Information Systems Auditing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Information Systems Auditing - Assignment Example ing management controls in computer systems within an IT infrastructure to determine the adequacy of the system controls and ensure compliance (Puja, 2004, p. 5). It is done through collecting and evaluating evidence to determine whether data integrity is maintained and assets are safeguarded. The use computer based information systems has been incorporated into many companies and the ability of these companies to survive entirely depends on well-structured information system audit process that points out shortcomings in the information systems usage. The human resource department of any organization or company contains more sensitive data. Human resource workers specifically the payroll employees should be able to establish the employment status of an active employee, without altering the status, while the personnel employees have the clearance from human resource administration or higher authority to activate new employees and alter their status from active to terminated service. The personnel employees have no permission in handling of timecards for employees. This clearly defined separation of tasks prevents any occurrence of fraudulent incident. In most common cases it has been reported that the payroll employees or the personnel employees process illegal paychecks to terminated employees or ghost workers either as a result of ignorance or fraud motives. Human resource management systems house databases that contain other linked company information that the payroll employees have no reason of seeing. Such information may include; data from performance evaluation, health records, and retirement benefit plan balances, and insurance cover. The central location of human resource data is subject to access monitoring enabling the capture of identity of the person logging or exiting as well as the timestamp. This ensures that company data is accessed by authorized personnel and that entry codes are changed periodically where locking mechanisms with keypads are

Students stress Essay Example for Free

Students stress Essay ?Introduction paragraph: As we know going to college has a huge importance for every student. Obviously students gain different experiences from each other. Becoming a student has advantages and disadvantages. This essay introduces us with one of the disadvantages which is students stress. Financial problems , time management , changing sleeping or food habits and social activities are some effects and causes that induce students stress. Body paragraphs Topic sentence : Time management is an effect that induces students stress. Connecting explanation: When students don’t manage their time appropriately they find it difficult to study. Detail / Evidence 1 : Not being able to arrange their time ,they find it difficult to find the right time to study or work (or any other activity) Detail / Evidence 2 : The more time spent at work (or different activities), the less time a student spends studying. Example 1: Having to hold down a job and still be a college student is a constant source of stress (Calderon , Hey Seabert , 2001). Connecting explanation : The students that work or attend to social activities find it hard to manage their time so they can achieve what they want. Concluding sentence : As we see from the example above students that don’t manage their time have lots of stress. Time management is an effect that induces students stress. Being regular attendees to different activities makes them to have less time to study. Having a work also complicates the ability to manage their time appropriately. It is important for every student to have at least a guide that explains how they can handle this stress. Being able to manage our time helps us a lot to achieve in the appropriate way our studies , work and social activities. Topic sentence : An important cause that leads to students stress is financial problem. Connecting explanation : Having financial problems it is surely the best way to distract students from their studies. Detail / Evidence 1 : Financial support is a tremendous factor in the success of a college student. Detail / Evidence 2 : The need for financial support leads students to take care of job responsibilities. Example 1 : If the student has a family that involves his or her own children, the support of everyone is needed even more to achieve the goal of graduation (Trockel et al , 2000). Connecting explanation : Not having a financial support leads students to take job responsibilities which causes lots of stress. Concluding sentence : As we see in the example above the support of the family is a huge importance. Having financial problems it is surely the best way to distract students from their studies. Finding how to manage their costs is obviously very stressful. The reason that obligates students to take care of job responsibilities is the lack of a financial support. Being free of financial responsibilities is a relief for them. According to the example , to achieve the goal of graduation the students families must give them support. Topic sentence : Changing sleeping habits its another cause that creates students stress. Connecting explanation: When students go to college change their sleeping habits because of job responsibilities or social activities. Detail / Evidence 1 : Sleep deprivation causes shortened attention span. Detail / Evidence 2 : Increased number of errors that students make on a test. Example 1 : Sleeping shorter amounts of time has shown to increase factors such as anxiety and stress which have been associated with academics performance (Celly et al 2001). Connecting explanation: Usually students that change their sleeping habits for different reasons tend to lose their attention which reduces their grades. Concluding sentence : According to the example above , sleeping less causes much more stress which lowers the academic performance. Changing sleeping habits its another cause that creates students stress. Most of the students when they go to college start a work or attend to social activities which makes them sleep less. A low attention its obviously a lack of sleep. Not being careful to their courses makes them lose lots of information and increases the errors in their tests. According to Celly (2001) Anxiety and stress come from a low amount of sleep and that’s what leads to a reduced academic performance. Topic sentence : Being part of social activities is another cause that induces students stress. Connecting explanation : Following social activities spends the students time more than it should. Detail / Evidence 1 : Taking time out of frequent study hours to work out pulls away from grades. Detail/ Evidence 2 : Exercising too much or not at all can influence academic performance. Example 1 : Students who exercised seven or more hours a week obtain significantly lower grades than students who exercised 6 or fewer hours weekly or not at all. Connecting explanation : Exercising too much reduces students academic performance which leads to lower grades. Concluding sentence : According to the example above , we can see the importance of not spending too much time in different activities. Being part of social activities is another cause that induces students stress. We all know that following social activities is good when its not exaggerated. It is obvious that spending lots of time in activities doesn’t give us the opportunity to study enough. Not studying enough surely reduces students grades. According to the example above , students should understand the importance of spending appropriate hours on social activities. Topic sentence : Another cause that induces students stress is changing food habits. Connecting explanation : Because of different things that students might have during their college they don’t have enough time to cook so they change their eating habits. Detail / Evidence 1 : Having an unhealthy diet is an important detail that leads to students stress. Detail / Evidence 2 : Learning to cook is a new challenge for students. Example 1: Little storage space is available in the average dorm room , and food storage may not be possible at all (Trockel et al , 2000). Connecting explanations : Many students consider learning to cook as a challenge so they choose to have an unhealthy diet which causes stress for them. Concluding sentence : According to Trockel (2000) the reason that students choose to have an unhealthy diet is because of the little storage space available in the average dorm room , or the food storage might not be possible at all. Another cause that induces students stress is changing food habits. Students before going to college were used with moms cooking. Now they have to do everything on their own , concluding cooking. Because of many students consider cooking as a challenge they go to the supermarket to buy something to eat. Having an unhealthy diet its proved that lowers the capacity to study and this causes students stress. According to Trockel (2000) the reason that students choose to have an unhealthy diet is because of the little storage space available in the average dorm room , or the food storage might not be possible at all. Concluding paragraph : As we see there are lots of causes and effects that induce students stress. Last year I was a freshman in an Italian university and I can say from my experience that is very difficult to handle a stress that college induces. I think that those causes and effects are parts of every students life that is why they shouldn’t freak out. Knowing how financial problems , social activities , time management , the change of sleep and food habits effect students should also be a good priority for studiers to find a way how we can handle it. Capable students obviously will be an important step that will lead us to a better future.

migration :: essays research papers

Migration   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thinking back to my childhood, I can recall that my family moved quite frequently from place to place. Since my birth, my family has moved a total of seven times and that was only in the first six years of my life. As an ignorant child, the constant moving around did not question me to think why we moved so much. I never stopped to think that my family could have been in a troubled situation. When I now ask my father the reasons why we moved so often back then, he tells me that he was in search for a better standard of living. He mentioned that we were never forced to move because of a financial situation, but instead he wanted to find a more rewarding occupation to live more elegantly. He wanted to find a place with a good education system for his children and also wanted to live in a warm climate not too distant from the beach. With these three pull factors we moved many times during my childhood and the end result of our migration has played a positive role in my life. My parents and I lived in the over-populated city of Chicago when I was born. My father wanted to relocate in a place that was not over populated. So with this in his mind, we moved in the south direction to Kansas. He got what he wanted in the terms of a smaller population setting. But he was still dissatisfied with the cold weather. The disappointing business experience and cold weather was a push factor to move on and find a better place to live. After Kansas we moved to Ohio because were persuaded by some relatives that we knew that lived there, but again he was not successful with business there either. In search for a better occupation, my father would look in the classified section of the newspaper every afternoon in search of eye-catching businesses. After he would find a few that he was interested in, he would call them up and arrange to take a look at the businesses. In particular, my father saw an advertisement for a â€Å"Days Inn† in Atlanta, Georgia. A pull factor that encouraged my father to move to Georgia was because of the wonderful hot weather. He was attracted to the fact that the beach setting was not very far. The business turned out to be a success and we ended up settling in this state.

