the main police officer handling the case was a racist man and the defendant was black. And people who were testifying on the prosecutor’s defense were proven to be lying under oath. First, the evidence such as blood drawn from O.J. was not handled the way it should have been, there was time when the blood was in polices possession that woul...

A very brief history of human relations management

Human Relations Management began with Mary Parker Follet, a social worker with 25 years of experience working with schools and non-profit organizations. She is best known for developing ideas of constructive conflict (also called cognitive conflict). She believed conflict could be beneficial. She believed the best way to deal with conflict was not domination or compromise, but rather integration. Elton Mayo, best known for the Hawthorne Studies, investigated the effects of lighting levels and incentives on employee productivity.Chester Barnard, an experienced top executive, became very influential (and best known) for his ideas about cooperation and the acceptance of authority. He proposed a comprehensive theory of cooperation in formal organizations and defined an organization as â€Å"a system of consciously coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons. † The human relations school of management is also known as motivational theory. Not everyone is on board with a ll its concepts; however, it would be hard to argue the fact hat it has changed management practice overall (and over a period of years) for the better.Human Relations Management Theory considers employees differently than the more overbearing management theories strong in the past. Largely based on theories of Douglas McGregor, HR Management Theory makes the assumption that people want to work. The assumptions are also made that people are responsible, self-motivated, and wanting to succeed; and, further, that they nderstand their own position in the company hierarchy.McGregor called this Theory Y. Theory Y is the total opposite of what McGregor called Theory X. Theory X takes the view that employees are lazy, not at all motivated, seek only their own security from work, and that they require supervision and discipline. In a nutshell, Human Relations Theory clearly views workers as much more than a cog in the company wheel. It makes the assertion that businesses prosper as they hel p their employees prosper.

The Ancient Greek Iconoclast’s Philosophy of Education

The basic philosophical foundation that supports the Socratic philosophy of education Socrates, in The Republic, begins his query by asking how is it best to live one†s life? He suggests the best life is lived in such a fashion that is conducive to creating a just society. Such a society is the one designed that is most conducive to justice, and therefore to happiness, as opposed to pleasure. Remember that happiness for the Greeks was not a matter of individual self-fulfillment. Rather, Socrates considered happiness as fulfilling one†s most fitting vocational role in society. Socrates defined a society that is best in autocratic terms-a cobbler should not rule, and a potential ruler or philosopher should not make shoes, because this is antithetical to their natural abilities and fitness. But although Socrates advocated oligarchy as the fittest system of governance, he did not advocate aristocracy. In one of his earlier dialogues, called the â€Å"Meno,† Socrates is shown leading a slave boy through mathematical proofs. With correct prompting the boy is thus able to recover innate knowledge about the world. Thus Socrates saw intellectual gifts as intrinsic to the human mind and not necessarily based on the ability of the tutor. This is why Socrates did not charge for his teachings, unlike the Sophists. (Kemerling, 2002,†Socrates,† The Philosophy Pages) But to accept the Socratic doctrine one must also believe that potential intellectual abilities are not democratically bestowed upon individuals as suggested by the Sophists, who aimed to teach all people to rhetorically please the people in the law courts and in the political sphere, by using clever phrases. Socrates believed that there was an inherent paradox in acquring knowledge â€Å"the most fundamental questions about our own nature and function,† are actually unaswerable and undemonstratable by common rhetorical devices, therefore â€Å"it seems impossible for us to learn anything. The only escape, Socrates proposed, is to acknowledge â€Å"that we already know what we need to know.† (Kemerling, 2002, â€Å"Plato: Immortality and the Forms-Doctrine of Recollection,† Philosophy Pages) How does this philosophy define the roles of teacher? From the â€Å"Meno† cited above, it might seem that Socrates saw himself primarily as a questioner and a facilitator of the recollection innate gifts. â€Å"The dialogue form was probably invented by Plato† to portray the Socratic method, otherwise known as the dialectic.† (Huffman, 2005) The method known as the Socratic method of teaching, still practiced in many schools (particularly law schools) today, â€Å"consisted of asking questions like ‘What is courage?† of people who were confident of the answer. Socrates, claiming ignorance of the answers to the questions, would gradually show the people's beliefs to be contradictory. Socrates did not answer his questions, though much could be learned from the course of the discussion.† (Huffman, 2005) How will this philosophy guide the learning expectations in a classroom? Using questions places the teacher in some authority, as the teacher directs the discussion through involved questioning. However, it also demands a great deal of preparedness and attentiveness on the part of the student, combined with a willingness to question what the student†s society may deem to be common sense. Students of innately high ability are supposed to continually excel, to justify the teacher†s expectations of the student's gifts. Ultimately, this questioning of common sense doctrine resulted in the condemnation of Socrates for corrupting the youth of Athens and of questioning the piety of the Greek gods. (Huffman, 2005) How will this philosophy exemplify the high standards of teaching? On one hand, the Socratic dialectic may seem to be an equalizing form of philosophy. Anyone can answer the questions of the teacher. But because the method stresses student recollection, rather than the teacher†s ability to mold or impart knowledge upon a blank slate, it did not function as such in Socrates† actual practice. The Republic, the delineation of the ideal state, advances a tiered division of society, mimicking the division of the body into soul, heart, and lower regions-rulers are innately of the mind, warriors of the heart or hands, and laborers of the lower regions of the body. â€Å"Only those with a philosophical temperament, Plato supposed, are competent to judge between what merely seems to be the case and what really is, between the misleading, transient appearances of sensible objects and the the permanent reality of unchanging, abstract forms.† (Kemerling, 2002, Philsophy Pages, â€Å"Plato: Education and the Value of Justice†) How will this philosophy address public expectations concerning student achievement? Accountability? In the world of the Republic, students of high levels of ability do not necessarily have empowerment over their education. Although they are subjected to rigorous Socratic questioning, they are also kept away from members of other classes of society, and not permitted to be corrupted by fairytales and myths that could take them away from their innate gifts of purely understanding the nature of virtue and the world of the forms. â€Å"Perhaps our best alternative, Socrates held, is to suppose that virtue is a (divinely bestowed?) true opinion that merely happens to lack the sort of rational justification which would earn it the status of certain knowledge,† and therefore virtue is unteachable. (Kemerling, 2002, â€Å"Plato: Immortality and the Forms-Doctrine of Recollection,† Philosophy Pages) Student achievement thus ultimately lies in the ability of the student, and the accountability of the teacher lies in his or her ability to select the correct student for the correct form of learning, rather than his or function as a teacher in the classroom.