Salary Is the Most Important Factor in Motivating Employees

Salary is the most important factor in motivating employees Motivation plays a significant part in a company in the modern society because only if employees are motivated can they be more productive. In a company, managers usually take measures such as pay increase and promotion to motivate workers. In the past decade, there have been a large number of surveys on factors that motivate employees to perform their best (Wiley 1997). Some experts state that salary is the most important factor in motivating employees. However, others believe that factors such as responsibility and job security are of vital importance.This essay will argue that salary is not the most important factor in motivating workers and discuss what the foremost factors are. First, it will give evidence to show that salary is not the most important. Then, it will explain what are the most important in motivating employees. After that, it will discuss the importance of salary. Finally, a conclusion will be given at th e end of the essay. The reason why salary is not the most important motivation is that companies usually link workers’ salaries with their productive results, which gives employees less opportunities and limits their development (The Times 100 2010).If workers want to gain more wages, they will work only for the products and become workaholic automatons. Another point is that if pay is considered as the reward of productive results, it is difficult to guarantee equity. Then, employees may be dissatisfied to companies and become less productive. Furthermore, as people value respect and participation, pay is not so foremost and it is important to satisfy people’s spiritual needs. For example, according to McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, responsibility is of vital importance in motivating employees and if managers delegate responsibility to workers, they will be more motivated.Another theory, theory Z, suggests that participation could increase job satisfaction ( Madura 2008). In addition, people want all their internal and external needs to be satisfied and salary is only a small part to meet their basic need. Even companies can provide satisfying pay; workers may be still unwell to work with all their heart. Therefore, salary is not the most important factor in motivating employees and there are non-financial factors that are more important than salary. Despite the fact that salary-system is an important part in modern enterprise system, it does not mean that pay is the most important factor.According to a surprising scientific experiment of motivation, people who gain bonuses and commissions spend more time in solving a problem, which suggests that people become inefficient (Pink 2009). In some companies, employees still choose to resign even though they have a high salary. This is because they have no job security in the company. Job security can be defined as the confidence that they can keep their jobs. People who have job security can perform seriously as a result of concern about finding a more secure employment (Madura 2008).Moreover, workers with a low salary may also work efficiently because they can gain a sense of identity. When employees contribute to companies and gain recognition, they usually work harder than before as the result of a sense of achievement. In addition, people who have high salaries are faced with more pressure because they should work more and perform better than those who have low salaries. Pay increases are on behalf of the increase of responsibility. Thus, employees who have poor pressure coping would rather choose a satisfied job with low pay than work hard with high salaries.It follows that salary is not the most important factor in motivating employees because career will be hard when they are offered with high salaries. Based on the analysis of why salary is not the most important motivation, the next part of this essay will explain what the foremost factors are in motivating em ployees. Firstly, recognition and appreciation for work done is often a top motivator, which require feedback to provide reinforcement for positive behaviour. As a result, manager’s positive feedback to workers is a significant form of motivation (Wiley 1997).Secondly, responsibility can also be the most important motivation. The responsibility to family requires people to work hard so that they can support their family and performing duties to a company is the best method of gaining appreciation. Furthermore, participation can be another foremost factor in motivating employees. When workers participate in corporate decision, they may be more productive in consideration of their own benefits. Finally, promotion and career development in a company are also of vital importance. For example, irms usually offer more opportunities to workers with the growth of the firm so that most employees can promote rapidly (Jackson & Bak, 1998). As a consequence, companies can take non-financ ial measures such as positive feedback and promotion to encourage employees to work hard. Although salary is not the most important factor in motivating employees, companies still cannot ignore the importance of salary because satisfying wages have been proved efficient to motivate workers for long time. For example, Taylor put forward the first motivation theory in 1911 and the research pointed that people worked only for money (The Times 100 2010).As a result, pay increases are popular in almost all companies. Thus, it can be seen that salary can motivate people to become more productive. In addition, outstanding workers want their pay increase connected with great work instead of simply increase with ordinary people. Otherwise, these outstanding employees will be disheartened and lose the motivation of work because they realized that the reward they gain is as identical as other workers who spend less time and energy in spite of how hard they work (Gioia, 2009).In consequence, if a company want to motivate employees by salary system, it must be equal to each person so as to motivate every workers to improve efficiency. In conclusion, it is the core subject in modern company theory research that a company can motivate employees efficiently and salary is not the most important factor in motivating workers because there are a large number of non-financial factors that are more important than salary.Responsibility forces employees to work hard and they can gain a sense of identify because of participations. Job security is a motivator of increasing importance and managers’ positive feedback such as promotion opportunities and praise would also motivate employees. A successful company is one that establishes different motivating systems for different people to encourage them to be more productive. Therefore, companies should focus more on these non-financial factors instead of only paying attention to pay increases.References: Gioia, C. (2009) Motivating employees: Is money or recognition more appreciated? Available from: http://www. helium. com/debates/137270-motivating-employees-is-money-or-recognition-more-appreciated/side_by_side. (Accessed 29 November 2012). Jackson T. and Bak M. (1998) ‘Foreign companies and Chinese workers: employee motivation in the People's Republic of China’, Journal of Organizational Change Management, 11(4), pp. 282 – 300. Madura, J. (2008) Introduction to Business. 4th ed. Beijing: Post ; Telecom Press.Pink, D. (2009) Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation [online video] Available from: http://www. ted. com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation. html. (Accessed 23 October 2012). The Times 100 (2010) Motivational Theory in Practice at Tesco. Available from: http://www. thetimes100. co. uk/download-tesco-edition-15-full-case-study_132_396_1168 (Accessed 23 October 2012). Wiley, C. (1997) ‘What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys’, Internat ional Journal of Manpower, 18(3), pp. 263-280.

We Googled You

We Googled You The case in the â€Å"We Googled You† article is rather tricky. On one hand, the disconcerting online revelation with Mimi protesting against China serves as solid evidence not to hire her. If members of the management team based in China discover the pictures and information about Mimi’s protests, they may decline to continue to conduct business with Hathaway Jones. It will also ruin the company’s reputation in the eyes of potential future customers. In addition to the searched Google results, Mimi’s recommendations also contained a few negative traits including brash and strongly opinionated.These aspects may not allow her to get along with other workers and colleagues. Her liberal behavior including her wink at Fred is not quite suitable for China’s more conservative culture. On the other hand, it is possible that Virginia misunderstood the information she found online. Fred should consult Mimi directly to fully understand the situ ation about what really happened. It is extremely easy for someone to falsify information and manipulate digital media. With digital cameras being so prominent today, it is inevitable that personal pictures and information would end up online for everyone to Google and find out.Additionally, Mimi’s background includes a strong education and solid experience. Her Berkeley and Stanford degrees and past job positions will allow her to perform the job at a higher level of expertise than many other potential job applicants. As discussed in class, employers should hire based on ability to perform and not on hard data and statistics. From these standpoints, the benefits to hiring outweigh the costs. For these reasons, I support the decision to hire Mimi. I feel that she would make an excellent addition and make a great deal of contributions to Hathaway Jones.

White Oleander - Literary Devices essays

White Oleander - Literary Devices essays Love, hate, truth, deception, manipulation, self discovery and murder. Janet Fitch covered all of this and more. White Oleander is an epic tale about a young girl, Astrid, who was ripped away from her mother, Ingrid, at a very young age and forced onto the path of self discovery all by herself. White Oleander has made it into Oprahs Book Club and has had a major motion picture created based on the novel. White Oleander received and rightfully deserves a high literary status solely based on Astrids characterization character development and the ingenious incorporation and selection of impacting characters throughout the novel that ultimately shape who Astrid becomes. The two main characters in the story are the protagonist heroin, Astrid, and the antagonist, her mother Ingrid. Astrid is more so the main character, although Ingrid remains crucial until the very last page. Its clear to anyone who reads this novel that Fitch put an obvious emphasis on these two characters and their developments throughout the story, and left the other characters that come into play somewhat less significant and vague at times. Fitch created Astrids character exceptionally well, as she was like a story herself, with a beginning, development and an end, while Ingrid was more so the same character throughout, with occasional minor developments. In the first 3 chapters of the novel, were introduced to Astrid, as a young, naive and somewhat distant little girl that idolizes her mother, Ingrid. Ingrid is a crazy, yet passionate poet that lives her life from day to day without a worry in the world, or a real thought to her daughter. Fitch created Ingrid to be a woman with icy blues eyes that could have any man she wanted, who abused her beauty incessantly by using men in the night. Ingrids golden rule had always been; never let a man spend the night. At this point, Astrid has no life, except f...

ConservatismLiberalismSocialism essays

ConservatismLiberalismSocialism essays Conservatism, liberalism and socialism can be called ideologies, as they constitute comprehensive set of beliefs and attitudes about social and economic institutions and processes (Lawson, 44). These three ideologies, which have been developed throughout history, share both similarities and differences. Conservatism, unlike liberalism, generally opposes radical changes in social and economic domain. As the word connoted, the accumulated knowledge of the past and its application to political and economic functions is better to be conserved. Almost all representatives of the theory of conservatism placed great emphasis on the wisdom of generations, which naturally led to the formation of traditional values and customs. Any social experiment by government was perceived as a threat for the tradition of the nation which was the main factor contributing to the preservation of social stability and, consequently, of national development. Change was to be accepted only if it occurred at a gradual and consistent pace. The view of human nature according to conservatism is not egalitarian, in the sense that some people, placed in society, are more capable than others to contribute to its development and they are the ones to be placed in positions of authority. Individuals must guide the ir behavior according to traditional moral standards, set by functional institutions, such as Church. For example, the increasing political power of the Catholic Church, as well as of other religious groups in the U.S., suggests an area where institutional bases for traditional conservatism may be evolving (handout, 11). Conservatism evokes strong feelings of patriotism, since support for the established institutions are greatly promoted and each person serves his/her country with consistency and loyalty. This patriotism leads to an increased trust to in the military forces in cases of external threat, rather than in diplomacy....

How To Get Merit Scholarships and Honors at State Schools

How To Get Merit Scholarships and Honors at State Schools SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Don't get lost in the crowd. Do you want to stay close to home for college, but don’t want to get lost in the crowd of a large state school? Or do you want to know how to make the most of your experience at large university? It’s possible to get a selective, small college experience at a large university, through programs like honors colleges and merit scholarships. But how can you find these programs, and how can you ensure you'll be considered for merit scholarships and honors colleges? We will give you the info you need to make sure you don’t miss out on opportunities near you. Think Beyond the "Safety School" Many people don’t stress out about applying to their local state schools because they have application deadlines later in the year – sometimes as late as May or June. In some cases, since students consider state schools their â€Å"safety schools† where admission is all but guaranteed, they don’t put as much effort into their state school applications. However, many of the deadlines for honors colleges and merit scholarships at large universities are much earlier – sometimes as early as October of your senior year. And some of these programs and scholarships have special applications. If you’re not aware of deadlines before senior year starts, it’s easy to miss out on scholarships and other programs that can really enrich your college experience. Many of these programs are as competitive as getting into selective colleges, so it’s also important to put together a competitive application. In short, you should treat these applications like you’re applying to a selective school. So how do you find these programs, and how can you make sure you’re competitive? We will answer those questions here. Why Apply for Special Programs? By special programs, we mean merit scholarships, honors programs or honors colleges, or any programs that require extra or early applications. We will focus on merit scholarships and honors colleges in this post, since they are the most common special programs at larger universities, but make sure to check out the website of any school you’re interested in and see what extra options they have for undergraduates. So why apply to these programs? There are three main reasons. Make College Cheaper College is expensive. Even if you stay in state, tuition, room, board, textbooks, and other fees can add up quickly. You should definitely apply for need-based financial aid if you need it, but getting a merit scholarship can often fill in where financial aid falls short. Many merit scholarships cover half or all of tuition. Some even cover room and board as well. Also, many honors colleges offer their students opportunities for research or study abroad funding. This can help finance experiences that can otherwise be expensive or otherwise unattainable. It's hard to turn down money, especially when it can help you get a college education. Get a Small-School Experience Going to large university is great because of all the resources and classes available to you, but it’s easy to feel lost in the crowd, especially as a freshman. Being a part of a smaller program or merit scholarship cohort can give you a small-school experience within a larger university. These programs often have special advising or mentor systems that can also help you acclimate to college life. Many have special housing options that will allow you to get to know other people in your program easily. This can make it easy to build a community, even as a freshman. Distinguish Yourself for Jobs Although this seems really far away, graduating with honors or having a merit scholarship can really set you apart when it comes time to apply for jobs and/or graduate programs during your senior year of college. You can take steps now to give yourself a huge leg up when it’s time to enter the â€Å"real world.† So how do you get merit scholarships? How do you get into honors colleges? We will explain how to find these programs and how to apply. Merit Scholarships: How To Apply Unlike financial aid, merit scholarships are given based on student achievement – your test scores, GPA, and the overall strength of your application. The amount of a merit scholarship can vary widely – anything from a $1,000 stipend to full tuition, room, and board. To be considered for merit scholarships, you often have to meet an earlier deadline or submit an additional application. For example, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,you have to apply by the early action deadline of October 15 to be considered for the Pogue Scholarship (which covers tuition, room, and board). Additionally, there is another separate application for the Robertson scholarship (which covers tuition, room, board, fees, and expenses for up to three summer experiences), which you have to complete by November 15th to ensure you will be considered for it. To look at another example, University of Colorado, Boulder has a separate scholarship application that requires, at a minimum, an extra essay, but could also require extra letters of recommendation and eligibility materials based on which scholarships you apply to. The window to apply is December through March, with a deadline of February 15th for the presidential scholarship. For more on merit scholarships, including some with automatic funding based on test scores, see our article. Also note that some of those have earlier deadlines as well. How to Research Merit Scholarships For any state schools you are applying to, search to see if they have a merit scholarship program, and take note of any extra application materials or earlier deadlines. (We will give you a table at the end of this post you can use to organize dates and deadlines.) For example, to find the University of Colorado Boulder scholarships, I searched â€Å"University of Colorado Boulder Merit Scholarships.† I clicked on the third result and was able to read about individual scholarships, and also find the page about the general scholarship application. Read more on UC Boulder's Scholarships here. Honors Colleges and Honors Programs: How To Apply Many larger universities have smaller honors programs or honors colleges within them, to give a smaller college experience within a larger university. Honors colleges often have special classes, housing, and sometimes even funding opportunities for research or study abroad. For example, the Schreyer Honors College at Pennsylvania State University offers special classes, exclusive study abroad opportunities, and research placements. Furthermore, this program offers special housing, and that housing is guaranteed housing for four years. This isn’t always the case at large universities! But to get these benefits you have to put in more work. Honors colleges are usually much more competitive than general university admission, and often require extra application components. They typically have much earlier deadlines than general University admission, as well. For example, the Schreyer Honors College has a separate application other than the general Penn State application. They recommend completing your application by November 30, with a firm deadline of January 15, to be considered for the program. (The regular university application isn’t due until January 31.) Next Steps For any large universities you are applying to, search to see if they have an honors college or honors program, and take note of earlier deadlines or application materials. To find honors programs, search â€Å"[Name of College/University] Honors College† or â€Å"[Name of College/University] Honors Program.† I found the honors college at Penn State by doing the following search: Just entering in that search time brought up Schreyer’s main website, as well as links to admission and aid on the first page. If you can’t find information on an honors college or honors program through searching, you can contact the admissions office via phone or email and ask if they have any honors programs. How To Put Together a Competitive Application Finding these programs is one thing. How can you make sure you are a competitive applicant when you apply to honors colleges and merit scholarships? Maximize Your ACT/SAT Score For many merit scholarships and honors programs, the standardized score ranges are much higher than general university admission. This means that having a high SAT or ACT score will help you get into honors programs and win scholarships – and in some cases, you need a minimum score. For example, at the University of Nebraska, an ACT score of at least 20, or an SAT score of at least 950 (Math and Critical Reading) are the benchmarks given for admission. But you can be considered for the Honors Program if you have either an ACT composite score of 30 or an SAT of 1300 (Math and Critical Reading). Notice the large difference between regular admission and honors admission score benchmarks. It’s important to choose either the SAT or ACT and to study so you can get the best possible score. Don’t split your time between the two tests. It’s likely that you will do better on one that the other, so you should spend all of your time preparing for that test. (If you need help deciding between the SAT and ACT, see our post.) Also, make sure you give yourself enough time to study. We recommend at least five weeks, but the longer, the better! The more time you can put in, the better your score outcome will be. Take the Most Challenging Classes Possible Another important factor in making your application competitive is having an impressive transcript and GPA. However, a high GPA alone does not mean much – it’s important you have also been challenging yourself with hard courses. Whether that means taking IB, AP, or honors, find the hardest classes at your school and take them. Be careful not to overload your schedule with tons of AP and IB classes and burn yourself out. Prioritize taking tough classes in subjects you are passionate about. And finally, don’t blow off senior year. Colleges will see your senior year schedule when you apply, so it’s important to keep up your momentum and take a challenging senior year schedule. Obviously you need to leave room for college applications, but don’t slack off and take three free periods. Get Involved with Activities and the Community Having a competitive college application isn’t just getting good grades and high test scores. You also need to get involved in your community in some way. Whether that’s joining clubs or sports at your high school, doing service work, or being involved in a local youth group, find something you are passionate about and get involved. And remember to emphasize breadth over depth. It’s much better to be very involved in two clubs than to join ten clubs but barely show up. Aim for leadership positions and awards wherever possible. Don't treat extracurriculars like a list to be checked off. The goal isn't to have the longest list of clubs. Choose a few things that are important to you and get really involved! When it comes time to apply, list your extracurricular involvements in order of the time spent on them. And remember to emphasize leadership positions, awards, or other recognitions you have earned for each activity. Don’t Ignore the Essay(s) A final, crucial component of your application will be the essay. Many honors programs or merit scholarships have a separate essay – or essays! – to write. Sometimes they will give you a specific prompt, or other times they will want to learn more about you and give an open-ended prompt. For example, the