Prejudice

How It Made Me Feel/ Prejudice How It Made Me Feel I have never felt as though someone has prejudged me, so I have no real life experiences to go on. When we read this in class it kind of annoyed me cause I don't get how people can say that about are country because it is not the laws nor the country that determine how people are treated, but by the ignorant people who don't know any better. Whether you live in the United States or in an other country there will always be ignorant people who judge others before they know them. Also I don't think most people realize how good they have it here and how much more benefits they have here. Many countries don't have nearly as many laws about discriminating. Like I said before I have personal experiences with this, but I do realize that it would hurt your feelings and make you wonder all the time what is wrong with you when nothing really is its just the people that have the problem.Country Music Hall of Fame

Account for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the latter part of Essay

Account for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the latter part of the 20th century - Essay Example However, modern commentators do not agree with this interpretation. The word fundamentalism was first coined in the United States in the early 1900s, where it was applied to religious groups (Rippin 184). It was employed by theologically conservative Protestants, who opposed modernism and liberalism. The members of this group were wont to claim that they were great fundamentalists of their faith. Subsequently, this term was applied to any religious group that demanded the exclusive implementation of their religious beliefs (Rippin 184). The 1970s witnessed a significant amount of political victories by the Islamic fundamentalists. In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini seized power in Iran through his Islamic movement. He was successful in his revolution against the westernized politics of the Shah of Iran. The tyrants and dictators of the Arab world lent their support to Islamic fundamentalism, in order to strengthen their position (Palmowski). Some instances of this trend, were the vocal support that was forthcoming from Saddam Hussein, in Iraq; and Muammar Gaddafi, in Libya. In Sudan, Nigeria, and several Islamic nations, the governments made several concessions to the Islamic fundamentalists, by providing them with funds and a number of concessions. This trend had commenced in the early 1990s (Palmowski). In the early 1970s, there were two major developments that enhanced to the growing influence of Islam at the international level. First, the cost of crude petroleum oil increased in an unprecedented manner, thereby rendering the oil producing countries of West Asia, extremely wealthy. Second, the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR in 1979, which created considerable tension in the region. This was accompanied by the Islamic revolution in Iran, which brought the Islamic fundamentalist, Ayatollah Khomeini to power (Ghosh 288). The American hostage crises

The causes of the civil war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The causes of the civil war - Essay Example In the South, slavery was becoming an outdated method of agricultural production as industrialization was taking hold. Similar economies in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe had already abandon the practice of slavery and there was no reason to believe that the US would not soon follow. However, by 1860 events and policies enacted since the nations birth had moved the US to the brink of civil war. If slavery was not really at the heart of Americas motivation for going to war, then what were the reasons? The reasons why nations go to war are usually various and complicated, and the American Civil War is not an exception. Although the main reason which provoked the two sides in the Civil war was slavery, three different aspects of the impact of slavery were at the center of the disagreements. These aspects are political, economic, and social. Slavery was certainly a moral issue in regards to the Civil War and was always a contributing influence to the multiple causes of war. Since Americas inception its leaders, such as Thomas Jefferson, well understood that slavery must soon be abolished. In an 1805 letter to William Burwell, Jefferson wrote, "The value of the slave is every day lessening; his burden on his master daily increasing. Interest is therefore preparing the disposition to be just; and this will be goaded from time to time by the insurrectionary spirit of the slaves".1 However, the founding fathers failed to include slavery in the original documents. In addition, the Federation was designed as a weak federal government with significant states rights. States rights, a central issue of the Civil War, had been heavily debated since the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation, the first US Constitution, confirmed that the Federal government should be weak and the states should retain their individual po wer.2 The need to abolish slavery, and the weak federal system helped perpetuate the issue towards ultimate war. The conflicting goals