Schreyer Honors College has three additional essays, with new prompts every year. The University of Michigan has a list of topics to choose from. So while the prompt and length of the essay or essays can vary from program to program, and the prompts can even be quite playful, it’s very important not to wait until the last minute to write your essays. The essay will be the main opportunity for you to share your personality, passions, and intellectual interests. If you’re aiming to get into an honors college or get a merit scholarship, having a strong essay will be crucial. To write the best essay possible, start early – at least a month before the deadline. Write a draft, and then take time to edit it so it’s true to your own voice. You can also have friends or teachers look over it to see if they think it sounds like you – just make sure it is 100% your own work. Get Good Recommendation Letters Although not all universities require letters of recommendation for admission, most honors programs and merit scholarships will require at least one, but more likely two. When asking teachers for recommendations, try to find teachers who have taught you recently – junior year is ideal – and can give specific praise about your academic abilities. Sometimes, giving the teacher a sample of work you did in their class to jog their memory or give them something to refer to in the letter can be helpful. Also, try to get your letters from teachers in different subjects. Being an impressive student in both science and English is more impressive than getting rave reviews from two English teachers. Final Touches on Your Application Make sure to report any strong SAT Subject Test, AP, or IB test scores you have. Even if they are not required anywhere on the application, including these scores can give the admissions committee more information on your academic abilities and achievements. This also goes for any academic awards like National Merit or being on the honor roll. If you know someone – like a coach, boss, youth group leader, or mentor – who could write an additional letter of recommendation, it’s worth asking for one. Often, people who know you outside of school can give more information about your work ethic, abilities, and passions than your teachers can. Don’t feel pressured to submit an extra letter if you don’t have someone like this, but if you know someone will write you a strong letter, strongly consider asking them. The Bottom Line Being part of an honors program and/or getting a merit scholarship can really enrich your college experience and make you a more competitive job or graduate school applicant. For any university you’re applying to, check to see if they have any honors programs or merit scholarships. To get into these programs you have to be aware of earlier deadlines and extra applications. You can use a table like the one below to organize your list of prospective colleges. Name of College/ University Regular Application Deadline Honors Program? (Yes/No) Honors Program Deadline Merit Scholarships? (Yes/No) Merit Scholarship Deadline And finally, you should aim to submit the best application possible. Treat these opportunities like you are applying to selective schools – write the best possible essays, get great letters of recommendation, and maximize your scores. If you do this, you can get a selective college experience close to home. What’s Next? Want to aim for a perfect SAT score, or quite close? See our guide to getting a 1600 by our full scorer. Speaking of maximizing your scores, learn how to improve a low SAT math score, or if you’re taking the ACT, get math tips from our full scorer. Need some tips for your college essays? Learn what not to do. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: How To Get Merit Scholarships and Honors at State Schools SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Don't get lost in the crowd. Do you want to stay close to home for college, but don’t want to get lost in the crowd of a large state school? Or do you want to know how to make the most of your experience at large university? It’s possible to get a selective, small college experience at a large university, through programs like honors colleges and merit scholarships. But how can you find these programs, and how can you ensure you'll be considered for merit scholarships and honors colleges? We will give you the info you need to make sure you don’t miss out on opportunities near you. DUMMY CTA Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Think Beyond the "Safety School" Many people don’t stress out about applying to their local state schools because they have application deadlines later in the year – sometimes as late as May or June. In some cases, since students consider state schools their â€Å"safety schools† where admission is all but guaranteed, they don’t put as much effort into their state school applications. However, many of the deadlines for honors colleges and merit scholarships at large universities are much earlier – sometimes as early as October of your senior year. And some of these programs and scholarships have special applications. If you’re not aware of deadlines before senior year starts, it’s easy to miss out on scholarships and other programs that can really enrich your college experience. Many of these programs are as competitive as getting into selective colleges, so it’s also important to put together a competitive application. In short, you should treat these applications like you’re applying to a selective school. So how do you find these programs, and how can you make sure you’re competitive? We will answer those questions here. Why Apply for Special Programs? By special programs, we mean merit scholarships, honors programs or honors colleges, or any programs that require extra or early applications. We will focus on merit scholarships and honors colleges in this post, since they are the most common special programs at larger universities, but make sure to check out the website of any school you’re interested in and see what extra options they have for undergraduates. So why apply to these programs? There are three main reasons. Make College Cheaper College is expensive. Even if you stay in state, tuition, room, board, textbooks, and other fees can add up quickly. You should definitely apply for need-based financial aid if you need it, but getting a merit scholarship can often fill in where financial aid falls short. Many merit scholarships cover half or all of tuition. Some even cover room and board as well. Also, many honors colleges offer their students opportunities for research or study abroad funding. This can help finance experiences that can otherwise be expensive or otherwise unattainable. It's hard to turn down money, especially when it can help you get a college education. Get a Small-School Experience Going to large university is great because of all the resources and classes available to you, but it’s easy to feel lost in the crowd, especially as a freshman. Being a part of a smaller program or merit scholarship cohort can give you a small-school experience within a larger university. These programs often have special advising or mentor systems that can also help you acclimate to college life. Many have special housing options that will allow you to get to know other people in your program easily. This can make it easy to build a community, even as a freshman. DUMMY CTA Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Distinguish Yourself for Jobs Although this seems really far away, graduating with honors or having a merit scholarship can really set you apart when it comes time to apply for jobs and/or graduate programs during your senior year of college. You can take steps now to give yourself a huge leg up when it’s time to enter the â€Å"real world.† So how do you get merit scholarships? How do you get into honors colleges? We will explain how to find these programs and how to apply. DUMMY CTA Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Merit Scholarships: How To Apply Unlike financial aid, merit scholarships are given based on student achievement – your test scores, GPA, and the overall strength of your application. The amount of a merit scholarship can vary widely – anything from a $1,000 stipend to full tuition, room, and board. To be considered for merit scholarships, you often have to meet an earlier deadline or submit an additional application. For example, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,you have to apply by the early action deadline of October 15 to be considered for the Pogue Scholarship (which covers tuition, room, and board). Additionally, there is another separate application for the Robertson scholarship (which covers tuition, room, board, fees, and expenses for up to three summer experiences), which you have to complete by November 15th to ensure you will be considered for it. To look at another example, University of Colorado Boulder has a separate scholarship application that requires, at a minimum, an extra essay, but could also require extra letters of recommendation and eligibility materials based on which scholarships you apply to. The window to apply is December through March, with a deadline of February 15th for the presidential scholarship. For more on merit scholarships, including some with automatic funding based on test scores, see our article. Also note that some of those have earlier deadlines as well. How to Research Merit Scholarships For any state schools you are applying to, search to see if they have a merit scholarship program, and take note of any extra application materials or earlier deadlines. (We will give you a table at the end of this post you can use to organize dates and deadlines.) For example, to find the University of Colorado Boulder scholarships, I searched â€Å"University of Colorado Boulder Merit Scholarships.† I clicked on the third result and was able to read about individual scholarships, and also find the page about the general scholarship application. Read more on UC Boulder's Scholarships here. Honors Colleges and Honors Programs: How To Apply Many larger universities have smaller honors programs or honors colleges within them, to give a smaller college experience within a larger university. Honors colleges often have special classes, housing, and sometimes even funding opportunities for research or study abroad. For example, the Schreyer Honors College at Pennsylvania State University offers special classes, exclusive study abroad opportunities, and research placements. Furthermore, this program offers special housing, and that housing is guaranteed housing for four years. This isn’t always the case at large universities! But to get these benefits you have to put in more work. Honors colleges are usually much more competitive than general university admission, and often require extra application components. They typically have much earlier deadlines than general University admission, as well. For example, the Schreyer Honors College has a separate application other than the general Penn State application. They recommend completing your application by November 30, with a firm deadline of January 15, to be considered for the program. (The regular university application isn’t due until January 31.) Next Steps DUMMY CTA Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: For any large universities you are applying to, search to see if they have an honors college or honors program, and take note of earlier deadlines or application materials. To find honors programs, search â€Å"[Name of College/University] Honors College† or â€Å"[Name of College/University] Honors Program.† I found the honors college at Penn State by doing the following search: Just entering in that search time brought up Schreyer’s main website, as well as links to admission and aid on the first page. If you can’t find information on an honors college or honors program through searching, you can contact the admissions office via phone or email and ask if they have any honors programs. How To Put Together a Competitive Application Finding these programs is one thing. How can you make sure you are a competitive applicant when you apply to honors colleges and merit scholarships? Maximize your ACT/SAT Score For many merit scholarships and honors programs, the standardized score ranges are much higher than general university admission. This means that having a high SAT or ACT score will help you get into honors programs and win scholarships – and in some cases, you need a minimum score. For example, at the University of Nebraska, an ACT score of at least 20, or an SAT score of at least 950 (Math and Critical Reading) are the benchmarks given for admission. But you can be considered for the Honors Program if you have either an ACT composite score of 30 or an SAT of 1300 (Math and Critical Reading). Notice the large difference between regular admission and honors admission score benchmarks. It’s important to choose either the SAT or ACT and to study so you can get the best possible score. Don’t split your time between the two tests. It’s likely that you will do better on one that the other, so you should spend all of your time preparing for that test. (If you need help deciding between the SAT and ACT, see our post.) Also, make sure you give yourself enough time to study. We recommend at least five weeks, but the longer, the better! The more time you can put in, the better your score outcome will be. Take the Most Challenging Classes Possible Another important factor in making your application competitive is having an impressive transcript and GPA. However, a high GPA alone does not mean much – it’s important you have also been challenging yourself with hard courses. Whether that means taking IB, AP, or honors, find the hardest classes at your school and take them. Be careful not to overload your schedule with tons of AP and IB classes and burn yourself out. Prioritize taking tough classes in subjects you are passionate about. And finally, don’t blow off senior year. Colleges will see your senior year schedule when you apply, so it’s important to keep up your momentum and take a challenging senior year schedule. Obviously you need to leave room for college applications, but don’t slack off and take three free periods. Get Involved with Activities and the Community Having a competitive college application isn’t just getting good grades and high test scores. You also need to get involved in your community in some way. Whether that’s joining clubs or sports at your high school, doing service work, or being involved in a local youth group, find something you are passionate about and get involved. And remember to emphasize breadth over depth. It’s much better to be very involved in two clubs than to join ten clubs but barely show up. Aim for leadership positions and awards wherever possible. Don't treat extracurriculars like a list to be checked off. The goal isn't to have the longest list of clubs. Choose a few things that are important to you and get really involved! When it comes time to apply, list your extracurricular involvements in order of the time spent on them. And remember to emphasize leadership positions, awards, or other recognitions you have earned for each activity. DUMMY CTA Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Don’t Ignore the Essay(s) A final, crucial component of your application will be the essay. Many honors programs or merit scholarships have a separate essay – or essays! – to write. Sometimes they will give you a specific prompt, or other times they will want to learn more about you and give an open-ended prompt. For example, the Schreyer Honors College has three additional essays, including the prompt, â€Å"You are required to spend the next year of your life either in the past or the future. What year would you travel to and why?† The University of Michigan has a list of topics to choose from, including â€Å"Tell us about a great recipe† and â€Å"Discuss the concept of ‘random.’† So while the prompt and length of the essay or essays can vary from program to program, and the prompts can even be quite playful, it’s very important not to wait until the last minute to write your essays. The essay will be the main opportunity for you to share your personality, passions, and intellectual interests. If you’re aiming to get into an honors college or get a merit scholarship, having a strong essay will be crucial. To write the best essay possible, start early – at least a month before the deadline. Write a draft, and then take time to edit it so it’s true to your own voice. You can also have friends or teachers look over it to see if they think it sounds like you – just make sure it is 100% your own work. Get Good Recommendation Letters Although not all universities require letters of recommendation for admission, most honors programs and merit scholarships will require at least one, but more likely two. When asking teachers for recommendations, try to find teachers who have taught you recently – junior year is ideal – and can give specific praise about your academic abilities. Sometimes, giving the teacher a sample of work you did in their class to jog their memory or give them something to refer to in the letter can be helpful. Also, try to get your letters from teachers in different subjects. Being an impressive student in both science and English is more impressive than getting rave reviews from two English teachers. Final Touches on Your Application Make sure to report any strong SAT Subject Test, AP, or IB test scores you have. Even if they are not required anywhere on the application, including these scores can give the admissions committee more information on your academic abilities and achievements. This also goes for any academic awards like National Merit or being on the honor roll. If you know someone – like a coach, boss, youth group leader, or mentor – who could write an additional letter of recommendation, it’s worth asking for one. Often, people who know you outside of school can give more information about your work ethic, abilities, and passions than your teachers can. Don’t feel pressured to submit an extra letter if you don’t have someone like this, but if you know someone will write you a strong letter, strongly consider asking them. DUMMY CTA Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: The Bottom Line Being part of an honors program and/or getting a merit scholarship can really enrich your college experience and make you a more competitive job or graduate school applicant. For any university you’re applying to, check to see if they have any honors programs or merit scholarships. To get into these programs you have to be aware of earlier deadlines and extra applications. You can use a table like the one below to organize your list of prospective colleges. Name of College/ University Regular Application Deadline Honors Program? (Yes/No) Honors Program Deadline Merit Scholarships? (Yes/No) Merit Scholarship Deadline And finally, you should aim to submit the best application possible. Treat these opportunities like you are applying to selective schools – write the best possible essays, get great letters of recommendation, and maximize your scores. If you do this, you can get a selective college experience close to home. What’s Next? Want to aim for a perfect SAT score, or quite close? See our guide to getting a 2400 by our full scorer. Speaking of maximizing your scores, learn how to improve a low SAT math score, or if you’re taking the ACT, get math tips from our full scorer. Need some tips for your college essays? Learn what not to do. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Vincent by Don Mclean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vincent by Don Mclean - Essay Example He was residing in Massachusetts in an attractive federal designed residence. This house was referred to as the Sedgwick house. The Sedgwick household included an interesting individual whom Andy Warhol had worked with in the 60s, Edie Sedgwick. McLean composed the song in his dwelling that was filled with antiques. The motivation occurred to him one sunrise while he was on the veranda going through a work on Gogh. McLean discovered that a song about the artist could be composed out of Starry Night, the painting. The song makes use of the strings, guitar, vibraphone, and accordion (Whitburn 166). This paper will analyze the song, Vincent, by Don McLean, focusing on the lyrics, symbol, context, writing technique and how the music blends with the meaning of the song. The composer’s lyrics highlight his life situations. The lyrics of the song highlight how the writer comprehends what the difficulties of an artist are like. He asserts that the society does not know the reasons tha t make artists write or paint. McLean has experienced this situation himself. The writer of the song has come across the paintings of Vincent and has comprehended what Vincent was attempting to illustrate. The writer is attempting to communicate to the listeners that no individual would pay attention to what Vincent was attempting to say, and that individuals did not appreciate the correct meaning of the paintings because they perceived him as peculiar. The composer’s foremost point is that the society should become tolerant. The reiteration of the words, ‘starry starry night’, highlights the significance of the heavens. Vincent enjoyed night time and he had the ability to paint the skies with numerous stars. In the last chorus, Mclean asserts, â€Å"They would not listen, they are not listening still, perhaps they never will.† This shows how Van Gogh was not appreciated as a painter until he died (Whitburn 166). There is the use of symbol in McLeanâ€℠¢s song. The opening phrase, Starry Starry Night, is an indication of the painting, The Starry Night, by Van Gogh. The painting of Van Gogh and the song of Don McLean signifies what it feels like when an individual is not understood. The lines, â€Å"Paint your palette blue and gray† highlight the outstanding colors of Van Gogh’s painting, and they most likely are a testimonial to Van Gogh’s behavior of biting or sucking on his paint brushes during painting. The phrases, â€Å"ragged men in ragged clothes† and â€Å"how you tried to set them free† illustrates Van Gogh’s liking for the socially banished and humanitarian events. This is also highlighted in Van Gogh’s drawings and paintings. In addition, the lyrics, â€Å"They would not listen, they did not know how† signifies the family and a number of people who were significant of Van Gogh’s compassion to those presumed to be miserable (Whitburn 166). Finally, the line, â€Å"How you suffered for your sanity† symbolizes the schizophrenic condition which Van Gogh experienced. There are a number of situations that help in composing the song. McLean composed the song in his dwelling filled with antiques. The motivation occurred to him one sunrise while he was on the veranda going through a work on Van Gogh. McLean discovered that a song about the artist could be composed out of Starry Night, the painting. In addition, Van Gogh worked on his painting when he was experiencing one of his most trying times of his existence (Whitburn 166). During this time, he was put in prison in an asylum at Saint Remy. Van Gogh

Quality & Safety Education for Nurses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Quality & Safety Education for Nurses - Essay Example The second competency is that of teamwork and collaboration and its relevance is in the effective functioning within inter-professional teams and nursing, open communication fostering, shared decision making and mutual respect to achieve quality care for patients. The third competency is that of evidence based practice (EBP) which aims at integrating best current evidence with patient/family preferences and values and clinical expertise for delivery of best health care. The fourth competency involves quality improvement (QI) which mostly uses data in monitoring the outcomes of care processes and using improvement methods in designing and testing changes to help in continuous improvement of the quality and safety of the health care systems. The fifth competency is safety and involves minimization of risk of harm to providers and patients through both individual performance and system effectiveness. The sixth and last competency is informatics and deals with information and technology use in communicating, managing knowledge mitigating error and supporting decision making. Students should be able to explain why technology and information skills are important for patient care that is

Growth and Development of Global Economy - Economics Essay

Growth and Development of Global Economy - Economics - Essay Example On the contrary, they are stuck in the vicious cycle due to the US subsidies which crowds the efficient producer’s market, since without subsidies the US cotton production would not be economical. The US government harms the poorer nations through subsidizing their own domestic cotton production more than it helps them through foreign aid, as proved by statistical data in The Oxfam Briefing Paper (Oxfam International, 2004, pages 1-40). The subsidies does not only affect the Balance of Payments, but has a trigger down effect, it lowers the income of farmers, thus reducing the income available for expenditure, further strengthening the economic crisis by lowering aggregate demand, the multiplier sets into a negative action, and poverty sets in, thus making West African nations vulnerable to US cotton subsidies, furthermore in accordance with Anderson and Valenzuela (Anderson and Valenzuela, 2006, page 19) the usage of Genetically Modified Organism for the cotton production in d eveloping nations would have a greater positive effect than eliminating subsidies completely. However, since it is a time-consuming process to convert every small farm to GM technology, hence from the West African nation’s perspective, the USA should eliminate its cotton subsidies in order to aid the developing nations in coming out of the economic crisis and poverty situation. The US political policies focus on hardcore protectionism with regards to the cotton market; the subsidies are unfair and distort the free trade system. According to the multiplier effect, protectionism in the cotton industry also leads to indirect help of US domestic textile and apparels industry, as presented in The Oxfam Briefing Paper. However, these subsidies focus on helping only the larger farms, despite publicizing otherwise, since 67% of the US farms are ineligible to attain the subsidy benefits, and it is generally the top 10%

Critical review and evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Critical review and evaluation - Essay Example ) have the major task of presenting the financial statements which can fulfil the requirements of all the users of financial statements and not only the investors. This report is presented by CFA Institute as guidance to these standard setting bodies to incorporate some major changes in the existing set of financial statements with respect to the investors. The following discussion holds a critical approach as to whether the proposals suggested under this report by CFA Institute are considered and incorporated in the most recent advancements made by FASB and IASB. CFA institute provided this proposal to protect the stake of investors whether equity or debt investors. The aim of the institute was to prepare the financial statements that can achieve the objectives of the investors. However, the financial statements do provide the necessary information upon which the investors can take their decisions, but CFA institute failed to provide more investor specific information which should be included in the financial statements by FASB and IASB. From the above proposal, CFA institute wanted to secure the equity investors as they have the last claim on the assets of the company after creditors and other suppliers of finance. CFA institute holds the view that the equity investors should have the most recent information regarding the off-balance sheet transactions, contingencies and other claims to which they are liable but they are unaware regarding their amounts and magnitude. Similarly, those assets, which act as revenue generating units should also be come on the face of financial statements to provide the equity investors specific information about these matters. If the existing standards are taken into consideration, it can be noted that the amounts in respect of contingencies, off-balance sheet transactions etc are still not provided as the standard setting bodies believe that these areas still lack of measurement due to which they cannot be recognized.

The geography of contemporary China Research Paper

The geography of contemporary China - Research Paper Example The report concludes by giving the evaluation of the research question and the research’s thesis. The people’s republic of China was established officially in 1949 and had its capital in Beijing city. At the time of its establishment, the Chinese people have reference to a coalition of social classes, which was comprised of the peasants, the capitalists, the workers and the petite bourgeoisie. The four categories of the Chinese people are led by the CPP, which is the guide to the working class. The country’s people during the time of its establishment were approximately five million, of which ninety percent comprises the peasant farmers. It is also clear that the most of the Chinese were rural residents regardless of the fast modernization, and urban migration is taking place in the neighboring countries such Korea and Japan (Kai 32). The people’s republic of China was adversely affected by decades of war hence the need for its management to establish a framework for efficient economic growth. Mao leads the CPP party, which is the original ruling party in the country, while the state’s leadership comprised of Zhou Enlai. Regardless of the fact that the people’s republic of china has establishment early in 1949, The Soviet Union currently referred to as Russia recognized China as an independent nation in October 1049. The two nations had an agreement in the year 1950 in which the Soviet Union they would benefit mutually in terms of economic growth. The agreement encouraged friendship, mutual assistance and alliance between the Soviet Union and the people’s republic of China (Zhao 424). The argument slowed the countrys initial economic growth that the state had division into classes where the individuals of the various types carried out their activities discriminatory of the individuals from the other types. The division of the people into classes implicates highly on the economic development, which required the cooperation and

Nuernberg Augsburg Maschinenwerke Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 13

Nuernberg Augsburg Maschinenwerke - Case Study Example The routes that give optimum services will be the one to settle on. As a matter of fact, it would be important to note that the initial shipment is of significance. Thus, the best or preferred alternative would be for rail transport to be used from Prague to Hamburg and an Ocean vessel to be used from Hamburg to Santos. The rationale behind this alternative is that the given transit times with Hamburg are fixed, that is, three days by rail and eighteen days by the water. Compared to Rotterdam, the rail transit time is four or five days though water transportation s seventeen days. However, the case does not offer insight on how the port congestion and the issues concerning it could affect the time in which shipments would be loaded. Additionally, the case does not give information concerning the port's performance in terms of the damage and loss metrics. Moreover, though the case shows that the rail’s transit period is either four or five days, information on what percentage o f shipments could be completed in four days could have been of significance. From the case study, different constituencies are involved in the initial shipment, for instance, dockworkers, railroads and ocean carriers. However, particular customers more so the public transit authorities buy products from Nuernberg Augsburg Maschinenwerke (N.A.M.). Consequently, N.A.M should, therefore, be the responsible party that should offer direction on customer service support since the customers buy products from this company. Accordingly, many different kinds of customer service support are available. In effect, Real-Time shipment tracking company should indeed be the best option for customer service support since the firm is in a position to let the customers the location of the shipment at any given time.

The geography of contemporary China Research Paper

The geography of contemporary China - Research Paper Example The report concludes by giving the evaluation of the research question and the research’s thesis. The people’s republic of China was established officially in 1949 and had its capital in Beijing city. At the time of its establishment, the Chinese people have reference to a coalition of social classes, which was comprised of the peasants, the capitalists, the workers and the petite bourgeoisie. The four categories of the Chinese people are led by the CPP, which is the guide to the working class. The country’s people during the time of its establishment were approximately five million, of which ninety percent comprises the peasant farmers. It is also clear that the most of the Chinese were rural residents regardless of the fast modernization, and urban migration is taking place in the neighboring countries such Korea and Japan (Kai 32). The people’s republic of China was adversely affected by decades of war hence the need for its management to establish a framework for efficient economic growth. Mao leads the CPP party, which is the original ruling party in the country, while the state’s leadership comprised of Zhou Enlai. Regardless of the fact that the people’s republic of china has establishment early in 1949, The Soviet Union currently referred to as Russia recognized China as an independent nation in October 1049. The two nations had an agreement in the year 1950 in which the Soviet Union they would benefit mutually in terms of economic growth. The agreement encouraged friendship, mutual assistance and alliance between the Soviet Union and the people’s republic of China (Zhao 424). The argument slowed the countrys initial economic growth that the state had division into classes where the individuals of the various types carried out their activities discriminatory of the individuals from the other types. The division of the people into classes implicates highly on the economic development, which required the cooperation and

Patient Care Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Patient Care Plan - Assignment Example Bumper migration to subcutaneous tissue was found to be one of the most common complications reported after PEG placement (Marks & Dunkin, 2013). Approximately 70% of 97 patients who have percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy (PEG) placement have hospital revisits with complications (Naik, Joshipura, Patel, Haribhakti, 2008). The purpose of this study is to explore the nursing treatment and management of a patient who has been diagnosed with the buried bumper syndrome in a clinical setting (Ramdass & Mann, 2013). It discusses the role of RN in managing the different needs of human beings as a consumer of health care in a patient-centered environment. The paper will base its in-depth exploration on previous healthcare literature and evidence from previous related cases. Currently, the patient has obesity, hypoventilation syndrome as well as obstructive sleep apnea. The woman has obstructive sleep apnea which is characterized by obesity. On 14th October 2014, the patient’s condition was critical because she had a respiratory failure that was requiring endotracheal intubation. Patient’s history revealed that the PEG tube was inserted. The placement of endotracheal tube was delayed leading to a bradycardia asystolic arrest. The respiratory failure that the patient experienced on 14th October 2014 required intubation. However, the CT scan shows signs indicating that the endotracheal tube was not correctly placed. This placement may be one of the causes of hospital revisits. The CT scan revealed a bumper migration to subcutaneous tissue. CT scan also showed purulent discharge at the site of PEG. No edema was found; the patient was alert and oriented. Although hospital policies and current nursing texts do not offer adequate recommendations for care of the patient with PEG tube (Simons & Remington, 2013), it is important not to neglect this area. It is important that care providers are aware of the complications that

Domestic Violence Essay Example for Free

Domestic Violence Essay There are many theories out there that try to explain why domestic violence happens. Some like family violence theory say that it is passed down through the family because basically what you see is what you will do. Others say it’s a chemical imbalance or its based on other things. I believe that it is a little bit of all of the theories but the Culture of Violence Theory is playing a huge role today in helping shape our young children’s minds as to what is now acceptable. During this assignment we will look at four different types of examples of how the Culture of Violence Theory is doing just that. Culture of Violence theory claims that violence occurs at all levels of society and is looked at as a means to resolve a conflict. Violence and force are acceptable and are used even in family disputes. Theories believe that in order to stop a man from beating or hitting a woman then you have to change the way he believes or relies on violence being a means to solve all his problems. I also believe that our culture as a whole is violence driven. As a soldier in the United States Army, I deploy to combat areas and I have meet other new recruits who basically wanted to join the military for that reason. So then the question is why in the world would you want to do something just for the violence? Well we can look no further then what is the main culprit to me and that is the Mass Media. The Mass Media today is the main reason why our culture is so violence driven. First I am going to start off on the news media and movies that are being viewed by our children and young adults. The news media always seems to project negative things. You rarely hear anything about a city not having an violent acts being placed over the news. Instead you turn the news on and your going to see how a father came home and found his wife cheating on him so he beat her to death, then killed all his children before turning his gun on himself. The news always reports the violent acts so that’s what our culture is getting use to see. When we look at the type of movies being depicted that display acts of violence in a family household we look at the movie Precious. This movie won the actress a Grammy Award but in this movie your watching a girl being physically, verbally and sexually abused at home. The only time she was safe was at school. What does this type of information teach? It could teach a positive message but I believe that in reality all it did was downgrade women and especially African American women. Movies and the News aren’t the only means to project violence within our culture. The controversial video game by rock star called Grand Theft Auto has been sparking debates across the nation for years. This is one of the best selling franchises in the video game industry but the message in this top playing videogame for our youth in particular teens is violence. This game depicts family violence, drug selling, murder, extortion, robbery, theft, grand theft auto and many more violent crimes. This game really belittles women I feel because they always use derogatory language towards them. This game always shows â€Å"pimps† and ho’s† and the pimp is always beating on the women. This sends a message that our society is fine with this type of behavior since we generate it for our amusement and entertainment. I am one of those who is at fault by playing this type of games but I do understand that this is not appropriate for our youth because they are still learning and trying to understand what is the wrong and right way to act in society and this doesn’t help them in any way. Our society today is all about technology. Everyone has an internet capable phone and the internet is streaming videos constantly. With that being sad a lot of youth and teens are able to watch music videos either through their phone, laptop or on the television. The new hit song titled â€Å"Try† by Pink depicts two lovers basically having an all-out brawl with each other. They are pulling hair, breaking glasses, hitting each other. This music video shows our youth domestic violence but shows it as a poetry in motion or as just two people really in love with each other so even though they are hurting each other its ok as long as they continue to work it out and try again. So is the message here teaching our society to not harm each other? It doesn’t look that way to me and if this keeps up then we will continue to see the numbers as high as they are. All of the different examples I gave show you how our culture became so violence oriented. From the News stations to the Movies in the theaters to the videogames we buy our children and the music they listen to. What children hear and see is exactly what they will do so yes I believe Family Violence Theory plays a role in my paper but the Cultural Violence Theory is by far the most destructive force we have and we can only blame ourselves. Reference: CJ333 Chapter 3, Research and Theory on Family Violence Video Game Study Reinforces Negative Impact on Youth, Jennifer Leclaire, 4/10/06 Pink gets physical and aggressive in â€Å"Try† music video, Lucas Villa, October 10 2012

The elementary forms of religious life

The elementary forms of religious life The elementary forms of religious life Introduction: Through his critical look at the most primitive religion, his epistemological inquiries into the genesis of thought, and his attempt to theoretically account for the functional and universal nature of all religions, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life has proven to be a seminal work both in the academic study of religion, sociology and social theory. Arguing ultimately that religion is the symbolic expression of society and social experience, Durkheim revolutionized the academic study of religion with his original and insightful approach.[1] I will begin with a brief recap of the argument laid out in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, which will be followed by a discussion of the implications it has on the study of religion. Finally, I will discuss some of the major critiques of his theoretical approach and argument. Argument: Durkheim believes that in order to explain religion, we must identify its most primitive form (3). The fundamental elements which are found in primitive religion are closer and more related to the initial motives that caused religious actions (9). These elements provide the objective content through which we can understand all religions (7). Religion is defined as a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart by prohibitions-beliefs and practices that unite adherents to a single moral community called a church (46). The most elementary form must satisfy this definition. For Durkheim, the two leading conceptions of the most elementary form of religion were animism and naturism. They attempt to explain what causes man to experience the sacred. Animism claims man experiences the sacred because of the misinterpretation of his dreams. This misinterpretation generates the notion of souls that are part of a separate reality (61). Naturism claims man feels a sacred reality because of the extraordinariness of natural phenomena (68). These theories suggest that mans idea of the sacred is a delirious interpretation because there is nothing inherently sacred about man or nature (76). However, it is a basic postulate of sociology that a human institution cannot rest on error or falsehood or it could not endure (4). This means that any conception of an elementary religion must account for the sacred as a real force. Durkheim goes on to assert that there must be a religion even more primitive then animism and naturism which is able to explain where the force of th e sacred actually comes from. This religion is totemism (77). Totemism is most evidently found in primitive Australian tribes. The most important feature of these tribes is their division into clans (88). Each clan has a totem, which is its distinguishing feature. The totem is represented in the form of a plant or animal to which the clan has a special relationship. This totem, which is the identity of the clan, also has a religious character because of its prominent use in religious ceremonies (96). This totem is central to the clan because things are classified as sacred and profane in relation to the totems religious character (96). The negative cult of totemism uses prohibitions and taboos regarding the totem to keep the sacred and profane separate (221). For instance, there are prohibitions on eating the totemic animal except during religious rituals. Also, women and uninitiated are prevented from coming into contact with sacred objects. These prohibitions are necessary because of the contagiousness of the sacred (237). Sacred objects are contagious because they confer sacrality to the things they touch. This suggests that some type of force resides in sacred objects. This force, or mana, was the object of the clans worship, not the animal or plant of the clan (147). The positive cult of totemism uses ritual to put man in organized contact with this sacred force (221). In these rituals clan members gather together in large numbers. This is in contrast to the ordinary and monotonous experience the clan member has in which he exists more or less independently from others. When all the clan members come together their proximity generates a kind of electricity that quickly transports them to an extraordinary degree of exaltation (162). This collective effervescence takes man outside himself to the point that he feels he has been transported into a special world entirely different from the ordinary (164). When he calms down from this excitement he is left to believe that he exists in two completely separate realities: his daily life and his religious life (164). These two realities are essentially the profane and the sacred respectively. To understand how this collective effervescence gets its power we must understand the way in which the categories o f knowledge are constructed by society. For Durkheim, one leading theory of knowledge was empiricism which claims man constructs the categories of knowledge of time, space, genus, cause, number (etc.) exclusively from his individual experience (15). This is not valid because it does not explain how people from the same culture have identical notions of time and space, etc. The second leading theory, apriorism, solves this problem by claiming man inherits the categories of knowledge from a divine reason existing prior to his experience (16). There is no proof this divine reason exists. Moreover, it does not explain why the categories of thought vary within cultures. This implies, for Durkheim, that man gets his categories from society (13). Further evidence suggests this is the basic category of knowledge. Genus, the notion that similar objects belong to the same group, can be modeled from mans experience of his relationship to society. After all, a genus is indeed an ideal yet clearly defined grouping of things with intern al bonds analogous to the bonds of kinship (114). There were as many divisions of space as there were divisions of clans within the tribe (13). In addition, man had a sense the clans were all interdependent and formed a unified whole the tribe. It is this reason why mans classifications represented a complete set of categories through which everything could be accounted. The categories of knowledge are the most basic types of collective representations and are informed by the collection of individual representations. However, when these individual representations are translated into collective representations they take on a new character: going from personal to impersonal. These collective representations outlive the individuals which contributed to them and gain a high degree of depth and complexity. They form a framework for reason that is infinitely richer and more complex then that of the individual and goes beyond the range of empirical knowledge (18). These categories establish the reality of society that is sui generis, or completely unique. Man is unable to think without using the concepts he inherits from his society. This means man naturally transcends himself when he thinks and when he acts. He elevates himself beyond his individual experience and into the collective reality of society. When man feels the sacred from the collective effervescence it is this social reality he experiences. It is his feeling of being part of something greater than himself. When man feels this force he is unable to attribute a concrete cause, so he represents it externally through objects which he considers sacred. These sacred objects are at the heart of religion and ultimately express society. Implications and Critique: Essential to Durkheims theory is the dichotomy between the sacred and profane and how the practices relating to his religious categories effect the social world. Of further importance is his argument that (contrary to other theories of religion that argue it being centered around magic, superstition or a philosophical error) religion is a real social fact. As such, he argues: Our entire study rests upon the postulate: that this unanimous feeling of believers across time cannot be purely illusory we admit that these religious beliefs rest upon a specific experience whose demonstrative value is, in one sense, not one bit inferior to that of scientific experiments, though different from them (312). In regards to the elementary religion Durkheim studies, he concludes that it is the religious activity that allows individuals within the tribe to understand themselves as collective. Further, it is the religious activity that serves to symbolize the social order with the totemic figure as an objective representation of their own society. Through the conscious repetition of various myths and rituals, a real sense of social unity and collective sentiments for tribal members was fostered (through the collective effervescence). This, in turn, works to strengthen and continually reestablish the social connections within the group. As an institution, understanding religion as having the authority to both command and garner compliance and awe is a unique concept in and of itself. Understanding religion as the symbolic expression of society is an original and path-breaking idea that has deeply influenced several academic fields and the direction of scholarly thought. As religion is a social fact, the objective entity behind religious symbolism and ritual can thus be understood as society (and not God). While I will return to this point, one must note that this idea would be intensely controversial for the religionist, as it implies that the individual participating in rituals is (at the very root) mistaken with regards to the objective phenomenon he is worshiping. When considering what Durkheim has done for the theoretical approach to defining and explaining religion, we can see his original approach to the social nature of religion as most telling. Before Durkheim, theoretical approaches to religion mainly focused on the individual and his understanding and philosophy of life or the interpretation of his reality (such as that of Otto, James or other phenomenologists). Durkheims work further shed light on the social role religion plays in organizing societies. By claiming that religions (a)ll are true in their own fashion and all answer though in different ways to the given condition of human existence Durkheim steered clear of questions of absolute truth (and theistic definition) which is ultimately beneficial for those interested in the comparative study of religion. While Durkheims theory has been one of the most influential in the study of religion, it has been susceptible to various criticisms. For instance, while he worked to counteract previous theories and positivistic approaches to religion, one can see such elements in his own definition. If Durkheim is indeed right, then the individual participants in rituals and religious ceremonies are mistaken, since the actual object of worship is something other than they are aware of. If we listen to Durkheim, we must believe that his scientific methods (and his particular methodology/theoretical approach) is on a higher plan with regards to accuracy, as it his methods which clarify the actual object of worship for the believer. Thus, the main theory of Durkheim has been attacked by those who believe he is reducing religion to something other than it is by claiming that it is the symbolic expression of society. This criticism inevitably leads to ones that are aimed at attacking Durkheims neglect for the subjective value of religious experience. In Durkheims theoretical view, the individual subjective experiences with sacred reality is only important with regards to its social utility (with respect to the feelings the collective effervescence engenders). This type of approach is in direct opposition to a theorist like Otto or James. With regards to his evidence for the most primitive form of religion (and his general belief that one could understand a complex phenomenon by finding and examining the phenomenon in its simplest form) is also quite questionable. As illustrated by the analyses of Clifford Geertz, one must note that it is difficult enough to interpret ethnographic findings when one is deeply immersed in the society. Since Durkheim himself did not participate in the ethnographic study (and never actually witnessed the culture), suspicious immediately rises (particularly as his argument hinges on the material). In The Interpretation of Cultures, Geertz states: The notion that one can find the essence of national societies, civilizations, great religions, or whatever summed up and simplified in so-called typical small towns and villages is palpable nonsense. What one finds in small towns and villages is (alas) small-town or village life. If localized, microscopic studies were really dependent for their greater relevance upon such a premise -that they captured the great world in the little- they wouldnt have any relevance (Geertz, 1973). The representations of religion can be seen as collective representations expressing a collective reality. Durkheimian thought points to the social nature of religion. While there are some criticisms, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life has proven to be immensely influential, both with regards to the theory of religion as well as a variety of other fields. In Geertzian terminology, then, one can see that Durkheim may be imposing his own contextual period (culture, history, scientific method) wrongly. How is Durkheim interpreting this evidence and is he correcting them with regards to his more advanced worldview? Conclusion: [1] If religion generated everything that is essential in society, this is because the idea of society is the soul of religion.

relationships and the media :: essays research papers fc

Reflecting on the past three months, I find that the most interesting topic was those with some sort of relation to romantic relationships. I find these interesting because I am in a romantic relationship and it seems that a lot of previously unknown knowledge has been bestowed upon me about these relationships. Romantic relationships involve various aspects such as commitment, intimacy and passion according Julia Wood, the author of Interpersonal Communication. It is agreeable that a relationship is based on these ideals, but one must inquire, is that all a relationship is based upon? In her definition, Wood seems to leave out two important aspect of a relationship, trust and investment. One thing that Wood states in her writings is that commitment is a pivotal part of a relationship. Commitment is not a feeling, correcting many misconceptions of this thought. Commitment is a decision. It is the choice to remain within the relationship and it links two partners to a future. When two people decide to commit, conflict is not seen as a time to end the relationship but as a resource to make the relationship stronger by working through their conflicts. Commitment involves the choice to speak and listen effectively to one’s partner. When two people commit, they take responsibility for continuing to invest in and care for their bond (Wood 267-268). With commitment comes challenge. Various items can affect two people’s choice to commit and their future within that commitment. One of these challenges includes distance. With distance two people are not able to share the small events of their day with their partner. Distance disables two people share their ordinary comings and goings that helps relationship stay woven together. Another challenge is unrealistic expectations for time together. Partners who are distant tend to expect each moment that they spend together to be perfect. They believe that conflict should be avoided and that they should be joyfully focused on their partner not realizing that conflict no matter what type of relationship is inevitable. Another challenge with this type of relationship is unequal effort that the two partners invest to make and maintain their connection. One of the main reasons distant relationships do not work is because one person feels as if they are doing all of the work to keep the relationship solid and ongoing. (Wood, 407) I call these challenges because they can be overcome.

Assignment task

When working we must all understand our duty of care. We have a responsibility towards our Service users and must remember we have a duty to respect them, their opinions and treat them with dignity. This Includes working In a way which protects them from harm, danger and abuse whilst acknowledging their choices and preferences. Our Duty of Care affects our role as we have to be familiar with and follow all risk assessments and policies and procedures In place whilst continuing to respect the pollens and decisions of the Service User.For example, you may have a Service seer who refuses to wash and dress when offered assistance which creates a consummately being that we have a Duty of care and the service user has a right to refuse. Sometimes you may be able to gently encourage the Service user to change their mind and they may allow you to assist them, however at times you may need to ask Senior Members of staff to have a gentle word with the Service user as sometimes a different pers on, maybe someone in authority or someone they have known a lot longer and have a rapport with can help.A Service User must know that their rights and opinions are respected. Sometimes if a Service User refuses help or assistance this can be upsetting for the Social Care Worker as they may feel that they have not carried out their Job properly however we need to remember that the Service User has the right to refuse personal care. The Care giving Organization must adhere to the Duty of Care in a setting such as a residential care home.This ensures that the Service Users are protected as well as the staff. This is possible because all codes of practice are carried out and this makes the home a safer environment. This ensures that correct procedures are followed such as, all mandatory training is carried out and up to date, all equipment is regularly checked and chemicals are stored correctly. It Is our Duty as Social Care Workers to ensure that our Service Users are safe.Our Duty of Care contributes to safeguarding our Service Users by ensuring that we am able to understand signs of neglect/abuse – as a Social Care Worker, we have a duty of care to all vulnerable adults and If we should notice any signs/landscapers of abuse or neglect that we report It the relevant third parties to protect the Service User. It Is Important that we understand and that we are able to recognize these signs/ Indicators. These may Include rapid weight loss, this may be due to neglect and malnutrition.We may notice sudden changes In behavior, loss of concentration, disturbed sleep pattern, we may notice pain, bruising and bleeding In the genital area. This may be due to sexual abuse. There are many signs of abuse and It Is our responsibility to safeguard our Service Users at all times. Assignment 304 task a By caddishness towards our Service Users and must remember we have a duty to respect them, their opinions and treat them with dignity. This includes working in a way which protectsOur Duty of Care affects our role as we have to be familiar with and follow all risk assessments and policies and procedures in place whilst continuing to respect the opinions and decisions of the Service User. For example, you may have a Service User who refuses to wash and dress when offered assistance which creates a conflict/dilemma being that we have a Duty of Care and the Service User has a right to refuse. Sometimes you may be able to gently encourage the Service User to need to ask Senior Members of staff to have a gentle word with the Service User as It is our Duty as Social Care Workers to ensure that our Service Users are safe.Our of care to all vulnerable adults and if we should notice any signs/indicators of abuse or neglect that we report it the relevant third parties to protect the Service User. It is important that we understand and that we are able to recognize these signs/ indicators. These may include rapid weight loss, this may be due to neglect and malnu trition. We may notice sudden changes in behavior, loss of concentration, disturbed sleep pattern, we may notice pain, bruising and bleeding in the genital area, this may be due to sexual abuse. There are many signs of abuse and it is our